This dataset maps the thickness of the Lacombe aquitard as defined by outputs of a 3-D model of sandiness in the Paskapoo Formation. The Lacombe aquitard consists of >65% non-sandy material in stacked, 25 m thick slices above the base of the Paskapoo Formation.

This GIS dataset illustrates the areal extent (surface and subsurface) of the Lacombe aquitard. It is in ESRI shapefile format.

CANGRD is a set of Canadian gridded annual, seasonal, and monthly temperature and precipitation anomalies, which were interpolated from stations in the Adjusted and Homogenized Canadian Climate Data (AHCCD); it is used to produce the Climate Trends and Variations Bulletin (CTVB).

Drought is a deficiency in precipitation over an extended period, usually a season or more, resulting in a water shortage that has adverse impacts on vegetation, animals and/or people. The Climate Moisture Index (CMI) was calculated as the difference between annual precipitation and potential evapotranspiration (PET) – the potential loss of water vapour from a landscape covered by vegetation. Positive CMI values indicate wet or moist conditions and show that precipitation is sufficient to sustain a closed-canopy forest. Negative CMI values indicate dry conditions that, at best, can support discontinuous parkland-type forests. The CMI is well suited to evaluating moisture conditions in dry regions such as the Prairie Provinces and has been used for other ecological studies.Mean annual potential evapotranspiration (PET) was estimated for 30-year periods using the modified Penman-Monteith formulation of Hogg (1997), based on monthly 10-km gridded temperature data. Data shown on maps are 30-year averages. Historical values of CMI (1981-2010) were created by averaging annual CMI calculated from interpolated monthly temperature and precipitation data produced from climate station records. Future values of CMI were projected from downscaled monthly values of temperature and precipitation simulated using the Canadian Earth System Model version 2 (CanESM2) for two different Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP). RCPs are different greenhouse gas concentration trajectories adopted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for its fifth Assessment Report. RCP 2.6 (referred to as rapid emissions reductions) assumes that greenhouse gas concentrations peak between 2010-2020, with emissions declining thereafter. In the RCP 8.5 scenario (referred to as continued emissions increases) greenhouse gas concentrations continue to rise throughout the 21st century.Provided layer: mean annual Climate Moisture Index across Canada for a reference period (1981-2010).Reference: Hogg, E.H. 1997. Temporal scaling of moisture and the forest-grassland boundary in western Canada. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 84,115–122.

The Regional Deterministic Air Quality Analysis (RDAQA) is an objective analysis of surface pollutants which combines numerical forecasts from the Regional Air Quality Deterministic Prediction System (RAQDPS) and hourly observational data from monitoring surface networks over North America in order to produce a better description of the air quality at every hour. Chemical constituents include 03, SO2, and NO2 gases, as well as fine particulate matter PM2.5 (2.5 micrometers in diameter or less) and coarse particulate matter PM10 (10 micrometers in diameter or less). Geographical coverage is Canada and the United States. Data is available only for the surface level, at a horizontal resolution of 10 km. The products are presented as historical, annual or monthly, averages which highlight long-term trends in cumulative effects on the environment.

The Canadian Environmental Sustainability Indicators (CESI) program provides data and information to track Canada's performance on key environmental sustainability issues. The Air pollutant emissions indicators track emissions from human activities of 6 key air pollutants: sulphur oxides (SOX), nitrogen oxides (NOX), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), ammonia (NH3), carbon monoxide (CO) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5). Black carbon, which is a component of PM2.5, produced by combustion, is also reported. Sectoral indicators on air pollutant emissions from the oil and gas industry, transportation, off-road vehicles and mobile equipment and electric utilities provide additional analysis on the largest sources of Canada's air pollutant emissions.For each air pollutant, the indicators are provided at the national and provincial/territorial levels. They also identify the major sources of emissions and provide links to detailed information on air pollutant emissions from facilities. The Air pollutant emissions indicators are intended to inform Canadians and decision makers about progress made towards reducing emissions from human-related sources of air pollutants and about the effectiveness of emission reduction measures in reducing emissions to improve ambient air quality in Canada. Information is provided to Canadians in a number of formats including: static and interactive maps, charts and graphs, HTML and CSV data tables and downloadable reports. See the supplementary documentation for the data sources and details on how the data were collected and how the indicator was calculated.Canadian Environmental Sustainability Indicators: https://www.canada.ca/environmental-indicators

Regional Deterministic Air Quality Analysis (RDAQA) is an objective analysis of surface pollutants that combines numerical forecasts from the Regional Air Quality Deterministic Prediction System (RAQDPS) with hourly observations from various monitoring networks in North America, including the Canadian measurement networks operated by the provinces, territories and certain cities, as well as the various American networks in the context of the AIRNow program administered by US/EPA (US Environmental Protection Agency). RDAQA analysis provides the best description of current air quality conditions, and is used to inform the public, meteorologists in the various Environment and Climate Change Canada forecasting offices, Health Canada and other users about the distribution of air pollutants near the ground, and the performance of forecasting models. Each hour, a preliminary product is available approximately one hour after the observation measurement time, while final and Firework products are available approximately two hours after the measurement time. The preliminary and final products contain analysis of the chemical constituents O3, SO2, NO, NO2, PM2.5 (fine particles with diameters of 2.5 micrometers or less) and PM10 (coarse particles with diameters of 10 micrometers or less), while the Firework product contains analysis of PM2.5 and PM10.

The Ministry of Environment operates a network of continuous ambient air monitoring stations to measure the concentration of air pollutants across Saskatchewan. This is considered 'raw data' that has not undergone quality control and quality assurance. 'Raw data' is not intended to provide medical or health care advice and should not be used in published documents. For best results download the entire dataset without filtering as a CSV. ‘Date and time’ as displayed is your local time. However, downloaded data is in UTC for ‘Date and time’. Any values of -9999, -999, or 9980 are invalid data.The Ministry of Environment operates a network of continuous ambient air monitoring stations. These stations are part of the National Air Pollution Surveillance (NAPS) network. Continuous ambient air monitoring stations measure the concentration of air pollutants across Saskatchewan. The data is used to:  • track and report on progress for achieving air quality objectives • measure representative pollutant concentrations and determine long-term trends and • provide air quality information to the public Air pollutants typically come from various industrial activity and natural sources, such as mining, oil and gas, agriculture, forest fires, electrical generation, and the transportation sector. Disclaimer: Hourly data contained on this website is automatically updated daily from Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment monitoring stations and is intended for informational purposes only. This is considered ‘raw data’ and may contain errors. 'Raw data' is not intended to provide medical or health care advice and should not be used in published documents. Data integrity and validity may be affected by instrument malfunctions, instrument calibrations or power failures.  For more information please visit the ministry's Air Quality Monitoring page or contact the Ministry of Environment Inquiry Centre: centre.inquiry@gov.sk.ca 1-800-567-4224  

Canadian airports served by NAV CANADA control towers or flight service station.

The Air Quality Health Index (AQHI) is a scale designed to help quantify the quality of the air in a certain region on a scale from 1 to 10. When the amount of air pollution is very high, the number is reported as 10+. It also includes a category that describes the health risk associated with the index reading (e.g. Low, Moderate, High, or Very High Health Risk). The AQHI is calculated based on the relative risks of a combination of common air pollutants that are known to harm human health, including ground-level ozone, particulate matter, and nitrogen dioxide. The AQHI formulation captures only the short term or acute health risk (exposure of hour or days at a maximum). The formulation of the AQHI may change over time to reflect new understanding associated with air pollution health effects. The AQHI is calculated from data observed in real time, without being verified (quality control).