740 
A key component in the OCRS process is its Applicon 
printing system which has the capability to print 
high quality black and white or colour maps at a wide 
variety of scales. The Applicon system and 
supplementary software provide a rapid and economical 
method of producing hard-copy land use maps. Colour 
separation masters for map publication can be 
produced within one hour. The inherent flexibility 
and relative economy of the printing system provided 
a chance to experiment with a large range of map 
formats and scales in the course of the study. The 
Applicon system allows the operator to interact with 
data to produce generalized or customized hard-copy 
maps. The ability of the system to isolate and map 
only those portions of an image within the river 
basin was a highly desirable feature. Opportunities 
to superimpose digitized information in both raster 
and vector format on a classified image (e.g., 
administrative and reservoir boundaries) also proved 
to be an effective tool. 
not yet been undertaken due to budget restrictions, 
and due to the remoteness of the study area. Based 
on previous experience with this type of mapping, 
OCRS has estimated an accuracy of 80-95 percent for 
most cover types for the LJR project (Pala et al 
1981). Detailed field investigations to be conducted 
to support current planning and development studies 
on the LJR should provide opportunities to better 
evaluate the accuracy of data derived in this pilot 
project. 
KEY 
ACTIVIT' 
Inventory 
of 
Hydroelecti 
Potential 
(River Basin I 
3 APPLICATION TO PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT STUDIES 
Based on results of the LJR pilot project, the 
following sections discuss how remote sensing has or 
could potentially be utilized to support or 
complement planning and development studies for 
future hydroelectric projects (Figure 2). Potential 
problems or limitations related to certain 
applications are also identified. 
River Syst« 
Feasibility 
Studies 
Economi! 
Engineering 
Environmer 
Studies 
2.1 Mapping results 
The output of the LJR pilot project included eleven 
hard-copy map sets, at scales ranging from 1:50,000 
to 1:500,000. The entire drainage basin was mapped 
according to generalized land cover types using a 
geometrically corrected ground resolution (picture 
element or 'pixel' size) of 50 m x 50 m (0.5 ha). 
All maps produced are geo-referenced and can 
therefore be used to complement, or in conjunction 
with, existing data and topographic maps. 
Test applications were run on a smaller part of the 
basin (about 1000 km 2 ) which would be directly 
influenced by hydroelectric development, (i.e., the 
LJR between Mojikit Lake and Ombabika Bay - Figure 1) 
in order to test the capabilities of the technology, 
and to obtain more information relevant to assessing 
environmental effects. The following outputs were 
obtained: 
1. 1:50,000 scale map of Ombabika Bay turbidity 
(suspended sediments); 
2. 1:50,000 and 1:100,000 scale classified (and 
unclassified) theme maps of LJR, with and without 
elevation contours and flooded (proposed reservoir) 
area, including hard copies and one transparent 
overlay; 
3. 1:50,000 scale black and white map of LJR only, 
with one theme (deciduous forest) highlighted in 
colour; 
4. 1:50,000 scale map showing only forest areas, 
combined and segregated into themes; and 
5. 1:50,000 scale map showing correlated land cover 
types and potential moose habitat over a black and 
white background. 
2.2 Costs and accuracy 
The project was evaluated in terms of its overall 
costs based only on what it cost to produce 
generalized land cover maps of the entire drainage 
basin at 1:250,000 and 1:100,000 scales (e.g., not to 
perform the test applications). Based on a total 
study area of about 15,000 km 2 (excluding Ombabika 
Bay), the approximate total cost to produce the maps 
was $40,000 or $2.67 per km 2 (CDN). Sears (1985) 
compared costs of other selected LANDSAT mapping 
projects and found that typical operational costs can 
be in the $1.50 to $2.50 km 2 range. Costs 
associated with conventional data collection methods 
(e.g., ground surveys and air photos) are 
significantly higher, and can range from $8 to 
$44/km 2 (Illinois EPA 1978) (Still and Shih 1985). 
A detailed assessment of the accuracy of the 
resulting classified maps (e.g., ground-truthing) has 
3.1 River system planning 
A major difficulty in carrying out broad-based 
assessments of large study areas, particularly in 
northern remote regions of Ontario, is obtaining 
complete and consistent data coverage for the area in 
question. The collection and management of baseline 
environmental and resource use information in Ontario 
is often highly fragmented and based primarily on 
administrative districts established by regulatory 
authorities. The scope, vintage and format of 
available data can vary substantially among 
districts. Data quality is often a function of 
administrative policy (e.g., district land use 
priorities) and/or budget-time constraints within a 
district. Some regional and provincial data bases do 
exist for certain land and resource use parameters in 
Ontario, but these tend to be relatively dated, 
one-time inventories (e.g., Forest Resource Inventory 
done in the 1940's). 
The land cover mapping produced for the LJR is 
well-suited to broad river system level studies. The 
maps provide useful, up-to-date, generalized 
information on primary land uses, vegetative cover 
types, wetlands, forest cutovers and burns, and 
land-water ratios. These maps are useful in 
providing the planner with a feel for the "context" 
within which development will take place. Tests 
conducted during the pilot project suggest that these 
primary land cover data can be potentially extended 
to provide considerably more detail with regard to 
certain other resource uses within a river basin 
(e.g., wildlife habitat). A 1:250,000 scale was 
found to be the most appropriate format for mapping 
information for the LJR basin. The appropriateness 
of scale will be a function of river basin size. 
Application of remote sensing represents an 
acceptable intermediate level of detail and cost 
between the extremes of "quick and dirty" 
evaluations, which try to piece together fragmented 
and diverse data sets, and detailed land use mapping 
which often involves expensive and time-consuming 
field data collection and air photo interpretation. 
A key benefit of developing information from remote 
sensing is that the data base derived becomes a 
dynamic entity, that can be manipulated to assess and 
highlight certain attributes; and that can be readily 
updated in the future. The ability to input 
digitized information (e.g., roads, park boundaries) 
to a classified image adds important context to the 
generalized maps produced. 
An added bonus with the remote sensing based system 
is the availability of statistical summaries for the 
land cover attributes classified. Conventional data 
Reviews 
Hearings 
Approval: 
Design an 
Constructic 
(Pre-Operai 
Monitorini 
Compliance 
Monitoring 
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