Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

The Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) is computed similarly to the SPI. The main difference is that SPI assesses precipitation variance, while SPEI also considers demand from evapotranspiration which is subtracted from any precipitation accumulation prior to assessment....

Maximum Temperature represents the highest recorded temperature value (°C) at each location for a given time period. Time periods include the previous 24 hours and the previous 7 days from the available date where a climate day starts at 0600UTC.

Precipitation Percentiles represents the accumulated precipitation (mm) for the time period compared to historical information for the same time period. This comparison ranks the current precipitation amount and assigns it a percentile value based on a historic record. Products are produced for...

The Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) has been recognized as the most accessible index for quantifying and reporting meteorological drought. On short timescales, the SPI is closely related to soil moisture, while at longer timescales, the SPI can be related to groundwater and reservoir...

The Blended Index (BI) is a model which employs multiple potential indicators of drought and excess moisture, such as the Palmer drought index, rolling precipitation amounts and soil moisture, and combines them into a weighted, normalized value between 0 and 100. The inputs and weights used in...

The Crop Stress Index is the ratio of actual evapotranspiration (AET) to potential evapotranspiration (PET) express as: CSI = 1-(AET/PET) AET and PET are calculated within the Versatile Soil Moisture Budget (VSMB) model using temperature and precipitation data and a crop-specific...

The Canada Land Inventory (CLI), 1:000,000, Land Limitation for Agriculture dataset illustrates the varying potential of a specific area for agricultural production. Classes of land capability for agriculture are based on mineral soils grouped according to their potential and limitations for...

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...

This dataset is no longer maintained by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and should be considered as an archived product. For current estimates of the agricultural extent in Canada please refer to the Agricultural Ecumeme produced by Statistics Canada....

The Prairie Soil Zones file shows the general distribution of major soil zones across the Prairie region of Canada. Soil zones (based on the Canadian System of Soil Classification) are named based on the dominant soil classification of the soils in each zone. Data extent is limited to the...

The Canada Land Inventory (CLI), 1 100,000, Land Capability and Limitation for Agriculture dataset illustrates the varying potential of a specific area for agricultural production. Classes of land capability for agriculture are based on mineral soils grouped according to their potential and...

Total soil moisture is the modelled amount of plant available water (mm) in the root zone of the soil. The value given is the amount calculated to be present on the modeled day of the product. Values are computed using the Versatile Soil Moisture Budget (VSMB)

Percent of normal soil moisture is the modelled amount of plant available water (mm) in the root zone of the soil, divided by the average amount that has historically been available on that day. This value is intended to provide users with a representation of conditions above or below normal as a...

The Blended Index (BI) is a model which employs multiple potential indicators of drought and excess moisture, such as the Palmer drought index, rolling precipitation amounts and soil moisture, and combines them into a weighted, normalized value between 0 and 100. The inputs and weights used in...

The Moisture Anomaly Index (Palmer-Z) is an estimate of the moisture difference from normal (a 30-year mean). It attempts to express conditions for the current month regardless of what may have occurred before the month in question.

Difference from normal soil moisture is the modelled amount of plant available water (mm) in the root zone of the soil, minus the average amount that has historically been available on that day. This value is intended to provide users with a representation of conditions above or below normal and...

The term "Palmer Drought Index" has been used collectively to represent multiple indices. This index is simply a water balance model which analyzes precipitation and temperature, and used as a tool to measure meteorological and hydrological drought across space and time. All versions of the...

The Versatile Soil Moisture Budget (VSMB) is a soil water budget model that is continuous and deterministic in nature and was developed by AAFC. It is based on the premise that the water available for plant growth is gained by precipitation or irrigation, and lost through evapotranspiration and...

The Canada Land Inventory (CLI), 1:250,000, Land Capability for Agriculture dataset illustrates the varying potential of a specific area for agricultural production. Classes of land capability for agriculture are based on mineral soils grouped according to their potential and limitations for...

The Canada Land Inventory (CLI), 1:000,000, Land Capability for Agriculture dataset illustrates the varying potential of a specific area for agricultural production. Classes of land capability for agriculture are based on mineral soils grouped according to their potential and limitations for...