Delivery of Predictive Regional Geological Mapping

09 February 2010, 12:10pm

Development of non-renewable resources in northern Canada represents one of the most important economic drivers to provide for the well-being of communities in the North and for the benefit of all Canadians. The project - "Operational Delivery of Predictive Regional Geological Mapping Products from Calibrated and Validated EO-derived Data Sources" - which ended in February 2009, investigated a science-based and structured integration of EO data into the corporate geological mapping practices. A measure of success will be the types of published EO-based geological map products.

Project Leaders

Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) Canada Centre for Remote Sensing (CCRS-NRCan)

Partners include:

Canada-Nunavut Geoscience Office (C-NGO) - (NRCan); Polar Continental Shelf Project (PCSP); A.U.G. Signals Ltd.; Prologic Systems Ltd.; MIR Télédétection inc.

Users are represented by: NRCan Geological Survey of Canada (GSC)

Project Summary

Development of non-renewable resources in northern Canada represents one of the most important economic drivers to provide for the well-being of communities in the North and for the benefit of all Canadians. The natural resources sector constitutes about 13% of the GDP. Energy products comprised 19% and minerals and metals were 12% of the value of exports in 2005. For the same period, over $355M was invested by the private sector in mineral exploration in the three territories (NRCan, 2006). Over half of this activity occurred in Nunavut. Highlights included two new diamond mines opening and environmental reviews are in progress for economic gold and iron deposits. New oil and gas development in Canada is currently dominated by Alberta oil sands and in the Mackenzie Delta with gas exploration and pipeline planning. Less publicized hydrocarbon resources also exist on and off-shore in the Arctic islands. In recent years, these potential resources have received increased attention. Geoscience information is the cornerstone upon which much of these investment decisions are made. One of the roles of the Canada Centre for Remote Sensing is to provide Earth observation (EO) technology development and products to support Earth Science Sector (ESS) decisions about northern geoscience and Canada's natural resources. The availability and consistency EO data sets enables similar geoscience products to be created in different regions of interest and over wider areas than ever before, making EO data an attractive source of information for decision-makers. Delivered through several ESS programs, the goal of this GRIP project is to develop and implement EO based methods for operational product development by NRCan.

Satellites

RADARSAT-2
RADARSAT-1
ENVISAT - ASAR
LANDSAT 7
QUICKBIRD
Benefits

Expected Impacts

- Development of processing and validation protocols for predictive geological maps.

- Improved algorithms for hyperspectral data correction and lithological information extraction in northern environments.

- Integrated optical and radar EO data to provide predictive geological maps to support geoscience mapping projects.

- Increased industry acceptance of EO-based geoscience information products.

Strategic Outcomes

- Development and advancement of information extraction techniques from hyperspectral, radar and multispectral EO data sources.

- Published predictive geological maps primarily based on EO data sources as a result of implementing operational use of EO data sources as part of ESS' geoscience data delivery to the private sector.

- A greater client base and increase in confidence in use of new geoscience information derived from EO data through validation demonstrated from our case study sites.

- Increased benefit to Canadians and the Canadian mineral exploration industry from ESS geoscience data supplied by hyperspectral, multispectral and radar EO systems.

Reference

Theme Resources and Land Use Management
Type Research and Development
Sectors Geology, Oil and Gas
Application themes Surficial mapping, lithological mapping, geological structures, oil-seeps, resource exploration, northern Canada

Further details are available from the Project Manager at Canada Centre for Remote Sensing (CCRS-NRCan) - Paul Budkewitsch
Phone: (613) 947-1331
Fax: (613) 947-1385
E-Mail: paul.budkewitsch@ccrs.nrcan.gc.ca

GRIP Contacts are:
Laurent Giugni
Phone: (450) 926-5765
Fax: (450) 926-4352
E-Mail: Laurent.Giugni@asc-csa.gc.ca

Paul Briand
Phone: (450) 926-6737
Fax: (450) 926-4973
E-Mail: Paul.Briand@asc-csa.gc.ca

Read the full article

Canadian Space Agency

GRIP - Government Related Initiatives Program