The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS ) is one of the most sophisticated sensors that is used in a wide range of applications related to land, ocean and atmosphere. It has 36 spectral channels with spatial resolution varying between 250 m and 1 km at nadir. MODIS channels 1 (B1, visible) and 2 (B2, near infrared) are available at 250 m spatial resolution, an additional five channels for terrestrial applications (bands B3 to B7) are available at 500 m spatial resolution, the other twenty-nine channels not included in this data set capture images with a spatial resolution of 1 km. The MODIS record begins in March 2000 and extends to present with daily measurements over the globe. This level 3 product for Canada was created from the following original Level 1 (1B) MODIS data (collection 5): a) MOD02QKM - Level 1B 250 m swath data, 5 min granules; b ) MOD02HKM - level 1B , 500 m swath data, 5 min granules; c) MOD03 - level 1 geolocation information, 1 km swath data, 5 min granules. All these data are available from the DAAC Earth Observing System Data Gateway (NASA http://ladsweb.nascom.nasa.gov/data/search.html). The terrestrial channels MODIS (B3 to B7) at 500 m spatial resolution were reduced to 250 m with an adaptive regression system and normalization described in Trishchenko et al. (2006, 2009), and the data were mapped using a Lambert Conformal Conic (LCC ) projection (Khlopenkov et al., 2008). These data were combined to form pan-Canadian images using a technique for detection of clear sky, clouds and cloud shadows with a maximum interval of 10 days (Luo et al., 2008). Atmospheric and sun-sensor geometry corrections have not been applied. For each date, data include forward and backward scattering observations as separate files. This allows data to be optimized for a given application. For general use, data from either forward or backward scattering or both should be used. Future release of the MODIS time series will correct the forward and backward scattering geometry to provide a single best observation for each pixel.

The Canada Centre for Mapping and Earth Observation (CCMEO) has created a 30m resolution radar mosaic of Canada's landmass from the RADARSAT Constellation Mission (RCM). This product highlights different types of radar interaction with the surface, which can assist the interpretation and study of land cover on a national scale. The national mosaic is made up of 3222 RCM images acquired between August 2023 and February 2024. (Credit: RADARSAT Constellation Mission imagery © Government of Canada [2024]. RADARSAT is an official mark of the CSA.)

The “Land Cover for Agricultural Regions of Canada, circa 2000” is a thematic land cover classification representative of Circa 2000 conditions for agricultural regions of Canada. Land cover is derived from Landsat5-TM and/or 7-ETM+ multi-spectral imagery by inputting imagery and ground reference training data into a Decision-Tree or Supervised image classification process. Object segmentation, pixel filtering, and/or post editing is applied as part of the image classification. Mapping is corrected to the GeoBase Data Alignment Layer. National Road Network (1:50,000) features and other select existing land cover products are integrated into the product. UTM Zone mosaics are generated from individual 30 meter resolution classified scenes. A spatial index is available indicating the Landsat imagery scenes and dates input in the classification. This product is published and compiled by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), but also integrates products mapped by other provincial and federal agencies; with appropriate legend adaptations. This release includes UTM Zones 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, and 22 for corresponding agricultural regions in Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Québec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia covering approximately 370,000,000 hectares of mapped area. Mapped classes include: Water, Exposed, Built-up, Shrubland, Wetland, Grassland, Annual Crops, Perennial Crops and Pasture, Coniferous, Deciduous and Mixed forests. However, emphasis is placed on accurately delineating agricultural classes, including: annual crops (cropland and specialty crops like vineyards and orchards), perennial crops (including pastures and forages), and grasslands.

CHS offers 500-metre bathymetric gridded data for users interested in the topography of the seafloor. This data provides seafloor depth in metres and is accessible for download as predefined areas.

This publication contains vector data (shapefile) of the post-harvest forest residues in Canada for the bioenergy/bioproducts sector in oven-dry tonnes per year (ODT/yr) over the next 20 years. The maps were produced using different remote sensing products. We used forest attribute data at 250 m MODIS for the years 2001 and 2011 (Beaudoin et al. 2014 and 2018) combined with forest cover changes for the years 1985 to 2015 contained in the CanLaD dataset at 30 m Landsat(Guindon et al. 2017 and 2018). Results of available biomass (in the form of harvest residues) were reported at the 10 km x 10 km scale, while the map of mature forests in Canada was prepared at the forest management unit (FMU) level. Briefly, our methodology consisted of three steps: 1- create a map of mature forests for the year 2011, based on 2001-2010 average cut volumes within FMUs; 2- develop an annual cut rate from the area harvested within FMUs from 1985 to 2015 and; 3- define the amount of biomass in the form of forest residues available for the bioenergy sector. The biomass of branches and leaves of forest attribute data was used as a proxy to define the biomass of forest residues available. Nationally, the average biomass of forest residues available after harvest is 26 ± 16 ODT/ha, while the total annual availability for all managed forests in Canada was 21 million ODT/yr. A scientific article gives additional details on the methodology: Barrette J, Paré D, Manka F, Guindon L, Bernier P, Titus B. 2018. Forecasting the spatial distribution of logging residues across the Canadian managed forest. Can. J. For. Res. 48: http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/10.1139/cjfr-2018-0080 Reference for this dataset: Barrette J, Paré D, Manka F, Guindon L, Bernier P, Titus B. 2018. Maps forecasting the availability of logging residues in Canada. Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, Laurentian Forestry Centre, Quebec, Canada. https://doi.org/10.23687/5072c495-240c-42a3-ad55-c942ab37c32a

Note: To visualize the data in the viewer, zoom into the area of interest. The National Air Photo Library (NAPL) of Natural Resources Canada archives over 6 million aerial photographs covering all of Canada, some of which date back to the 1920s. This collection includes Time Series of aerial orthophoto mosaics over a selection of major cities or targeted areas that allow the observation of various changes that occur over time in those selected regions. These mosaics are disseminated through the Data Cube Platform implemented by NRCan using geospatial big data management technologies. These technologies enable the rapid and efficient visualization of high-resolution geospatial data and allow for the rapid generation of dynamically derived products. The data is available as Cloud Optimized GeoTIFF (COG) files for direct access and as Web Map Services (WMS) or Web Coverage Services (WCS) with a temporal dimension for consumption in Web or GIS applications. The NAPL mosaics are made from the best spatial resolution available for each time period, which means that the orthophotos composing a NAPL Time Series are not necessarily coregistered. For this dataset, the spatial resolutions vary from 10 cm to 50 cm. The NAPL indexes and stores federal aerial photography for Canada, and maintains a comprehensive historical archive and public reference centre. The Earth Observation Data Management System (EODMS) online application allows clients to search and retrieve metadata for over 3 million out of 6 million air photos. The EODMS online application enables public and government users to search and order raw Government of Canada Earth Observation images and archived products managed by NRCan such as aerial photos and satellite imagery. To access air photos, you can visit the EODMS web site: https://eodms-sgdot.nrcan-rncan.gc.ca/index-en.html

McElhanney Consulting Services Ltd (MCSL) has performed a LiDAR and Imagery survey in southern Saskatchewan. The acquisition was completed between the 16th and 25th of October, 2009. The survey consisted of approximately 790 square kilometers of coverage. While collecting the LiDAR data, we also acquired aerial photo in RGB and NIR modes consisting of 1649 frames each.

The MODIS surface albedo dataset was produced by the Canada Center for Remote Sensing (CCRS), Natural Resources Canada. The dataset represents the solar shortwave broadband surface albedo and it is at a 10-day interval covering the entire Canadian landmass as well as northern USA, Alaska, and the Greenland. The dataset was derived from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) onboard the TERRA satellite which provides a global coverage every 1-2 days in 36 spectral bands ranging from visible to infrared and to thermal wavelengths between 405 and 14,385 nm, and was available since 2000. For the estimation of surface albedo, the first seven spectral bands of B1 to B7 ranging from 459 nm to 2155 nm were used. B1 and B2 have a 250 meter resolution and B3 to B7 have a 500 meter resolution. A downscaling method using a regression and normalization scheme was employed to downscale the bands B3 to B7 to 250 meter resolution while preserving radiometric properties of the original data. To obtain clear-sky observations from MODIS, composite images for a 10 day period were generated by using a series of advanced algorithms (Luo et al., 2008). The 10-day composites of B1-B7 reflectance were then used to retrieve spatially continuous spectral albedo by using a combined land/snow BRDF (Bi-directional Reflectance Distribution Function) model. In that method, the modified RossThick-LiSparse BRDF model (Maignan et al., 2004) for land and Kokhanovsky and Zege’s model (2004) for snow are linearly combined for mixed surface conditions. They are weighted by snow fraction (0.0 ~ 1.0). The seven spectral albedo were then converted into the shortwave broadband surface albedo using the empirical MODIS polynomial conversion equation of Liang et al. (1999). The data product is in LCC (Lambert Conformal Conic) projection with a 250m pixel resolution. There are 36 albedo images per year. A dataset representing the pixel state (e.g. cloud/shadow, snow/ice, water, land, et al.) was also generated for each 10-day corresponding to the surface albedo product. References: Kokhanovsky, A. A. and Zege, E. P., 2004, Scattering Optics of Snow, Applied Optics, 43, 1589-1602, doi:10.1364/AO.43.001589, 20. Liang, S., Strahler, A.H., Walthall, C., 1999. Retrieval of land surface albedo from satellite observations: a simulation study. J. Appl. Meteorol. 38, 712–725. Luo, Y., Trishchenko, A.P., Khlopenkov, K.V., 2008. Developing clear-sky, cloud and cloud shadow mask for producing clear-sky composites at 250-meter spatial resolution for the seven MODIS land bands over Canada and North America. Remote Sens. Environ. 112, 4167–4185. Maignan, F., F.M. Bréon and R. Lacaze, 2004, Bidirectional reflectance of Earth targets : evaluation of analytical models using a large set of spaceborne measurements with emphasis with the hot spot, Remote Sens. Environ., 90, 210-220.

The 1 cm resolution digital surface model (DSM) was created from unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) imagery acquired from a single day survey, July 28th 2016, in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut. Five control points taken from a Global Differential Positioning System were positioned in the corners and the center of the vegetation survey. The DSM covering 525m2 was produced by Canada Centre for Remote Sensing /Canada Centre for Mapping and Earth Observation. The UAV survey was completed in collaboration with the Canadian High Arctic Research Station (CHARS) for northern vegetation monitoring research. For more information, refer to our current Arctic vegetation research: Fraser et al; "UAV photogrammetry for mapping vegetation in the low-Arctic" Arctic Science, 2016, 2(3): 79-102. http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/AS-2016-0008

Since 1988, the governments of Canada and Quebec have been working together to conserve, restore, protect and develop the St. Lawrence River under the St. Lawrence Action Plan (SLAP). One of the projects identified under the theme of biodiversity conservation is the development of an integrated plan for the conservation of the natural environments and biodiversity of the St. Lawrence River. The identification of priority sites for conservation has been the first step of this planning exercise. Conservation planning of natural environments requires a reliable, accurate and up-to-date image of the spatial distribution of ecosystems in the study area. In order to produce an Atlas of Priority Sites for Conservation in the St. Lawrence Lowlands, an updated cartography of the land cover of this vast territory was undertaken. This project required obtaining reliable information on the natural environments of the St. Lawrence Lowlands. Although several land cover mapping projects have been conducted for specific types of habitats, it was particularly important to obtain a homogeneous product that would cover the entire territory and that would provide the most detailed information on its various thematic components: agricultural, aquatic, human-modified and forest environments, wetlands as well as old fields and bare ground. The methodology used to produce the land cover mapping of the St. Lawrence Lowlands thus relied mainly on combining and enhancing the best existing products for each theme. This project was made in collaboration with MDDELCC as part of the St. Lawrence Action Plan (SLAP).