Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory

Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory (PEARL), in Eureka, Nunavut (80N, 86W), is located in Canada’s high Arctic. The facility enables the undertaking of a wide range of collaborative Arctic atmospheric and climate science studies led by the Canadian university community.

Since there are a great many overpasses by polar orbiting satellites at Eureka, the laboratory’s location makes it especially useful for validating Earth observations measured from space. An example of such a satellite is the Canadian SCISAT/Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment, which was launched in 2003. PEARL is part of the International Arctic Systems for Observation of the Atmosphere, whose objective is to produce a legacy of continuous Arctic observations. PEARL is also one of ten circumpolar Arctic observing sites that make up the ground-based Arctic observing systems.