WELCOME TO NGE
NextGen Environmental Research Inc. is a Canadian-owned environmental research and development company that maps, monitors, and assesses environmental change using satellites, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV’s/drones), and acoustic remote sensing technology on land, water, and ice.
About NextGen
At NextGen, we care about environmental change as much as you do. And that is why we strive to understand spatial and temporal change using innovative state of the art technology. Our knowledge and multidisciplinary experience builds information that simplifies your monitoring needs and improves decision making.
We are different because we accept that change is common, and monitoring it is important.
We map and monitor spatial and temporal change using:
We assess spatial and temporal change using:
Satellite and Drone Imaging Solutions - Current Research and Commercialization Projects
the first and only app to maP
lake ice hazards
Ice Time is our first research and development project to enter the commercialization phase, November of 2021. From novel concept, execution of R&D, to initial commercialization took less than 4 years.
Now in the commercial phase with its own brand and website, Ice Time is receiving a warm welcome by the lake ice community. Here, in the NGE website, you can find some of the behind the scenes work undertaken since on ice work began in 2018. This includes a successful Lake Ice Hazard mapping project funded by the Canadian Space Agency using RADAR satellites, drones, and lake ice validation data on 84 lakes, including the complex ice cover of Lake Winnipeg. More here…
Ice Time, our Lake Ice Hazard mapping App, is the world’s first SaaS (software as a subscription service) that provides near real-time ice information via the internet and your cell phone, tablet, or desktop device to advise on lake ice hazards throughout the ice period. See and download the app at icetime.app
algal advisory service - year three
Stay on top of the changes!
Algal blooms amidst turbid water masses sourced from the prairies to the south and the optically darker water from Precambrian Shield to the east, in the South basin of Lake Winnipeg, August 14, 2017. Credit: ESA.
A passion project for our home province. Bloomfinder aims to help people recreate on the south basin of Lake Winnipeg. For NGE, this is a fine case study to build staff capacity where a need and a receptive audience exists.
Algal blooms on eutrophic lakes are dynamic and challenge daily use.
We aim to improve the understanding of the dynamic character of Lake Winnipeg by the public through education gained from access to near real-time information. By doing so, we envisage building a more resilient and adaptive user community that can make the most of this great lake. The informed communities of the future can better engage with political leadership during the multi-generational recovery of the lake.
BloomFinder is all about locating the algal blooms in the south basin and making that information available for people to make informed decisions about their planned activities on the lake. The BloomFinder project combines near real-time high resolution satellite imagery, social media, and real time info provided by beach users! Satellite images show where the algal blooms were recently, and beach users provide real-time updates on the status of the beaches. Connect to NextGen’s BloomFinder Facebook Group to learn about science, the dynamics of the lake, and share your content of interest.
My Landplan
For our land clients - year three
My LandPlan is a subscription advisory service for growers, progressive agronomists, and like-minded Ag industries that provides precise information on your arable land and the health of your crops. "The Plan” is different – we offer a scalable and adaptable modernization service that can improve the precision of your operations, while taking care to minimize encumbrance to your existing work. We work with you, and your trusted partners, to provide information solutions that help improve your bottom line.
My LandPlan is a service for precision agriculture and provides information to help growers modernize farming practices. Credit: ESA.
Data Powered Insight
Take Advantage of Timely High Resolution Data
Imaging approaches today can turn data into information and this insight into meaningful actions. Recent advances in remote sensing technology have largely removed many of the barriers that prevented their operational use. Today, satellites and low-altitude UAV’s provide affordable and timely high-resolution data using sensors that are known to deliver results.
Use high resolution data to direct your crop scouting, assess acreage loss due to standing water, monitor crop health, and with our partners, spray selectively by UAV.
Experience and Knowledge
Sets Us Apart
Turn Insight Into Information
In a time of UAV proliferation, it is important to recognize few UAV operators are trained in remote sensing, GPS surveying, and the field of application. There are even fewer UAV companies with a history longer than several years. These are the signs of a challenging marketplace for the consumer that has a choice to make.
NextGen’s interdisciplinary knowledge in remote sensing and surveying on land, water, and ice has been earned through activities in R&D and industry over the last 20+ years in temperate, tropical, and sub-arctic environments. Our experience enables us to leverage the appropriate combination of technology to the sectors and projects of benefit. Our insight can turn your interest into information, and at industry leading pricing. We invite you to call us and discuss your project.
In the news...
The Ice Time lake ice hazard advisory service gets a major boost with support for our mission from Canada.
December 21, 2021. NextGen Environmental Research Inc. was one of select Canadian organizations that competed at the national level to receive support from the Canadian Space Agency smartEarth initiative. This major funding ($0.67M) allows NextGen Environmental Research Inc. to test Canada’s new radar satellites and develop the first ever artificial intelligence classifications of lake ice types and hazards in near real-time. This automation will enable the Ice Time advisory service to expand geographically much faster. To read more about this funding see our newest blog post on icetime.app.
June 26, 2021. Canadian Space Agency selects work by NGE to be featured in: “Satellite Art: celebrating Canada’s beauty from space.” The CSA has selected one candidate from each province and territory to help celebrate Canada Day 2021! See NGE’s work entitled “Beautifully Unfortunate” on the CSA website starting July long weekend! Ours will be featured also on the CSA social media during the summer.
See the national selections, see NGE’s selection!
May 3, 2021. NGE proposes to lead a study in partnership with AAFC, Ottawa, and a private sector tech firm, Toronto, to develop a rapid assessment technique for Leaf Area Index and Biomass estimation in soybean, canola, wheat, and corn crops.
January, 4 2021. NGE and the Center for Indigenous Environmental Resources establish agree to collaborate. Funding has been secured funding from Canada to make travel on lake ice safer for three First Nation Communities in Manitoba!
September 7, 2020 - NGE’s research on lake ice hazard mapping has been published in 12 online and hard copy magazines.
August 24, 2020 - NGE is featured on the August cover of Point of Beginning (POB) magazine using drones and synthetic aperture radar satellites! Click here.
September 15, 2019 - NGE maps more than 20,000 acres of Ag from RPAS data in southern Ontario.
September 10, 2019 - The BloomFinder Projects satellite imagery gets more than 10, 300 page views during summer 2019! People on the lake and in Winnipeg are using the BloomFinder FaceBook Group to choose beaches with less algae, and are learning to read the dynamics of the lake. Way to go BloomFinders!
June 28, 2019 - BloomFinder gets airtime. The BloomFinder Project is covered on television by the CBC and in news papers in both national languages. Click CBC and Free Press, for more.
May 29, 2019 - NextGen’s Lake Ice Hazard study using RADARSAT-2, Sentinel-1, and drone data is a success! Click on these links to see the support of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) of our work on Facebook, Twitter, and Linked-In, or see our social media links below. CSA also has a project overview on their blog here.
May 2, 2019 - NextGen joins Agriculture and Agrifood Canada’s Joint Experiment for Crop Assessment and Monitoring (JECAM) study in southern Manitoba.
November 23, 2018. The Canadian Space Agency invited NextGen to the headquarters of the Canadian Space Agency to participate in the National Forum on Earth Observation at the John H. Chapman Space Centre, in Saint-Hubert, Quebec. Three days of discussions combined perspectives from Canadian space stakeholders from industry, academia and government to jointly articulate a forward-looking national vision for space-based EO in Canada. CSA also unveiled the “Smart Earth” EO support program. More here.
November 5, 2018. NextGen and Strategic Community Consulting, Winnipeg, announce plans for senior level collaboration on clean tech/R&D projects. “It is truly exciting when things start-out like this - our combined efforts are sure to bring novel solutions in R&D and clean environmental technology”, said NextGen president, Dr. Paul Cooley.
June 15 - Of the 12 companies funded in the Canadian Space Agency's Earth Observation Application Development Program competition, NextGen's study was very fortunate to be selected and featured on their website! Click here to check it out!
May 10 - After 39 UAV flights in three study areas and 14 RADARSAT-2 overpasses our EOADP field work is complete! Check NextGen's surveys out on Facebook and Twitter.
January 23, 2018 - NextGen Environmental Research Inc. proposal selected for funding by the Canadian Space Agency, Earth Observation Application Development Program, Multi-Satellite integration. NextGen to use radar and optical satellite data with UAV-based thermal imaging to study hazards to lake ice travel on Lake Winnipeg, spring 2018 - stay tuned!
January 10, 2018 - Western Canada Crop Production Show, Saskatoon. Huge interest in the use of UAV's for crop health mapping, field elevation mapping, and selective variable rate spraying by UAV. You may have seen NextGen and Roga Drone Inc. with some UAV's on:
