H. Peter White
Faculty of Science
Environmental Science
Adjunct Faculty
Environmental Physicist
Phone: 343-543-7301 Email: H._Peter.White@SMU.CA
Dr. White is an alumni of the Department of Astronomy and Physics at Saint Mary's, and is presently a research scientist at the Canada Centre for Remote Sensing Division, Natural Resources Canada in Ottawa, focused on using Earth Observations and remote sensing applications to better characterize our environment. An active member (holding various posts) of the Canadian Remote Sensing Society / Société Canadienne de Télédétection, Dr. White is presently an Associate Editor of the Canadian Journal of Remote Sensing / Journal canadien de télédétection. He is presently lead of the Earth Observation for Cumulative Program's Regional Site Monitoring and Remediation Project, with research ongoing at active and abandoned mine sites across Canada.
Related
Understanding regional impacts of natural resource development and remediation remains key towards properly managing and mitigating the environmental and human-health risks with local community use and increasing climate variability. We are learning these impacts can be both regional and cumulative within their extended surrounding environments. Some sites are remote, requiring regular expensive visits to monitor and regulate, while others are becoming a concern with a changing climate and with the expansion of new land use such as farming, forestry, recreation and residential growth. Wetlands management, fugitive dust distribution, and land cover change are key examples that require regional perspective and monitoring. Use of remote sensing and Earth Observation (EO) further increase our understanding of regional environmental footprints and cumulative impacts. By analyzing this wealth of information, remote sensing can become an important tool supporting environmental monitoring and site remediation. Recent projects related to EO and our environments include mapping and monitoring cumulative impacts of tailings distribution from abandoned mines in Nova Scotia, and at active mining sites in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories.
With advancing development optical (spectral) remote sensing technology for Earth Observations, high spectral resolution imagery is becoming more readily available for application to natural resource exploration and environmental cumulative effects monitoring. By analyzing specific spectral features, remote sensing can now move towards increased accuracy of characterizing change in regional environments and habitats. The increase in spectral resolution provides an information rich source of data. I actively work to advance our capacity to benefit from spectral remote sensing, working to develop methods to improve data quality and to extract quantitative information supporting the monitoring and management of our natural resources.
BSc. (Honours) in Astronomy and Physics at Saint Mary' University (1988)
MSc ('92) in planetary remote sensing and PhD. ('99) in forestry remote sensing and Earth Observation from York University.