Agri-environmental Geomatics for Agri-sustainability
(Dolores Durant, National Land and Water Information Service at Agriculture and Agri-food Canada)
Long-term environmental sustainability of agriculture depends on products and processes that not only must keep
up with demand but with growing environmental awareness as well as human and naturally induced changes to the
environment. This requires effective management of natural resources such as land, soil, air, water and biodiversity.
Geomatics is an essential tool required to manage resources as it is used for monitoring change to such
environmental aspects as land use, temperature, precipitation, soil moisture, etc. Capturing variance in our
environment allows us to create models that show how future changes might be manifested as well as what
agricultural adaptations and practices could be made to mitigate effects of the changes.
The ability to model variance is critically dependent on high-quality, timely, scale appropriate, standardized data that
is properly geo-located. Agriculture and Agri-food Canada (AAFC) has invested in the National Land and Water
Information Service (NLWIS) to ensure that such data is available. Hundreds of datasets have been standardize
and aligned to key framework layers and are now accessible through a single on-line window.
To enable the use of these datasets, a GIS platform was created along with a geodata life cycle that ensures the
data is accessible and managed. Tools for AAFC's GIS user community and policy analysts assist with the creation
of models and indicators to build the appropriate knowledge base for well informed decision-making. Internet
applications allow for easy viewing and dataset comparisons. Finally, geomatics expertise related to soils,
agri-environmental data, procurement, partnership agreements, data sharing and privacy issues, and project
requirements is available.
Through integrated work-planning to provide regional flexibility, while simultaneously ensuring national consistency,
geomatics at AAFC works across jurisdictions to bring authoritative information and knowledge that enhance the
geospatial dimension of policy research and analysis. This underlies the assurance of environmentally sustainable
agriculture in Canada.
