Using Landsat Data to Assess Land Use Conversion Impacts Arising from Urbanization: the Canadian Context

While Canada ranks second in the world in terms of national land area, its most productive arable land is limited in extent. These lands are also under pressure due to rapid urbanization, especially in the high growth areas of southern Ontario, the CalgaryEdmonton corridor and the lower Fraser River valley of British Columbia. Currently, a program is underway in the Earth Sciences Sector of Natural Resources Canada to quantify urban transportation sustainability in support of energy policy-makers. This work includes the creation of the Canadian Urban Land Use Survey (CUrLUS), a series of land-cover/land-use (LCLU) maps, derived in part from Landsat Thematic Mapper imagery, for all Canadian cities with populations in excess of 200,000. These LCLU maps have potential application beyond transportation issues. To study land conversion impacts during the period 1966-2001, it has been necessary to assimilate this information with historic land use sources from other federal initiatives including the Canada Land Use Mapping (CLUMP) program and the Canada Land Inventory (CLI). This paper addresses assimilation issues through an assessment of the consistency of these information sources leading to a rationalization of their class legends and spatial resolution differences.