A Prairie Oasis
Riding Mountain National Park (opened in ), tucked away in southwest Manitoba, resides as a lobe of the Boreal Plains ecozone that extends southward into the Prairies of southern Canada. This woodland escarpment rises more than 500 m above the surrounding agricultural plains, forming an island oasis which is clear to see in this perspective view created using visible spectrum satellite images.
Credit: NextGen Environmental Research Inc. Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel-2 data processed by ESA
About the visual art
- Location: Riding Mountain National Park of Canada, Manitoba
- Company: NextGen Environmental Research Inc.
This 136-km-long park has numerous lakes, streams, and trails that provide access and destinations for many outdoor enthusiasts. The town of Wasagaming is nestled next to the beautiful, blue, and deep Clear Lake (centre, right) and offers many amenities for travellers, has relaxing beaches, and access to a challenging lakeside golf course. The park is also home to a free-ranging herd of bison. As you approach on Highway 10, from the north by Dauphin Lake (upper left) or from the south, you know you have arrived as your vehicle climbs upward out of the crops and into the forest.
This perspective view drapes a Sentinel-2 multispectral natural colour composite satellite image () on top of one arc-second elevation data collected from Space Shuttle Endeavour. The shuttle orbited Earth 16 times to collect the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission data, –. The terrain relief has been accentuated to reveal its shape.
Dr. Paul M. Cooley is the president and founder of NextGen Environmental Research Inc., a research and technology development firm based in Victoria Beach, Manitoba. Paul uses maps to conduct science, to convey results, and to inform the public. Two generations of Paul's family lived 30 minutes south of the park, which was their cottage destination since the 1940s.