U of T physics graduate Dr. Tom McElroy is getting ready to send a MAESTRO into space on board the first Canadian science satellite to be launched in almost 30 years.
MAESTRO is the name of an innovative instrument that measures the quantity of ozone and pollutants in the Earth’s upper atmosphere. McElroy and his colleagues at the Meteorological Service of Canada developed it using advanced optics and fancy computerized light detectors.
The device looks at sunlight that passes close to the Earth and through the atmosphere. By diffracting that light onto a detecting array, MAESTRO can measure the individual wavelengths of this light.
Then, by tracking which wavelengths are absorbed, scientists can infer the types of chemicals that are present in the atmosphere.
From space, MAESTRO can monitor greenhouse gases, aerosols and other airborne pollutants. But most importantly, it will let researchers measure the ozone layer, the thin layer of gas high in our atmosphere that protects us from deadly ultraviolet radiation.
McElroy predicts that this new tool will help solve the mystery of why there is so much local variation in ozone layer thickness; why “holes” exist, like those over the North and South poles, instead of a uniform thinning across the entire sky.
Previous versions of MAESTRO have flown on high-altitude NASA airplanes and on weather balloons. The success of those missions convinced the Canadian Space Agency that an orbiting instrument was worthwhile.
Once aloft, the satellite’s orbit path will allow it to analyze the entire planet every few weeks. McElroy says the new MAESTRO should be in space later this year.
The name “MAESTRO” is short for “Measurements of Atmospheric Extinction in the Stratosphere and Troposphere Retrieved by Occultation.” Although tongue-in-cheek, the name actually is fairly accurate, reminded McElroy.
