High Resolution Digital Elevation Model (HRDEM) - CanElevation Series

The High Resolution Digital Elevation Model (HRDEM) product is derived from airborne LiDAR data (mainly in the south) and satellite images in the north. The complete coverage of the Canadian territory is gradually being established. It includes a Digital Terrain Model (DTM), a Digital Surface Model (DSM) and other derived data. For DTM datasets, derived data available are slope, aspect, shaded relief, color relief and color shaded relief maps and for DSM datasets, derived data available are shaded relief, color relief and color shaded relief maps.

The productive forest line is used to separate the northern and the southern parts of the country. This line is approximate and may change based on requirements. In the southern part of the country (south of the productive forest line), DTM and DSM datasets are generated from airborne LiDAR data. They are offered at a 1 m or 2 m resolution and projected to the UTM NAD83 (CSRS) coordinate system and the corresponding zones. The datasets at a 1 m resolution cover an area of 10 km x 10 km while datasets at a 2 m resolution cover an area of 20 km by 20 km. In the northern part of the country (north of the productive forest line), due to the low density of vegetation and infrastructure, only DSM datasets are generally generated. Most of these datasets have optical digital images as their source data. They are generated at a 2 m resolution using the Polar Stereographic North coordinate system referenced to WGS84 horizontal datum or UTM NAD83 (CSRS) coordinate system. Each dataset covers an area of 50 km by 50 km. For some locations in the north, DSM and DTM datasets can also be generated from airborne LiDAR data. In this case, these products will be generated with the same specifications as those generated from airborne LiDAR in the southern part of the country.

The HRDEM product is referenced to the Canadian Geodetic Vertical Datum of 2013 (CGVD2013), which is now the reference standard for heights across Canada.

Source data for HRDEM datasets is acquired through multiple projects with different partners. Since data is being acquired by project, there is no integration or edgematching done between projects. The tiles are aligned within each project.

The product High Resolution Digital Elevation Model (HRDEM) is part of the CanElevation Series created in support to the National Elevation Data Strategy implemented by NRCan. Collaboration is a key factor to the success of the National Elevation Data Strategy. Refer to the “Supporting Document” section to access the list of the different partners including links to their respective data.

Simple

Date ( RI_367 )
2025-02-21
Date ( RI_366 )
2017-03-31
RI_414
  Government of Canada; Natural Resources Canada; Strategic Policy and Innovation Sector - ( )
Status
onGoing; enContinue RI_596
Maintenance and update frequency
unknown; inconnu RI_543
Keywords ( RI_528 )
  • Digital Elevation Model
  • Digital Surface Model
  • Digital Terrain Model
  • LiDAR
  • Shaded Relief
  • Aspect Map
  • Color Shaded Relief
  • Slope Map
  • ArcticSDI_DEM
Government of Canada Core Subject Thesaurus Thésaurus des sujets de base du gouvernement du Canada ( RI_528 )
  • Digital elevation data
Use limitation
Open Government Licence - Canada (http://open.canada.ca/en/open-government-licence-canada)
Access constraints
license; licence RI_606
Use constraints
license; licence RI_606
Spatial representation type
grid; grille RI_636
Metadata language
fre
Metadata language
eng
Character set
utf8; utf8 RI_458
Topic category
  • Elevation
Begin date
2006-04-28
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Reference system identifier
https://www.epsg-registry.org / EPSG:6140 /
Reference system identifier
https://www.epsg-registry.org / EPSG:4326 /
Reference system identifier
https://www.epsg-registry.org / EPSG:6647 /
Distribution format
  • GeoTIF ( 1.1 )

    File decompression technique
    ZIP Compression Software

  • ESRI REST ( Unknown )

RI_412
  Government of Canada; Natural Resources Canada; Strategic Policy and Innovation Sector - ( )
OnLine resource
DTM derived data (download directory) ( FTP )

Dataset;GeoTIF;zxx

OnLine resource
Product Access and Download Guide (English) ( HTTPS )

Supporting Document;PDF;eng

OnLine resource
Product Access and Download Guide (French) ( HTTPS )

Supporting Document;PDF;fra

OnLine resource
SpatioTemporal Asset Catalog (STAC) Application Programming Interface (API) ( HTTPS )

API;JSON;eng,fra

OnLine resource
DSM derived data (download directory) ( FTP )

Dataset;GeoTIF;zxx

OnLine resource
High Resolution Digital Elevation Model (HRDEM) - CanElevation Series - Product Specifications (English) ( HTTPS )

Supporting Document;PDF;eng

OnLine resource
High Resolution Digital Elevation Model (HRDEM) - CanElevation Series - Product Specifications (French) ( HTTPS )

Supporting Document;PDF;fra

OnLine resource
HRDEM Dataset Footprints by coordinate system ( FTP )

Supporting Document;SHP;eng

OnLine resource
HRDEM Project Footprints (drag and drop the kml file in Google Earth to localize your region of interest) ( FTP )

Supporting Document;KMZ;eng,fra

OnLine resource
HRDEM Metadata Model (English) ( HTTPS )

Supporting Document;HTML;eng

OnLine resource
HRDEM Metadata Model (French) ( HTTPS )

Supporting Document;HTML;fra

OnLine resource
HRDEM Project Footprints ( FTP )

Supporting Document;SHP;eng

OnLine resource
HRDEM Products and Project Footprints ( ESRI REST: Map Server )

Web Service;ESRI REST;fra

OnLine resource
HRDEM Products and Project Footprints ( ESRI REST: Map Server )

Web Service;ESRI REST;eng

OnLine resource
National Elevation Strategy partners ( HTTPS )

Supporting Document;PDF;eng,fra

Hierarchy level
dataset; jeuDonnées RI_622
Description

Airborne LiDAR source data:

The DTM datasets are generated from the LiDAR data using only the classified points Ground and Water. The used algorithm triangulates the LiDAR point cloud in a temporary TIN, then rasterizes the TIN to create a DEM. The small areas without data (usually no data areas) are filled by interpolating pixels from valid pixels around the edges of the areas.

The DSM datasets are generated from the LiDAR data with only the highest points. The algorithm used triangulates the LiDAR point cloud in a temporary TIN, then converts the TIN to create a DEM. The small areas without data (usually no data areas) are filled by the pixel values of the DTM.
RI_416
  Government of Canada; Natural Resources Canada; Strategic Policy and Innovation Sector - ( )
File identifier
957782bf-847c-4644-a757-e383c0057995 XML
Metadata language
eng; CAN
Character set
utf8; utf8 RI_458
Hierarchy level
dataset; jeuDonnées RI_622
Date stamp
2025-02-21T09:34:55
Metadata standard name
North American Profile of ISO 19115:2003 - Geographic information - Metadata
Metadata standard version
CAN/CGSB-171.100-2009
RI_414
  Government of Canada; Natural Resources Canada; Strategic Policy and Innovation Sector - ( )
 
 

Overviews

overview
Color Shaded Relief Representation

Spatial extent

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Keywords


Provided by

Associated resources

Not available