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Monitoring tools for observing the northern polar regions is now available online at http://www.polarview.org (at the top select one of the SERVICES available)

Federal government press release ...

Unique Canadian Satellite Project Contributes to International Polar Year

OTTAWA, Feb. 20 - As International Polar Year (IPY) kicks off on March 1, 2007, a new Canadian project will make a significant contribution to the IPY objective of better understanding polar regions. Polar View, funded in part by the Canadian Space Agency, offers a unique satellite-based service designed to help Canadians identify the impacts of environmental/ human pressures and guide appropriate responses.

Using remote sensing technology, data about ice and snow conditions is gathered and analyzed by an experienced network of experts. Detailed information is then delivered, around-the-clock, to a diverse group of over 40 international users. These include government agencies, research institutes, commercial interests and northern residents.

Polar View's ice information service is being particularly well received in communities such as Pond Inlet on Baffin Island. Inuit hunters and travelers are able to go into the local Parks Canada office and view the latest ice and snow conditions. They can easily locate the changing ice edge and thin ice.

The mayor of Pond Inlet, David Qamaniq, says that that the Polar View information is critical for making travel plans in the north. "Polar View information is very important to us. The elders tell us that it's much harder to predict the ice conditions as well as the weather," said Qamaniq. "There have been a couple of accidents, a couple of hunters went through the ice because they didn't know where the thin ice was."

Polar View services are currently offered free of charge. Most are available in near-real time and easily accessible via the Internet.

"Having this sort of monitoring system is essential if we are going to be able to make the right decisions about environment, security and climate in the future," said Thomas Puestow, Polar View's manager.

Earth observation technologies have long been used to monitor the earth's weather conditions. But this is the first time services have been offered comprehensively by a network of the world's leading cryospheric remote-sensing experts. Polar View service providers are located in nine countries with a management team in each significant polar region - North America, Antarctic, Euro-Arctic and the Baltic. Services can be customized to meet user's needs.

Polar View's contribution to IPY is in collaboration with the world's national ice services. The project, called Polar View: Polar Information Centre (IPY Activity ID 372) will build on the Polar View network and infrastructure. A dedicated web portal will be developed in conjunction with the International Ice Charting Working Group to distribute sea ice information to IPY investigators. Polar View will also offer its integrated monitoring and forecasting services to support scientific expeditions and national science programs operating in the Arctic and Antarctic regions.

Detailed information, a full list of team members, high-resolution photos and video clips are available for download at www.polarview.org

For further information: Thomas Puestow, Project Manager, St. John's, NFLD, (709) 737-2586, Thomas.Puestow@polarview.org;. International Organization Enquiries: David Arthurs, Ottawa, ON, (613) 237-2220 ext 331, David.Arthurs@polarview.org;. General Enquiries: Christine Havey, Ottawa,ON, (613) 237-2220 ext 321, info@polarview.org.