G.A. Borstad Associates Ltd.

Borstad Associates

Borstad Associates Ltd. provides remote sensing services to the environment, mining and military sectors using airborne and satellite sensors. We have been providing data gathering, mapping, monitoring, consulting and training services world wide since 1983 with a variety of satellite and aircraft sensors including thermal, short wave infra-red, visible and radar systems. We have particular expertise in hyperspectral airborne and satellite systems.


Established in 1983, Borstad Associates is a stable, reliable company with a long history. The company and staff have extensive field experience in the tropics, in the high arctic, in Europe, SE Asia, Africa, South America and throughout North America, as well as extensive and specialized training in oceanography, biology, geology, geography, computing, Geographic Information Systems, and remote sensing. Some marine applications include: quantitative mapping of phytoplankton chlorophyll in water bodies; quantitative mapping of suspended sediment concentration; detection and quantification of industrial effluents into receiving waters; mapping of submerged, intertidal and shoreline vegetation; mapping of coral reefs and bathometry in clear water; quantitative mapping of near-surface fish schools; and detection of oil slicks.


The company has carried out many large projects, such as: Assisting the British National Rivers Authority to set up a marine coastal management scheme based on aerial remote sensing; rapid response to the Braer oil spill in the Shetland Islands, January 1993 and to the Spanish oil spill in 2002; working with the Swedish Space Corporation and a Malaysian company to advise the Malaysian Department of the Environment on establishing a system of coastal surveillance; acquiring the airborne multi spectral data and producing thematic maps for the entire coastal zone, coral reefs and lagoons, of the Republic of Mauritius - over 1000 km of flight lines; and acquisition and mapping of multi spectral image data for over 6500 km of the British Columbia, Newfoundland, Ontario, Alaskan, Bahamas, Florida, Washington State and Maine coastlines, for intertidal vegetation mapping.


Borstad Associates remote sensing techniques have equal utility in terrestrial environments and these applications are also being developed in association with other companies specializing in mining exploration, forestry, geology and agriculture. Some applications include: Mineral exploration in unvegetated terrain; land use; insect damage in grape vineyards; geological mapping of volcanos; and forest disease mapping.


Borstad Associates works with a wide variety of satellite and airborne imagery. Satellite imagery is available for most parts of the earth back to about 1972, and can thus provide a record of land use or other environmental changes over large or remote areas. We work at scales of 1:1,000,000 for global and regional scales, and with newer imagery we are now undertaking inexpensive detailed mapping of any place on the globe at scales down to 1:2000.


The company operates three portable digital cameras: a Compact Airborne Spectrographic Imager (CASI) operating in the visible and near infra-red, the SWIR Full Spectrum Imager(SFSI) which operates outside of the human visible range in the Short Wave Infra Red (SWIR), and a very high resolution Panchromatic imager (PAN). All three systems use the same strap-down navigation and geocorrection hardware, developed by Borstad Associates.


Borstad Associates obtained their CASI in 1990 and have flown over 100 missions since that time. They acquired the SFSI from the Canada Centre for Remote sensing in 1995, has flown many large international mineral exploration and reclamation surveys in Asia and North and South America.


With a long history of practical satellite and airborne remote sensing experience, the company offers training and assistance either on site or in their facility in Canada. They have participated in training in Peru, China, Indonesia and Austria.


Borstad Associates invites inquiries regarding teaming with companies and institutions involved in environmental mapping and monitoring, civil engineering or mining exploration.

Company Details

Year Established: 1983

Total Sales ($CDN): $500,000 - $1,000,000

Number of Employees: 10

Company Information

Gary Borstad
Title: President
Area of Responsibility: Management Executive
Telephone: (250) 656-5633
Fax: (250) 656-3646
Email: Click Here

Products

Environmental Products And Services

Customised Assistance And Instruction.
Borstad Associates Ltd. provides remote sensing services to the environment and mining sectors using airborne and satellite sensors. We have been providing mapping, monitoring and consulting services world wide since 1983 with a variety of satellite and aircraft sensors including thermal, short wave infra-red, visible and radar systems. The company and staff have extensive field experience in the tropics, in the high arctic, in Europe, South East Asia, Africa, South America and throughout North America, as well as extensive and specialized training in oceanography, biology, geology, geography, computing, Geographic Information Systems, and remote sensing. With a long history of practical satellite and airborne remote sensing experience, the company offers training and assistance either on site or in their facility in Canada. They have participated in training in Peru, China, Indonesia and Austria.

Thematic Maps From Multispectral Imagery.
Borstad Associates creates thematic maps at a very wide variety of scales, from about 1:20 (really) all the way to 1:1,000,000 and above. We use the latest digital satellite and airborne imagery from our own airborne cameras. Satellite imagery provides historical archives to look at most places on the earth back to about 1972, and thus the possibility of analysing evolving land use or seasonal cycles for example. Digital multispectral imaging allows us to detect subtle colour variations to map many different kinds of targets. We also work with satellite thermal imagery to map surface temperature useful for describing physical circulation in lakes and in the ocean, or mapping effluent plumes from shore based facilities. Our own airborne cameras can be used to provide detailed GIS-ready imagery of targets smaller than 1m and over areas several 10s of kms wide. The cameras are compact and can be shipped to a target site and mounted in a small local aircraft within a few days. While some kinds of measurements can be made under cloud, the flexibility of aircraft allows us to make cloud-free maps by avoiding the cloud. We can quickly respond to accidents and meet tidal or other schedules.

Thematic Maps From Multispectral And Hyperspectral Imagery.
Borstad Associates creates thematic maps at a very wide variety of scales, from about 1:20 (really) all the way to 1:1,000,000 and above. We use the latest digital satellite and airborne imagery from our own airborne cameras. Satellite imagery provides historical archives to look at most places on the earth back to about 1972, and thus the possibility of analysing evolving land use or seasonal cycles for example. Digital multispectral and hyperspectral imaging allows us to detect subtle colour variations to map many different kinds of targets. From detailed city maps, forest health to mineral exploration and mine reclamation, from the high Arctic to tropical coffee plantations we can map it. We also work with satellite thermal imagery to map surface temperature. Our own airborne cameras can be used to provide detailed GIS-ready imagery of targets smaller than 1m and over areas several 10s of kms wide. The cameras are compact and can be shipped to a target site and mounted in a small local aircraft, within a few days. While some kinds of measurements can be made under cloud, the flexibility of aircraft allows us to make cloud-free maps by avoiding the cloud. We can quickly respond to accidents and meet today or other schedules.

Services

Resource Maps Maps of biological resources (eg. forests, coral reefs, marine and freshwater shoreline vegetation) and mineral resources (eg. gold, silver, copper)- from aerial surveys and satellite imagery.

Mineral Exploration - Aerial Surveys aerial surveys using local aircraft, world-wide. Excellent discrimination of alteration clay minerals.

Remote Sensing Services Over 20 years experience in the field. Areas of Expertise: - Satellite and Aircraft Remote Sensing - Aerial Surveying - Resource Exploration - Monitoring - Control & Surveillance - Environmental Impact Assessment - Mapping of Marine Pollution - Mineral exploration - Consulting and training in remote sensing - Unique experience in hyperspectral remote sensing

Environmental Consultant - Remote Sensing & Image Analysis remote sensing using satellite and aircraft sensors, including hyperspectral Visible and SWIR, thermal InfraRed and Radar sensors. Image processing using Easi/pace and ENVI software packages. Training

Environmental Consultant - Training And Education training in remote sensing applications, methodologies and image processing, in Canada and abroad

Environmental Consultant - Research Develoment of remote sensing methods, protocols, applications, equipment, cameras and software

Environmental Consultant - Agriculture, Soil And Water Conservation thematic maps of vegetation, ground cover, land use

Environmental Consultant - Fisheries Management fisheries habitat mapping, high seas and coastal oceanography via satellite and aircraft remote sensing, direct aerial mapping of schooling fish (capelin, herring, sand lance)

Environmental Consultant - Silviculture And Other Forestry mapping of cutblocks, forest desease, insect infestation and reforestation

Environmental Consultant - Natural Area Parks, Recreation And Tourism thematic vegetation maps of parks and protected areas

Environmental Consultant - Wildlife And Natural Habitat Enhancement thematic maps of wildlife habitat, at all scales from the high arctic to the tropics

Environmental Consultant - Coastal Areas And Shoreline Management mapping of shoreline intertidal, wetlands and upland vegetation via aircraft hyperspectral remote sensing; mapping of coral reef and mangroves; quantitative mapping of effluents from industrial and municipal sewage plants

Environmental Consultant - Consulting remote sensing project planning and management

Environmental Consultant - Facility/Equipment Operation 1. Compact Airborne Spectrographic Imager - an airborne multispectral camera operating in the visible and near Infra Red, designed for use in small local aircraft world wide. Suitable for mapping water quality, vegetation of all types, land use, etc. 2. SWIR Full Spectrum Imager (SFSI-2) - an airborne hyperspectral imager operating in the Short Wave Infra-Red, designed for use in small aircraft world wide. Suitable for mineral exploration, mine contamination and reclaimation, soil type, vegetation and land use. 3. Laboratory facilities include 12 unix and Windows NT machines running EASI/PACE and ENVI image processing software, with more than 500 Gigabytes of on-line storage

Environmental Consultant - Field Sampling And Monitoring thematic resource, damage, restoration and reclaimation mapping via aerial and satellite remote sensing

Environmental Consultant - Gis Applications data provider for GIS users; also GIS applications

Environmental Consultant - Mapping Of Resources/Land Types aerial mapping of land use, vegetation and soil types

Environmental Consultant - Oceanography/Hydrography satellite oceanography using water colour, temperature and radar sensors; studies of ecology of arctic marine mammals and commercial fishing species; fishing activity relative to oceanographic conditions

Environmental Consultant - Ocean Outfalls/Dumping aerial mapping of natural and dyed effluent from industrial plants and municipal sewage works

Environmental Consultant - Stormwater Runoff mapping of turbid water runoff at all scales from single culverts to river plumes

Environmental Consultant - Water Quality mapping of phytoplankton concentration and type, sediment concentration, dissolved organic compounds concentration, oil slicks, and effluents at scales from meters to 1000s of kilometers

Environmental Consultant - Industry-pulp And Paper forest mapping, cut block delineation, reforestation mapping, quantitative mapping of effluents into rivers and coastal oceans

Environmental Consultant - Arctic Resources Management ice climate, ice movement, oceanography, land vegetation mapping and classification via satellite and aircraft remote sensing