Lakes and Shoreline per County/Municipal District in Alberta
Using the HydroLAKES data set, ALMS has created graphs displaying the number of lakes (≥ 0.1 km²) and the length of shoreline within each of Alberta’s counties and municipal districts. Click on the graphs below to expand the image and do a comparison of districts!
The HydroLAKES Database
In December 2016, researchers at McGill University released a database that aims to provide shoreline polygons of lakes with a surface area of at least 10 hectares (0.1 km²). This database doesn’t just include lakes in Canada, but the whole world! Information for each lake in this database includes estimation of shoreline length, volume, and retention time. To learn more, check out the video below, or read this article from the Montreal Gazette.
Data References
For more information about the HydroLAKES project or to download the data, visit: www.hydrosheds.org/page/hydrolakes
The data for county boundaries and municipal districts used in these calculations is from the Government of Alberta Open Data Portal. The data is freely available to download online, and also includes boundaries for cities, towns, First Nations, Métis settlements, and national parks. Click here to visit the download page, or search “Property – Municipal Boundaries” in the open data portal.