Land-use/Land-cover Classification of the Athabasca Oil Sands Surface Mineable Area of Alberta, Derived from 2017 Sentinel-2 Multispectral Data (image data, TIFF format)

This land-use and land-cover classification dataset is derived from 2017 Sentinel-2 multi-spectral imagery for the Athabasca Oil Sands surface mineable area in northeastern Alberta. The oil sands surface mineable area, Township 89 to 103, Range 3 to 14, west of the 4th Meridian, falls within the Lower Athabasca Regional Plan (LARP) area. As part of Alberta’s Land-use Framework, LARP was developed in 2012 to set the stage for robust growth, vibrant communities, and a healthy environment within the region. One of its implementation objectives is to balance the economic development of oil sands and impacts on ecosystems and the environment. This is to be achieved through enhanced science-based monitoring to improve the characterization of landuse over time and understand cumulative effects on the environment.

This land classification dataset contains 14 classes: 1 - Water, 2 - Exposed - Barren Land, 3 - Bryoids, 4 - Shrubland, 5 - Wetland, 6 - Wetland - Treed, 7 - Herbs, 8 - Coniferous, 9 - Deciduous, 10 - Mixed Wood, 11 - Burned Areas - Little Biomass, 12 - Oil Sands Mining, 13 - Tailings Ponds, and 14 - Developed Footprints. These categories can be used as baseline data for planning, managing, and monitoring surface infrastructure needs and impacts.