The SILA network (which means climate in Inuktitut) is a network of stations for the observation of climate and environmental changes in the North. It is partly thanks to the Programme d'appui au financement d'infrastructures of the Ministère de la Recherche, de la Science et de la Technologie du Québec that the SILA network was established and has grown since its beginnings in the 1980s. Today, the CEN operates about 100 measuring stations in eight bioclimatic zones.

The overall objective of the SILA network is to characterize, quantify and evaluate environmental changes in Quebec and the eastern Canadian Arctic. The network extends along a northern gradient of more than three thousand kilometers. The southernmost stations in the network are located north of Quebec City in the boreal forest, while the northernmost stations are located in the far north of Ellesmere on Ward Hunt Island. All of the instrumental sites are used as references for large research programs in specific bioclimatic zones as well as for studies over larger spatial areas. The observation stations of the SILA network are generally equipped with automatic data acquisition systems and some of them are equipped with satellite transmitters that allow near real-time monitoring.

Map of the network