Canadian Agency Buys IKONOS Satellite Imagery

Canada’s Office of Critical Infrastructure Protection and Emergency Preparedness (OCIPEP) has purchased 8,800 square kilometers of one-meter IKONOS satellite imagery to be used for disaster risk assessment and emergency preparedness along the Canada-United States border. The value of the contract was not disclosed.

The contract, which was negotiated by Space Imaging reseller PhotoSat Information, of Vancouver, B.C., will provide imagery and data for eight border areas and towns including the Yukon-Alaska border, the Quebec-Vermont border, Sault Ste. Marie, Sarnia, Windsor and Niagara Falls. The mapping initiative is part of an overall border security effort spearheaded by the Canada/United States Critical Infrastructure Protection Steering Committee, formed after the signing of the 2001 Smart Border Agreement by Canada and the United States. OCIPEP is a member of the committee’s mapping subgroup.