Earth-i’s Satellite Imagery Chosen to Monitor Tree Logging in Canada

Earth-i has been appointed by the Ministry of Environment for the Province of Saskatchewan, Canada, to help monitor the logging of trees across a forested area of some 3500km². The company will be supplying high-resolution images that will enable the Ministry to prevent illegal logging - and ensure sustainability and compliance. Canada is the world’s largest exporter of softwood lumber. Its forests account for 9% of the world’s forest cover and 40% of the world’s sustainable forests.

To help protect its commercial forests from over-harvesting, Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Environment has been using satellite images for several years. Following a competitive tender that attracted Earth Observation imagery providers from around the world, Earth-i was chosen as its hi-res images will give The Ministry greater clarity of the situation on the ground.

DMC3 Constellation

Earth-i will use the DMC3 Constellation to provide images of areas of interest over Saskatchewan. The constellation consists of three identical optical satellites in near-polar orbit, offering very high resolution (80cm detail pixels) and 3.2 metre four band multispectral data for any location on Earth.

The detail that DMC3 images provide could enable every individual tree to be counted and the multispectral data can be used to monitor their health and size.

Paul Majmader, Earth-i’s commercial director, said they will be providing the Ministry with the highest quality images available on the market. As well as helping them to monitor the forests, Earth-i has a fantastic opportunity to demonstrate the value of their data to the Canadian market, he added.

Earth-i already has a wide range of customers across the world including The World Bank, National and Local Governments and a multitude of specialist geospatial companies and other commercial organisations. In Australia, it is providing wide area mapping services to the Government of Queensland.