PCI Geomatics to derive ecological indicators from Radarsat-2 imagery

PCI Geomatics, a world leading developer of geo-imaging software and systems, today announced that the company has been awarded a contract valued at over $520,000 (CAD) through the Canadian Space Agency’s Earth Observation Applications Development Program (EOADP).

PCI fulfillment of the contract – which is based upon its GeoImaging Accelerator (GXL) product – has two main objectives. The first is in assisting Parks Canada in meeting its Ecological Integrity initiatives as mandated under the New Parks Act of 2002. The second objective is developing advanced and innovative methodologies, systems, and products for Parks Canada and Environment Canada to increase their utilization of RADARSAT-2 data to transition its usage into Government of Canada operations and to support the RADARSAT-2 user community at large.

“This project represents a great opportunity to showcase the power and automation of our GXL technology, which offers the Canadian government the ability to process more data with fewer resources in less time, which in turn will foster greater innovation and productivity for the user community to expand their outreach,” said David Stanley, Chief Technology Officer at PCI Geomatics. “We believe that this contract award speaks to the value of our GXL technology, as well as the innovation and expertise of the PCI Geomatics team.”

This contract allows PCI to build on its existing commercial software by adding the newest leading-edge algorithms and methodologies, including an Image Management System to discover, load, submit, and track processing through an intuitive web based interface. Monitoring Canadian parks will be achieved through the repeat collection and processing of RADARSAT-2 imagery to extract information such as water extents, Digital Elevation Models (DEMs), as well as ice conditions. The project will also provide a new generation of software capabilities, leveraging recent advances in high-speed computing hardware for automating synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite image correction, storage, and information extraction in an ESRI ArcGIS-compatible format.