High-performance computing, visualization, and GIS system for radar remote sensing

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The equipment requested in this proposal is to support my submitted NSERC Discovery Grant proposal entitled, "Radar remote sensing and geological analysis of planetary surfaces."  As a new faculty member in the Department of Geology at the University of Toronto, I am establishing a remote sensing laboratory for use in the projects described in the associated Discovery Grant proposal.  The core element of this laboratory is the high-performance computing system described herein.  This system consists of: 1) for radar processing and modelling, a high-speed quad-processor Apple Mac Pro desktop computer OS X server; 2) for GIS applications, a high-speed dual-processor Dell workstation running Microsoft Windows XP and a full suite of GIS software; 3) for data archiving and accessibility, a 7 Terabyte X-serve RAID data archiving system; and 4) for hard copy data visualization and dissemination of results, a large-format color plotter.  There is no equivalent system available elsewhere at the University of Toronto or nearby.  The remote sensing data analysis system will be housed in laboratory space allocated to me by the Department of Geology, and will be accessible remotely or in person by students and colleagues involved in this work.  The requested system will allow students to participate in processing and analysis of radar data from the Moon and Mars using the software installed on the server.  They will also have access to the full suite of GIS software on the Dell system, which they will use to analyze the planetary data and field-based radar data from the high Arctic of Canada.  Through this work, students will gain experience with a) remote sensing data collection and processing; b) geological interpretations from remote sensing data; c) integration of multiple datasets in a GIS framework; d) creating visualization products and dissemination of results; and e) data archiving.  All of these skills will be valuable for students seeking employment in academics or in industry in fields such as mineral exploration, environmental mitigation, urban planning, or engineering.