Case Studies
The polarimetric signature from Synthetic Aperture RADAR (SAR) of specific land features can be distinguished and used for classification purposes. The above saddle plot represents "water" and is one of several unique signatures used in classifying SAR data.
Listed below is a small sample of some of the work that GeoSynoptics has completed. Many of the applications such as forest cover mapping, storm surge inundation and riparian flood modelling can be transferred to other applications.
Flood Modelling due to Sea Level Rise - Climate induced sea level rise is an important consideration to many coastal communities. This is particularly important in Nova Scotia where isostatic rebound contributes to relative sea level (RSL) rise. This paper was presented at the Sixth International Conference on Computer Simulation Risk Analysis and Hazard Mitigation. Risk Analysis VI, 2008 in Cephalonia, Greece.
Flood Modelling due to river floodplain flooding - In addition to sea level rise, Global Climate Models (GCMs) predict that storms will increase in severity and frequency. This case study was commissioned in part by a small community in Eastern Canada, and a major industry player within the town. The river that was of interest was ungauged and therefore hydrological modelling was included in the analysis. This model used the US army corp of engineers HEC-HMS for hydrological modelling and HEC-RAS to model the floodplain and channel. Once again, Remote Sensing and GIS were coupled to give a synoptic view of the watershed.
Forest Cover Change Detection and Mapping -This has been taken out of a larger paper and is an example of a qualitative measure of forest cover using a multispectral LandSat image from 1999 and multispectral Thematic Mapper image from 1974.
Digital Elevation Model Creation - For this case study, the client required a digital elevation model of the area without any tree cover. The digital elevation model has a resolution of about 1 meter and can "see through" all of the trees. This application is extremely useful for flood modelling and surficial geology studies.
Archaeological investigations - This paper is an excellent example of the synoptic view that remote sensing allows. In particular it demonstrates the impressive power of LiDAR. Without 1) the high resolution, and 2) the vegetation penetration abilities that LiDAR provides, the archaeological feature would have remained undiscovered.
GeoMarketing - One of the most widely used applications of GIS is in marketing. Market research conducted with a GIS can give new insight into a customer base. This new insight can lead to more effectively marketing campaigns for established business, or help pick the perfect location to start a business. In this example, GIS was used to locate a small business within Halifax. The results were presented in poster form for the client.
Polarimetric Synthetic Aperature RADAR (SAR) - SAR is an extremely useful remote sensing tool and can be used extensively for image classification. The linked document was produced by GeoSynoptics for a client that wanted an overview of SAR. Examples of various land covers were used to demonstrate the image classification ability of SAR.