Nova Scotia

Atlantic Storm Prediction Centre(Dartmouth, NS)

The Atlantic Storm Prediction Centre (ASPC) provides timely and accurate weather forecasts, warnings and information to the residents of Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, and Iles de la Madeleine. The Centre is staffed 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to reduce risks to Atlantic Canadians from high-impact weather and other weather related environmental hazards. The Centre is also responsible for an air quality forecast program and the marine and sea state forecasts for the maritime waters out to the 200 mile limit, including most of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. In addition to forecasting, staff is also responsible for the operation of the equipment used to disseminate these forecasts and warnings.

The Canadian Hurricane Centre (CHC) is co-located with the ASPC. During the hurricane season forecasters carefully monitor all storms of tropical origin. When a storm begins to threaten Canadian waters or land, specially trained meteorologists in the CHC track the tropical storms and provide guidance to other Canadian storm prediction centres.

Some highlights of the ASPC include:

  • The ASPC lends weather support to emergency response personnel during emergencies, whether on land or at sea.
  • Forecasters at the centre work with many tools and technologies including: Doppler weather radars, weather satellites, observations from a network of upper atmosphere and surface monitors, a network of offshore weather buoys, ship reports, volunteer reports and a variety of computer model output.
  • The cornerstone of the CHC is a workstation using a multitasking, X-Window environment providing the meteorologist with simultaneous displays of satellite imagery, numerical guidance, forecast bulletins, and observational data from around the world. The software program, Hurricane Forecasting Graphical Interface (HURR), enables the forecaster to view historical and real-time tropical cyclone information, plot data, construct storm tracks, and translate track data into text bulletin.
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Centre for Marine Environmental Prediction (CMEP)(Halifax, NS)

Centre for Marine Environmental Prediction

The Centre for Marine Environmental Prediction (CMEP) began in 1998 as an idea shared by principal investigators from the Department of Oceanography at Dalhousie University, Environment Canada and Fisheries and Oceans Canada. 

Initial endorsement of CMEP came from the Canadian Foundation for Innovation in 2001 with an award that enabled establishment of the Marine Environmental Prediction System (MEPS) infrastructure.  Concurrently, Dalhousie University initiated a strategic and highly successful program of recruitment, including the establishment of three Canada Research Chairs in CMEP. Innovative and well-funded research activity accelerated rapidly, multidisciplinary networks of researchers have been established and expanded, and new technologies developed by partners in industry are reaching national and international markets.

The mission of CMEP is to:

  • Develop new technologies for observation, prediction and visualization of the marine environment
  • Test the new technologies in the real world
  • Transfer Technology
  • Train highly qualified personnel
  • Educate the public 

Learn more about the Centre for Marine Environmental Prediction

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Marine Water Quality Microbiology Laboratory at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography(Dartmouth, NS)

Marine Water Quality Microbiology Laboratory at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography

Water quality monitoring has been a core program function of Environment Canada (EC) since the Department’s inception in 1971. The primary role of the Marine Water Quality Laboratory is to support EC's mandate under the Canadian Shellfish Sanitation Program (CSSP). This federal program is delivered jointly by EC, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Fisheries and Oceans Canada.  Its major objective is to protect the public from the consumption of contaminated shellfish by ensuring that bivalve shellfish, such as oysters, clams, mussels and whole scallops, are harvested from waters of acceptable environmental and sanitary quality. The Marine Water Quality Laboratory, and its predecessor, the Shellfish Growing Area Monitoring Program lab has had a presence at the Bedford Institute since 1972.

The ISO/IEC 17025:2005 accredited laboratory performs fecal coliform analysis on marine water samples collected during sanitary and water quality surveys and provides these results to EC Biologists and engineers who assess the environmental suitability of classified shellfish growing areas.  The laboratory also provides microbiological services to other EC programs, such as enforcement, and is recognized for its ability to produce reliable, accurate results.  A 16-metre ISO/IEC-accredited mobile laboratory is also operated out of the Bedford Institute.  Each field season, the lab travels to various locations in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick to support field surveys. 

Learn more about EC’s Marine Water Quality Monitoring Program

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National Laboratory for Marine and Coastal Meteorology(Dartmouth, NS)

The National Laboratory for Marine and Coastal Meteorology was formed in 2004. It is one of six Environment Canada laboratories focussing on meteorological research and is co-located with the Environment Canada Storm Prediction Centre in Dartmouth. Its mission is to provide improved scientific understanding and prediction of high-impact meteorology in marine and coastal environments in Canada.

The Laboratory evolved out of the 1998 Atlantic Environmental Prediction Research Initiative, which increased meteorological research capacity across Canada by following a strategy of multidisciplinary research through collaborations with universities and other partners.

Scientific goals include:

  • Improved prediction of meteorological phenomena associated with tropical and extra-tropical systems
  • Improved prediction of high-impact marine and coastal weather events on sub-synoptic spatial scales
  • Increased physical understanding of ocean-atmosphere interactions

The Laboratory provides research to address scientific issues among Environment Canada's Storm Prediction Centres and to facilitate technology transfer into operations for improved service to Canadians.