Irrigation evidence · IDGeo Inc. · Calgary, Alberta
As far as we could find, no public record shows which fields in southern Alberta were irrigated each season. Headgate, now in pilot, does: 2021 to 2026, beside river flow and reservoir storage. Built first for irrigation districts, and for the lenders, insurers and researchers who work beside them. Every map lists its sources and limits.
Pilot districts get their own results first, planned at no cost for one growing season. Not ready for a pilot? Start with a three-week baseline study.
Sentinel-2 · false colour10 m pixels
IDGeo arrived in Alberta through Alberta IoT.
Featured project
Headgate maps which fields in Alberta's South Saskatchewan Basin were irrigated each season, 2021 to 2026, beside river flow and reservoir storage. It is built for irrigation districts: a screening layer that shows where to check, to sit beside the records you already keep.
A field is called irrigated when its crop looks and behaves like a watered one beside nearby dryland. Each call has a confidence rating, and we are still checking the ratings. We compare the calls with fields your coordinators know and share the result with you, whatever it is. In wet years it is harder to tell, and some fields stay "undetermined". Our aim is every type of irrigation. Today the annual calls cover centre pivots; gravity, wheel-line and canal-fed fields are not yet separated.
The crop's water use for each field and week, using the Government of Alberta's published method, which we are testing against the province's daily crop water-use data.
As of Nov. 2026, and to our knowledge, no public annual field-level irrigation series exists for Alberta. Ours is a prototype, not yet validated against field truth.
What the satellite sees
Drag the handle. In natural colour a watered crop and a dry one can look alike. In false colour, a growing crop turns red. Light blue outlines mark the fields where a crop grew this season: in this area crops are grown with irrigation.
An illustration from one scene north of Lethbridge. Irrigation is outlined only for fields inside the irrigation district, where crops are grown with irrigation (an assumption from local informants): a field with a crop cycle in 2026 is light blue. Fields outside the district are left unmarked. The map uses the full method and can differ.
Who we serve
Which fields were irrigated this season, and where should your coordinators look first? See it beside the records you already keep, before the board meets. In a dry year irrigation is easy to see; in a wet year there are fewer calls and more "undetermined".
Was this field planted, and was it irrigated this season? Satellite evidence per property, to sit beside your own records, before the loan or the claim.
A field-by-field, season-by-season layer to cite and test, with sources, limits and data version recorded. Open to shared field trials and projects.
Crop and pasture maps and in-season monitoring for operations too big to walk.
Headgate pilot
One growing season, planned at no cost for the districts we select. Either side can stop at any time.
A 30-minute conversation, a contact for questions and, if you wish, feedback on our results. To start, no district data is needed.
Your district's fields by season, read beside river flow and reservoir storage, with sources, limits and a confidence rating on every call.
Pilot results go to the district first, before anyone else. We will not give a district's pilot results at field level to any regulator or third party without the district's written consent. Anything you share stays under a written agreement.
Bassano Dam, on the Bow River, feeds the Eastern Irrigation District. Headgate follows the water downstream, field by field and season by season.
Photo: Quintin Soloviev, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.How we check ourselves
Evidence is only useful if you can check it. Three habits shape everything we deliver.
Sentinel-1 radar, Sentinel-2 optical, Landsat thermal and ERA5-Land climate, with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada crop maps and the Government of Alberta's weather, crop water-use and soil data. Every page and report lists what was used and the data version.
For the water a crop needs, we start from the crop water-use data and methods the Government of Alberta publishes for irrigators, and we are testing them against the province's daily crop water-use data for the main crops. We do not invent a new yardstick.
Every deliverable states its method, its data and what it cannot say. A sample is set aside for checking, and each call carries a confidence rating (calibration under way). Resolution is 10 to 30 m, and the 2021 to 2026 series is a prototype, not yet validated against field truth.
Headgate shows where irrigation happened. It does not replace a district's own order and flow records, and it does not measure how much water a grower applied. It does not see how much water was applied, and it does not label anyone's water use. It tells you where to look first.
Baseline study and geo services in Alberta
Based in Calgary, we offer geospatial and remote-sensing services to irrigation districts, producers, ranchers, lenders, insurers and agencies in Alberta, and to teams across Canada. Not every question needs a product. Tell us what you need to know about land, crops or water, and a team of GIS and remote-sensing specialists will deliver the answer, build the solution, or work as part of your team.
A fixed-scope, three-week study for one area and one question, for example one district block. You get a crop map and the irrigation call for each field, with a short report on the method and its limits. If the crop water-use layer is ready by then, it is added. If it is useful, the fee is credited toward the next phase.
Fee on request. The first conversation is free.
For a question with a clear start and end.
You get maps, GIS layers and a report, with the method and its limits written down.
For a decision you make again and again.
You get a working solution, tested before you rely on it, handed over with documentation or run by us.
For recurring production you would rather not staff.
You get the output on a schedule, and the data stays yours.
Who is behind it
IDGeo is led by Ronan Campos from Calgary. Since 2016 the team has read land from space for farms, lenders, insurers and development projects, always with open data, our own models and the method and data version written down in every deliverable.
Contact
Pilot districts get their own results first, planned at no cost for one growing season. Either side can stop at any time. Ask about the pilot.
IDGeo Inc., c/o Intrinsic Innovations
37 Richard Way SW #200
Calgary, Alberta