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DigitalGlobe Updates for Canada

Published Date
Author Paul Heersink

Most of Canada most of Canada below 60° North has been updated with imagery from DigitalGlobe.

A sample of the improvements made with the inclusion of the DigitalGlobe imagery around Red Deer, AB: previous imagery dated from 2010 (left) is now replaced with updated imagery from 2016 (right)

Last year, Esri announced a partnership with DigitalGlobe to improve the imagery basemap in ArcGIS Online. Those imagery updates are now available for Canada, and these updates are extensive. The imagery across the country uses DigitalGlobe’s Basemap +Vivid product. This is 1.2 m imagery with at least 80% of the content dating from 2012. This imagery replaces older or lower resolution imagery and provides a more consistent imagery basemap than was available before. As indicated in the webmap below, it covers most of Canada below 60° North.

Another, smaller DigitalGlobe imagery update for Canada is coming later this year. This one will draw upon DigitalGlobe’s Basemap +Metro product and will be focused on a number of Canadian cities.

About the Author

Paul Heersink is a cartographer and Program Manager of Esri Canada’s Roads & Addresses Program: an initiative that is aiming to build a seamless topographic basemap using contributor data. He has over 25 years of cartographic experience, working in both the public and private sectors. Paul has always been interested in mapping and drew his own atlas at the age of 10. He took a detour in his career through the fields of psychology and social work before returning to cartography.

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