RADF Investment: $600,000

Other Investment: $2,225,000

Total Investment: $2,825,000

Project Period: February 2008–January 2011

T: 403.317.9188
E: [email protected]

Project Description

The Alberta Terrestrial Imaging Center (ATIC) in Lethbridge is creating new software that translates photographic images of land into real-time data and historical information. This provides better information to those involved in the research and decision-making of land use. The benefits of the program are marketable worldwide. The software will monitor and assess the characteristics of rangelands and wetlands using satellites. It will monitor environmental changes and track the impact of development over time. Sales of the new software will help sustain the not-for-profit centre's training and applied-research programs.

Expected Outcomes and Benefits

All projects go through a selection process to ensure they will improve the quality of life for Albertans. This project meets this objective through the following outcomes and benefits:

• Develop and provide new tools for land management research, planning, and decision-making, which will lead to improved environmental management
• Increase economic growth and educational benefits from applying leading-edge technology and innovation
• Set the stage for Alberta to be a world leader in land management data collection and reporting
• Give Alberta’s land-use planners the data they need to find the right balance between environment, economy, and human demands on the land
• Develop partnerships, including the provincial and federal governments, Precarn Inc., Ducks Unlimited, the universities of Calgary, Lethbridge, and Alberta, and Lunctus Geomatics Corporation
• Develop three new University of Lethbridge courses