The Canadian Drought Monitor (CDM) brings together Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's drought monitoring capabilities and collaboration with external agencies (federal and provincial) to produce, through analysis and consolidation of multiple indices and indicators, an easily understood comprehensive national drought severity map and report each month. The monitor provides specific details on agricultural impacts of the current drought situation, including statistics on land area, cattle, and the number of producers impacted. The Canadian Drought Monitors are based on a five class system ranking the severity of the drought condition. The Monitor map identifies general drought areas, labelling droughts by intensity, with D1 being the least intense and D4 being the most intense. The classifications are 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. D0 is not recognized as a drought classification; however, it provides a warning of areas that are currently vulnerable to drought or areas that are recovering from drought. For more information visit: https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/292646cd-619f-4200-afb1-8b2c52f984a2

The “Oilseeds Science Sector by CCS” data was derived from the 2011 Census of Agriculture using published documentation describing the Science Sector. It was created for facilitating the geographic description, analysis, and reporting of the sector. The selection of 2011 Census of Agriculture variables was derived from the “AAFC Science and Technology Branch Science Strategy for the AgriFood Sector “Oilseed sector”” ;“At present, the strategy covers the following crop types: canola and rapeseed, mustard, soybeans (oilseed and food-grade), flax, sunflower, hemp, safflower” NOTE: The identified “hemp” and “safflower” making up part of the this sector are not included in this dataset because the data, although collected in the 2011 Census of Agriculture, was published as “Other crops” along with a number of other crops not included in this scope of this sector. For more information, visit: www.agr.gc.ca/atlas/metadata/1f4dcc5c-23d8-4b08-a98e-64c1c93f083c

The Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's LiDAR Projects dataset was created from existing spatial data. It contains the footprints (outlines) of all the LiDAR data that is openly distributed by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) is a method of acquiring survey points using optical remote sensing technology. The dataset indicates basic information about the location, source and properties of the data. For more information, visit: http://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/a760f9e0-7013-4187-9261-2e69b01edd9a

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

Provincial administrative areas for British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, and New Brunswick, including rural municipalities, regional districts, counties, and other administrative areas where applicable. Disclaimer: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada does not produce or maintain these datasets and is not responsible for the accuracy, currency or reliability of this data. To acquire the authoritative versions of this data, contact the data source(s) listed below. Data Sources: British Columbia (2008): GeoBC, Government of British Columbia ... Alberta (2010): AltaLIS Ltd. ... Saskatchewan (2009): GeoSask, Government of Saskatchewan ... Manitoba (2007): GeoManitoba, Manitoba Conservation and Water Stewardship, Government of Manitoba ... Ontario (2009): Land Information Ontario, Environment and Energy, Government of Ontario ... New Brunswick (2009): Service New Brunswick, Government of New Brunswick

Contour Lines generated from LiDAR data captured by McElhanney Consulting Services Ltd (MCSL). The contour lines connect points of equal elevation for the landscape covered by this project. For more information, visit: http://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/9bdc1a9c-baf7-4eb0-a532-c1057b284b8f

The "Soils of Canada, Derived" national scale thematic datasets display the distribution and areal extent of soil attributes such as drainage, texture of parent material, kind of material, and classification of soils in terms of provincial Detailed Soil Surveys (DDS) polygons, Soil Landscape Polygons (SLCs), Soil Order and Great Group. The relief and associated slopes of the Canadian landscape are depicted on the local surface form thematic dataset. The purpose of the "Soils of Canada, Derived" series is to facilitate the cartographic display and basic queries of the Soil Landscapes of Canada at a national scale. For more detailed or sophisticated analysis, users should investigate the full "Soil Landscapes of Canada" product. For more information, visit: http://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/8f496e3f-1e54-4dbb-a501-a91eccf616b8

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

In 2012, the Earth Observation Team of the Science and Technology Branch (STB) at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) repeated the process of generating annual crop inventory digital maps using satellite imagery to for all of Canada (except Newfoundland), in support of a national crop inventory. A Decision Tree (DT) based methodology was applied using optical (DMC, SPOT) and radar (Radarsat-2) based satellite images, and having a final spatial resolution of 30m. In conjunction with satellite acquisitions, ground-truth information was provided by provincial crop insurance companies and point observations from our regional AAFC colleagues. For more information, visit: http://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/621bb298-116f-4931-8350-741855b007bc

The Plant Hardiness Zones map 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