The Evaporative Stress Index (ESI) describes temporal anomalies in evapotranspiration (ET), highlighting areas with anomalously high or low rates of water use across the land surface. Here, ET is retrieved via energy balance using remotely sensed land-surface temperature (LST) time-change signals. LST is a fast- response variable, providing proxy information regarding rapidly evolving surface soil moisture and crop stress conditions at relatively high spatial resolution. The ESI also demonstrates capability for capturing early signals of "flash drought", brought on by extended periods of hot, dry and windy conditions leading to rapid soil moisture depletion. ESI values quantify standardized anomalies (σvalues) in the ratio of clear-sky actual-to-potential ET (fPET), derived using thermal infrared (TIR) satellite imagery from geostationary platforms. To capture a range in timescales, fPET composites are developed for 1, 2 and 3 month moving windows, advancing at 7-day intervals. Standardized anomalies are then computed with respect to normal conditions (mean and standard deviation) for each compositing interval assessed over a period of record from 2000-2015. For more information, visit: http://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/679f676a-330a-456f-9928-a4fafc95f9f8

The 2010 Plant Hardiness Zones of Canada outlines the different zones in Canada where various types of trees, shrubs and flowers will most likely survive. It is based on the average climatic conditions of each area. The first such map for North America, released by the United States Department of Agriculture in 1960, was based only on minimum winter temperatures. In 1967, Agriculture Canada scientists created a plant hardiness map using Canadian plant survival data and a wider range of climatic variables, including minimum winter temperatures, length of the frost-free period, summer rainfall, maximum temperatures, snow cover, January rainfall and maximum wind speed. Natural Resources Canada's Canadian Forest Service scientists have now updated the plant hardiness zones using the same variables and more recent climate data (1961-90). They have used modern climate mapping techniques and incorporated the effect of elevation. The new map indicates that there have been changes in the hardiness zones that are generally consistent with what is known about climate change. These changes are most pronounced in western Canada. The new hardiness map is divided into nine major zones: the harshest is 0 and the mildest is 8. Subzones (e.g., 4a or 4b, 5a or 5b) are also noted in the map legend. These subzones are most familiar to Canadian gardeners. Some significant local factors, such as micro-topography, amount of shelter and subtle local variations in snow cover, are too small to be captured on the map. Year-to-year variations in weather and gardening techniques can also have a significant impact on plant survival in any particular location. For more information see: http://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/50f9f293-f288-4de6-98ad-f69cf85d21ea

The Agri-Environmental Indicator (AEI) dataset series provides information that was created using indicators that assess the environmental impact of agricultural activities. These agri-environmental indicators integrate information on soils, climate and land surface features with statistics on land use and crop and livestock management practices. The datasets provide valuable, location-specific information on the overall environmental risks and conditions in agriculture across Canada and how these change over time. This dataset series collects AEI data that is related to geographic features and can be represented on a map. Other types of AEI data are not included. The datasets can be organized into the following major groups: farm land management, soil health, water quality, air quality, and food and beverage industry (not included). Farm land management datasets: soil cover, wildlife habitat, and farm land management (not included). Soil health datasets: soil erosion, soil organic matter, trace elements, and soil salinity. Water quality datasets: nitrogen, phosphorus, coliforms, and pesticides. Air quality datasets: greenhouse gases, ammonia, particulate matter. For more information, visit: http://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/e996d9be-6a3b-4059-9afc-17dc68385f05

The National Ecological Framework for Canada provides a consistent, national spatial framework that allows various ecosystems to be described, monitored and reported on. It provides standard ecological units that allow different jurisdictions and disciplines to use common communication and reporting, and a common ground to report on the state of the environment and the sustainability of ecosystems in Canada. The framework was developed between 1991 and 1999 by the Ecosystems Science Directorate, Environment Canada and the Center for Land and Biological Resources Research, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. Over 100 federal and provincial agencies, non-governmental organizations and private sector companies contributed to its development. For more information, visit: http://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/3ef8e8a9-8d05-4fea-a8bf-7f5023d2b6e1

The "Prairie Agricultural Landscapes (PAL)" datasets identify areas of the agricultural portions of the Canadian Prairies with similar land and water resources, land use and farming practices. They are represented by vector polygons. Based on selected attributes from the Soil Landscapes of Canada (SLC) and the 1996 Census of Agriculture, the Prairies were classified into 13 (thirteen) classes of Land Practices Group and five (5) Major Land Practices Groups. Typical attributes used to define the Land Practice Groups include: land in pasture, land in summerfallow, crop mixture, farm size and the level of chemical and fertilizer inputs. The five (5) Major Groups were devised to help better understand the relationships between the groups. For more information, visit: https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/0b2303be-ef05-49a8-8082-44a3eabcfa57

The "Science Strategies Summary by CCS (2016)" data was derived from the 2016 Census of Agriculture using published and draft documentation describing the Science Strategies defined by the AAFC Science and Technology Branch. It was created for facilitating the geographic description, analysis, and reporting of the sectors. NOTE: The geometry in this service has been generalized from the original for quicker display. For more information, visit: http://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/0313f880-492c-4f4e-95ef-f53e4216576d

The "Science Strategies Summary by CCS (2016)" data was derived from the 2016 Census of Agriculture using published and draft documentation describing the Science Strategies defined by the AAFC Science and Technology Branch. It was created for facilitating the geographic description, analysis, and reporting of the sectors. NOTE: The geometry in this service has been generalized from the original for quicker display. For more information, visit: http://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/0313f880-492c-4f4e-95ef-f53e4216576d

The source of the layers in this mxd are derived products originating from the Agri-Environmental (AEI) dataset series. The original source data was re- formatted to enable time display on the layers, with individual soil landscape polygons being dissolved out to allow web optimization. For Layer Names with a year in the title, the source points to the Time Series Datasets, however they have a definition query applied to only display the data corresponding t o a particular year. The datasets in the series should be used in web applications only.

The "Canada's First Fall Frost Normals (1981-2010)" dataset contains the Mean and Median First Fall Frost Julian day calculated from the ANUSPLIN gridded data set using the date range from January 1, 1981 - December 31, 2010. The dataset also includes the Mean and Median Frost Free Period (given as a count of calendar days). For the purposes of this dataset a Frost Free day is defined as a day where the minimum daily temperature is greater than 0.0 Celsius.For more information, visit: http://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/c293739c-4e16-4384-bff8-e3fdaddc5e5f

The 'Circa 1995 Landcover of the Prairies' dataset is a geospatial raster data layer portraying the rudimentary land cover types of all grain-growing areas of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and northeastern British Columbia at a 30-metre resolution for the 1995 timeframe. It is the collection of all the classified imagery (1993 to 1995) of the Western Grain Transition Payment Program (WGTPP) assembled into a single seamless raster data layer. For more information, visit: http://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/e9dee957-e04d-46fb-b7e4-701739736173