The Marine Geoscience for Marine Spatial Planning (MGMSP) program, implemented by Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), is an initiative with the goal of offering innovative regional geoscience products to support the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) in their Marine Spatial Planning endeavors. To develop spatial management plans for various expansive bioregions across Canada, the DFO has undertaken the task of creating comprehensive ocean management strategies. Presently, the MGMSP program is concentrating its efforts on two significant bioregions, namely the Scotian Shelf and Newfoundland and Labrador Shelves bioregions. In pursuit of this objective, the work presented in this report has focused on the assimilation and gridding of numerous disparate bathymetry datasets sourced from authoritative and reliable channels. The purpose of this comprehensive data gathering approach is to establish a unified bathymetric grid, with a consistent spatial resolution, which can be utilized in both oceanographic modeling and geological interpretation. By collating information from a diverse range of sources, we aim to create a comprehensive and reliable foundation that will enable accurate and informed decision-making in the field of marine spatial planning, as well as enhance the accuracy and reliability of subsequent analyses and simulations.

The objective of the study was to describe the spatial distribution of krill in eastern Canadian waters using a statistical modelling approach in support of the identification of important habitat for the western North Atlantic (WNA) blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus). Generalized Additive Models (GAMs) were used to predict ‘Significant Aggregations of Krill’ (SAK), i.e., areas where dense krill aggregations would have a greater probability of occurring. SAK cover less than 2% of the entire spatial domain and their location varied among krill categories and seasons. These SAK are interpreted as areas where environmental conditions promote krill aggregation on a regular basis and therefore are potentially important for WNA blue whale foraging in eastern Canadian waters. Plourde, S., Lehoux, C., McQuinn, I.H., and Lesage, V. 2016. Describing krill distribution in the western North Atlantic using statistical habitat models. DFO Can. Sci. Advis. Sec. Res. Doc. 2016/111. v + 34 p.

The number of days in the forecast period with a minimum temperature below the frost temperature, -30°C for woody crops over the dormant period (ifd_wood_dorm). Week 1 and week 2 forecasted index is available daily from November 1 to March 31. Week 3 and week 4 forecasted index is available weekly (Thursday) from November 1 to March 31. Over-wintering crops are biennial and perennial field crops such as herbaceous plants (strawberry, alfalfa, timothy, and many other forage crops) and woody fruit trees (apple, pear, peach, cherry, plum, apricot, chestnut, pecan, grape, etc.). These crops normally grow and develop in the growing season and become dormant in the non-growing season. However, extreme weather and climate events such as cold waves in the growing season and ice freezing events during the winter are a major constraint for their success of production and survival in Canada. The winter survival of these plants depends largely on agrometeorological conditions from late autumn to early spring, especially ice-freezing damage during the winter season. The optimum temperature for such crops is 25°C. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) and Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) have together developed a suite of extreme agrometeorological indices based on four main categories of weather factors: temperature, precipitation, heat, and wind. The extreme weather indices are intended as short-term prediction tools and generated using ECCC’s medium range forecasts to create a weekly index product on a daily basis.

The wetland year count data included in this product is national in scope (entire forested ecosystem) and represents a wall to wall wetland characterization for 1984-2016 (Wulder et al. 2018). It is developed within the framework of Canada’s National Terrestrial Ecosystem Monitoring System (NTEMS). This product was generated using both annual gap free composite reflectance images and annual forest change maps following the Virtual Land Cover Engine (VLCE) process (see Hermosilla et al. 2018), over the 650 million ha forested ecosystems of Canada. Elements of the VLCE classification approach are inclusion of disturbance information in the processes as well as ensuring class transitions over time are logical. Further, a Hidden Markov Model is implemented to assess individual year class likelihoods to reduce variability and possible noise in year-on-year class assignments (for instances when class likelihoods are similar). The values can range from 0 to 33 denoting the number of years between 1984 and 2016 that a pixel was classified as wetland or wetland-treed in the VLCE data cube. For an overview on the data, image processing, and time series change detection methods applied, as well as information on independent accuracy assessment of the data, see Hermosilla et al. (2016; http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17538947.2016.1187673). A detailed description of the VLCE process and the subsequently generated land cover product, including an accuracy assessment, please see Hermosilla et al. (2018). The focused wetland analyses can be found described in Wulder et al (2018). Geographic extent: Canada's forested ecosystems (~ 650 Mha) Time period: 1985–2011

Forest Basal Area 2015 Cross-sectional area of tree stems at breast height. It is developed within the framework of Canada’s National Terrestrial Ecosystem Monitoring System (NTEMS). The sum of the cross-sectional area (i.e. basal area) of each tree in square metres in a plot, divided by the area of the plot (units = m2ha). Products relating the structure of Canada's forested ecosystems have been generated and made openly accessible. The shared products are based upon peer-reviewed science and relate aspects of forest structure including: (i) metrics calculated directly from the lidar point cloud with heights normalized to heights above the ground surface (e.g., canopy cover, height), and (ii) modelled inventory attributes, derived using an area-based approach generated by using co-located ground plot and ALS data (e.g., volume, biomass). Forest structure estimates were generated by combining information from lidar plots (Wulder et al. 2012) with Landsat pixel-based composites (White et al. 2014; Hermosilla et al. 2016) using a nearest neighbour imputation approach with a Random Forests-based distance metric. These products were generated for strategic-level forest monitoring information needs and are not intended to support operational-level forest management. All products have a spatial resolution of 30 m. For a detailed description of the data, methods applied, and accuracy assessment results see Matasci et al. (2018). When using this data, please cite as follows: Matasci, G., Hermosilla, T., Wulder, M.A., White, J.C., Coops, N.C., Hobart, G.W., Bolton, D.K., Tompalski, P., Bater, C.W., 2018b. Three decades of forest structural dynamics over Canada's forested ecosystems using Landsat time-series and lidar plots. Remote Sensing of Environment 216, 697-714. Matasci et al. 2018) Geographic extent: Canada's forested ecosystems (~ 650 Mha) Time period: 1985–2011

This record contains satellite-sensed chlorophyll-a concentration images of the Canadian Beaufort Sea at 1.1 km resolution. The dataset consists of 276 images, aggregated into two-week composites by calculating the mean value at each pixel, comprising years 1998 through 2020. The dataset spans two ocean colour sensors, MODIS-Aqua and SeaWiFS. The Arctic Ocean Empirical algorithm was used to calculate chlorophyll-a concentration, after images were corrected for atmospheric effects using the NIR-SWIR switching algorithm, and Remote Sensing Reflectance (Rrs) were produced. A linear transform in log-10 space was applied to the chlorophyll-a concentration measured by SeaWiFS to improve its correlation with chlorophyll-a concentration measured by MODIS-Aqua. The months of October through February were excluded from these datasets as the sun angle in winter is too low (e.g., polar night) for reliable data to be acquired, and the region is mostly covered in sea ice. For further details, see Galley et al., 2022.

Forest Gross Stem Volume 2015 Gross stem volume. It is developed within the framework of Canada’s National Terrestrial Ecosystem Monitoring System (NTEMS). Individual tree gross volumes are calculated using species-specific allometric equations. In the measured ground plots, gross total volume per hectare is calculated by summing the gross total volume of all trees and dividing by the area of the plot (units = m3/ha). Products relating the structure of Canada's forested ecosystems have been generated and made openly accessible. The shared products are based upon peer-reviewed science and relate aspects of forest structure including: (i) metrics calculated directly from the lidar point cloud with heights normalized to heights above the ground surface (e.g., canopy cover, height), and (ii) modelled inventory attributes, derived using an area-based approach generated by using co-located ground plot and ALS data (e.g., volume, biomass). Forest structure estimates were generated by combining information from lidar plots (Wulder et al. 2012) with Landsat pixel-based composites (White et al. 2014; Hermosilla et al. 2016) using a nearest neighbour imputation approach with a Random Forests-based distance metric. These products were generated for strategic-level forest monitoring information needs and are not intended to support operational-level forest management. All products have a spatial resolution of 30 m. For a detailed description of the data, methods applied, and accuracy assessment results see Matasci et al. (2018). When using this data, please cite as follows: Matasci, G., Hermosilla, T., Wulder, M.A., White, J.C., Coops, N.C., Hobart, G.W., Bolton, D.K., Tompalski, P., Bater, C.W., 2018b. Three decades of forest structural dynamics over Canada's forested ecosystems using Landsat time-series and lidar plots. Remote Sensing of Environment 216, 697-714. Matasci et al. 2018) Geographic extent: Canada's forested ecosystems (~ 650 Mha) Time period: 1985–2011

The data shared are spatially explicit projections of wildfire burn probability across Canada’s forested ecozones under multiple future climate scenarios at a 30-m spatial resolution. It is developed within the framework of Canada’s National Terrestrial Ecosystem Monitoring System (NTEMS). Four future climate scenarios were used to examine the spatiotemporal distribution of burn probability in the 21st century based on climate, vegetation, and topographic conditions ( Mulverhill et al. 2024). Projected burn probability is provided for four Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSP1-2.6, SSP2-4.5, SSP3-7.0, and SSP5-8.5) and four future time periods, including 2021-2040, 2041-2060, 2061-2080, and 2081-2100, along with a baseline period representing average climate conditions and burn probability between 1991 and 2020. Outputs represent the probability that the conditions (climate, vegetation, topography) of a given pixel resemble those of historically burned areas. All non-climate variables were held static; therefore, projections represent burn probability under future climate scenarios given contemporary (2020) forest conditions. When using this dataset, please cite Mulverhill et al. (2025), as below. Mulverhill, C., Coops, N. C., Wulder, M. A., Hermosilla, T., White, J. C., & Bater, C. W. (2025). Projected Future Changes in Burn Probability in Canada’s Forests and Communities Under Different Climate Change Scenarios. Canadian Journal of Remote Sensing, 51(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/07038992.2025.2560347(Mulverhill et al. 2025). For a detailed description of the source data and methods applied to the baseline period to enable the Mulverhill et al. (2025) projections, see: Mulverhill, C., Coops, N.C., Wulder, M.A., White, J.C., Hermosilla, T., and Bater, C.W. 2024. “Multidecadal mapping of status and trends in annual burn probability over Canada’s forested ecosystems.” ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, Vol. 209 pp. 279–295. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isprsjprs.2024.02.006(Mulverhill et al. 2024).

Forest Total Aboveground Biomass 2015 Total aboveground biomass. It is developed within the framework of Canada’s National Terrestrial Ecosystem Monitoring System (NTEMS). Individual tree total aboveground biomass is calculated using species-specific equations. In the measured ground plots, aboveground biomass per hectare is calculated by summing the values of all trees within a plot and dividing by the area of the plot. Aboveground biomass may be separated into various biomass components (e.g. stem, bark, branches, foliage) (units = t/ha). Products relating the structure of Canada's forested ecosystems have been generated and made openly accessible. The shared products are based upon peer-reviewed science and relate aspects of forest structure including: (i) metrics calculated directly from the lidar point cloud with heights normalized to heights above the ground surface (e.g., canopy cover, height), and (ii) modelled inventory attributes, derived using an area-based approach generated by using co-located ground plot and ALS data (e.g., volume, biomass). Forest structure estimates were generated by combining information from lidar plots (Wulder et al. 2012) with Landsat pixel-based composites (White et al. 2014; Hermosilla et al. 2016) using a nearest neighbour imputation approach with a Random Forests-based distance metric. These products were generated for strategic-level forest monitoring information needs and are not intended to support operational-level forest management. All products have a spatial resolution of 30 m. For a detailed description of the data, methods applied, and accuracy assessment results see Matasci et al. (2018). When using this data, please cite as follows: Matasci, G., Hermosilla, T., Wulder, M.A., White, J.C., Coops, N.C., Hobart, G.W., Bolton, D.K., Tompalski, P., Bater, C.W., 2018b. Three decades of forest structural dynamics over Canada's forested ecosystems using Landsat time-series and lidar plots. Remote Sensing of Environment 216, 697-714. Matasci et al. 2018) Geographic extent: Canada's forested ecosystems (~ 650 Mha) Time period: 1985–2011

Fish Habitat Assessment Output: 11 of 16 Average Water Level (75.0m ASL) - Nursery Habitat - High Vegetation Association Species (All Temperature Windows) Habitat suitability was assessed for the Bay of Quinte Area of Concern, at a 3 m grid resolution, using the Habitat Ecosystem Assessment Tool (HEAT), temperature algorithms, vegetation models, and water level input. Habitat classifications were based on three variables: depth (elevation), vegetation, and substrate; and modified by temperature suitabilities. The final suitability maps were based on documented habitat and temperature associations for the fish in the area. Different life stages (spawning requirements, nursery habitat, adult habitat) were modeled for the years of 1972-2011. Suitability values were scaled from 0 (not suitable) to 1 (highly suitable) and converted to suitability classes of very low, low, medium, and high. The final maps for each guild – life stage combination are maximum suitability values from the 39-year period modelled.