Paul Hickson
Papers
3
Total Citations
25
H-Index
2
About
Paul Hickson is a pioneering observational astronomer whose work has opened a new frontier for ground-based astronomy: the Canadian High Arctic. His primary research focuses on astronomical site testing, adaptive optics, and the development of innovative instrumentation for robotic telescopes. Hickson’s most significant contribution is his systematic assessment of mountains on northwestern Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, as potential observatory sites. In his landmark 2010 study—cited 19 times—he demonstrated that these peaks, rising over 2,600 meters, sit above a persistent winter thermal inversion, offering cold, dry, dark conditions rivaling those of the Antarctic plateau. To validate this, he developed the *Inuksuit* network of robotic site-testing stations (2008, 2 citations), which autonomously monitor atmospheric conditions in one of Earth’s most extreme environments. Hickson also created the Observatory Control System (OCS), a flexible platform for robotic telescopes applied to orbital debris detection (2019, 4 citations). His work has fundamentally expanded the map of viable astronomical sites, proving that the High Arctic—not just Antarctica—can host world-class observatories, and inspiring a new generation of polar astronomy.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
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