UCalgary’s space-weather network becomes key tool in Canada’s northern security strategy

Researchers from the U of C are collaborating with Canada's military, the U.S. navy and NATO through a vast network of space-weather sensors.

As Canada moves to modernize its northern defences and support critical infrastructure in remote regions, University of Calgary researchers say a space-weather network they’ve spent decades developing is emerging as an important national asset.

The Space Weather Adaptive Network (SWAN) consists of 22 high-frequency instruments installed across Canada, Alaska and parts of the Northern United States.

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The instruments – known as hyperspectral riometers – detect how radio waves are absorbed high above Earth.

The systems track space-weather disturbances in the upper atmosphere, providing real-time assessments that can support defence operations, telecommunications and resource-sector activity in the Arctic.

“These units are excellent at measuring the high-energy aurora,” said Dr. Emma Spanswick, associate professor in the department of physics and astronomy and a Canada research chair in geospace dynamics and space plasma physics.

“They are not a camera. They take a single-point measurement of cosmic radio noise that’s able to penetrate through the Earth’s upper atmosphere.”

Data to support defence and critical infrastructure

Researchers say the network is increasingly relevant as Canada modernizes surveillance and communication systems in the north.

Because many Arctic operations rely on satellite-based navigation and communication, space-weather disturbance such as geomagnetic storms can interfere with everything from GPS to satellite signals used by aviation, shipping, emergency services and remote communities.

“It allows Canada better situational awareness and informed decision making in terms of the security and sovereignty of our Arctic environment,” said Dr. Susan Skone, professor in the department of geomatics engineering and associate vice-president (research) at UCalgary.

“They measure a region, the low-altitude near-Earth space environment, that is of particular interest for radio frequency propagation for signals such as radar signals from Canada’s modernized defence systems that are being developed and deployed in our Arctic regions.”

She said data from the instruments can be fed into large-scale models that identify vulnerabilities in technologies Canadians depend on daily.

Skone added that disruptions in the upper atmosphere can compromise navigation systems and satellite-based communication tools used across the country and that this network can aid in making critical adjustments in the years to come.

“The instruments could help Canada plan for the future by monitoring and mitigating risk, predicting what may be needed for critical infrastructure and ultimately providing an assured space domain across Canada’s North,” she said.

Graduate student Shaakira Gadiwan, who has been working on the project since her undergraduate studies, described how the network combines instruments to track propagation paths through the ionosphere.

“Through that, Susan can use that, and her model and we can learn different things about what’s going on above us and just in general become more situationally aware,” she said.

A Canadian-built system with decades of research

The network is the result of more than 40 years of work at the University of Calgary.

Successive generations of scientists, engineers, students and technicians have developed and refined the instruments, creating a fully Canadian-designed system.

“I was not the first one to design these instruments,” Spanswick said.

“They’ve been operating in Canada since the early 80s. What we did do is build the new generation of systems and bring that dual-use application into the newer generation.”

Most of the newer units are hyperspectral riometers developed through the Canada Foundation for Innovation’s SWAN project.

They replace aging single-frequency instruments and are engineered to operate in harsh northern environments.

Today, the network reaches from Prince George, B.C., across the Prairies and into the Far North — including sites in Rankin Inlet, Sachs Harbour and Resolute Bay — and extends west into Yukon and Alaska.

Researchers continue installing the remaining units, with full deployment expected by the end of 2025.

The university says the fact the system and data are Canadian owned is a strategic advantage.

“We’re able to tell the government that we own the instruments, we own the data, we’ve developed the model,” Skone said.

“It’s all made here at the University of Calgary … and we are free to use it for Canada’s interests.”

Expanding value for Canada and its allies

Beyond national defence, the network supports natural resource development, telecommunications planning and scientific research into geomagnetic activity in the upper atmosphere.

Federal agencies and international partners — including Canada’s Department of National Defence, Natural Resources Canada, the U.S. military and NATO — all draw on the research built in Calgary.

With the remaining installations set to come online next year, researchers say the completed SWAN network will give Canada one of the most comprehensive ground-based space-weather monitoring systems in the world.

As geopolitical tensions rise and climate change reshapes the Arctic, the university says having “eyes on the sky” will help Canada better understand the rapidly changing space environment and how it affects life and security on the ground.