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.

Contained within the 5th Edition (1978 to 1995) of the National Atlas of Canada has a large that shows the extent of permafrost and abundance of ground ice; mapping units are based on physiographic regions. Point data on map give permafrost temperature and thickness for specific sites. The second, smaller, map shows the mean annual ground temperatures. Graphs show four shallow temperature profiles (to 25 metres depth), and four deep temperature profiles (to several hundred metres depth).

Monthly 30-year Average Minimum Temperature represents the average monthly minimum temperature calculated at a given location averaged across a 30 year period (1961-1991, 1971-2000, 1981-2010, 1991-2020). These values are calculated across Canada in 10x10 km cells.

Monthly 30-year Average Maximum Temperature represents the average monthly maximum temperature calculated for a given location averaged across a 30 year period (1961-1991, 1971-2000, 1981-2010, 1991-2020). These values are calculated across Canada in 10x10 km cells.

Crop/Corn Heat Units (CHU) is a temperature-based index often used by farmers and agricultural researchers to estimate whether the climate is warm enough to grow corn. Daily crop heat units are calculated from minimum and maximum temperatures with separate calculations for day and night. The daytime relationship sets the minimum at 10 C for growth up to a maximum of 30 C, beyond which growth slows. These values are calculated across Canada in 10x10 km cells.

Monthly 30-year Average Mean Temperature represents the average monthly mean temperature calculated at a given location averaged across a 30 year period (1961-1991, 1971-2000, 1981-2010, 1991-2020). These values are calculated across Canada in 10x10 km cells.

Territorial representation of day and night surface temperatures for planning, consultation and management purposes.**This third party metadata element was translated using an automated translation tool (Amazon Translate).**

The Eastern Shore Islands was announced as an "Area of Interest" (AOI) in 2018 by the DFO Maritimes region to potentially be considered for a Marine Protected Area under the federal Oceans Act. As part of its mandate for monitoring established and potential conservation areas, DFO Science regularly deploys instruments including conductivity/temperature/depth (CTD) loggers, and other instruments for measuring dissolved oxygen, nutrients, and other chemical ocean properties. This data collection includes temperature and other oceanographic records for the ESI AOI from June 2024 onward. The data are derived from temperature loggers (Hobo Tidbit loggers or similar) and Sea-Bird MicroCATs, but may in future years include current profiles or additional oceanographic data. These data will be used to monitor temperatures in this coastal region to detect any biological shifts associated with temperature and climate fluctuations, and be used to groundtruth oceanographic models. Cite this data as: Jeffery, N., Stanley, R., Pettitt- Wade, H. (2025): Data of: Baseline oceanographic records for the Eastern Shore Islands Area of Interest. Published: September 2025. Coastal Ecosystems Science Division, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Dartmouth, N.S. https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/f0020cec-5671-4908-8fdd-11fc097de99d

First Fall Frost (-4 °C) is defined as the average day, during the second half of the year, of the first occurrence of a minimum temperature at or below -4 °C. These values are calculated across Canada in 10x10 km cells.

Growing Season Frost Free Period (-4 °C) is defined as the count of the number of days from the day after the last spring frost (-4 °C) to the day before the first fall frost (-4 °C). These values are calculated across Canada in 10x10 km cells.