York researchers have received funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI). The financial support will fund critical research infrastructure in earth and atmospheric science for air quality/air pollution forecasting on regional and global scales.
Professor John (Jack) McConnell (right) of the Department of Earth & Space Science and Engineering in the Faculty of Pure & Applied Science, who is the principal investigator, received $2,310,565 from CFI for the project "A Community Approach to Multiscale Air Quality Modelling and Forecasting".
More about the project
Air quality is important for good health and, with the increase in computer power and advances in remote sensing techniques from both ground level and satellite platforms, there is a need to develop new and innovative approaches to air quality modelling. These approaches should exploit the synergism that can result from the bringing together of models and measurements.
This initiative will, through promoting such synergies, develop new numerical and experimental methods to achieve excellence in air quality understanding and forecasting on urban, regional and global scales. Infrastructure for the project will consist of atmospheric sensors, facilities for the development of advanced sensors, and computers to improve understanding and ability to do air quality forecasting.
York University faculty members on the research team include Qiuming Cheng, Ian McDade, Diane Michelangeli, John Miller, Norm O'Neill, Spiros Pagiatakis, Brian Solheim, James Whiteway, Jacek Kaminski, Vincent Tao and Gordon Shepherd. Université de Sherbrooke, Que., is a collaborative partner to the project.
What is CFI?
The Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) is an independent corporation established by the Government of Canada in 1997, with a goal to strengthen the capability of Canadian universities, colleges, research hospitals, and other not-for-profit institutions to carry out world-class research and technology development.