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| Type: | Resource | |
| Storage: | The size of this resource is 19.8 MB | |
| Created: | Oct 22, 2026 at 10:12 p.m. (UTC) | |
| Last updated: | Oct 26, 2026 at 11:18 p.m. (UTC) (Metadata update) | |
| Published date: | Oct 26, 2026 at 11:18 p.m. (UTC) | |
| DOI: | 10.4211/hs.dc201b120516411692fb79a2c36349a4 | |
| Citation: | See how to cite this resource | |
| Content types: | Geographic Raster Content |
| Sharing Status: | Published |
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Abstract
This resource provides a national-scale terrain classification for Canada at 250 m resolution, derived from the Canadian Medium Resolution Digital Elevation Model (MRDEM; Natural Resources Canada). Terrain was classified into six classes using the standardized Topographic Position Index (zTPI), calculated from a 3–5 km annular neighbourhood, together with local slope, following Weiss (2001). Pixel values represent the following terrain classes: ridge (1), upper slope (2), middle slope (3), flat (4), lower slope (5), and valley (6). The dataset supports the paper “Spatiotemporal evaluation of snow water equivalent estimates across Canada: comparing CanSWE, SNODAS, and ERA5-Land” (Sun et al., submitted to Hydrology and Earth System Sciences).
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Spatial
Content
readme.md
Terrain classification of Canada based on standardized topographic position index and slope (250 m)
Authors: Chang Sun (University of Alberta), Hongli Liu (Montana State University), Jennifer Nafziger (University of Alberta)
Contact: csun15@ualberta.ca
Related publication: Sun, C., Liu, H., and Nafziger, J.: Spatiotemporal evaluation of snow water equivalent estimates across Canada: comparing CanSWE, SNODAS, and ERA5-Land, submitted to Hydrology and Earth System Sciences.
Files
Canada_terrain_classification_250m.tif: terrain classification raster (GeoTIFF, single band, 8-bit unsigned integer, LZW compressed)Canada_terrain_classification_250m.qml: QGIS style file with class colors and labels
Class codes
| Value | Class |
|---|---|
| 1 | Ridge |
| 2 | Upper slope |
| 3 | Middle slope |
| 4 | Flat |
| 5 | Lower slope |
| 6 | Valley |
Pixels outside Canada are set to NoData.
Spatial information
- Extent: Canada
- Resolution: 250 m
- Coordinate reference system: EPSG:3979 (NAD83(CSRS) / Canada Atlas Lambert)
- Dimensions: 22042 columns × 19158 rows
Method
- Source DEM: Canadian Medium Resolution Digital Elevation Model (MRDEM, 30 m; Natural Resources Canada), resampled to 250 m using bilinear interpolation.
- Local slope: derived from the resampled 250 m DEM.
Topographic Position Index (TPI)
TPI_i = z_i - z_annulus,i
where z_i is the elevation of cell i (m), and z_annulus,i is the mean elevation (m) of all cells within an annulus centred on cell i, with inner and outer radii of 3 and 5 km, respectively. These radii were selected for terrain dataset generation in this study.
Standardized TPI (zTPI)
zTPI_i = (TPI_i - TPI_mean) / s_TPI
where TPI_i is the TPI of cell i, and TPI_mean and s_TPI are the mean and standard deviation of TPI over the whole domain, respectively. zTPI_i is dimensionless.
Terrain classification (adapted Weiss, 2001)
The terrain classification was based on the framework proposed by Weiss (2001), with the zTPI and slope thresholds manually adjusted to better represent the diverse terrain characteristics across Canada.
| Class | Criterion |
|---|---|
| Ridge | zTPI > 3 |
| Upper slope | 1.2 < zTPI ≤ 3 |
| Middle slope | |zTPI| ≤ 1.2 and slope > 5° |
| Flat | |zTPI| ≤ 1.2 and slope ≤ 5° |
| Lower slope | −2.0 ≤ zTPI < −1.2 |
| Valley | zTPI < −2.0 |
License
CC BY 4.0. Derived from MRDEM (Natural Resources Canada), used under the Open Government Licence – Canada.
Reference
Weiss, A. D.: Topographic position and landforms analysis, Poster presented at the ESRI User Conference, San Diego, CA, USA, 2001.
Data Services
How to Cite
This resource is shared under the Creative Commons Attribution CC BY.
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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