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SPACEBORNE REMOTELY-SENSED DATA 
AS APPLIED BY THE ONTARIO CENTRE FOR REMOTE SENSING: 
PRESENT AND FUTURE 
Dr. Simsek Pala 
Head, Research and Training 
Ontario Centre for Remote Sensing 
Ministry of Natural Resources 
Toronto, Ontario, Canada 
Introduction 
The purpose of this paper is not to reveal new techniques by 
which remotely-sensed data can be acquired or analysed but to describe 
the integration of remote sensing into the fabric of resource manage- 
ment operations. 
Canada is the second largest country in the world and has immense 
areas yet to be explored in detail. A rapidly-growing need for new 
sources of energy and industrial raw materials necessitates detailed 
surveys and resource inventories in these areas, for the purposes of 
efficient development and effective management of natural resources 
and to minimize the impact of these developments upon the environment. 
Ontario is one of the largest provinces in Canada with an area 
of approximately 1.12 million km? - as large as the Federal Republic 
of Germany, France, Denmark, Austria, Switzerland, Holland and Belgium 
together, but with only 5% of the population of this portion of Europe. 
Ontario has been most generously endowed with natural resources. 
However, little attention has as yet been paid to fully half of the 
province because of its harsh climate and its distance from major 
urban areas. It is only within the last five years that synoptic 
and repetitive Landsat coverage has permitted practical and efficient 
investigation of this region to begin. 
The value of satellite imagery as a source of data where no other 
is available has long been recognized; however, even with its present 
resolution, the quality of information offered by satellite imagery is 
not only "better than nothing" but is such as to make satellite imagery 
a preferred data source for many purposes. 
The Ontario Centre for Remote Sensing was established in 1973 for 
the purpose of applying advanced remote sensing technology to resource 
management in the Province of Ontario. The Centre analyses and inter-