Annual Land Disturbance Classification for Cold Lake Oil Sands Area

2006 to 2007 land disturbance data for the Cold Lake oil sands region, derived from Landsat imagery. The dataset classifies vegetation loss into 9 categories, including exposed land, developed areas, and agricultural zones. It was produced by the Government of Alberta to support regional planning under the Lower Athabasca Regional Plan.

Use Cases

• Classify land cover changes such as 'exposed land/cut blocks/harvested areas' or 'mixed developed areas' from 2006-2007 satellite imagery.
• Quantify vegetation loss from oil and gas infrastructure using the 'vegetation loss data' and 9-class categorization.
• Establish baseline maps for 'shrub land' and 'grassland' recovery following anthropogenic disturbances.
• Monitor compliance with regional plans by tracking the spatial extent of 'transitional bare surfaces' and 'agricultural areas' over time.

Strengths

• Data covers a two-year period (2006-2007) for temporal change analysis.
• Classification includes 9 distinct land disturbance and cover classes.
• Derived from Landsat multispectral imagery, a standard source for land cover analysis.

Limitations

• Data is temporally limited to only two years (2006-2007), preventing long-term trend analysis.
• Spatial coverage is restricted to a specific administrative region (Townships 56-69, Ranges 1-11, west of 4th Meridian).
• Sample size and resolution are unknown, as row counts and pixel details are not provided.

Provenance

Source

Government of Alberta.

Collection Method

Derived from Landsat multispectral imagery for 2006 and 2007 and land use/cover classification data from 2007.

Time Range

2006 to 2007.

Freshness

Dataset metadata was updated in March 2026, but the underlying imagery and classification are from 2006-2007.

Geography

Cold Lake oil sands area, Alberta, Canada (Townships 56 to 69, Range 1 to 11, west of the 4th Meridian).