Satellite map will aid in managing Alberta's vital resources (2/16/2008)

This comprehensive snapshot of Alberta's land mass will be updated in 2010.

Every nook and cranny of the province, from its forests to its foothills, has for the first time been recorded on a unique map by the University of Alberta.

The project, led by professor Arturo Sanchez-Azofeifa of the U of A Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, was nine years in the making and marks the first time the entire province's land cover has been mapped in satellite imagery.

The project will be vital to helping the province face growing challenges of integrated resource management, said Sanchez-Azofeifa.

"This is the first time we can see the whole picture of where we live," he said. "The map records natural land sites, including coniferous and deciduous forests, wetlands, crop lands, grasslands, commercial and industrial parks, major roads, clearcuts, even burn sites."

"It's a comprehensive snapshot of Alberta's land mass that will help government, researchers and resource managers support the development of sustainable land-use policies in years to come."

The map can be used in many ways, from helping the province pinpoint the impact of forest fires, to plotting water, oil and gas management, to helping forestry companies plan woodlot management, all with a bird's-eye view. The map will also be available to researchers at the U of A and other institutions, Sanchez-Azofeifa said.

Sanchez-Azofeifa and his research co-ordinator, Mei Mei Chong, created the map under the auspices of the U of A's Centre for Earth Observation Sciences, and were recently awarded the Canadian Forest Service Merit Award for their work. The Alberta project is also part of a nation-wide map assembled by Natural Resources Canada's Earth Observation for Sustainable Development of Forests project.

The high-definition imagery on the brightly colour-coded map is 1.5 gigabytes in size, and can provide details as specific as pipeline locations. The map is based on images from NASA's Landsat 7 satellite, circa 2000, and will be updated in 2010, but in the meantime provides the most comprehensive imagery available for the many different characteristics of Alberta's land mass.

To confirm the map's imagery, about 3,000 field sites across the province were visited by experts over the past nine years, identifying Alberta's vegetation inventory.

Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by the University of Alberta

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