James Drummond
Canada Research Chair in Remote Sounding of Atmospheres, Tier 1
Physics & Atmospheric Science
Education
- B.A., Oxford University, Physics, 1972
- D.Phil. Oxford University, Atmospheric Physics, 1977
- M.A. Oxford University, Physics, 1978 (Oxford M.A. degree is honourary - awarded five years after B.A.)
Professional affliliations
- Member, Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society
- Member, American Geophysical Union
- Member, Canadian Association of Physicists
- Member, American Meteorological Society
- Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada
General research areas
- Atmospheric Composition: remote measurements using balloons and satellites
- Atmospheric Radiative Transfer: particularly as applied to remote sensing and atmospheric constituents
Specific projects
Measurements of Pollution In The Troposphere (MOPITT) - An extremely significant part of Dr. Drummond's research effort in the last 12 years has been devoted to the Measurements Of Pollution In The Troposphere (MOPITT) instrument to measure carbon monoxide and methane in the troposphere. The MOPITT project is directly funded by the Canadian Space Agency. The potential rewards of this program are enormous, but the path to success has been long. We launched the instrument on December 18, 1999 and data are now being collected and analysed.
Sub-Doppler Infrared Spectroscopic Studies of Line Shape and Broadening Mechanisms - The collaboration with Dr. May in the Department of Physics at the University of Toronto has been to a great mutual benefit. The construction of the system for stimulated Raman gain/Infrared spectroscopy was beyond our individual capabilities. By combining expertise in experimental design (both), lasers (May) and electronics (Drummond) we have been able to construct a world-class facility. The objective of the infrared laser spectroscopy part of this project is to look at the fine details of the spectral lineshape of molecules of interest in atmospheric remote sensing. The next generation of satellite sensors will be precise enough to require additional information on the line parameters and their variation with pressure.
Middle Atmosphere Nitrogen Trends Assessment (MANTRA) is a project between the University of Toronto, the Atmospheric Environment Service, The Canadian Space Agency and NSERC to fly a payload of instruments on a stratospheric balloon to measure nitrogen compounds, to compare the previous generation of instruments with the new generation, and to validate satellite measurements in the stratosphere. Prof. Strong is the principal investigator for this project and Dr. Drummond is a co-investigator.
The first flight occurred in August 1998 from Vanscoy, Sask. Due to a cut-down malfunction the balloon drifted across about a quarter of the globe to finally land in Finland where the package was successfully recovered and returned. On its way, it attracted a great deal of publicity - especially when the Canadian Air Force failed to hit it although it was about 100m in size. They did in fact hit the package and damage was done by the bullets!
The second flight in August 2000 was smaller, but more successful. Data are currently being analysed.
SCISAT program, Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment (ACE), Fourier Transform Spectrometer (FTS) and Measurements of Aerosol Extinction in the Stratosphere and Troposphere Retrieved by Occultation (MAESTRO) instruments.
The Canadian Space Agency decision to launch a Canadian science satellite (SCISAT) resulted in a competition for the mission which was won by the ACE proposal. That proposal had first one instrument, the FTS which was proposed by Peter Bernath of Waterloo and built by BOMEM of Quebec City and then a second instrument the MAESTRO instrument proposed by Tom McElroy and to be built by EMS technologies of Ottawa. These instruments make stratospheric measurements and Dr. Drummond is a significant co-investigator on both these instruments.
A Mission to the Atmosphere of Mars: The atmosphere of Mars is little-known and there is much exploratory science to be done there. We are working on instrument designs to make these measurements and actively seeking collaborations to actually send instrumentation there. We have some funding from the Canadian Space Agency and CRESTech, and if we are successful in making it onto a mission, we can expect a great deal of activity in this area.
Industrial Research Chair: This is a joint initiative of the University of Toronto, the Canadian Space Agency, the Meteorological Service of Canada, BOMEM, COMDEV and NSERC to expand the activity at the University of Toronto.
The Canadian Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Change (CANDAC) and the Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory (PEARL) This is an endeavour to bring together the researchers in Canada with and interest in atmospheric sensing in a broad sense to form a “supra-university” grouping to access more funding and enable larger projects. Our first major thrust has been to propose the Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory (PEARL) in Canada’s high Arctic at Eureka (80N, 86W). This will be a station to study the atmosphere from 0-100 km using a variety of instrumentation.
Publications
More than 100 refereed articles and 270 papers for symposia. Dr. Drummond is also a popular invited lecturer.
Websites
E-mail: Dr. James Drummond
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Understanding our environment and the atmosphere of other planets
Breathe in – breathe out. Congratulations, you have just conducted a personal experiment in air quality! Atmospheric physicist Jim Drummond’s research is on the same subject, but on the scale of entire planets. Using satellites, balloons, aircraft, and ground-based observations, Drummond studies what’s in the air we breathe and how to keep it clean.
Drummond is a leader in building Canadian satellite experiments, such as MOPITT (Measurements of Pollution in the Troposphere), which is providing a picture of pollution over the entire globe. He also worked on the Canadian SciSat mission looking at ozone levels in the Canadian Arctic, and now leads PEARL (Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory) in Canada’s Far North.
An international leader in space instrument design, testing and deployment, Drummond is using his Canada Research Chair to come up with more effective and more comprehensive ways of monitoring the health of the atmosphere.
The gases and particles Drummond studies are always in very small amounts – often less than one part in a million - but they have a huge influence on our lives. They are the compounds that produce smog, reduce visibility and cause global warming. Knowing how these gases are produced and transported around the planet, and ultimately how they die, is vital to understanding how to maintain the planet in a safe and stable state for humanity.
By developing new, specialized instruments, Drummond and his colleagues are able to take better measurements of the gases and particles in the atmosphere and thus gain a deeper understanding of what is happening to the air. Their research is taking us one step closer to a time when we will have a continuous real-time picture of the atmosphere.
(Source: Canada Research Chairs) |
