June 24, 1999 For Immediate Release

Prince George may become one of the key sites in an international program that will provide unique information on weather patterns in space. This city has been selected by a Canadian research team headquartered at the University of Saskatchewan (U of S) as the location for a radar that will measure weather 200-300km above the ground.

Understanding space weather is important because the performance of satellites is often affected by the weather conditions around them. There are about 700 satellites in orbit and they're critical for media, financial institutions, communication, and military intelligence.

The radar system, which has an antenna array comprised of 20 towers each 50 feet high, will likely be located at a site on Shelley Road. There will be a public information meeting on the project at the Ferndale Tabor Fire Hall on Monday, June 28th, at 7:30pm. U of S researcher George Sofko will be present to answer questions. He'll also be available for media interviews on Tuesday morning.

The Super Dual Auroral Radar Network is being set up around the world. Pairs of radars are being erected in Canada, Iceland, Finland, and Alaska to measure the speed and direction of gas patches in the high atmosphere. Once constructed, the Prince George radar will be paired with a radar currently under construction in Kodiak, Alaska.

"As more satellites go into orbit and as more astronauts work in space knowledge of space weather becomes more important," says Dr Sofko. "That is why ten countries have made major financial contributions to this radar program."

Radar data from the Prince George site will be transmitted directly to UNBC, where the information will be available to UNBC researchers and patched directly to the internet. The data will therefore be available to researchers around the world almost as soon as the measurements are taken.