Progress of the Canadian ERTS program is provided along with statistics on the production and role of ERTS images both from the CCRS in Ottawa and from the Prince Albert Saskatchewan satellite station. The types of products, difficulties of production and some of the main applications in Canada are discussed

Mcquillan, A. K.

Morley, L. W.

English

NASA Technical Reports Server

CANADIAN ERTS PROGRAM PROGRESS REPORT 
L. W. Morley and.A. K. McQuillan, Canada Centre for Remote Sensing, Department of Energy, Minesand 
Resources, Ottawa, Canada 
ABSTRACT 
This  paper  r e p o r t s  on t h e  progress  of t h e  
Canadian ERTS program providing s t a t i s t i c s  
on t h e  product ion and r o l e  of ERTS images 
both  from t h e  CCRS i n  O t t a w a  and from t h e  
P r ince  Albe r t  Saskatchewan s a t e l l i t e  s t a t i o n .  
The types  of products ,  d i f f i c u l t i e s  of 
product ion and some of t h e  m a i n  a p p l i c a t i o n s  i n  
Canada are d iscussed .  
Under a 4-yr. c o l l a b o r a t i v e  agreement between t h e  United 
States and Canada, t h e  Canada Centre  f o r  R e m o t e  Sensing 
r eads  o u t  and d i s t r i b u t e s  t h e  ERTS d a t a  of Canada. 
The Canadian r ece iv ing  s t a t i o n  i s  a t  Pr ince Albe r t ,  Saskatchewan 
(Fig.  I) shows t h e  range circle of t h i s  s t a t i o n .  The MSS d a t a  
of Canada are recorded on h igh  d e n s i t y  magnetic t a p e  and then  
immediately played back through t h e  Quick Look Cathode Ray tube  
r eco rde r  where a l l  t h e  uncorrected images are photographed on to  
70 mm. b lack  and white  f i l m .  9 x 9 enlargements are made from 
t h i s  f i l m  and are s o l d  a t  a d o l l a r  a p r i n t  by Don F i s h e r  and 
Assoc ia t e s ,  a p r i v a t e  c o n t r a c t o r  who was awarded t h i s  f r anch i se .  
M e  does t h e  photographic  process ing  a t  t h e  s t a t i o n  i n  P r ince  
Albe r t  and m a i l s  t h e  cop ie s  d i r e c t l y  t o  h i s  customers from 
t h e r e  w i t h i n  t w o  days of t h e  s a t e l l i t e  pas s .  
Immediately a f t e r  t h e  Quick Look information is e x t r a c t e d ,  t h e  
t a p e s  are a i r  expressed  t o  Ottawa where they  a r e  played through 
t h e  ground d a t a  handl ing system onto  e l e c t r o n  beam reco rde r s  
provid ing  a l l  4 bands and fa l se  co lour  images f o r  d i s t r i b u t i o n  
by t h e  Nat iona l  A i r  Photo Library .  The Nat iona l  A i r  Photo 
L ib ra ry ,  Reproduction Centre ,  l o c a t e d  i n  t h e  same b u i l d i n g  
as t h e  CCRS Ground Data Handling Centre ,  i s  f u l l y  equipped with 
automatic  f i l m  process ing  equipment fo r  b lack  and whi te  and 
co lour  reproduct ion  i n  q u a n t i t y .  
I n v e s t i g a t o r s  i n  Canada are n o t  c e n t r a l l y  funded by t h e  
Canada Centre  f o r  R e m o t e  Sensing. They must seek t h e i r  funding 
from t h e  appropr i a t e  mission-oriented agency whether such 
ageccy is i . n _  the federal government,any of t h e  p r o v i n c i a l  
governments, t h e  u n i v e r s i t i e s  o r  p r i v a t e  indus t ry .  CCRS does 
carry o u t  research  i n  t h e  methodology of i n t e r p r e t a t i o n  both of 
t h e  analogue and d i g i t a l  a n a l y s i s  kind. 
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https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19740022594 2020-03-17T15:17:12+00:00Z
Fig .  I1 shows t h e  o rgan iza t ion  o f  t h e  CCRS and i t s  committee 
s t r u c t u r e .  W e  communicate wi th  u s e r s  d i r e c t l y  and also 
through t h e  working groups which are organized  bo th  by 
geographic r eg ion  and by d i s c i p l i n e .  The working groups 
meet independent ly  about  3 t i m e s  a y e a r  t o  i n i t i a t e  remote 
sens ing  pro jec ts  and t o  make recommendations. The heads o f  
t h e  working groups m e e t  once a y e a r  and make recommendations t o  
t h e  CCRS. 
A l a r g e  Canadian symposium on remote sens ing  i s  h e l d  once every  
t w o  yea r s .  The n e x t  one w i l l  be  h e l d  a t  t h e  Un ive r s i ty  o f  Guelph 
A p r i l  30 - May 2 ,  1974. 
Ground Data Handling Centre  Production 
Since t h e  ERTS-1 launch on J u l y  23, 1972, about  25,000 scenes  
of Canada have been recorded.  Of t h e s e ,  10,428 scenes  have 
been t r a n s l a t e d  i n t o  images i n  a l l  4 bands and have been p l aced  
i n  inventory .  976 f a l s e  co lou r  scenes  and 111 computer compatible 
t apes  have been produced. The reason  f o r  t h e  l a r g e  backlog has  
been the u n r e l i a b i l i t y  of  t h e  e l e c t r o n  beam reco rde r s .  These are 
going t o  be  r e - fu rb i shed  and l a t e r  r ep laced  by a colour laser-beam 
image reproducer .  
Tota l  number of  ERTS images produced by 
t h e  Na t iona l  A i r  Photo L ib ra ry  
Th i s  w a s  i n  response  t o  1159 o r d e r s  f o r  
d a t a .  
272,800 
Tota l  product ion  of b lack  and wh i t e  
Quick Look images by Donald F i s h e r  & 
Associates a t  P r i n c e  A l b e r t  i s  about  
9 x 9 b l ack  and whi te  images. 
50,000 
Map Corrected Imagery 
The Ground Data Handling System i n  O t t a w a  w a s  designed w i t h  t h e  
c a p a b i l i t y  of producing map-corrected images. Because o f  t h e  
i n s t a b i l i t y  o f  t h e  e l e c t r o n  beams i n  t h e  r e c o r d e r s ,  i t  h a s  n o t  
been p o s s i b l e  t o  produce a c c u r a t e l y  c o r r e c t e d  images. T h i s  
program w i l l  be resumed a f t e r  d e l i v e r y  o f  t h e  laser  beam image 
reproducer i n  September 1 9  7 4 .  
E. A .  Fleming of  t h e  Surveys and Mapping Branch d i d  a s t u d y  of 
t h e  p l a n i m e t r i c  accuracy of an ERTS image c o r r e c t e d  f o r  e a r t h  
r o t a t i o n  only .  She found t h a t  t h i s  image compared favourably  
i n  accuracy t o  t h e  s t a n d a r d  1:1,000,000 t opograph ica l  map 
published by t h e  Surveys and Mapping Branch. The s t a n d a r d  
dev ia t ion  w a s  less than  a m i l l i m e t e r  on a number of p o i n t s  o v e r  
t h e  whole image. The p r a c t i c a l  r e s u l t  of t h i s  is  t h a t  it i s  
p o s s i b l e  t o  mosaic ERTS images t h a t  have t h i s  c o r r e c t i o n  made 
while uncorrec ted  images produce u n s a t i s f a c t o r y  mosaics. 
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I 
15 
Quick Look Images 
The Quick Look images produced a t  P r ince  Albe r t  u t i l i z e  
t h e  f u l l  2,400 l i n e s  of t h e  MSS b u t  they  on ly  have about  h a l f  
t h e  r e s o l u t i o n  of t h e  images produced by t h e  e l e c t r o n  beam 
reco rde r s  i n  t h e  Ground Data Handling system a t  O t t a w a .  
The b i g  advantage of t h e  Quick Look i s  t h a t  t h e r e  i s  no 
backlog,  a l l  o r b i t s  are  processed  immediately and t h e  on ly  
l i m i t a t i o n  i s  t h e  speed of t h e  m a i l  d e l i v e r y .  Facs imi le  
s e r v i c e  i s  a v a i l a b l e  a t  P r ince  Albe r t  w i th  some cons ide rab le  
loss o f  r e s o l u t i o n .  
reconnaissance people .  
I t  i s  used i n  a l i m i t e d  way by t h e  ice 
P l a n s  f o r  t h e  f u t u r e  of  P r ince  Albe r t  c a l l  f o r  upqrading o f  t h e  
r e s o l u t i o n  of  t h e  Quick Look system, t h e  i n s t a l l a t i o n  of 
automatic  photo p rocess ing  equipment, t h e  s e t t i n g  up of a 
microf iche s e r v i c e  on a l l  ERTS imagery of  Canada and earth 
r o t a t i o n  c o r r e c t i o n .  New h i g h e r  r e s o l u t i o n  f a c s i m i l e  equipment 
may be i n s t a l l e d  if t h e r e  i s  a demand f o r  it. 
Donald F i s h e r  and Associates p lan :  t o  produce microf iche  c a r d s  
con ta in ing  Quick Look images of  each d a y ' s  o r b i t s  o v e r  Canada. 
Subsc r ibe r s  w i l l  g e t  365 c a r d s  per y e a r  and a l l  images, c louds  
o r  no t ,  w i l l  be shown i n  one band. The images w i l l  a l l  be 
annotated wi th  t h e  o r b i t  number (1 - 75)  and t h e  immage c e n t r e  
number (1 - 31)  as w e l l  as t h e  date ,  F ig .  111. I f  he  wants t o  
o r d e r  e i t h e r  a 9 x 9 Quick Look image o r  a h igh  r e s o l u t i o n  
image from Ottawa he simply r e f e r s  t o  t h e  image number and 
da te .  This  should e l i m i n a t e  a l o t  o f  t h e  p r e s e n t  confus ion  about  
t r y i n g  t o  s p e c i f y  % cloud cover  and i d e n t i f y i n g  t h e  c o r n e r s  
of the  a r e a  by l a t i t u d e  and long i tude .  The u s e r  w i l l  know e x a c t l y  
what he  i s  g e t t i n g .  
I t  s t r i k e s  m e  t h a t  such a data d i s semina t ion  system would be 
use fu l  i n  meeting t h e  demands of  sensed  n a t i o n s  who are  
i n s i s t i n g  on g e t t i n g  cop ie s  of d a t a  ove r  t h e i r  count ry  and who 
want it be fo re  t h i r d  p a r t i e s  see it .  The system has  t h e  
advantage of being q u i c k ,  cheap and methodica l ly  indexed by d a t e  
and a rea .  
Ground Data C o l l e c t i o n  P la t forms  
T o  d a t e  1 4  DCP u n i t s  have been i n s t a l l e d  and t e s t e d  a t  v a r i o u s  
l o c a t i o n s  ac ross  Canada. F i g .  I V .  R e l i a b l e  d a t a  r e t r i e v a l  from 
a l l  u n i t s  was demonstrated. The Water Resources Branch of t h e  
Department of t h e  Environment h a s  9 u n i t s  measuring r i v e r  
v e l o c i t y ,  water  l e v e l ,  p r e c i p i t a t i o n ,  i ce  t h i c k n e s s  and i c e  
movement. The Mackenzie River  d a t a  i s  used by t h e  r i v e r  boat 
t r a f f i c  and t h e  Columbia r i v e r  d a t a  t o  forecast  runoff  fo r  dam 
c o n t r o l .  
The Canada Centre  f o r  In l and  Waters uses  i t s  p l a t f o r m s  t o  monitor  
water q u a l i t y  i n  Lake Ontar io .  
monitors p r e c i p i t a t i o n ,  humidi ty ,  a i r  and w a t e r  t e m p e r a t u r e  a t  
The Atmospheric Environment S e r v i c e  
16 
i t s  i n s t a l l a t i o n s .  Appl ica t ions  for 6 new u n i t s  w i l l  be made 
soon. 
I Data a r e  recorded a t  CCRS on magnetic t a p e  from t h e  
Goddard te lephone l i n e  i n  p a r a l l e l  with a hard copy p r i n t  o u t .  
Each morning t h e  d a t a  a r e  p u t  i n t o  the PDP-10 computer a t  CCRS 
where it i s  s o r t e d ,  converted i n t o  engineer ing u n i t s  and s t o r e d  
on a use r  d i sc  f i l e s .  The use r  may then r e t r i e v e  h i s  d a t a  i n  
I hard copy through Telex from any loca t ion  i n  Canada. 
The d a t a  re t ransmiss ion  system through CCRS has  been ope ra t ing  
s ince  January 1973  t o  the  complete s a t i s f a c t i o n  of a l l  u s e r s  
t o  da t e .  U s e r s  a r e  looking forward t o  expanding t h e  number of 
u n i t s .  
Some Demonstrated and P o t e n t i a l  Economic Bene f i t s  
1. The A r c t i c  
(a)  Seismic survey s h i p s  opera t ing  i n  t h e  A r c t i c  r e q u i r e  
informat ion  on ice  cond i t ions  of t h e  type  provided by 
ERTS, t h a t  i s  a broad enough coverage t o  show t h e  gene ra l  i ce  
cond i t ions  i n  t h e  a r e a  b u t  of h igh  enough r e s o l u t i o n  t o  
ensure  t h e  s h i p s  can run s t r a i g h t  survey l i n e s .  This  summer, 
because of ERTS imagery, one survey company o p e r a t i n g  i n  
Norwegian Bay was a b l e  t o  survey an a r e a  it would n o t  have 
o therwise .  Quick-look ERTS imagery obta ined  2 days a f t e r  
passage o f t h e  s a t e l l i t e  showed t h e  presence of  open water 
beyond a l a r g e  ice  f l o e  and  was u s e f u l  t o  t h e  c a p t a i n  i n  
nav iga t ing  wi th in  t h e  f l o e .  The information which could 
n o t  be obta ined  from h e l i c o p t e r  suppor t  on board t h e  s h i p  
because of t h e  e x t e n t  of  t h e  f l oe ,  permi t ted  survey of an 
a d d i t i o n a l  75 m i l e s  which r ep resen ted  over  $ 1 0 0 , 0 0 0  
a d d i t i o n a l  revenue t o  t h e  company. They also know i n  
h i n d s i g h t  f r o m  ERTS imagery of a t  least  250 o t h e r  m i l e s  
r e p r e s e n t i n g  c lose  t o  $ 4 0 0 , 0 0 0 ,  they  could have surveyed 
wi th  t h e  one s h i p  s t a t i o n e d  i n  t h e  a r e a  had they  been able 
t o  r ece ive  coverage i n  a more t ime ly  manner. They a r e  
t h e r e f o r e  examining p o s s i b i l i t i e s  of r e l ay ing  ERTS images 
d i r e c t l y  t o  t h e i r  s h i p s  from Pr ince  Alber t .  
This  company expec ts  t h a t  ERTS w i l l  a l s o  be va luab le  t o  
them i n  t h e i r  w in te r  seismic s t u d i e s .  They have been 
s tudy ing  ice  floes moving down and conso l ida t ing  so they 
w i l l  have information on ice type  and s u r f a c e  roughness. 
This  w i l l  a i d  t h e  company i n  dec id ing  where t o  t ake  
c o n t r a c t s  f o r  w in te r  surveys and what type  of equipment 
t o  use. 
(b)  Ice Forecas t ing  Cen t ra l  of the Department of t h e  Environment 
has  recommended t h a t  Apr i l  a i r c r a f t  f l i g h t s  used  t o  
determine ice c n n d - i t i o n s  i n  the Arct-ic he rp;pl.a.ced by 
ERTS quick-look imagery. The f l i g h t s  u t i l i z e  about 50 
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2. 
3 .  
hours  a t  a cost  of about $ 5 0 , 0 0 0  compared t o  a cost  
of ERTS imagery of $ 1 , 5 0 0 .  The imagery w i l l  permi t  
an i n i t i a l  a n a l y s i s  of  ice cond i t ions  f o r  t h e  s e a s o n a l  
ou t look  and permit  t h e  May a i r c r a f t  f l i g h t s  t o  
concen t r a t e  on key a r e a s  so def ined .  Ice F o r e c a s t i n g  
C e n t r a l  recommends t h a t  ERTS imagery be ob ta ined  from 
A p r i l  through September t o  g ive  inc reased  informat ion  
about  i c e  c o n d i t i o n s  and permi t  a b e t t e r  deployment of 
reconnaissance  a i r c r a f t .  
( c )  In  1 9 7 2  a geophys ica l  survey company s p e n t  6 weeks i n  
d i f f i c u l t y  i n  ice-congested waters  i n  and nea r  B a r r o w  
S t r a i t .  B e l l o t  S t r a i t ,  an a l t e r n a t e  r o u t e  was open f o r  
4 days and navigable  f o r  some t i m e  beyond t h a t  w i th  ice  
breaker suppor t .  I n  t h i s  r eg ion  ERTS has  5 - 6 consecu t ive  
days of ove r l ap  o u t  of 18. The p r o b a b i l i t y  of  o b t a i n i n g  
a u s e f u l  ERTS photo showing t h e  ice  f r e e  cond i t ions  of  
B e l l o t  S t r a i t  ( t a k i n g  i n t o  account  c loud cover )  w a s  then  
about  1 0 % .  B a r r o w  S t r a i t  which w a s  c lo sed  i n  would be 
covered by a d i f f e r e n t  series of o r b i t s  so t h a t  t h e  
p r o b a b i l i t y  of o b t a i n i n g  in fo rma t ion  which would have 
he lped  t h e  s h i p  w a s  a t  l e a s t  t w i c e  t h a t  o r  2 0 % .  The 
company b e l i e v e  they  could have saved 1 . 5  m i l l i o n  d o l l a r s  
w i t h  b e t t e r  in format ion  on ice  c o n d i t i o n s  i n  t h e  area. 
ERTS gave a 2 0 %  p r o b a b i l i t y  of  p rov id ing  t h i s  i n fo rma t ion .  
ERTS imagery i s  being used i n  Saskatchewan i n  mapping f o r e s t  
f i r e  burns.  4 2  burns across t h e  n o r t h e r n  p a r t  of  t h e  p rov ince  
are be ing  mapped. He l i cop te r s  have been used i n  t h e  p a s t  i n  t h e  
mapping of such burns.  Using approximate va lues  f o r  h e l i c o p t e r  
t i m e  of one hour p e r  burn f o r  mapping and t r a n s i t  t i m e  t h e  cost  
a t  $253 pe r  hour would be  over  $ 1 0 , 0 0 0  f o r  t h e  h e l i c o p t e r .  ERTS 
imagery costs less than  $100  and t h e  manual t i m e  involved  i n  
us ing  s a t e l l i t e  imagery i s  less. The accuracy of  t h e  mapping 
is g r e a t l y  improved us ing  ERTS imagery. 
A p r o f i t a b l e  a p p l i c a t i o n  of ERTS imagery i s  i n  t h e  mapping 
of l a r g e  r e s e r v o i r s  i n  hydro power development p r o j e c t s .  An 
accura t e  knowledge of r e s e r v o i r  s t o r a g e  i s  necessary  t o  
determine how much f i r m  power can be genera ted .  I n  one 
nor thern  Canada p r o j e c t ,  t h e  r e s e r v o i r  w a s  flown wi th  a i r c r a f t  
t h r e e  t i m e s  when t h e  r e s e r v o i r  w a s  f i l l i n g  up a t  a cost  o f  
t h e  o r d e r  o f  1 / 4  m i l l i o n  d o l l a r s .  The r e s e r v o i r  could be  
covered by 2 ERTS images. During t h e  course  of  one survey  
t h e  water  l e v e l  changed 1 f o o t  because of t h e  t i m e  f a c t o r  
i n  cover ing  t h e  e n t i r e  r e s e r v o i r .  S a t e l l i t e  d a t a  t a k e n  a t  
one p o i n t  i n  t i m e  would g i v e  a much less expens ive  and b e t t e r  
volume e s t i m a t e .  This  would r e s u l t  i n  a b e t t e r  es t imate  o f  
f i rm power c a p a b i l i t y  and would a f f e c t  t h e  c o n t r a c t s  f o r  power 
genera t ion  e n t e r e d  i n t o  by t h e  company. I n  t h e  p r o j e c t  mentioned 
above t h c r e  a r e  now i n d i c a t i o n s  t h a t  t h e  r e s e r v o i r  s t o r a g e  
i s  s e v e r a l  pe rcen t  g r e a t e r  t h a n  expec ted .  They b e l i e v e  t h i s  
could be t r a n s l a t e d  i n t o  about  1% e x t r a  power g e n e r a t i o n  (wor th  
1 m i l l i o n  d o l l a r s ) .  They w i l l  t r y  t o  use  ERTS t o  assess t h e  
e x t r a  s t o r a g e  c a p a c i t y .  Although t h e y  have e n t e r e d  i n t o  
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a long t e r m  c o n t r a c t ,  they  could still  make it known to  t h e  
customer t h a t  they had t h e  c a p a b i l i t y  of  g e n e r a t i n g  t h i s  
e x t r a  amount of power. 
ERTS imagery i s  be ing  cons idered  i n  t h e  mapping of Reindeer 
Lake i n  Saskatchewan which w i l l  be used as a s t o r a g e  r e s e r v o i r  
f o r  a power development on t h e  Church i l l  River .  Reindeer 
Lake has  been surveyed bv a i r c r a f t  a t  a cost of $46 ,000 .  A 
mosaic from ement could  be  made would cost 
$35,000. T m e r e d  by 2 ERTS frames and 
s e v e r a l  ERT ious  l a k e  water  l e v e l s  should 
g i v e  a bet t  h e  f i n a l  r e s e r v o i r  s t o r a g e  
when t h e  ne . Fleming, of t h e  Department 
of Energy, ______- _ __ _._____ _ _  , i n v e s t i g a t i n g  ERTS f o r  topographic  
mapping purposes ,  h a s  concluded from a s tudy  of  t h e  r e s e r v o i r  
formed bv K e t t l e  Ranids Dam i n  Manitoba t h a t  t h e  r e s e r v o i r  
o u t l i n e  spping would be more a c c u r a t e  
than  COI - . tu res  a t  2 ,000  foo t / inch .  
4 .  High B e n e f i t  App l i ca t lons  or ERTS imagery are i n  l and  use 
mapping ites f o r  p i p e l i n e s ,  t r ansmiss ion  
l i n e s  ai is being  used t o g e t h e r  w i th  
l a r g e r  I select a r o u t e  f o r  t h e  P o l a r  
G a s  p ip(  3s of  updat ing  of  p r e s e n t  
land  US( i n d i c a t e  cost sav ings  of  
about  4 tography ove r  convent iona l  
sa te l l i i  t l l i te  imagery would have 
t o  be u: :he r e q u i r e d  r e s o l u t i o n .  
conclus ions  
The g r e a t e s t  d i f f i c u l t y  w e  exper ience  is wi th  p o t e n t i a l  u s e r s  
who are r e l u c t a n t  t o  change t h e i r  way of doing t h i n g s  because 
they  d o n ' t  r e a l i z e  t h e  obvious advantages t o  u s i n g  t h e  
s a t e l l i t e  d a t a .  I t  w i l l  t ake  t i m e .  
References : 
R e m o t e  Sensing i n  Canada - Newslet ters  N o s .  1 - 5 
The Canadian Advisory Committee on R e m o t e  Sensing 1972 Report 
Resource Sa te l l i t es  and Remote Airborne Sensing f o r  Canada: 
Proceedings of t h e  F i r s t  Canadian Symposium on Remote 
Sens ing ,  February,  1972.  
The above r e p o r t s  are a l l  a v a i l a b l e  through t h e  Canada 
Cen t re  f o r  R e m o t e  Sensing,  Department of Energy, Mines and 
Resources ,  O t t a w a ,  Canada K I A  OE$, T e l .  (613) 993-3350. 
19 


Canadian ERTS program progress report

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