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COMMISSION I
CANADIAN ACTIVITIES
Reporter: P.D. Carman, National Research Council
Airborne data acquistion operations have benefited from a series of evolutionary improvements in pho-
tographic techniques and equipment, plus increased use of thermal infra-red scanners, and more sophis-
ticated navigational and positioning aids. Data acquisition from satellites has grown rapidly since
its 1972 beginning.
Scene Characteristics
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Spectral radiances of forest trees have been measured by the Canadian Forest Services
Procedures
A 1973 revision of the Canadian Specification for Aerial Survey Photography represented a complete
rearrangement and rewrite for more convenient reference plus several technical improvements. These
improvements deal with vacuum to the platen, image illumination, film transport, camera temperature,
flight tolereances, processing, and focussing of non-photogrammetric cameras for low altitudes.
At the Ontario Centre for Remote Sensing (OCRS), several procedures have been proposed and studied
to establish optimum choices or mixes of satellite or airborne sensors, sensitive materials, scales,
ground conditions, etc., for four special problems:
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1) forest sampling ;
2) wetlands mapping ;
3) location of farm drainage rs and 4) algae in 1akes
Aircraft
Aircraft usage has not changed greatly. The new Ontario Centre for Remote Sensing (OCRS) uses a
Turbo-Beaver and a Beechcraft D-18 (Expediter). The Canada Centre for Remote Sensing (CCRS) are
adding a Convair 580 and have retired their CF-100.
Navigation and Positioning Aids
CCRS have acquired an LTN 51 Inertial Navigation system. Preliminary results of tests in cooperation
with the University of New Brunswick indicate accuracies of #1.5m in horizontal position and 730
seconds of arc in the rotations”.
OCRS uses an Akai VT-700 TV monitor system with a magnetic tape recorded as a navigational aid, and
also for reconstruction of flight lines to aid plotting of photography.
Several organizations now are using the Foliage Penetrating Radar Altimeter from GTW Resources Inven-
tory Radar Ltd. for scale determinations in photography of forests”. The Canadian Forest Service
have also studied stabilized camera mounts and camera tilt indicators^»-"»
Cameras and Other Sensors
Continuing in common use are all models of Wild and Zeiss wide angle, and super wide angle cameras
with 23 x 23 cm format. Recent acquisitions are generally the most advanced models.
CCRS report that their most common configuration is two RC-10's using Aerochrome Infrared type 2443
and Aerocolor Negative type 2445, plus Daedalus thermal infra-red line scanner recording the 8-14
um band and occasionally the 3-5 um band as well. Their use of the 70 mm Vintens for ERTS-band mutli-
spectral photography has decreased.
To supplement existing 23 x 23 photography, OCRS operates 35 mm Nikon F250 motor drive cameras with
focal lengths from 7.5 mm to 105 mm, and 70 mm Hasselblad 500EL cameras with focal lengths of 40 and
100 mm.
