Land Disturbance Classification from 2011-2012 Landsat Imagery in Alberta

Nine vegetation loss classes, including exposed land and developed areas, were derived from Landsat multispectral imagery for 2011 and 2012. The Alberta Energy Regulator created this dataset to assess surface change from energy exploration in a specific pilot area. It serves as baseline data for planning and monitoring surface infrastructure impacts.

Use Cases

• Classify pixels into one of 9 disturbance categories, such as 'exposed land/cut blocks' or 'mixed developed areas', using Landsat spectral bands.
• Map the extent of vegetation loss from anthropogenic disturbances like oil and gas infrastructure across the pilot area.
• Establish a 2011-2012 baseline for tracking vegetation recovery in areas classified as 'transitional bare surfaces' or 'shrub land'.
• Analyze spatial patterns of land cover change between the towns of Edson, Fox Creek, and Whitecourt using the georeferenced TIFF data.

Strengths

• Classification into 9 distinct land disturbance categories provides detailed categorization.
• Data derived from calibrated Landsat multispectral imagery for two consecutive years (2011-2012).
• Covers a defined regulatory pilot area spanning multiple townships and towns in Alberta.

Limitations

• Temporal coverage is limited to a two-year snapshot (2011-2012), lacking recent data.
• Specific row/column counts and spatial resolution details for the image data are not provided.
• Focus is exclusively on a pilot area in Alberta, limiting geographic generalizability.

Provenance

Source

Alberta Energy Regulator (AER), Government of Alberta.

Collection Method

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

Time Range

2011 to 2012.

Freshness

Dataset metadata was updated in March 2026, but the underlying imagery is from 2011-2012.

Geography

Alberta, Canada, specifically the Play-Based Regulation pilot area from Twp. 52, Rge. 7, W 5th Mer. to Twp. 70, Rge. 5, W 6th Mer.