Earth observation is hitting its stride: MDA

A senior MDA executive says Earth observation (EO) is "on the brink of a really integrated and operational era" due to continued efforts from his company and others around the world. Within Canada, MDA is famous for its RADARSAT series of satellites – RADARSAT-1 (no longer operational after exceeding its design life), RADARSAT-2 (still working well after more than a dozen years in space) and the newly launched (in 2019) RADARSAT Constellation, a trio of three satellites carrying on the series' tradition of observing Earth in synthetic aperture radar. The satellites have become crucial for tracking changes to the Earth's surface in Canada, particularly for fast-moving natural disasters such as flooding, or the ongoing process of global warming that is changing isolated northern regions where it is harder to monitor things on the ground. Fortunately for Canadians, Paul Kennedy – who delivered a keynote speech at the online GeoIgnite conference Thursday (July 23) – describes himself as an "EO nerd." Kennedy has been with MDA for 22 years working with Canadian and international governments, as well as resource industries such as energy, mining and commercial satellite operators. He is currently the vice-president of Earth observation systems for MDA. "I'm old enough to have met a number of the pioneers of Earth observation and real drivers of the last generation of observation thinking," Kennedy said. "Luckily, I'm young enough to know a number of the next generation who are going to take up that baton and really run with it." Kennedy said he is proud of MDA's long legacy of EO, but is also looking forward to growing Canada's next generation of observatories. Canada is a large country with a small population and accordingly small space budget, he acknowledged, but he said there are still ways to accelerate EO through creative thinking. MDA alone has a 51-year history in the geospatial industry in both civil and defence applications, with applications ranging from aviation to meteorology, he said. The public is aware of MDA's contributions as its technology has been featured in places such as the $5 bill (which has Canadarm2 and Dextre) as well as numerous Canada Post stamps. "That really helps to illustrate the legacy of space and the importance of space in Canada, and that's what we need to build on," Kennedy said. But there are lesser-known contributions as well that Canadians have made, particularly in the realm of international partnerships. Kennedy pointed to the long-running Landsat program that began in the United States in the 1970s to do EO worldwide. Canada installed ground receiving stations (Kennedy showed two in Saskatchewan as well as Newfoundland and Labrador) and signed on as a partner in 1971, committed to gathering information from "coast to coast to coast," Kennedy said. Another notable contribution was SeaSat, which was designed to do remote sensing of the Earth's oceans using synthetic aperture radar. MDA received an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) award for doing the first digital processing of a spaceborne SAR image, out of the Richmond office. Seasat spacecraft with sensors. Credit: NASA JPL. More recently, the Canadian Ice Service is a global leadership centre in ice mapping and ice analysis, which is essential for ships in the north – or even ships navigating southern Canadian waters in winter – to bring supplies to and from our country. Patrolling these remote areas is just one of the reasons "why Canada became such a leader" in EO, Kennedy said. Missions in Canada such as the RADARSAT series, he added, are known for "very high image quality, flexibility, reliability and service levels, [as well as] innovative models for supporting government and commercial users around the world." Going forward, Kennedy said Canada should build on its strength in operations to help users "make smarter decisions and make better decisions." As an example, he pointed to PCI Geomatics' long leadership in image processing, where Kennedy "cut his teeth" as a student in the early 1990s. Rapidly changing technology in EO also needs to be addressed he said, through continuing to train personnel in highly specialized roles. He also recommended EO users in Canada review the Canadian Space Agency's recent space-based EO engagement paper for recommendations and best practices industry could follow. "These are all very important, right?" he said. "When we think about sustainable agriculture, healthy Canadian security, sovereignty and defense, climate change response being a theme throughout competitive resource sectors and clean water, these are all places where space-based Earth observation can really weigh in and support, and they're clearly of huge importance to Canadians." Kennedy said that supporting the Canadian EO community takes three steps – a strategy, a prioritization process and funding – which would not only be subject to Canadian government priorities, but could also be opened up through international partnerships, he said. Academia and industry should also be considered as partners for operations as well as research and development. Kennedy also called for using the tools of purpose, thought leadership and diversity for getting engagement in the EO community. That engagement is already happening, he added – something like 170 people participated in Wednesday's (July 22) GeoIgnite alone – but a "community of practice" through industry, academia and government would keep the interest sustained. Space itself, he added, hooks you in after a launch or after the first dataset is downloaded. "People see that and feel that and they're pulled tighter into our network trainings," he said. One way in which MDA is engaging the industry is through the MDA LaunchPad program designed to give small business and academia direct access to MDA leadership to grow the company's partner ecosystem.