Shannon Graup

December 13th, 2013 GISC 9231-D3 Janet Finlay Program Coordinator Niagara College 135 Taylor Road Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON L0S 1J0

Dear Ms. Finlay, Re: GISC9231-D3 Georeferencing of Scanned Aerial Imagery and Change Detection Please accept this letter as my formal submission of deliverable 3, Georeferencing of Scanned Aerial Imagery and Change Detection for GISC9231 Introduction to Remote Sensing. During this deliverable, three photo sets of the Welland Canal in the Niagara Region were examined from 1921, 1934 and 2003. Change detection techniques were used to identify differences in the location over the different photo acquisition times. The deliverable has proven that the third Welland Canal was in use in 1921 and by 1934 construction of the fourth canal had been completed and in 2003 the third canal was over grown by vegetation completely. The fourth Welland canal was in construction in 1921, and in operation in both 1934 and 2003 aerial imageries. If you have any questions regarding the assignment submission please feel free to contact me by phone (647-921-4930) or e-mail at your convenience. I look forward to receiving your feedback and suggestions. Sincerely,

Shannon Graup BAH GIS GM Candidate S.G/s.g Enclosures 1) GISC9231 Deliverable 3 Georeferencing of Scanned Aerial Imagery and Change Detection

Shannon Graup shannon.graup@gmail.com

GISC9231 Georeferencing of Scanned Aerial Imagery and Change Detection

Shannon Graup

12/13/2013

Shannon Graup shannon.graup@gmail.com

Executive Summary
During this project three photo sets of the Welland Canal area in the Niagara Region were examined and interpreted using ArcGIS Desktop software version 10.1. The three photo sets were from 1921, 1934 and 2003. Three or more ground control points were chosen to reference the 1921 and 1934 photos to the 2003 IKONOS image. The 2003 IKONOS Multispectral Image of the Niagara Region was used as a reference image to georeference the photo sets from 1921 and 1934. After comparison of the three photo sets it is clear that the third Welland Canal was in use in 1921 and by 1934 construction of the fourth canal had been completed. In 2003 the third Welland canal was over grown by vegetation completely. The fourth Welland canal was in construction in 1921, and in operation in both 1934 and 2003 aerial imagery sets. The land area known as the Fuller Plan was examined throughout the three photo sets. In 1921 the Fuller Plan consisted of many agricultural orchard land plots. In 1934 the agriculture was not as well kept, the crop and orchard lines are faded in comparison to 1921. The Fuller Plan Area was completely overgrown in 2003 with thick forested vegetation. The main land use changes in the Welland canal area in the Niagara Region have been due to the construction of the fourth Welland canal in the early 1920s and development changes that occurred south the of Canadian National Railway, with the Fuller Plan land area. What was a settled agricultural area and construction zone in 1921 is now covered with thick forested vegetation.

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Table of Contents
Executive Summary ..................................................................................................................... i List of Figures ............................................................................................................................ iii List of Tables ............................................................................................................................. iii List of Appendices...................................................................................................................... iii 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 4.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 1 Goal ................................................................................................................................ 1 Methodology .................................................................................................................... 1 Findings........................................................................................................................... 3 1934 Aerial Images ...................................................................................................... 3 Canal Operational Status 1934 ............................................................................ 3 Canal Feature Identification .................................................................................. 4 Canal Operational Status 1921 ............................................................................ 8 Canal Operational Status 2003 ............................................................................ 9

4.1.1 4.1.2 4.2

1921 Aerial Images ...................................................................................................... 8

4.2.1 4.3

2003 Satellite Imagery (IKONOS Multispectral Imagery) .............................................. 9

4.3.1 4.4

Change Detection .......................................................................................................10 Third Canal Lock Visibility in 1934 and 2003 ........................................................10 Fuller Plan ...........................................................................................................11

4.4.1 4.4.2 5.0 6.0

Conclusion .....................................................................................................................14 References .....................................................................................................................15

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List of Figures
Figure 1: Old Welland Canal 1934 ............................................................................................. 3 Figure 2: Welland Canal 1934 .................................................................................................... 3 Figure 3: Old Welland Canal Dam Area ..................................................................................... 3 Figure 4: Wedged Shape Feature .............................................................................................. 4 Figure 5: Canadian National Railway ......................................................................................... 5 Figure 6: Rail line with Overgrown Vegetation ............................................................................ 5 Figure 7: Pond Feature, Welland Canal 1934 ............................................................................ 6 Figure 8: Pond Location in 1921 ................................................................................................ 6 Figure 9: Second Drainage Pond, 1934 ..................................................................................... 6 Figure 10: Agricultural Area........................................................................................................ 7 Figure 11: Plow Lines in Agricultural Area .................................................................................. 7 Figure 12: Fourth Canal Location in 1921 .................................................................................. 8 Figure 13: Third Canal in 1921 ................................................................................................... 8 Figure 14: Boat in Third Canal ................................................................................................... 8 Figure 15: Boat in Fourth Canal, 2003 ....................................................................................... 9 Figure 16: Boat in Fourth Canal Lock, 2003 ............................................................................... 9 Figure 17: Third Canal Location, 2003 ....................................................................................... 9 Figure 18: Third Canal Location, 2003 ....................................................................................... 9 Figure 19: The Fuller Plan Land Area, 1921..............................................................................11 Figure 20: Fuller Plan Land Area, 1934 .....................................................................................12 Figure 21: Fuller Plan Land Area, 2003 .....................................................................................13 Figure 22: Location of wedged shaped, 2003 ............................................................................14 Figure 23: Wedged shaped feature, 1934 .................................................................................14

List of Tables
Table 1: Third Canal Lock Visibility in 1934 and 2003 ...............................................................10

List of Appendices
Appendix A: Georeferenced Aerial Images, Welland Canal 1921 ..............................................16 Appendix B: Georeferenced Aerial Images, Welland Canal 1934 ..............................................17

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1.0 Introduction
During this project two historical photo sets from 1921 and 1934 of the Welland Canal in the Niagara Region have been georeferenced using ESRIs ArcGIS Desktop software, ArcMap 10.1. Once georeferenced; the historical photo sets were compared to an image of the Niagara Region taken in 2003. Image interpretation, digital review and change detection were used during this project analysis. Image features were interpreted using the seven elements of visual representation; tone, shape, size, pattern, texture, shadow and association and change detection of the canal location between the three periods of photo acquisition was completed. The Welland Canal was originally opened in 1829 to bypass the block between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie that is a result of Niagara Falls (Aron & Smith, 1971). The Welland Canal links the upper great lakes to the Atlantic Ocean, and serves as a shipping route (Muller & Middleton, 1994). The Niagara Region has an ample amount of agricultural land suited for the production of tender fruit. Muller & Middleton identify Niagara as having a three way land use conflict between urban, agricultural and natural uses (1994). By examining a series of panchromatic aerial imageries of the Niagara Region, more specifically the area surrounding the Welland Canal in 1921, 1934 and 2003, some of the main land-use changes can be identified in the area.

2.0 Goal
The goal of this project is to help identify some of the main land-use changes between 1921, 1934 and 2003 in the Niagara Region, focusing on the location of the Welland Canal. To compare the location over the time period, photo sets of the canal location in 1921 and 1934 were georeferenced using ArcGIS Desktop 10.1 software. With proper Georeferencing, the two photo sets are compared to a reference image taken in 2003 to identify land-use changes around the canal throughout the time period.

3.0 Methodology
Before undertaking any change detection between the three photo sets, the photos from 1934; (Welland Canal 1934 A4873_19), (Welland Canal 1934 A4873_20) and (Welland Canal 1934 A4873_21) and 1921; (Welland Canal 1921 - H20-1), (Welland Canal 1921 - H20-2), (Welland Canal 1921 - H22-25) and (Welland Canal 1921 - H22-91) had to be georeferenced in ArcGIS Desktop software, ArcMap 10.1. The 2003 photo (IKONOS Multispectral Imagery 2003) has been previously georeferenced and will be used as the reference image. Ground Control Points must be chosen to spatially reference the image. In this project ground control points will be identified from the reference image (IKONOS Multispectral Imagery 2003). Wangfei, Jianguo, Tianshu, & Yanru identify ground control points as important baseline data that is crucial to the correction and rectification of remotely sensed imagery (2009). Ground control points can be any location that can be seen in both the reference image and the target image. Ground control points that will result in better quality image rectification are features that are easily identifiable. Some examples of high quality ground control points are center of road or Page 1 of 22

Shannon Graup shannon.graup@gmail.com railroad intersections, bridges, large buildings, or airports. In ArcGIS, at least three GCPs must be chosen to create a model to georeference the image, but four or five GCPs often results in a better quality georeferenced photo. Although four or five ground control points may result in better rectification in ArcGIS, the number of ground control points tends to be inversely proportional to the reliability of the rectified image (Kim, Lee, Choi, & Lee, 2005).

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4.0 Findings
4.1 1934 Aerial Images
4.1.1 Canal Operational Status 1934
In the 1934 aerial images it is evident that the third canal is not operational. No boats are seen in the canal and there is only a small amount of water in each of the locks which is evident by the shadow that is being cast from the left side of the locks as seen in Figure 1. The end of the third canal is dammed up, meaning that the canal is not in operation as no boats could travel through the dam area. This dam in the third canal can be seen in Figure 3. The fourth canal is operational in 1934; the water levels are to the tops of the canal, shown in Figure 2 as there are no visible shadows in the canal. Although there are no visible boats in the canal at the time of the photo acquisition there is no construction infrastructure visible that surrounds the canal. A map layout of the 1934 photos can be found in Appendix B. .

Figure 1: Old Welland Canal 1934

Figure 2: Welland Canal 1934

Figure 3: Old Welland Canal Dam Area

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4.1.2 Canal Feature Identification

The wedged shape shown in Figure 4 is the remnants of a construction zone from the construction of the fourth canal, dirt was moved from the canal site outwards in a triangular shape. The striations are from construction vehicle tracks moving material and equipment to and from the canal site. The tone of the feature is partially light because the area consists of some bare ground. The feature has a large shape; some of the striations extend the length of three bridges along the canal. The shape is triangular because the construction moves outwards from the peak of the triangle. There are apparent shadows in parts of the triangle which indicates that the land is raised. There is also apparent texture in the area which indicates the ground is not smooth. The patterns are many striations moving from the triangle peak away from the canal.

Figure 4: Wedged Shape Feature

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Shannon Graup shannon.graup@gmail.com The curved linear feature shown in Figure 5 is a railway line; it travels underneath lock eighteen of the third canal through what is now called the blue ghost tunnel. There is a depression in the rail line which is evident from the much darker area below the line; this large shadow could be due to a ditch. This rail line does not look to be in use at the time of photo acquisition because the surrounding areas look to be poorly maintained and overgrown with vegetation. Figure 6 shows the rail line continued on past the canal locks with an area of overgrown vegetation.

Figure 5: Rail line, 1934, Location of Blue Ghost Tunnel

Figure 6: Rail line with Overgrown Vegetation

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Shannon Graup shannon.graup@gmail.com The pond shown in Figure 7 is a drainage pond that was created as a by-product of all of the construction on the fourth canal. The construction has disrupted the normal drainage pattern in the land causing a build-up into the drainage pond directly below one of the dirt mounds created by the construction. The location of the pond in 1921 is shown in Figure 8 with the red arrow, and there is no pond present. This confirms that the pond was created as a by-product of the construction process of the fourth canal. Figure 9 shows another drainage pond located directly north of the pond shown in Figure 7. This further confirms that the ponds have been created as a byproduct of the fourth canal construction. The regular drainage pattern of the land has been disrupted by the construction, due to the large amount of dirt and material that has been moved away from the fourth canal.

Figure 7: Pond Feature, Welland Canal 1934

Figure 8: Pond Location in 1921

Figure 9: Second Drainage Pond, 1934

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Shannon Graup shannon.graup@gmail.com The area shown in Figure 10 is an older unmaintained agricultural area. The shape of the feature is rectangular, and the area is clearly separated into different rectangular lots which are man-made pieces of land. Drainage patterns are clearly seen in a dendritic pattern from the north moving downwards. There are also visible plow lines on each agriculture field running in the north south direction which can be seen more clearly in Figure 11. The agricultural fields are no longer maintained, which is evident because the tones of the features are very light, indicating unhealthy vegetation. The drainage seen in the fields is dark but the remainders of the fields are very light indicating that the vegetation is unhealthy or dead.

Figure 10: Agricultural Area

Figure 11: Plow Lines in Agricultural Area

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4.2

1921 Aerial Images

4.2.1 Canal Operational Status 1921

In 1921 it is clear that the fourth canal was under construction and not in use. The tone of the canal location is light as the land is bare ground. There is no water located in the canal as most of the canal area has not even been constructed. There is a large wedged shape of land to the right of the canal location which is a by-product of the movement of dirt and materials to and from the canal construction. A portion of the construction area of the fourth canal can be seen in Figure 12. The third canal is in operational status in 1921, this is known because the canal locks are filled with water entirely. An image of the third canal in 1921 can be seen in Figure 13, the water levels in the locks are filled completely. Figure 14 shows a boat located towards the most northerly point in the third canal, this confirms that the canal is in use. A map layout of the Welland canal area in 1921 can be found in Appendix B.

Figure 12: Fourth Canal Location in 1921 Figure 13: Third Canal in 1921

Figure 14: Boat in Third Canal

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4.3

2003 Satellite Imagery (IKONOS Multispectral Imagery)

4.3.1 Canal Operational Status 2003

In 2003 the Fourth Canal is in operation. This is known because multiple boats are visible travelling through the canal. Figure 15 and Figure 16 show boats in the fourth canal in 2003 during the time of photo acquisition. The Third canal is not in operation because many of the canal locks are not filled in with water, and many are overgrown with vegetation. In comparison to the sizes of the locks in both the 1921 and 1934 aerial photographs the locks are much smaller as they have been overgrown with vegetation. Figure 17 and Figure 18 show parts of the third canal in 2003, with little water in the locks and most locks over grown with vegetation.

Figure 15: Boat in Fourth Canal, 2003

Figure 16: Boat in Fourth Canal Lock, 2003

Figure 17: Third Canal Location, 2003

Figure 18: Third Canal Location, 2003

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4.4

Change Detection

4.4.1 Third Canal Lock Visibility in 1934 and 2003

Table 1: Third Canal Lock Visibility in 1934 and 2003

Locks 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19

Lock Visibility 1934 Visible Visible Visible Visible Visible Visible Visible Visible Partly visible

Comment The tone of this lock is very light due to a high reflectance making it difficult to see clearly This lock is no longer visible as it is submerged in the dammed area -

Lock Visibility 2003 Visible Visible Visible Visible Visible Visible Visible Visible Not visible

Comment This lock is not visible as it has been overgrown by vegetation This lock is not visible as it has been submerged in the dammed area This lock is only partly visible as it has been overgrown by vegetation There is no longer water in this lock, it is a bright tone as it is made out of concrete -

20

Not visible

Not visible

21 22

Visible Visible

Visible Partly visible

23

Not visible

This lock is not in the photo extent

Partly visible

24

Not visible

This lock is not in the photo extent

Visible

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4.4.2 Fuller Plan

In 1921 the land area known as the Fuller Plan consists of different land plots with agriculture on them. Figure 19 shows the Fuller Plan land area in 1921, it can be seen that the land is consisting of different agriculture land plots. There are crop lines on the plots, suggesting that there is production of tender fruit in the area during photo acquisition in 1921.

Figure 19: The Fuller Plan Land Area, 1921

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Shannon Graup shannon.graup@gmail.com In 1934 the Fuller Plan area consists of bare ground, and unkept agricultural land. Figure 20 shows the Fuller Plan land area in 1934. It can be seen that to the north of the rail line there is much less agriculture plot visibility. The crop lines and orchard areas previously visible in 1921 are faded. Some orchard and crop lines can be seen faintly south of the rail line whereas north of the rail line they have almost disappeared completely. It is clear that the agricultural land sections have been poorly maintained over the 13 years between photo acquisition times.

Figure 20: Fuller Plan Land Area, 1934

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Shannon Graup shannon.graup@gmail.com In 2003 the section of land previously known as the Fuller Plan is covered with thick vegetation, looking like a densely forested area. The Fuller Plan location can be seen in Figure 21. Directly below the Canadian National Rail line there is a brightly toned area that is composed of bare ground. This can be seen in the top part of Figure 21. This area looks to be used as a construction equipment area. The two roads that previously bound the Fuller plan are no longer visible as they have been overgrown by vegetation. As the plans to develop the Fuller Plan area fell through, the land was left alone and natural vegetation growth occurred between the 1930s and 2003.

Figure 21: Fuller Plan Land Area, 2003

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4.4.3 Wedged Feature Comparison

The wedged shaped landform that previously existed in 1934 (seen in Figure 4) has been covered by thick forested vegetation. The area in 2003 can be seen in Figure 22. The red arrows in Figure 22 and Figure 23 show the same area in the wedged shaped. In Figure 23 it can be seen that the land area is elevated with a shadow to the left of the ridge, in Figure 22 the same faint line differentiating between the different land elevations can be seen to the left of the red arrow. This elevation change can be seen because there is a faint line without any trees.

Figure 22: Location of wedged shaped, 2003

Figure 23: Wedged shaped feature, 1934

5.0 Conclusion
Investigation and interpretation of the 1921, 1934 and 2003 images of the Welland canal in the Niagara Region revealed that there have been drastic land use changes in the canal area over the approximate 80 year period between photo acquisitions. The main land use changes between 1921, 1934 and 2003 revealed that in the earlier photos there was development and settling of the land area south of the Canadian National railway previously referred to as the Fuller Plan. By 2003 the area was overgrown by forested vegetation, except for a small aggregate area directly south of the rail line. In 1921 there was ongoing construction of the fourth canal but by 1934 the construction was completed. The land disruption created by construction of the fourth canal is no longer noticeable in 2003. The main land use changes in the Welland canal area in the Niagara Region were from development changes in the Fuller Plan location and the construction of the canal.

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6.0 References
Aron, W. I., & Smith, S. H. (1971, October). Ship Canals and Aquatic Ecosystems. Science, 174(4004), 13-20. IKONOS Multispectral Imagery 2003. Niagara College, Niagara-On-The-Lake. Kim, J. C., Lee, K. M., Choi, B. T., & Lee, S. U. (2005). A dense stereo matching using two-pass dynamic programming with generalized ground control points. Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition, 2005. CVPR 2005. IEEE Computer Society Conference, (pp. 10751082). Muller, M. R., & Middleton, J. (1994). A Markov model of land-use change dynamics in the Niagara Region, Ontario, Canada. Landscape Ecology, 9(2), 151-157. Wangfei, Z., Jianguo, G., Tianshu, X., & Yanru, H. (2009). The Selection of Ground Control Points in a Remote Sensing Image Correction Based on Weighted Voronoi Diagram. ITCS '09 Proceedings of the 2009 International Conference on Information Technology and Computer Science , (pp. 326 - 329). Welland Canal 1921 - H20-1. Niagara College, Niagara-On-The-Lake. Welland Canal 1921 - H20-2. Niagara College, Niagara-On-The-Lake. Welland Canal 1921 - H22-25. Niagara College, Niagara-On-The-Lake. Welland Canal 1921 - H22-91. Niagara College, Niagara-On-The-Lake. Welland Canal 1934 A4873_19. Niagara College, Niagara-On-The-Lake. Welland Canal 1934 A4873_20. Niagara College, Niagara-On-The-Lake. Welland Canal 1934 A4873_21. Niagara College, Niagara-On-The-Lake.

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Appendix A: Georeferenced Aerial Images, Welland Canal 1921

Georeferenced Aerial Images, Welland Canal 1921

250

500

1,000 Meters

Image Source: IKONOS 2003 Multispectral Imagery NAD 1983 UTM Zone 17N By: Shannon Graup December 5, 2013

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Appendix B: Georeferenced Aerial Images, Welland Canal 1934

Georeferenced Aerial Images, Welland Canal 1934

250

500

1,000 Meters

Image Source: IKONOS 2003 Multispectral Imagery NAD 1983 UTM Zone 17N By: Shannon Graup December 5, 2013

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