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Spring 2017 flooding in eastern Ontario and southern Quebec was caused by a number of consecutive record-setting rain events combined with melting snow between April 5 and mid-May. In Quebec, the event caused more than 5000 residences to flood in 261 municipalities, forcing mass evacuations and declaration of a state of emergency. The International Disasters Charter was activated shortly after, providing near-real time earth observation data from a range of sensors through Charter member agencies. Upon activation, the Emergency Geomatics Services (EGS) at the Canada Centre for Mapping and Earth Observation (CCMEO), Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), produced flood maps from RADARSAT-2 and Charter satellite imagery to provide up-to-date situational awareness. Previous methodologies to extract flood information were not adequate to map open water and flooded vegetation from all data received through the Charter, while work was ongoing in the previous year to develop reliable flood extraction methods from multiple sensors for floodplain characterization. These new methods were quickly adapted and put into operations during the activation, enabling rapid flood map production from RADARSAT-2, Sentinel-1 and TerraSar-X, among other sensors. This document describes the methodology and presents successes and challenges of the 2017 EGS activation for flooding in eastern Ontario and southern Quebec. From lessons learned during the 2017 activation, we also present a way forward to improve subsequent flood activations.

Surface deformation, measured from space, provides a means to remotely monitor Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) activities. Using Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) to measure surface deformation allows for a common measuring stick with no access issues. Currently surface deformation is measured using many alternative approaches, some of which are less economical and not feasible at the regional scale when compared to InSAR. Information collected from InSAR could be used to develop an informed planning mechanism. Space based SAR data from January 2009 to August 2011 was examined over a SAGD site in Alberta, Canada. The data was extracted from the satellite archives and advanced InSAR processing techniques were applied to measure the surface deformation over the site. The InSAR results show the extreme variability in the ground conditions that are to be expected in the region. The surface deformation was measured using a combination of corner reflectors and infrastructure targets. The highly variable ground conditions make monitoring of subtle deformation signals (2.5 – 5 cm/yr) difficult to measure without the use of installed targets. The challenges of InSAR monitoring without installed targets are addressed to emphasize the importance of on-site ground control points. Furthermore, the surface changes observed with the InSAR results are related to reservoir changes. Geomechanical simulation is dependent on many rock physics parameters and complex geological frameworks. History matching with InSAR observation provides enhanced prediction and estimation of reservoir growth, which can inform decisions related to reservoir performance and caprock integrity. This paper is a result of a collaboration between the Alberta Energy Regulator, MDA Geospatial Services Inc. (MDA), and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) to examine the requirements for rapid-turnaround measurement of ground deformation over enhanced oil recovery sites in the Alberta Oil Sands. Funding for this effort was partially provided by the CSA.

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