The characterization of shoreline strips was carried out on 400 km of agricultural watercourses for the territory of 5 MRCs in Montérégie (Beauharnois-Salaberry, Haut-Richelieu, Jardins-de-Napierville, Jardins-de-Napierville, Marguerite-d'Youville, Vallée-du-Richelieu). The results obtained by photo-interpretation, based on the width of the sections of shoreline strips calculated from the high-water line and the embankment, were aggregated to produce global results by municipality. The project was carried out as part of the Regional Program for the Acquisition of Data on Wetlands and Water Environments (PRADMHH) and was funded by the Regions and Rurality Fund (FRR) of the Montérégie regional department of the MAMH.Criteria used to characterize the conformity of shoreline strips.Shoreline compliance (Criteria used according to the width of the shoreline)Non-compliant (The non-compliant shoreline has a total width of less than 3 meters)Nearly compliant (The nearly-compliant shoreline has a total width of 3 meters or more, but less than 1 meter wide on the embankment)Compliant (The compliant shoreline has a total width of three meters or more and a width of a minimum of one meter on the embankment)Exceptional (The exceptional shoreline has a total width of 5 meters or more and a width of 3 meters or more from the embankment)**This third party metadata element was translated using an automated translation tool (Amazon Translate).**

Delineation of areas potentially exposed to landslides and protective bands.attributs:ID - Unique IdentifierType - Entity type**This third party metadata element was translated using an automated translation tool (Amazon Translate).**

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 Indian Reserve dataset is comprised of all the polygons that represent Indian Reserves in Alberta and also includes their associated Bands/Nations and Tribal Council associations as described in the Canada First Nations Profile (https://fnp-ppn.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/fnp/Main/Search/SearchRV.aspx?lang=eng). Indian Reserve lands are lands set aside for the exclusive use and benefits of the Bands/Nations to which it is assigned. The federal government has primary jurisdiction over these lands and the people living on them. A Band or First Nation is an administrative entity/governing body created by the Indian Act. A Band/Nation includes members of a First Nation or group for whom lands have been set apart, and for whom money is held by the Crown. Each First Nation has its own distinct culture, language, history, and governance structure. They are the primary decision-makers for their respective Indian Reserves and their members. The Government of Alberta recognizes certain nations as individuals that the Federal Government does not recognize. These Nation names will be formatted as 'Federally recognized community [Alberta Recognized Nation]'.A Tribal Council is a grouping of bands/Nations with common interests who voluntarily join together to provide advisory and/or program services to member bands. A First Nation may choose to affiliate with a Tribal Council to achieve shared goals in areas such as economic development, social services, education, or land management.

Spatial representation of a reserve of retention area associated with a silvicultural system. Reserves are forest patches or individual trees retained during harvesting, or other forestry operations to provide habitat, scenic, biodiversity, and other values. The reserve types included are Riparian, Wildlife Tree Patches, and Other. This is part of the Silviculture and Land status Tracking dataset, which includes all business processes required to receive and process records from forest licensees to record report on Silviculture and Land Status Management activities.

The First Nations geographic location dataset contains the geographic location of First Nations (groups and subgroups) in Canada as points as well as basic attributes data. The location identifies where the First Nations live. Each First Nation point represents its administrative office address as it is registered in Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) Band Governance Management System (BGMS). When the First Nation administrative office is located outside its associated most populated reserve boundary, adjustments are made to relocate the point within its boundaries, otherwise within the boundaries of another associated reserve or the city where the administrative office is located. When the administrative office or the First Nation is impossible to locate, the location is based on the best available information on the First Nation (e.g. official First Nation Web site). A connection with the BGMS is in place to ensure that any update to the system is reflected in the attributes data associated with the location of each First Nation.This dataset is Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada (CIRNAC) and Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) official source for First Nation geographic location on maps.

Many geometrical schemes - or map projections - are used to represent the curved surface of the Earth on map sheets. Canada uses the **Universal Transverse Mercator** (UTM) system. It is called transverse because the strips run north-south rather than east-west along the equator. This data class shows a 5 km x 5 km grid coordinate system based on the UTM projection using the North American Datum 83 (NAD83). It includes a UTM Map Sheet Number.

The Riparian Areas Assessment of the Swan River, Lesser Slave River and Tributaries, West Prairie, and Lesser Slave Lake focused on assessing riparian habitat along creek, stream and river shorelines. This dataset was created for the Lesser Slave Watershed Council as a part of a large scale riparian area assessment in Alberta. The overall goal of this project was to quantify and characterize the riparian habitat management in the Lesser Slave Lake watershed by assessing riparian areas along approximately 2536 km of shoreline. This study created a recent land cover layer within 50 m of selected shorelines and use this layer to assess the intactness of riparian areas along major waterbodies. It also provided guidance on how the results from the intactness assessments can be used to target conservation and restoration efforts within along the shorelines that were assessed as part of the study.

This dataset is produced for the Government of Alberta and is available to the general public. Please consult the Distribution Information of this metadata for the appropriate contact to acquire this dataset. Riparian areas consist of the lands adjacent to streams, rivers, wetlands and lakes that are strongly influenced by the presence of water. They are often distinct from the surrounding landscape as the vegetation growth is very lush. These areas form a transition between dry land and open water and are characterized by the presence of hydrophilic vegetation and specific soil types. Riparian areas are usually very productive in terms of biomass and form critical wildlife habitat. These areas often have standing water and are subjected to periodic flooding when high water levels fill the stream channel to the top of the bank. The term 'riparian' is derived from the Latin word for river bank. Riparian areas provide valuable food, shelter and travel corridors as well as close proximity to a water source for wildlife and livestock. These zones are often densely vegetated and serve as stabilization against the erosive forces associated with lotic systems. Riparian areas provide filtration for surface runoff from the surrounding land and protect the water quality of flowing streams. They trap sediment and reduce the velocity of stream flow, thus reducing erosion in downstream areas. These areas provide detritus to their associated aquatic systems as well as a moderating effect on surface temperatures. This riparian mapping project is intended to provide a geodatabase feature class of potential riparian areas associated with lotic features (streams and rivers) using the hydrologically corrected provincial digital elevation model as a base. Potential riparian areas associated with lentic features (wetlands and lakes) are not being captured at this time but wide rivers and lakes with flow through must be taken into consideration in order to give a more accurate representation of riparian areas. Isolated lakes are not included and no allowance for cultivated lands has been made.

This dataset is produced for the Government of Alberta and is available to the general public. Please consult the Distribution Information of this metadata for the appropriate contact to acquire this dataset. Riparian areas consist of the lands adjacent to streams, rivers, wetlands and lakes that are strongly influenced by the presence of water. They are often distinct from the surrounding landscape as the vegetation growth is very lush. These areas form a transition between dry land and open water and are characterized by the presence of hydrophilic vegetation and specific soil types. Riparian areas are usually very productive in terms of biomass and form critical wildlife habitat. Additionally, these areas often have standing water and are subjected to periodic flooding when high water levels fill the stream channel to the top of the bank. The term 'riparian' is derived from the Latin word for river bank. Riparian areas provide valuable food, shelter and travel corridors as well as an adjacent water source for wildlife and livestock. These zones are often densely vegetated and serve as stabilization against the erosive forces associated with lotic systems. Riparian areas provide filtration for surface runoff from the surrounding land and protect the water quality of flowing streams. They trap sediment and reduce the velocity of stream flow, thus reducing erosion in downstream areas. These areas provide detritus to their associated aquatic systems as well as a moderating effect on surface temperatures. The function of riparian areas in the landscape is regarded to be sufficiently critical that they are given special consideration in terms of the impact assessment resulting from human activities such as recreation, logging, oil and gas exploration, road construction and range management. Informatics Branch of Alberta Environment and Parks, Government of Alberta has been assigned the task of developing a provincial map of riparian areas. This project represents the initial effort to map riparian areas for the province. The riparian areas map is intended as input into ALCES (A Landscape Cumulative Effects Simulator), which is software developed by Forem Technologies. ALCES is being used to project the cumulative effects of various types of human activity on the landscape. This is accomplished by generating aspatial snapshots of regions within the provincial landscape and assuming that the current level of human impact continues. The methodology involved creating variable buffers by Natural Region based on Strahler Order coding for streams that had been merged with the associated perennial lakes. Higher Strahler Order codes were associated with wider buffers and drier Natural Regions were associated with narrower buffers. The result was a geodatabase of polygons that were intended to represent potential lotic riparian areas but the accuracy was poor. Landsat information and the Base Features Digital Elevation Model were incorporated to a minimal degree as refinements to the coverage but did not result in any improvement in the spatial accuracy of the data. This dataset is not recommended for use in riparian analysis. The Lotic Riparian - Digital Elevation Model Derived dataset, which was released in October 2011, is a better representation of the location and extent of riparian areas.