Remote Sensing and Image Interpretation

July, 1986

Generalized Land Cover Mapping of the Moose River Basin, Northern Ontario

Generalized land cover classification of the Moose River Basin in Northern Ontario was undertaken using single date, summer LANDSAT MSS digital data. The project was conducted for the Ontario Hydro Environmental Studies and Assessment Department by staff from Hunter and Associates and from the Ontario Centre for Remote Sensing (OCRS). Individual scenes were selected for analysis were from LANDSAT satellites 1, 2, and 5 and from years 1975, 1980, 1984 and 1985. Eleven generalized land cover classes were mapped over the 108,000 km2 basin utilizing a supervised classification approach, including: water deciduous forest mixed forest - predominantly deciduous mixed forest - predominantly coniferous coniferous forest wetland open bog fen and marsh wetland treed bog and swamp cutover agriculture barren and extractive urban The land cover maps were produced at scales of 1:250,000 and 1:100,000. Provincial Ministry of Natural Resources district boundaries, major highways and railroads were positioned on the maps. Summaries of the generalized land cover classes were produced by subbasin. The basin is complex both ecologically and spectrally and considerable effort was required to spectrally distinguish a number of the desired land cover classes. Intrinsic spectral variability within and between scenes created difficulties in matching the classification from scene to scene. The land cover maps constitute a useful tool for scoping and consultation programs undertaken as part of Ontario Hydro's environmental assessment process.

© 2001, Hunter GIS