The “South Tobacco Creek Watershed – 10 cm Contours” dataset is a linear representation of the LiDAR DEM data set to the closest 0.1 meters.

LiDAR data was collected using LSI's proprietary Helix LiDAR system - Novatel GPS and SPANS inertial unit, coupled to a Riegl Q560 digital waveform ranging laser and mounted in a Cessna 185 aircraft. LiDAR was collected at 600m AGL, and a ground speed of 160km/h. Original data was in an ASCII XYZ coordinate format.

The “Hydrometric Gauging Station Network of the AAFC Watersheds Project - 2013” dataset is a geospatial data layer containing network line features representing links between hydrometric gauging stations of the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) Watersheds Project. Each line connects a gauging station to its downstream neighbour(s), indicating its drainage direction. This network is a ‘drainage’ network, not a ‘stream’ network. That is, the lines do not in any way portray the actual stream path between stations. In some instances, a lake, for example, an area may have several gauging stations. In such cases, one of the gauging stations is designated the ‘primary’ gauging station for calculation purposes, and to maintain proper hydraulic relationships between gauging stations, where only the primary stations are connected to the downstream portion of the network.

McElhanney Consulting Services Ltd (MCSL) has performed a LiDAR and Imagery survey in southern Saskatchewan. The purpose was to generate DEMs for hydraulic modeling of floodplain, digital terrain maps, and other products for portions of the Swift Current Creek valley and other miscellaneous tributaries and related water course valleys in and around the City of Swift Current. The acquisition was completed between the 16th and 25th of October, 2009. The survey consisted of approximately 790 square kilometers of coverage. While collecting the LiDAR data, we also acquired aerial photo in RGB and NIR modes consisting of 1649 frames each. In addition to the main area of interest, McElhanney has acquired some LiDAR and photo of low lying areas adjacent to the project area. This additional area was acquired on speculation that the data may be required in the future. The 3Dimensional laser returns (point cloud) were classified using Microstation (v8), Terrascan and TerraModeler. A series of algorithms based on topography were created to separate laser returns that hit the ground from the ones that hit objects above the ground. Steps taken are: Classified LiDAR surface as Bare earth, Classified other features as non-bare earth or default, Formatted to ASPRS .LAS V1.1 (Class 1 - Default (non-bare earth), Class 2 – Ground points (bare earth)), 239 tiles each 2km x2km generated for LiDAR data, File prefix FF – Classified (Non-Bare Earth and Bare Earth), File Prefix BE – Bare Earth only, Bare Earth Model Key Point (MKPts) surface files are thinned Bare earth LiDAR points. MKPts files generate a virtually identical surface without the large file size, MKPts file format is ASCII (Easting Northing Z-elevation) xyz and LAS format.

The “Gross and Effective Drainage Areas for Hydrometric Gauging Stations of the AAFC Watersheds Project - 2013” dataset is a table that provides the calculated gross and effective drainage areas associated with the hydrometric gauging stations of the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) Watersheds Project. Areas are provided in square kilometres. ‘Gross drainage’ describes the total area of a catchment. ‘Effective drainage’ describes areas that are expected to contribute to an average runoff.

The “Incremental Gross Drainage Areas of the AAFC Watersheds Project - 2013” dataset is a geospatial data layer containing polygon features representing the incremental gross drainage areas of the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) Watersheds Project. The Project area is subdivided by hydrometric gauging station. The maximum area that could contribute runoff to each station, less that of its upstream neighbour(s) is called an ‘incremental gross drainage area’.

The "Total Effective Drainage Areas of the AAFC Watersheds Project – 2013” dataset is a geospatial data layer containing polygon features representing the areas within the “total gross drainage areas” of each hydrometric gauging station of the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) Watersheds Project that would contribute to average runoff. A ‘total gross drainage area’ is the maximum area that could contribute runoff for a single gauging station – the ‘total effective drainage areas’ are those parts of that ‘total gross drainage area’ that would contribute surface runoff to an average runoff. For each “total gross drainage area” there can be only one “total effective drainage areas”. These polygons may overlap with those from other gauging stations’ “total gross drainage area”, as upstream land surfaces form part of multiple downstream gauging stations’ “total gross drainage areas”.

The "Areas of Non-Contributing Drainage within Total Gross Drainage Areas of the AAFC Watersheds Project - 2013" dataset is a geospatial data layer containing polygon features representing the areas within the “total gross drainage areas” of each gauging station of the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) Watersheds Project that DO NOT contribute to average runoff. A “total gross drainage area” is the maximum area that could contribute runoff for a single gauging station – the “areas of non-contributing drainage” are those parts of that “total gross drainage area” that DO NOT contribute to average runoff. For each “total gross drainage area” there can be none to several unconnected “areas of non-contributing drainage”. These polygons may overlap with those from other gauging stations’ “total gross drainage area”, as upstream land surfaces form part of multiple downstream gauging stations’ “total gross drainage areas”.

The "Total Gross Drainage Areas of the AAFC Watersheds Project - 2013" dataset is a geospatial data layer containing polygon features representing the maximum area that could contribute surface runoff (total gross drainage areas) for each gauging station of the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) Watersheds Project. These polygons overlap as upstream land surfaces form part of multiple downstream gauging stations’ total gross drainage areas. Drainage area includes all land whose surface runoff contributes to the same drainage outlet or gauging station. Many gauging stations share the same headwaters, thus the overlapping areas (or polygons). The majority of the drainage areas in this dataset have shared areas.

The Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s (AAFC) Watersheds Project level series supplies a number of watershed and watershed related datasets for the Prairie Provinces. The levels are greater or smaller assemblages of hydrometric areas, or the components defining them. The Project is organized by hydrometric gauging stations which are sourced from Environment Canada, the United States, and Canadian provinces. Additional stations were generated to address structural issues, like river confluences or lake inlets. Collectively, they are referred to as the gauging stations, or simply, the stations. The drainage area that each station monitors, between itself and one or more of its upstream neighbours, is called an ‘incremental gross drainage area’. The incremental gross drainage areas are collected into larger or smaller groupings based on size or defined interest to generate the various ‘levels ’of the series. They include: Basins of varying size: 1. Major drainage systems (3): Arctic Ocean, Hudson Bay and Gulf of Mexico; 2. Major basins (23): associated with river or lake reaches; 3. Project sub-basins (47): created specifically for the project; 4. Sub-basins (51): based on specific Environment Canada hydrometric gauging station locations; 5. Sub-sub-basins (311): based on specific Environment Canada hydrometric gauging station locations); Incremental drainage areas: 6. Incremental gross drainage areas: one per gauging station. The incremental gross drainage areas are further subdivided into portions that either contribute or do not contribute to drainage to an average runoff event. The portions that do contribute are called ‘effective drainage’ areas, while those that don’t are called ‘non-contributing’. These generate the following levels: 7. Incremental effective drainage areas; and 8. Incremental non-contributing areas. Total drainage areas: 9. Total gross drainage areas; 10. Total effective drainage areas; and 11. Total non-contributing areas; And when combined for the entire project, yields the: 12. Effective drainage area. The series also includes the components: 13. The gauging stations; 14. The collection of boundaries (lines) of the gross incremental drainage areas as well as the boundaries that separate contributing from non-contributing areas for an average runoff event; and 15. A network of downstream-directed lines that connect the gauging stations. All linework is derived from large scale topographic data. One additional non-spatial dataset, a table of tallied values by gauging station, is provided: 16. The Project Gauging Station Table. The Project area, designed for the Prairie Provinces, covers all of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, and those portions of British Columbia, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Ontario, and the United States that are required to complete the trans-border sections of the watersheds. Since 1975 the AAFC Watersheds Project has systematically collected and refined watershed boundaries for the Prairies. The result is the authoritative source for gross and effective drainage areas in the Prairie Provinces. The initial 1:50,000 analog delineations were moved to their digital form in 1994. Since then, the delineations have increased in accuracy and extent, and the series levels have increased to 16 in number.