Ontario Orthophotography Collections from 2006 to 2025

GeoTIFF orthophotographs of Ontario captured via aerial and satellite platforms. Collections span from 2006 to 2025, with pixel resolutions between 16 cm and 50 cm, and include red, green, blue, and near-infrared spectral bands. The imagery is acquired, maintained, and distributed by Geospatial Ontario (GEO), a program of the Government of Ontario.

Use Cases

• Train land cover classification models using the red, green, blue, and near-infrared spectral bands across different seasons.
• Perform change detection analysis by comparing orthophotography from different years (e.g., SWOOP 2006 vs. SWOOP 2025) within the same region.
• Develop object detection algorithms for infrastructure like buildings or roads using high-resolution imagery with pixel sizes as fine as 16 cm.
• Calibrate satellite imagery or validate remote sensing products using the ground-truth orthophotographs from specific projects like DRAPE or COOP.

Strengths

• Multi-year temporal coverage from 2006 to 2025 across multiple collection projects.
• High spatial resolution with pixel sizes ranging from 16 cm to 50 cm.
• Includes four spectral bands (red, green, blue, near-infrared) per image for analysis.
• Imagery is captured during spring leaf-off conditions for consistent ground visibility.

Limitations

• Spatial coverage is limited to settled areas within Ontario, excluding remote or northern wilderness regions.
• Pixel resolution varies between collections (16cm to 50cm), complicating direct pixel-level comparisons across years.
• Specific row counts, file sizes, and total area covered are not provided in the description.

Provenance

Source

Geospatial Ontario (GEO), Government of Ontario.

Collection Method

Acquired via coordinated aerial and satellite photography projects, often funded through public-private partnerships until 2024.

Time Range

2006 to 2025, with specific collections released per year.

Freshness

Regular updates with a scheduled release plan extending to 2026; metadata was last updated in March 2026.

Geography

Settled areas within the province of Ontario, Canada, covered by regional projects (e.g., SWOOP, COOP, DRAPE, NWOOP).