In 2014 the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) initiated a Play-Based Regulation (PBR) pilot project as a step towards implementation of the Unconventional Regulatory Framework. One of the goals of the PBR pilot is to encourage companies in the unconventional play area to work together on plans for surface development to minimize the numbers of facilities and surface impacts. This data set is one of a series created using earth observation imagery to assess surface change caused by energy exploration.
The PBR area extends from Twp. 52, Rge. 7, W 5th Mer. to Twp. 70, Rge. 5, W 6th Mer., covering the towns of Edson, Fox Creek, Mayerthorpe, Whitecourt, Swan Hills and Valleyview.
The anthropogenic footprints shapefile contains a compilation of developed and mixed developed footprint classes extracted from the land-use/land-cover classifications data for the PBR area from 2005 to 2013, published by AGS. They can be used as a baseline for planning, managing and monitoring surface infrastructure needs and impacts.