Low spots in a field
Type a quarter’s legal land description and see where water would sit on it and the way it would run: every hollow 10 cm or deeper, with its acres, how deep it gets and the water it holds when full. From Natural Resources Canada’s lidar heights. Saskatchewan, Alberta and Manitoba. Free, nothing to sign up for.
What it shows
- Where water would sit, in blue, darker where it gets deeper: each hollow filled to the point where it would spill over.
- The way water would run, as dark lines wherever 2 hectares or more drains through, so the runs into each low spot show.
- The quarter’s low spots in words: how many, how many acres in all, and the largest ones, each with its acres, its deepest point and about how many cubic metres it holds when full.
How it’s worked out
From the ground’s height every 4 metres, from lidar flown over the land and published by Natural Resources Canada. Every hollow is filled up to its spill point, the way water would fill it; what the filling raises by 10 cm or more, over a tenth of an acre or more, is a low spot. Shallower dips are left out, as they’re within the lidar’s error. Water is then run downhill from every cell, and its paths drawn where enough land drains through. Where no lidar has been flown, the national 30 metre model is used instead, and only large hollows show.
The shape of the ground only. Soil, frost, snowmelt, rain and tile drains aren’t in it, and a culvert under a road can’t be seen, so water that runs through one shows held behind the road. It shows where water would go, not how often it does.
Questions
Is it free?
Yes, and there’s nothing to sign up for. Type the quarter and pick Wet areas. To keep the quarter and see it again any time, keep it in a free GrainPosition book.
Where do the heights come from?
From Natural Resources Canada’s High Resolution Digital Elevation Model, made from lidar flown over the land, averaged here to every 4 metres. Where no lidar has been flown, from its national model at 30 metres, which only shows large hollows; the page says which it used.
Why does water show held behind a road?
The heights are the ground’s surface, so a culvert under a road or an approach can’t be seen: water that really runs through it shows held on the high side.
Can I drain a low spot it shows?
Check first. In Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, draining a wetland or building drainage works can need the province’s approval or licence before you dig.
Your quarters, kept
Keep the quarters you farm in a free GrainPosition book: where water sits on each, its satellite pictures every season, its crop, acres, field work and margin.
Try it freeWere you paid right on your last grain settlement?
Send me a photo of the settlement, and the contract if you have it. Within a day I’ll email you back what each line is, what’s worth asking the buyer about, and any grade or payment deadline that’s still open. Free, no account.
Ruslan Glick, Winnipeg. Not a farmer, so I check against your contract and the grain rules, not opinions. Top Crop Manager wrote about GrainPosition.