Statoil/C-CORE Iceberg Classifier Challenge

Ship or iceberg, can you decide from space? (Update)

St. John’s, Newfoundland (19 January 2018) –  Just six weeks ago, St. John’s-based applied R&D organization C-CORE and international energy company Statoil challenged the machine learning community to find a better way to automatically classify an object seen in a satellite image as a ship or an iceberg. Today, with four days remaining in the compettition, over 3500 teams worldwide are working on the problem.

Read full article

C-CORE Satellite Receiving Station Operational in Inuvik

Dec 14, 2017

Made-in-Canada technology takes environmental monitoring to the next level

Today in Inuvik NWT, C-CORE completed installation and commissioning of a satellite ground station for downlinking data from a new generation of Earth Observation (EO) satellites. Designed and built at C–CORE’s facilities in St. John’s NL, the novel ground station is optimized for use with today’s emerging generation of breadbox-sized nanosats and cubesats. Its innovative self-leveling platform ensures stability during seasonal frost heave, making it ideal for Arctic deployment.

Read full article

2017 field program

Aug 31, 2017

In June 2017 C-CORE conducted a high-tech iceberg data collection program in Bonavista Bay, NL, aimed at developing methods to better survey and monitor these beautiful, often unpredictable, natural phenomena.  The research team, led by remote sensing scientist Dr. Peter McGuire and ice researcher Dr. Rob Briggs, spent two days at sea in the coastal waters off Bonavista where they could get close to many icebergs of various sizes. At about 2000 tonnes, the largest surveyed was almost 300 metres across, 40 metres high and 70 metres deep.  All operations were completed without accident or injury, despite the occasional bout of sea sickness in heavy swell. 

Read full article

River Ice Flood Hazard Assessment Project

C-CORE developing innovative Earth observation solutions for disaster management in Canada

With funding support from the Canadian Space Agency’s Earth Observation Application Development Program (EOADP), C-CORE is developing tools to improve decision-making for disaster management and emergency response in areas where rivers freeze and ice jams form.

Read full article

New technology for Oil Spill Response in Cold Oceans

Developing an integrated mechanical recovery and oil spill response system

With support from Natural Resources Canada’s Oil Spill Response Science (OSRS) and the Government of Newfoundland & Labrador’s InnovateNL initiative, C-CORE has undertaken a project to significantly increase oil spill preparedness and provide an effective, practical solution for spill clean-up in harsh, cold-ocean environments. 

Read full article

Water Ecosystems Monitoring using Earth Observation 2.0

Building a better water monitoring system for Canada’s North

Our planet is continually surveilled by an ever-increasing fleet of Earth-observing satellites. Their sensors capture optical and radar imagery and a vast range of other data that can be used to better understand our planet and manage its natural resources. In 2014–2015 C-CORE developed a satellite-based monitoring program for the Northwest Territories’ Slave River and Delta. Water Ecosystems Monitoring using Earth Observation (WEMEO) was designed by C-CORE, in collaboration with the Government of the Northwest Territories and the communities of Fort Smith and Fort Resolution, with support from the Canadian Space Agency, to gather information about the quality and abundance of the water in the Slave River and Delta region.  Now, WEMEO is being improved and expanded to increase information and make it more easily accessible to scientists, communities and decision-makers with questions about water quality and changes to rivers and lakes within the Northwest Territories.

Read full article