30-year Average Number of Days with Temperature above 32 °C are defined as the count of the number of climate days during the month where the maximum daily temperature was greater than 32 °C. These values are calculated across Canada in 10x10 km cells.

Maximum Temperature represents the highest recorded temperature value (°C) at each location for a given time period. Time periods include the previous 24 hours and the previous 7 days from the available date where a climate day starts at 0600UTC.

Accumulated Precipitation represents the amount of total precipitation in mm (solid and/or liquid) which has been recorded over a given period of time. Products are produced for the following timeframes: Agricultural Year, Growing Season, Winter Season, as well as rolling products for 7, 14, 30, 60, 90, 180, 270, 365, 730, 1095, 1460 and 1825 days.

Growing Degree Days (GDDs) are used to estimate the growth and development of plants and insects during the growing season. Insect and plant development are very dependent on temperature and the daily accumulation of heat. The amount of heat required to move a plant or pest to the next development stage remains constant from year to year. However, the actual amount of time (days) can vary considerably from year to year because of weather conditions. Base temperatures are a point below which development does not occur for the organism in question. Base 5 temperatures are commonly used for alfalfa, canola and general plant growth. These values are calculated across Canada in 10x10 km cells.

The Agri-Environmental Indicator Risk of Water Contamination by Coliforms provides two variables including the Soil Coliform Load and the Coliform Risk to Water. The Soil Coliform Load indicator is the estimated accumulation of coliforms on the soil and the Coliform Risk to Water indicator is the relative risk of coliforms getting into the waterways. Products in this data series present results for predefined areas as defined by the Soil Landscapes of Canada (SLC v.3.2) data series, uniquely identified by SOIL_LANDSCAPE_ID values.

The term "Palmer Drought Index" has been used collectively to represent multiple indices. This index is simply a water balance model which analyzes precipitation and temperature, and used as a tool to measure meteorological and hydrological drought across space and time. All versions of the index uses the Versatile Soil Moisture Budget to model the movement of water within the system, and a daily Priestly-Taylor model to estimate evapotranspiration. The Palmer Drought Index (PDI) uses monthly temperature and precipitation data to calculate a simple soil water balance. The index is a relative measure that typically ranges from -4 (extremely dry) to +4 (extremely wet) and represents how soil moisture availability differs from that expected for a given place and time of year. The PDI includes a "memory" component that considers past conditions and persistence of soil moisture surplus or deficit. The Modified Palmer Drought Index (PMDI) is obtained from the sum of the wet and dry terms weighted by probability values. The PMDI has the same value as the PDI during established dry or wet spells but can be different during transition periods.

The health of individual amphibians, amphibian populations, and their wetland habitats are monitored in the oil sands region and at reference locations. Contaminants assessments are done at all sites. Amphibians developing near oil sands activities may be exposed to concentrations of oil sands-related contaminants, through air emissions as well as water contamination. The focus of field investigations is to evaluate the health of wild amphibian populations at varying distances from oil sands operations. Wood frog (Lithobates sylvaticus) populations are being studied in Alberta, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories in order to examine the relationship of proximity to oil sands activities and to prevalence of infectious diseases, malformation rates, endocrine and stress responses, genotoxicity, and concentrations of heavy metals, naphthenic acids and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

The Indicator of Risk of Water Contamination by nitrogen (IROWC-N) estimates the risk of water contamination by nitrogen leaching on agricultural lands in Canada from 1981 to 2021. High nitrate level ( > 10 mg N/L) in drinking water may lead to various health impacts including methemoglobinemia (blue baby syndrome) and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. High nitrate levels in surface waters can also contribute to algal growth and eutrophication.

Minimum Temperature represents the lowest recorded temperature value (°C) at each location for a given time period. Time periods include the previous 24 hours and the previous 7 days from the available date where a climate day starts at 0600UTC.