Arctic Highway Orthomosaic and Elevation Model 2019

July-August 2019 RPAS missions captured imagery along 396 linear km of the Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk and Dempster Highways in Canada's western Arctic. The project produced orthomosaic and digital elevation model deliverables covering over 51,000 hectares to measure road infrastructure and landscape change. Data was collected by Fisheries and Oceans Canada using a Griffon SeaHunter RPAS with a full-frame DSLR sensor.

Use Cases

• Analyze embankment and bridge stability from the digital elevation model to assess infrastructure risk in permafrost terrain.
• Measure changes in fish habitat near highway corridors over time using the orthomosaic for environmental monitoring.
• Establish a baseline for landscape change studies by comparing the 2019 orthomosaic with future surveys of the Arctic highways.
• Test photogrammetric processing workflows on a large-scale, non-military beyond-visual-line-of-sight RPAS dataset covering 51,000 hectares.

Strengths

• Covers over 51,000 hectares of Arctic highway corridors, providing extensive spatial coverage.
• Offers <10 cm spatial resolution imagery, enabling detailed analysis of infrastructure and terrain.
• Represents one of the first non-military beyond-visual-line-of-sight RPAS data products of its scale in Canada.

Limitations

• Data is a single snapshot from 2019, limiting temporal analysis without subsequent surveys.
• Focus is restricted to two specific highway corridors in Canada's western Arctic, limiting broader geographic application.
• Data products are large-scale geospatial files (ESRI REST, SHP), requiring specialized GIS tools and expertise for use.

Provenance

Source

Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Collection Method

Remotely piloted aircraft system (RPAS) missions using a Griffon SeaHunter and full-frame DSLR sensor for photogrammetric data acquisition.

Time Range

July-August 2019

Freshness

Data collected in 2019; metadata last updated March 2026.

Geography

Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk (ITH) and Dempster Highways in Canada's western Arctic.