The Counties, Ontario – The United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry (SDG) together with the six local municipalities and both local Conservation Authorities have partnered with Land Information Ontario (LIO/OMNR) and numerous other public and private partners in Eastern Ontario to participate in the Digital Raster Acquisition Project for the East (DRAPE) 2014.

DRAPE 2014 has allowed for the acquisition of high resolution orthophotos (aerial photos) for Eastern Ontario (from Peterborough to the Quebec Border and down to the U.S. border) flown by Fugro Inc. this spring. This partnership is allowing for the collection of a high quality product at a significant cost savings for all involved. The orthophotos will benefit numerous planning applications, such as the updating of various GIS base layers, asset management, community and emergency planning, and provide a background for map visualization.

Michael Otis, County Planner commented that “the 2008 DRAPE photos have been used extensively by both the County and the local municipalities. We are very excited by the continuation of this project in 2014 both in terms of a high quality product and reasonable costs for the Counties.”

Fugro Inc. recently hosted a meet and greet with local partners at the Ottawa airport. This opportunity allowed DRAPE participants to meet one of the pilots and camera operators, to see one of the planes used on the project and ask any questions they had about the acquisition and processing of the orthophotos.

A final product of 50 cm accuracy orthophotos will be received between November 2014 and March 2015 and will be used by municipal staff to aid in their daily workflow and public data requests.

A map of the project area can be found on the LIO website under: www.mnr.gov.on.ca/en/Business/LIO/2ColumnSubPage/STDPROD_108758.html

For more information contact: Mike Robertson mike.robertson@ontario.ca.