The invention of light detection and ranging (LiDAR) revolutionized the field of land surveying. LiDAR uses laser altimetry to create precise, three-dimensional maps and models of terrain and ecosystems.
Canada is a recognized leader in the collection and analysis of Earth observation datasets, and the Hakai Institute geospatial team has been at the forefront of mapping British Columbia’s dynamic coastal landscape, from ice fields to the ocean. This is in large part thanks to the Airborne Coastal Observatory, an airplane equipped with LiDAR and other complementary instruments.
Canadian expertise in gathering geospatial data may come as no surprise, given the vastness of the country’s landmass, but it comes with a puzzling challenge: what to do with it.
“Geospatial information underpins everything we do and helps us better understand our environment,” says Derek Heathfield, the Hakai Institute’s geospatial technologies program lead.
“But a problem definitely exists, in that geospatial data is often quite bulky—meaning that it produces huge files and data in forms that are hard to transfer and hard to share. For anyone who is not a specialist, geospatial data is generally difficult to work with. It’s hard to view and to analyze, and it’s hard to actually extract actionable information from it.”
There are many people and groups that would benefit from easier access to geospatial data, says Heathfield. These include First Nations land and fisheries managers, municipalities, park rangers and administrators, and analysts and decision-makers in provincial and federal agencies.
“The need for data becomes really clear in a rapid response situation,” says Heathfield. “In a situation like the Chilcotin landslide, everyone is saying, Wow, we just had this landslide happen, what data do we have of the area from before the slide to assess the changes?”
Any kind of geohazard event, whether landslide, flood, or wildfire, can bring a need for pre-existing geospatial data.
“In those situations, you don’t want to have to wait too long for your specialist to dig up the information you need from the archives,” notes Heathfield. “What you need is timely, actionable spatial information to help make appropriate emergency management decisions.”
In order to improve access to data, Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) established the GeoConnections funding program with a mandate to lead the evolution of geospatial data infrastructure in Canada.
In 2024 the Hakai Institute received GeoConnections funding to develop and test a scalable, cloud-optimized Application Programming Interface (API) that is web-based and easily accessible by multiple user groups. The project will use LiDAR data from three case-study regions in British Columbia that have experienced recent landscape-altering events: Elliot Creek, Mount Robson Provincial Park, and Place Glacier.
“We selected regions where climate change impacts Indigenous communities, freshwater availability, and tourism,” says Heathfield. “What we ultimately want is for a user to be able to just put a URL into their browser, and up comes a portal where they can navigate to the data they want.”
Heathfield likens it to streaming music on a platform like Spotify.
“You haven't had to download a massive file, or purchase expensive and complicated software. It seems like a simple thing, but it really does democratize and open up what we call FAIR use of data—findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable.”
Heathfield cites the example of NASA’s approach to open science and open data as a formative influence.
“That was kind of the inspiration, where we looked at their work and said, hey, we could be doing this too with all the LiDAR from the ACO. It's within our strategic mission to have that data put to public use, and we can only do so much ourselves with it, but if we have it open and available, it gets used more. That's just good for everybody."
