Natural Resources and Values Information System (NRVIS)

Description

NRVIS layers which provide basic topographic coverage of the province are referred to as NRVIS fundamental layers. In the past this information was published by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources as Ontario Base Maps (OBM) at 1:10,000 (southern Ontario) and 1:20,000 scales (northern Ontario). Access to these basic topographic 'fundamental' coverage layers is available via the Geospatial Centre or through the Ontario Ministry of natural Resources online 'Ontario Base Mapping' site via the Geography Network.

These NRVIS datasets provide fundamental or base information for the province and include: ground relief, digital elevation model (DEM), drainage, buildings, roads, railways and other physical and cultural features; please see a more complete list below.  Non-fundamental NRVIS layers are also available and they are those which deal with wildlife and natural area management; these layers include: wildlife feeding areas, nesting sites, areas of natural or scientific interest, and recreation routes. Please refer to the metadata of layers available, however please note that some layers pertain only to specific geographical areas.

map shows province of Ontario sub-divided by Ministry of Natural Resources districts

Available data resources:

  • Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (OMNR) districts
  • OMNR districts administrative areas
  • Municipal boundaries (upper)
  • Municipal boundaries (lower)
  • Native reserves (non-government)
  • Nature reserves park reserve (non-government)
  • Permit to take water
  • Pits and quarries
  • Provincial parks (regulated)
  • Park reserve
  • Railway segments
  • Road segments
  • Soils
  • Tanks
  • Towers
  • Trail segments
  • Tansport lines
  • Utility lines
  • Utility sites
  • Water edges
  • Water structures
  • Water bodies
  • Wetlands
 
 

Spatial reference and data type

These data are available in geographic co-ordinates; horizontal datum is North American Datum (NAD) 83. These data are stored as Esri shapefiles. Other data formats can be accommodated as the Geospatial Centre has access to a number of conversion utilities.

Data access

In order to access these data sets, please visit the Geospatial Centre reference desk during regular reference hours. Library reference staff are available to provide further information about these data sets and to deliver data upon request. Under the terms of the library's license agreement, these data sets are for the exclusive use of the students, faculty and staff at the University of Waterloo, and may be used for educational/academic purposes only. Note that the fundamental layers are available online via the Geography Network.

Data manipulation

There are public workstations in the Geospatial Centre that provide access to ArcGIS software programs, program extensions and data manipulation utilities. Patrons may use the Geographic Information System (GIS) software in the library to view and manipulate the data. UWaterloo faculty, students and staff may copy these data to other media (for example: CD, DVD or Zip disc) for use elsewhere.

Data output

These data may be exported from ArcGIS in a choice of bitmapped formats (also known as raster graphics) including JPG, TIFF, GIF, and BMP or in a choice of vector graphics formats including Adobe Illustrator (AI), Encapsulated Postscript (EPS), and Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG). Yet another option is PDF. Patrons may use the library's printer to print map views or tabular views of the data.

Use restrictions/licensing/copyright

These data are provided for personal use for academic, research, and/or teaching purposes. A data release agreement must be agreed to before these licensed data can be released. The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources must be acknowledged on any derivative product, whether printed or electronic, including for example, a printed map, a raster or vector graphic, a web-based application, etc. Patrons are advised to fully respect the provisions of Canada's Copyright Act as well as terms and conditions imposed by the data provider.

Citation

Natural Resources and Values Information System [computer file]. Toronto, Ontario: The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, [2011].

Sample view of the data

Soil Types in Galt