With the changing climate conditions, marine traffic along Canada’s coastal regions has increased over the past couple of decades and the need to improve our state of preparedness for oil-spill-related emergencies is critical. Baseline coastal information, such as shoreline form, substrate, and vegetation type, is required for prioritizing operations, coordinating onsite spill response activities (i.e. Shoreline Cleanup Assessment Technique [SCAT]), and providing information for wildlife and ecosystem management. Between 2010 and 2017, georeferenced high-definition videography and photos were collected for various study sites across coastal Canada. The study areas include Beaufort Sea, Mackenzie Delta channels and Banks Island in the western Canadian Arctic; James Bay, Hudson Bay, Nunavik, Resolute Bay, Victoria Strait, Baffin Island and Coronation Gulf in the eastern Canadian Arctic; Labrador, Bay of Fundy and Chedabucto Bay in Atlantic Canada and Kitimat, Haida Gwaii and Burrard Inlet in the northern Pacific. Data was collected during ice-free and low tide conditions (where applicable) between July and September. Low-altitude helicopter surveys were conducted at each study site to capture video of the shoreline characteristics. In addition to acquiring videography, ground-based observations were recorded in several locations for validation. Shoreline segmentation was then carried out by manual interpretation of the oblique videography and the photos aided by ancillary data. This involved splitting and classifying the shoreline vectors based on homogeneity of the upper intertidal zone. Detailed geomorphological information (i.e. shoreline type, substrate, slope, height, accessibility etc.) describing the upper intertidal, lower intertidal, supratidal and backshore zones was extracted from the video and entered into a geospatial database using a customized data collection form. In addition, biological characteristics like biobands, water features, fauna, human use etc. observed along the coast were recorded. The data was also validated through ground samples (when available) and a second interpreter QA (quality analysis) was performed on each dataset (excluding Nunavik) to ensure high quality and consistency. The final dataset contains segments ranging in length from 150 metres to 2500 metres. In total, from 2010 to 2017, within the 14 study sites, about 26,150 km of shoreline were mapped.

Monitor variations in seabird numbers and colony size in the St. Lawrence system. Survey of over 20 species of seabirds and herons during the breeding season, in order to monitor population dynamics through time and space. Seabird populations are influenced by food abundance and quality. There is actually more than 1,000,000 birds from more than 20 different species that breed in nearly 1,000 active colonies. Plongeon du Pacifique/Pacific Loon/Gavia Pacifica, Plongeon catmarin/Red-throated Loon/Gavia stellata, Macareux moine/Atlantic Puffin/Fratercula arctica, Guillemot à miroir/Black Guillemot/Cepphus grylle, Guillemot marmette/Common Murre/Uria aalge, Guillemot de Brünnich/Thick-billed Murre/Uria lomvia, Petit Pingouin/Razorbill/Alca torda, Mouette tridactyle/Black-legged Kittiwake/Rissa tridactyla, Goéland marin/Great Black-backed Gull/Larus marinus, Goéland argenté/Herring Gull/Larus argentatus, Goéland à bec cerclé/Ring-billed Gull/Larus delawarensis, Mouette rieuse/Common Black-headed Gull/Larus ridibundus, Sterne caspienne/Caspian Tern/Sterna caspia, Sterne pierregarin/Common Tern/Sterna hirundo, Sterne arctique/ArcticTern/Sterna paradisaea, Sterne de Dougall/Roseate Tern/Sterna dougallii, Océanite cul-blanc/Leach's Storm-Petrel/Oceanodroma leucorhoa, Fou de Bassan/Northern Gannet/Morus bassanus, Grand Cormoran/Great Cormorant/Phalacrocorax carbo, Cormoran à aigrettes/Double-crested Cormorant/Phalacrocorax auritus, Eider à duvet/Common Eider/Somateria mollissima, Grand Héron/Great Blue Heron/Ardea herodias, Bihoreau gris/Black-crowned Night-Heron/Nycticorax nycticorax.

Recent efforts to model spring breeding habitats of fish in the St. Lawrence have revealed significant gaps in land use descriptions for the floodplains of Lac Saint-Pierre. In order to fill these gaps, aerial photographs taken in 1950, 1964 and 1997 were assembled in mosaic fashion and then digitized, georeferenced and interpreted to categorize 28 fish habitat classes. For each of the three periods, interpretation made it possible to categorize and georeference polygons (e.g. wet meadows, perennial crops) and linear elements (e.g. windbreaks, riparian strips, roads) and to compile these with their properties (habitat class, length, perimeter, surface area). To facilitate and refine subsequent analyses, all polygons and linear elements were delineated with the aid of several layers of information, including the boundaries of regional county municipalities, drainage basins, several flood scenarios, and three large units: the north and south shores of Lac Saint-Pierre and the Sorel archipelago. This report describes the methods used and the constraints encountered; it also presents certain interpretation limits and a summary analysis of habitat classes in the three periods studied. A temporal trend analysis of habitat dynamics in the three periods has yet to be completed. Source files containing the data have been published and are available to anyone interested in land use in the floodplains of Lac Saint-Pierre or wishing to extend the study of changes in these landscapes and habitats over the past fifty years, depending on their field of interest (e.g. fish habitats, waterfowl nesting, agricultural landscape).

The purpose of the Long-Range Forecast Transient Intercomparison Project (LRFTIP) is to provide an archive of hindcast climatologies, describing the systematic behavior of models evolving from observation-based initial states, that can inform investigations into the transient behavior of initialized subseasonal to decadal climate predictions, the development of model biases, and the relative merits of different initialization methods. The archive is based on publicly available hindcast datasets including the Subseasonal to Seasonal Prediction Project (S2S), the Climate-system Historical Forecast Project (CHFP) and the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) and 6 (CMIP6). ECCC models include the GEPS-based contribution to S2S, the CanCM3, CanCM4, CanCM4i and GEM-NEMO seasonal prediction models, and the CanCM4 CMIP5 and CanESM5 CMIP6 decadal prediction models. Additional contributions are being added as they become available.

1. Provides public access to real-time instantatenous water level collected at over 1800 active locations in Canada. These data are collected under a national program jointly administered under federal-provincial and federal-territorial cost-sharing agreements; 2. Provides public access to archived daily water level for stations of interest using search criteria. These data include: daily and monthly mean, max and min of water levels. For some sites, annual peaks and extremes are also recorded. Archived water level data are disseminated online; 3. Provides public access to a MS Access database file containing archived daily water level that users can download to their desktop. These data include: daily and monthly mean, max and min of water level. For some sites, annual peaks and extremes are also recorded. MS Access file is updated quarterly; 4. Provides public access to water level statistics for stations of interest using search criteria.

Recent efforts to model spring breeding habitats of fish in the St. Lawrence have revealed significant gaps in land use descriptions for the floodplains of Lac Saint-Pierre. In order to fill these gaps, aerial photographs taken in 1950, 1964 and 1997 were assembled in mosaic fashion and then digitized, georeferenced and interpreted to categorize 28 fish habitat classes. For each of the three periods, interpretation made it possible to categorize and georeference polygons (e.g. wet meadows, perennial crops) and linear elements (e.g. windbreaks, riparian strips, roads) and to compile these with their properties (habitat class, length, perimeter, surface area). To facilitate and refine subsequent analyses, all polygons and linear elements were delineated with the aid of several layers of information, including the boundaries of regional county municipalities, drainage basins, several flood scenarios, and three large units: the north and south shores of Lac Saint-Pierre and the Sorel archipelago. This report describes the methods used and the constraints encountered; it also presents certain interpretation limits and a summary analysis of habitat classes in the three periods studied. A temporal trend analysis of habitat dynamics in the three periods has yet to be completed. Source files containing the data have been published and are available to anyone interested in land use in the floodplains of Lac Saint-Pierre or wishing to extend the study of changes in these landscapes and habitats over the past fifty years, depending on their field of interest (e.g. fish habitats, waterfowl nesting, agricultural landscape).

With the changing climate conditions, marine traffic along Canada’s coastal regions has increased over the past few decades and the need to improve our state of preparedness for oil-spill-related emergencies is critical. Baseline coastal information, such as shoreline form, substrate, and vegetation type, is required for prioritizing operations, coordinating onsite spill response activities (i.e., Shoreline Cleanup Assessment Technique [SCAT]), and providing information for wildlife and ecosystem management. Between 2011 and 2016, georeferenced high-definition videography and photos were collected for various study sites along the east coast. The study areas include Labrador, Bay of Fundy and Chedabucto Bay in Atlantic Canada. Data was collected during ice-free and low tide conditions (where applicable) between July and September. Low-altitude helicopter surveys were conducted at each study site to capture video of the shoreline characteristics. In addition to acquiring videography, ground-based observations were recorded in several locations for validation. Shoreline segmentation was then carried out by manual interpretation of the oblique videography and the photos aided by ancillary data. This involved splitting and classifying the shoreline vectors based on homogeneity of the upper intertidal zone. Detailed geomorphological information (i.e., shoreline type, substrate, slope, height, accessibility etc.) describing the upper intertidal, lower intertidal, supratidal and backshore zones was extracted from the video and entered into a geospatial database using a customized data collection form. In addition, biological characteristics like biobands, water features, fauna, human use etc. observed along the coast were recorded. The data was also validated through ground observations (when available) and a second interpreter QA (quality analysis) was performed on each dataset to ensure high quality and consistency. The final dataset contains segments ranging in length from 150 metres to 2500 metres. In total, from 2011 to 2016, within the 3 study sites, about 1,850 km of shoreline were mapped.

The generation of geospatial thematic information for managing and monitoring Canada's boreal ecosystem is essential for researchers, land managers, and policy makers. Canada's boreal region is a vast mosaic of forests, wetlands, rivers and lakes, but anthropogenic disturbances have impacted these ecosystems resulting in habitat loss, fragmentation and threats to biodiversity. Across Canada various geospatial datasets representing anthropogenic disturbance exist for timber harvesting, hydro-electric activity, settlement and oil & gas activities; however, these products often vary in scale, attributes, time period, and mapping technique. Driven by the need for national data as part of the 2011 boreal caribou science assessment, a standardized methodology was developed and implemented to create a single geospatial dataset representing anthropogenic disturbances across a significant portion of Canada’s boreal ecosystem. The boreal ecosystem anthropogenic disturbances (BEAD) data is a vector disturbance dataset of individual linear and polygonal disturbance types that were manually collected through the interpretation of 2008 to 2010 Landsat imagery at a 1:50,000 viewing scale. Summary results identified a total polygonal anthropogenic disturbance footprint of approximately 24 million ha with forest cutblocks accounting for more than 60 % of mapped polygonal disturbance. Linear disturbance features across the boreal total approximately 600,000 km with roads and seismic exploration lines contributing to more than 80 % of the mapped linear disturbances. For distribution and use by the public the data was gridded to a 1km resolution product that can easily be incorporated into a wide variety of applications. Each disturbance type was gridded as the total per km2 (km2 / km2 for polygonal disturbances and km / km2 for linear disturbances). This product consists of 19 individual raster layers - 16 representing different disturbance types, along with layers representing the total linear and total polygonal disturbances separately and a binary mask layer defining all cells that contain disturbance values

Over three years (2012 to 2015), we are comparing MeHg bioaccumulation in three study areas that cover a latitudinal gradient in ecosystem types in the Canadian Arctic, specifically Kuujjuaraapik (sub-Arctic taiga), Iqaluit (tundra) and Resolute Bay (polar desert). In water bodies from each of these study areas, we will investigate two key aspects of MeHg bioaccumulation, specifically MeHg bioavailability to benthic food webs and organism growth rates. Using a cross-ecosystem comparison to test these hypotheses, we will conduct the following in lakes and ponds from each study area: - Characterize the watersheds of study sites (geomorphology and physiography) through satellite image classification and digital terrain analysis in order to examine watershed influences on measured lake physico-chemistry, particularly levels of organic carbon and Hg in sediment and water; - Estimate bioavailable MeHg in sediment pore water using a novel technique (Diffusive Gradient in Thin films, or DGT); - Measure MeHg concentrations in benthic food webs (algae, invertebrates and fish); and - Estimate short-term growth rates in invertebrates and fish using tissue DNA and RNA content. Project results will provide a conceptual model of climate-related environmental processes that affect the exposure of Arctic freshwater fish to MeHg. This information is critical to understand how climate change is affecting temporal and geographic trends of Hg bioaccumulation in Arctic fish monitored by the NCP. Mercury is a priority contaminant of the Northern Contaminants Program (NCP) due to its prevalence in the Arctic and high levels found in some traditional food species. The main objective of this project is to investigate climate-related environmental controls on methylmercury (MeHg) bioaccumulation in Arctic freshwater food webs. Recent evidence indicates that inorganic mercury (Hg) loadings to Arctic lakes decline with latitude; however, MeHg concentrations in benthic invertebrates and fish do not similarly decline along this gradient in Hg loading. These observations suggest that environmental factors may play an important role in ecosystem sensitivity to Hg bioaccumulation in the Canadian Arctic. We hypothesize that climate's dominant control on organic matter production affects two key aspects of MeHg bioaccumulation, specifically MeHg bioavailability to food webs and organism growth rates. In addition, a latitudinal water temperature gradient likely affects organism growth rates.

1. Provides public access to real-time instantatenous streamflow collected at over 1800 active locations in Canada. These data are collected under a national program jointly administered under federal-provincial and federal-territorial cost-sharing agreements; 2. Provides public access to archived daily streamflow for stations of interest using search criteria. These data include: daily and monthly mean, max and min of flow. For some sites, annual peaks and extremes are also recorded. Archived streamflow data are disseminated online; 3. Provides public access to a MS Access database file containing archived daily streamflow that users can download to their desktop. These data include: daily and monthly mean, max and min of flow. For some sites, annual peaks and extremes are also recorded. MS Access file is updated quarterly; 4. Provides public access to streamflow statistics for stations of interest using search criteria.