Brendan M. Quine D.Phil. (Oxford) Associate Professor of Space Physics This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Research Field: Earth, Atmosphere, Space & Engineering Research Specialization:: Space engineering and planetary physics. Publications

Space missions provide services and products for a wide range of economic sectors and activities. Space based telecommunications system support the bulk of the global communications infrastructure linking countries and continents together and supplying data, voice, and video connections. Space based navigation systems such as GPS are now standard tools for geo-location and surface navigation. Earth observation spacecraft provide massive data resources supporting global economic activity. Space-based radar systems such as RADARSAT are employed to survey land use. Hyperspectral and optical imaging techniques are employed for geological prospecting, farming and flood warning systems. Meteorological systems provide the majority of the basic data used for numerical weather prediction and severe weather warning systems. Environmental satellites generate data on phenomena including air quality, global warming, ozone depletion and human impact. Scientific spacecraft are developed to test and refine fundamental physical theories, such as General Relativity and the Big Bang. Astronomical and exploration missions explore our solar system and the universe, observe star formation, identify planetary systems and map star locations. Biological investigations examine how organisms react to the space environment and search for life beyond Earth. Systems such as the International Space Station provide for a human presence in space to investigate the effects of space flight on people and develop technology to advance space travel. Military missions support the security and defense policies and objective of governments.

These activities are supported by a continuous research effort to develop new instrumentation and technologies compatible with space flight and the harsh space environment. There is also a considerable emphasis on the improvement of process quality and testing methodologies to ensure that systems meet demanding requirements during operation. My research focuses on the development of optical instrumentation, analysis techniques and space test processes to advance planetary research and to improve the performance and reliability of space systems. I am principal investigator for Northern Light, a proposed Canadian mission to lander on the surface of Mars this decade. I am also co-investigator for the MANTRA balloon missions to assess the odd nitrogen chemistry in the stratosphere and a co-investigator for the Can-X Pico-satellite facility. My research can be divided into three principle scientific themes: Earth observation, Mars Exploration and the observation of Extrasolar planetary systems. These initiatives involve the development of both theoretical analysis tools to design instrumentation and to retrieve information from observation data and the development of the hardware needed to make space-based measurements.