Each pixel value corresponds to the best quality maximum NDVI recorded within that pixel over the week specified. Poor quality pixel observations are removed from this product. Observations whose quality is degraded by snow cover, shadow, cloud, aerosols, and/or low sensor zenith angles are removed (and are assigned a value of “missing data”). In addition, negative Max-NDVI values, occurring where R reflectance > NIR reflectance, are considered non-vegetated and assigned a value of 0. This results in a Max-NDVI product that should (mostly) contain vegetation-covered pixels. Max-NDVI values are considered high quality and span a biomass gradient ranging from 0 (no/low biomass) to 1 (high biomass).

AAFC’s Canadian Ag-Land Monitoring System (CALMS), operational since 2009, was developed by AAFC’s Earth Observation Service (EOS) to deliver weekly NDVI-based maps of crop condition in near-real-time. The CALMS uses data collected by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectro-radiometer (MODIS), a sensor mounted onboard NASA’s Terra satellite that has been acquiring data since February 2000. The state-of-the-art radiometric, spectral and spatial resolutions of MODIS Terra make it particularly well-suited for large-scale vegetation mapping and assessment. Crop condition (NDVI) maps are generated weekly by AAFC throughout Canada’s growing season, the period defined as the six-month period stretching from the start of Julian week 12 (end of March) to the end of Julian week 44 (late October). Weeks of the year are defined according to the ISO 8601 week-numbering standard, where weeks start on a Monday and end the following Sunday. CALMS products are generated in the MODIS native Integrated Sinusoidal (ISIN) projection for the region covering the twelve MODIS tiles h09v03 to h14v03 and h09v04 to h14v04.

The Canadian long term satellite data record (LTDR) derived from 1-km resolution Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) data was produced by the Canada Center for Remote Sensing (CCRS). Processing included: geolocation, calibration, and compositing using Earth Observation Data Manager (Latifovic et al. 2005), cloud screening (Khlopenkov and Trishchenko, 2006), BRDF correction (Latifovic et. al., 2003), atmosphere and other corrections as described in Cihlar et. al. (2004). For temporal analysis of vegetation cross-sensor correction of Latifovic et al. (2012) is advised. Data collected by the AVHRR instrument on board the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) 9,11,14,16,17,18 and 19 satellites were used to generate Canada-wide 1-km 10-day AVHRR composites. Data are available starting in 1985. It is important to note that there are three types of AVHRR sensors: (i) AVHRR-1 flown onboard TIROS-N, NOAA-6, NOAA-8, and NOAA-10; (ii) AVHRR-2 flown onboard NOAA-7, NOAA-9, NOAA-11, NOAA-12, and NOAA-14; and (iii) AVHRR-3 currently operational onboard NOAA-15, NOAA-16, NOAA-17, NOAA-18 and NOAA-19. The AVHRR-1 has four channels, AVHRR-2 has five channels and the AVHRR-3 has six channels, although only five channels of AVHRR-3 can be operational at any one time. As such, channels 3A (1.6 m) and 3B (3.7 m) work interchangeably. The processing procedure was designed to minimize artefacts in AVHRR composite images. There are thirty six 10-day image composites per year. The following three processing levels are provided: P1) top of atmosphere reflectance and brightness temperature, P2) reflectance at surface and surface temperature and P3) reflectance at surface normalized to a common viewing geometry (BRDF normalization). The processing level P1 and P2 are provided for all 36 composites while level P3 is provided for 21 composites from April – October.

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.

Each pixel value corresponds to the mean historical “Best-quality” Max-NDVI value for a given week, as calculated from the previous 20 years in the MODIS historical record (i.e. does not include data from the current year). These data are also often referred to as “weekly baselines” or “weekly normals”.

Our Imagery Base Maps and Mosaics of a number of Raster Datasets.  This includes the ASTER DEM, CDED and Shaded Relief Datasets.  As well as a number of mosaics, including SPOT, RapidEye, Landsat, and MVI Landcover data.

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.

This collection is a legacy product that is no longer supported. It may not meet current government standards. Land Cover information is the result of vectorization of raster thematic data originating from classified Landsat 5 and Landsat 7 ortho-images, for agricultural and forest areas of Canada, and for Northern Territories. The forest cover was produced by the Earth Observation for Sustainable Development (EOSD) project, an initiative of the Canadian Forest Service (CFS) with the collaboration of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and in partnership with the provincial and territorial governments. The agricultural coverage is produced by the National Land and Water Information Service (NLWIS) of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC). Northern Territories land cover was realized by the Canadian Centre of Remote Sensing (CCRS). Land Cover data are classified according to a harmonized legend build from the partner's legends. This legend is principally based on the legend described in following publication: EOSD publication: EOSD Land Cover Classification Legend Report, on which CFS and AAFC collaborated. Some classes related to Northern environments where added in order to meet the interpretation of the Northern land cover classification experts. Initially, Land Cover vector data are closest as possible to the source (original raster data). Slight differences can occur because the raster data goes through a data portrayal before being vectorized in order to enhance visual representation such as minimum size, smoothness of polygons and geometry.

The ‘Circa 1995 Landcover of the Prairies’dataset is a geospatial raster data layer portraying the rudimentaryland 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.

The Saskatchewan Digital Land Cover was created to be used in the interim. The National Land Cover Project plans to integrate land cover information compiled by Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. The Saskatchewan Digital Land Cover raster provides a seamless provincial coverage of the province and was created by combining the Saskatchewan Research Council's Northern Digital Land Cover (NDLC) with the Southern Digital Land Cover (SDLC).  With exception to the SDLC's value 2 (i.e. Hay Crops) and value 3 (i.e. Native Dominant Grass Lands), the NDLC takes precedence over the SDLC in areas that the two rasters overlap because the NDLC is more current than the dated SDLC. The SDLC's values 2 and 3 were preserved because these land covers are not specifically represented in the NDLC. For the purpose of this dataset, some of the SDLC and NDLC values were reclassified to new values to reconcile varying definitions.  It should also be noted that because the NDLC's 30 x 30 metre pixels do not align with the SDLC's 30 x 30 metre pixels, this raster was snapped to the NDLC. Last, as is with the SDLC and the NDLC, the extent of this raster does not extend all of the way to the Saskatchewan boundary, specifically, the Information Services Corporation's SaskGIS Provincial Boundary dataset, in numerous areas along the west, south and southeast borders: There are gaps of up to 500 m wide of "no data" between the provincial boundary and the raster along these areas of the Saskatchewan boundary. Classification Value AGRICULTURE 1 HAY CROPS 2 NATIVE DOMINANT GRASSLANDS 3 TALL SHRUBS 4 PASTURE 5 HARDWOODS (OPEN CANOPY) 6 HARDWOODS (CLOSED CANOPY) 7 JACKPINE (CLOSED CANOPY) 8 JACKPINE (OPEN CANOPY) 9 SPRUCE (CLOSED CANOPY) 10 SPRUCE (OPEN CANOPY) 11 MIXED WOODS 12 TREED ROCK 13 RECENT BURNS 14 REVEGETATING/REGENERATION BURN 15 CUTOVERS 16 WATER 17 MARSH 18 HERBACEOUS FEN 19 MUD/SAND/SALINE 20 SHRUB FEN (TREED SWAMP) 21 TREED BOG 22 OPEN BOG 23 FARMSTEAD 24 UNCLASSIFIED 25 BARREN LAND 26 MIXED SOFTWOODS (OPEN & CLOSED) 27 PASTURE UPLAND HERBACEOUS GRAMINOID 30 1. AGRICULTURE - Cropland, including all lands dedicated to the production of annual cereal, oil seed, and other specialty crops, and typically cultivated on an annual basis; and agricultural clearing areas.  2. HAY CROPS (Forage) - Alfalfa and alfalfa/tame grass mixtures.  3. NATIVE DOMINANT GRASSLANDS - Native dominant grasslands. (May contain tame grasses and herbs.)  4. TALL SHRUBS - Communities containing both low and tall shrub, snowberry, saskatoon, chokecherry, buffaloberry, and willow.  5. PASTURE (Seeded Grass Lands) - Grassland dominated by tame grass species.  6. HARDWOODS (I.E. OPEN CANOPY) - Greater than 75% hardwoods by area, including trembling aspen, white birch, balsam poplar; 10 - 55% crown closure.  7. HARDWOODS (I.E. CLOSED CANOPY) - Greater than 75% hardwoods by area, including trembling aspen, white birch, balsam poplar; Greater than 55% crown closure.  8. JACKPINE (I.E. CLOSED CANOPY) - Greater than 75% of Jack Pine by area; Greater than 55% crown closure.  9. JACKPINE (I.E. OPEN CANOPY) - Greater than 75% of Jack Pine by area; 10 - 55% crown closure.  10. SPRUCE (I.E. CLOSED CANOPY) - Greater than 75% or greater Black and White Spruce; Greater than 55% crown closure.  11. SPRUCE (I.E. OPEN CANOPY) - Greater than 75% Black and White Spruce; 10-55% crown closure.  12. MIXED WOODS - All softwood/hardwood mixtures; open and closed canopy (i.e. An area of hardwood and softwood combinations in which neither hardwood nor softwood account for greater than 75% of species by area, and where the crown closure is greater than 10%).  13. TREED ROCK - Areas of exposed bedrock with generally less then 10% tree cover.  14. RECENT BURNS - An area showing evidence of recent burning natural or prescribed and there is little to no regeneration or revegetation visible.  15. REVEGETATING/REGENERATION BURN - An area showing evidence of natural or prescribed burning and where regeneration or revegetation is visible.  16. CUTOVERS - An area of deforestation, vegetated and non-vegetated.  17. WATER - These areas include lakes, rivers, streams and reservoirs  18. MARSH - A periodically wet or continually flooded but non peat-forming area supporting grasses, sedges, and reeds.  19. HERBACEOUS FEN - A wetland area consisting of decomposing peat supporting vascular and nonvascular plants (i.e. grasses, sedges, reeds).  20. MUD/SAND/SALINE - Water saturated soil, sand containing no vegetation, and salt water.  21. SHRUB FEN (I.E. TREED SWAMP) - A wetland area consisting of decomposing peat supporting low shrubs, forbs, grass, moss, and a sparse tree cover.  22. TREED BOG - A wetland area consisting of decomposing peat moss, lichen, and shrubs, with 10% or more canopy by trees (i.e. primarily black spruce and tamarack).  23. OPEN BOG - A wetland area consisting of decomposing peat moss, lichen, and sparse tree cover.  24. FARMSTEAD - Farmsteads, towns, cities, exposed areas with little or no vegetation.  25. UNCLASSIFIED  26. BARREN LAND - Any area of exposed rock, soil, or non-vegetated land.  27. MIXED SOFTWOODS (OPEN & CLOSED) - Jack Pine/Spruce, Spruce/Jack Pine Open and Closed, an area of softwood combinations in which neither Jack Pine or Spruce account for greater than 75% of species by area, and where crown closure is greater than 10%.  30. PASTURE UPLAND HERBACEOUS GRAMINOID - Lands containing known pastures, tame or native grasses, and herbaceous vegetation. These lands may contain low-lying shrubs with less then 10% tree cover.