This dataset is produced for the Government of Alberta and is available to the general public. Please consult the Distribution Information of this metadata for the appropriate contact to acquire this dataset. The Alberta Ground Cover Classification Mosaic is a land cover dataset for the province of Alberta. It is a composite of the Alberta Ground Cover Classification (AGCC) created by Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development for the green areas of the province and the Land Cover for Agricultural Regions of Canada, circa 2000 created by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada for the white areas of the province.

This map displays the distribution of organic soils in the agricultural region of Alberta. Organic soils consist of layers of material with greater than 30 percent organic matter and a total thickness of greater than 40 cm. Organic soils are generally saturated with water for most of the year unless drained. Saturation inhibits decomposition and encourages continued accumulation of organic material. Drainage of these soils can result in a rapid increase in decomposition and a reduction in the thickness of the organic material. This resource was created in 2002 using ArcGIS.

This dataset is produced for the Government of Alberta and is available to the general public. Please consult the Distribution Information of this metadata for the appropriate contact to acquire this dataset. The Ecological Land Classification (ELC) Status is a supporting dataset to the Ecological Land Classification dataset. The ELC Status represents a geodatabase feature class of the ELC study areas. There is attribution to describe the scale of the study, whether there is a scanned report (.pdf), scanned map (.tif) or GIS-ready feature class available.

This dataset was digitized from an unedited version of surficial geology map of the Wapiti area, NTS 83L, compiled by Laurence Andriashek in 1983 (Alberta Geological Survey Open File Report 1983-23). Mapping scale is 1:250,000.

Ecological Land Classification (ELC) is an approach which endeavours to subdivide the landscape into significant ecological units and to organize complex interrelationships into identified geographical areas with similar properties. It is a hierarchical system that captures information at the following scales as per the Ecological Land Classification and Evaluation Reference Manual (1980): Ecoprovince - >1:3 000 000 Ecoregion - 1:1 000 000 - 1:3 000 000 Ecodistrict - 1:250 000 - 1:1 000 000 Ecosection - 1:100 000 - 1:250 000 Ecosite - 1:10 000 - 1:20 000 Ecoelement - 1:1 000 - 1:5 000. Note that the upper two levels are referred to as Natural Region and Natural Subregion in the more recent Ecological Land Classification reports. There are also some variations in this hierarchy for individual study areas. The data is available as TIFF image files packaged together with the reports and other supporting documents divided alphabetically.

This map displays the percentage of organic matter in the surface layer of cultivated soils in the agricultural region of Alberta. Soil organic matter (SOM) is derived primarily from the decomposition of plant biomass. SOM improves both the physical and chemical properties of soil and has beneficial effects on agricultural soil quality. SOM is reported on the map as a percentage using the following classes: less than 2 (very low), 2 to 4 (low), 4 to 6 (medium), 6 to 8 (high) and greater than 8 (very high).This resource was created in 2002 using ArcGIS.

This data set is a GIS version of the surficial geology lithologic contacts for the Bitumount area Alberta (NTS74E), as mapped at 1:250,000 scale by L.A.Bayrock.

This map displays the distribution of Solonetzic soils in the agricultural region of Alberta. Solonetzic soils have developed on saline parent material that is high in sodium and have a characteristic hardpan layer that has formed in the subsoil. This hardpan is very hard when dry and has low permeability when wet. This results in restricted root and water penetration that may limit the productivity of these soils. Solonetzic soils occur in association with Chernozemic soils and, to a lesser extent, with Luvisolic soils.The Agricultural Region of Alberta Soil Inventory Database (AGRASID) soil landscape polygons that contained soils belonging to the Solonetzic Order were identified, and the areal extent of these soils was represented as a percentage of the total area using the following classes: greater than 30, 10 to 30 and less than 10. This resource was created in 2002 using ArcGIS.

This dataset is a GIS version of the surficial geology point features for the Fort Chipewyan area, Alberta (NTS 74L) , as mapped at 1:250,000 scale by L.A. Bayrock (Alberta Geological Survey Map 141).

The data represents the occurrence of saline soils in the agricultural area of Alberta. A Saline Soils is a non-alkali (pH less than 8.5 and exchangeable-sodium less than 15%) soil containing soluble salts in great enough quantities that they interfere with the growth of most crop plants. This resource was created in 2002 using ArcGIS.