Grant: Applied Research and Development Grants - Level 1

Remote sensing technologies such as LiDAR, Multispectral imagery, and Infrared technologies have long been employed and continue to be applied for forest stand characterization, biomass estimation, broad scale bloom detection, land use assessment, agricultural inventories, topography mapping and wetland characterization. These products have historically been high-priced and applied to large scale, heavily funded projects, and consequently underutilized by small businesses working in the environmental and forestry sectors. Such tools would be immensely helpful to SME's for more local compliance reporting and for the investigation and resolution of local environmental issues. Ontario Resource Management Group Inc CEO Bruce Wheaton is committed to the advancement of remote sensing and GIS technologies for affordable use at a local scale. Mr. Wheaton owns 2 light aircraft, advanced on board camera systems, gyroscopes, high precision GPS equipment, and partners with organizations that are trained, or willing to be trained, in the application of such tools. Professors and students from Algonquin College, Ottawa Valley anticipate working with ORMG to apply these same tools for environment monitoring and local environmental issue assessment and resolution, specifically in the areas of: *Quantification and mapping of cyanobacterial algal blooms which are a human health threat *Quantification of aggregate volume removals from aggregate pits using 3D modelling of locally acquired imagery.