The impact of climatic variability on the environment is of great importance to the agricultural sector in Canada. Monitoring the impacts on water supplies, soil degradation and agricultural production is essential to the preparedness of the region in dealing with possible drought and other agroclimate risks. Derived normal climate data represent 30-year averages (1961-1990, 1971-2000, 1981-2010, 1991-2020) of climate conditions observed at a particular location. The derived normal climate data represents 30-year averages or “normals” for precipitation, temperature, growing degree days, crop heat units, frost, and dry spells. These normal trends are key to understanding agroclimate risks in Canada. These normal can be used as a baseline to compare against current conditions, and are particularly useful for monitoring drought risk.

The Drought Impact Lines dataset highlights areas that have been physically impacted by drought. All drought impact lines have a drought impact label inside of them to express the longevity of the impact. The impact lines are classified using impact labels as follows: S – Short-Term, typically less than 6 months. L – Long-Term, typically more than 6 months. SL – A combination of Short and Long-Term impacts.

The Drought Impact Label dataset is used on all drought polygons from D1 to D4 to specify the longitude and magnitude of impacts. Impact labels are often used in association with the Drought Impact Line dataset. The impact labels are classified as follows: S – Short-Term, typically less than 6 months. L – Long-Term, typically more than 6 months. SL – A combination of Short and Long-Term impacts.

Drought is a deficiency in precipitation over an extended period, usually a season or more, resulting in a water shortage that has adverse impacts on vegetation, animals and/or people. The Climate Moisture Index (CMI) was calculated as the difference between annual precipitation and potential evapotranspiration (PET) – the potential loss of water vapour from a landscape covered by vegetation. Positive CMI values indicate wet or moist conditions and show that precipitation is sufficient to sustain a closed-canopy forest. Negative CMI values indicate dry conditions that, at best, can support discontinuous parkland-type forests. The CMI is well suited to evaluating moisture conditions in dry regions such as the Prairie Provinces and has been used for other ecological studies. Mean annual potential evapotranspiration (PET) was estimated for 30-year periods using the modified Penman-Monteith formulation of Hogg (1997), based on monthly 10-km gridded temperature data. Data shown on maps are 30-year averages. Historical values of CMI (1981-2010) were created by averaging annual CMI calculated from interpolated monthly temperature and precipitation data produced from climate station records. Future values of CMI were projected from downscaled monthly values of temperature and precipitation simulated using the Canadian Earth System Model version 2 (CanESM2) for two different Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP). RCPs are different greenhouse gas concentration trajectories adopted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for its fifth Assessment Report. RCP 2.6 (referred to as rapid emissions reductions) assumes that greenhouse gas concentrations peak between 2010-2020, with emissions declining thereafter. In the RCP 8.5 scenario (referred to as continued emissions increases) greenhouse gas concentrations continue to rise throughout the 21st century. Multiple layers are provided. First, the mean annual Climate Moisture Index is shown across Canada for a reference period (1981-2010). Projected mean annual Climate Moisture Index is available for the short- (2011-2040), medium- (2041-2070), and long-term (2071-2100) under the RCP 8.5 (continued emissions increases) and, for the long-term (2071-2100), under RCP 2.6 (rapid emissions reductions). Reference: Hogg, E.H. 1997. Temporal scaling of moisture and the forest-grassland boundary in western Canada. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 84,115–122.

This dataset includes daily averages of solar irradiance on tilted surfaces for all of Canada based on the period of 1998 - 2020. The solar irradiance data is available in the following layers at a resolution of about 0.1°x0.1° (~10 km grid spacing) for all of Canada (i.e., 41.6 to 83.1°N, and 52.6 to 141.0°W): - Four fixed tilts, relative to the horizontal plane, of 0° (horizontal), 30°, 60°, and 90° (vertical) - Three fixed tilts, relative to the local latitude 0°, +15°, and -15° - A two-axis tracking surface For each tilt angle, the irradiance values are in kWh/m2 (per day) for the selected time period. The data can be viewed as a map service and by downloading the tabular data included. Refer to the supporting documentation and dataset for more information.

Climate

This series of datasets has been created by AAFC’s National Agroclimate Information Service (NAIS) of the Agro-Climate, Geomatics and Earth Observations (ACGEO) Division of the Science and Technology Branch. The Canadian Drought Monitor (CDM) is a composite product developed from a wide assortment of information such as the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), streamflow values, Palmer Drought Index, and drought indicators used by the agriculture, forest and water management sectors. Drought prone regions are analyzed based on precipitation, temperature, drought model index maps, and climate data and are interpreted by federal, provincial and academic scientists. Once a consensus is reached, a monthly map showing drought designations for Canada is digitized. AAFC’s National Agroclimate Information Service (NAIS) updates this dataset on a monthly basis, usually by the 10th of every month to correspond to the end of the previous month, and subsequent Canadian input into the larger North American Drought Monitor (NA-DM). The drought areas are classified as follows: D0 (Abnormally Dry) – represents an event that occurs once every 3-5 years; D1 (Moderate Drought) – represents an event that occurs every 5-10 years; D2 (Severe Drought) – represents an event that occurs every 10-20 years; D3 (Extreme Drought) – represents an event that occurs every 20-25 years; and D4 (Exceptional Drought) – represents an event that occurs every 50 years. Impact lines highlight areas that have been physically impacted by drought. Impact labels specify the longitude and magnitude of impacts. The impact labels are classified as follows: S – Short-Term, typically less than 6 months (e.g. agriculture, grasslands). L – Long-Term, typically more than 6 months (e.g. hydrology, ecology).