Digital Imagery

Digital imagery is used to support emergency management, land use planning, source water protection, policing, natural resources management, infrastructure management and a variety of other business areas within the public sector.

Digital imagery is used as a back-drop for maps and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) analysis. Digital imagery can capture infrastructure details such as buildings, structures and transportation corridors. It can also capture land use information, vegetation, water flow and other natural resources data.

For example, the Ministry of Transportation uses imagery to plan potential highway expansions. Emergency Management Ontario uses imagery to identify critical zones for environmental spills, hazardous materials storage sites and areas of environmental impact. The Department of National Defense uses imagery to identify and map critical infrastructure such as airports, border crossings and other access points. 

Capturing and processing digital imagery can be expensive. LIO works with partners to initiate projects to acquire high resolution imagery data for Ontario. Partnerships provide a cost effective way of capturing current and accurate imagery.

LIO coordinates interest and funding from provincial ministries, develops data standards and requirements, oversees quality assurance and quality control testing and stores and distributes imagery as it is processed.

LIO has been directly involved in the following imagery acquisition projects:

Greater Toronto Area Orthophotography Project

Quickbird Project

Southwestern Ontario Orthophotography Project

Forest Resources Inventory

Eastern Ontario Orthophotography Project

SPOT Imagery Project

If your organization is interested in developing a partnership with LIO to acquire high resolution digital imagery, please contact us at (705) 755-1878 or by email at lio@ontario.ca.