Meteorological Service of Canada (MSC)

Our Products

One goal of the MSC modernization process is to ensure that we are focusing on products that meet the priority needs of the people and institutions that turn to us for information. Where necessary, improvements will be made to our products and services through modernization and innovation. We will explore innovative ways to deliver our products and services to the public, private and academic sectors. Our ability to produce high-quality products and services is strongly dependent on the quality and quantity of data we can acquire. As a result, transition funds will be used to invest in rationalizing and modernizing our monitoring systems and to establish Life Cycle Management approaches to facilitate the on-going maintenance and repair of operational field equipment.

We are building on a strong base. Annually, the MSC issues approximately:

• 14,000 severe weather warnings;
• 3,500 ice hazard warnings;
• 500,000 public weather forecasts;
• 200,000 marine weather forecasts; and,
• 400,000 aviation forecasts.

In addition, the MSC produced other more specialized products in 2002-2003, including air quality forecasts and information on ultraviolet rays and wind chill. The following section describes some of the MSC products of 2002-2003.

An MSC meteorologist studies the weather situation over the Arabian Sea

INFO-SMOG: The Summer/Winter Program

INFO-SMOG is a smog forecasting and information program to inform and advise the public when smog concentrations reach or may reach levels that are harmful to human health and the environment. The program also suggests ways for the public to contribute to improved air quality. It is a joint venture with several provincial and municipal agencies in Quebec. INFO-SMOG uses surface ozone concentrations to issue a daily forecast of air quality; its three categories are good, fair and poor. If the air quality is poor, a warning is issued along with a health-related message for people at risk and suggestions for practical action to prevent further degradation of air quality.

In previous years, the program focused on summer air quality. Because specific winter weather conditions may lead to high accumulations of pollutants in the air, a new program, Winter INFO-SMOG, is now available.

Smog in Montreal

Aeronautical Forecasts

During the last year, Canada and the U.S. collaborated on joint products for the aviation industry. Canada joined the U.S. Collaborative Convective Forecast Product (CCFP) under an agreement among NAV CANADA, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the National Weather Service (NWS) and the MSC. Previously limited to the U.S., this product is now available for the Quebec City- Windsor corridor. The program allows aviation stakeholders to become involved in the preparation of a series of charts to make the management of air traffic above 18,000 feet easier.

Another example of our partnership with our neighbour, the Kelowna Mountain Weather Centre began adding content to the Significant Weather High Level Graphics Collaborative Aviation Forecast chart. This is an 18-hour forecast of the significant weather between 25,000 and 63,000 feet over the North Pacific Ocean. Forecast features include jet stream locations, clear air turbulence, thunderstorms, hurricanes and significant warm and cold fronts, any of which pose potential hazards to aviation interests. The chart is produced by the US Aviation Weather Centre in Kansas City with input from US National Weather Service offices in Alaska, Honolulu and Guam, and the MSC in Kelowna.

Air-Quality Modelling: Technology Transfer from Research to Operations

In recent years, we have taken significant steps in using numerically-based chemical transport models for providing assistance and advice to Canadian policy makers in reducing air pollution and for forecasting air quality. The Canadian Hemispheric and Regional Ozone Nitrogen Oxide System (CHRONOS) and A Unified Regional Air-quality Modelling System (AURAMS) are two of a limited number of state-of-the-art air quality modelling systems in the world. The technology transfer of these modelling systems from being research platforms in the MSC has enabled the use of CHRONOS to forecast air quality across all of Canada and across a major portion of North America on a daily basis. Forecast products are used by a number of agencies in North America. AURAMS is being run on a daily basis in an experimental mode to produce improved air quality forecasts (ozone and particulate matter) over eastern North America. AURAMS is also being used to study emissions reduction scenarios in preparation for discussions with the U.S. towards an annex to the Canada/U.S. Air Quality Accord that would address particulate matter.

ref: http://www.msc-smc.ec.gc.ca/aq_smog/chronos_e.cfm

Wind Energy Simulation Toolkit

The Wind Energy Simulation Toolkit (WEST) is a high resolution Canadian wind mapping system developed using the MSC's computer weather prediction infrastructure. We have entered into a partnership with Manitoba Hydro and two industrial partners that will involve the generation of a modernized wind atlas for the portion of Manitoba south of 54 degrees North. Deliverables include a geographic information systems-interfaced high resolution wind grid, representative of the past 50 years, as well as winds at very fine scales.

Local Area Knowledge Aviation Weather Manuals Project

We completed the Local Area Knowledge Aviation Weather Manuals Project in spring 2003. This two-year initiative included the production of six publishing-quality books describing local aviation weather from the Atlantic to Pacific to Arctic Oceans in Canada. The manuals have earned praise from the aviation community, while the project exceeded original expectations and was completed under budget.

The results of this initiative have been presented to many domestic and international audiences. Several national meteorological service and air navigation system representatives from other nations have asked for information and advice in producing such manuals.

Living with Weather on the BC North and Outer Coast

In March 2003, Pacific and Yukon Region published "Living with Weather on the BC North and Outer Coast", with funding from the National Search and Rescue Secretariat. The objective of the book is to facilitate understanding of local wind and wave conditions occurring in the waters of BC's north and outer coast, thus reducing the likelihood that mariners are placed at risk from hazardous weather and sea conditions. In addition this book will help rescuers understand where local conditions are likely to be severe (and where shelter may be found) for the different weather patterns along the BC coast.

The Green Lane^TM,
Environment Canada's World Wide Web Site.