LIAISON Newsletter Volume 1, Number 3
Health Canada to Purchase Two Satellite Data Communication Systems
Health Canada's Radiation Protection Bureau (RPB) is purchasing two portable satellite communication ground stations to support NEPRD's emergency IT infrastructure.
The high-speed satellite data communication systems, approved as a Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) Research and Technology Initiative (CRTI) technology acquisition project, are meant to fill data communication gaps that were identified during the operational use of the division's ARGOS/EMAP systems.
The ministère du Développement durable, de l'Environnement et des Parcs du Québec utilizes portable satellite technology, in its mobile command post.
ARGOS—the Accident Reporting and Guidance Operational System—is an application that integrates all relevant available data sets for nuclear emergency response on a common platform, so that an assessment of the environmental and health impact of a nuclear release can be performed rapidly. Some of the data sets are generated by field teams during the response phase and must be promptly and reliably communicated back to the ARGOS and EMAP systems for assessment and decision-making.
ARGOS became operational in March 2005, and it was implemented by Health Canada with the collaboration of Environment Canada's Canadian Meteorological Centre and other federal partners.
Its companion system, EMAP, is a Web-based geographic information system (GIS) used under the FNEP to distribute ARGOS outputs and integrate GIS functions into FNEP operations.
By using satellite communication stations during an exercise or a real event, the FNEP Technical Advisory Group (TAG) will not have to rely solely on regular telecommunication links to send data from the field operations to the TAG's assessment/response tools.
Regular telecommunications links may be overloaded during an emergency, affected by severe weather, such as ice storms, or simply not be available in remote areas.
The satellite communication stations will also provide RPB with a back-up communication system between partners in the field and the TAG, when normal communication links are disrupted.
For more information, please contact Eric Pellerin, Acting Head of the Technical Assessment and Coordination Section, NEPRD, at eric_r_pellerin@hc-sc.gc.ca
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