We are located on the upper floor of the Wallace Building at the University of Manitoba's Fort Garry campus. We are home to numerous offices, as well as labs and equipment for analysis of field samples.
Dry Lab
The dry lab is mainly used for gas analysis and carbon dioxide exchange studies. Scientists also build and assemble electrical circuits to be used in their projects.
Wet Lab
In the wet lab, water samples are processed and tested. Measurements include nutrient levels, turbidity, dissolved organic matter, and pH.
Cold Lab
The cold lab, at -26°C, allows scientists to work with snow and ice samples while retaining their natural properties. Ice cores are brought in from the field and their microstructure is analyzed in this lab.
Calibration Lab
In the calibration lab, scientists set up, test, and calibrate equipment such as scatterometers (which measure the amount of energy the Earth's surface reflects) and radiometers (which measure the power of infrared radiation). It is also the lab where technical troubleshooting of instrumentation takes place.
Our equipment includes:
- Radiometer Systems: 19, 37, and 85 GHz passive microwave radiometers, with three axis positions and associated computer control and data acquisition hardware and software. Custom manufactured by Radiometrics.
- Scatterometer system: L and C band polarimetric active microwave scatterometers, with three axis position and associate computer control and data acquisition hardware and software. Custom manufactured by ProSensing.
- Extended range spectrometer: ASD FieldSpec Pro FS/A110070, 2.5 m cable.
- UV/NVIR range spectrometer: ASD Field spectroradiometer
- Dual headed spectrometer: ASD FieldSpec Pro Dual VNIR kit
- BayLiner 242 Classic Cruiser (Rho-lambda)
- Two snow machines
- ATV
- Two paragliders
- Air/ice boat (Skippy)
- Two 7-section parcols
- 2 magnetic linear snow depth probes with loggers
- 250, 500 and 100 MHz ground penetrating radar (GPR)
Sea-Ice Environmental Research Facility (SERF)
The Sea-ice Environmental Research Facility (SERF) is the first experimental sea-ice facility in Canada. Located on the campus of the University of Manitoba, the main feature of SERF is an outdoor seawater pool, equipped with a movable roof to control snow cover and ice growth, and various sensors and instruments to allow real-time monitoring.
