High-resolution Satellite Imagery Applications Denis Collins Research Section Vancouver Forest Region

Project Goals Determine feasibility & effectiveness of locating/mapping resource features using new satellite data Utility of fusion with radar for winter monitoring Linkage with change detection projects

Team/Resources Collaboration between –Research –LIM –Interfor –DSI –FRBC –Inventory branch

Description Acquired 1m b/w and 4m MSS IKONOS imagery 3 different Radarsat-1 images Geocoded images Visual interpretation using Natural, NIR, and PCA analysis FOR MORE INFO...

Radarsat-1/IKONOS coverage Radarsat-1 F1 scene covers 50 x 50 km IKONOS scene covers 55 km 2. AOI Escalante and Hesquiat watersheds

Radarsat-1 image Large landslides difficult to differentiate

Radarsat-1 Findings: –weather independent but requires expert knowledge not available throughout organization –resolution not sufficient for mapping large landslides

Ikonos specs Revisit schedule varies from 1-3 days 11 km swath width Orbits at altitude of 680 km

IKONOS Strengths: –Provides good input for mapping, inventorying, monitoring, surveying –Information captured in digital format plus provides NIR and spectral information –Allows digital processing/interpretation –11 bit data better for shadowed areas Weaknesses –Cost –Not stereo (Quickbird will have capability) –Cloud cover

DEM capability

Vegetation monitoring MSS provides spectral information in visible and NIR parts of electromagnetic spectrum Differences in reflectance denote different vegetation –green-up –free growing –Forest health

Vegetation

Ikonos - RGB image

Ikonos Imagery Examples NIR image of landslide area –revegetation –landslide classification –incipient landslides

Predictive mapping

Tenure Mapping

NIR for NAR of VR block

CWD volume estimation

Roads Deactivation monitoring Inventory Infrastructure calculations for input to TSR’s

Accuracy Image overlain with GPS points 1.1 to 11.5 m Some distortion at edges of image

Smearing due to Ortho software

Imagery Cost

Costs Image acquisition cost –Current price = $0.21/ha –$3360/1:20,000 map sheet –Image will have < 20% cloud cover Image processing/orthorectification cost ($1500 for average scene)

Current Status Barkley Sound TFL to TSA conversion project –Very little current data –235 km 2 costing $5272 Quickbird-2 will have stereo capability, 0.61m Pan/2.5m MSS Hyperspectral capabilities with 256 channels eg. Aster

CONCLUSIONS High-resolution satellite imagery is a new tool that can be used cost effectively. For aerial coverage - the sky is no longer the limit !