24 DECEMBER 2015/JANUARY 2016 www.vanguardcanada.com
a
arcTic
by nestor arellano
The little-known research involving snow that can
save Lives in the
aRCtiC
The military and SAR implications
of an NRC research that marries
21st-century technology with an
ancient tracking method
i
n the frigid temperatures of the Arc-
tic, a stranded person exposed to the
elements may only have a few pre-
cious hours or even less to survive.
In calm conditions at -29 C a well-clothed
person may be relatively safe, but a light
breeze of just 40kph can easily make it feel
more like -66 C and pose a severe danger
to exposed flesh within seconds.
"That's why every second counts. A
few minutes could mean the difference
between life and death," says Dr. George
Leblanc, a senior research officer with the
National Research Council (NRC) of Can-
ada. "But if search and rescue teams can
quickly determine which way to go, that
could tip the odds in favour of a lost snow-
mobiler or a stranded hunter."
Through most of his career, Leblanc has
been involved in conducting airborne geo-
physical, environment and defense projects
from initiation to data analysis. Over the
past 13 years, he had led the NRC's air-
borne hyperspectral imaging research.
