Composite Quarter-Section Layer: Every Ag Dataset, Pre-Joined
Township Canada pre-joins every agriculture dataset to one row per quarter section, so a single PMTiles fetch powers instant theme-switching on the map.
What it is
The composite quarter-section layer is the one we build ourselves. Rather than ask the map to join six datasets on the fly, Township Canada pre-joins crop history, land use, soil, capability, productivity, and drought into a single row per quarter section. One fetch returns everything, so switching what the map is themed by is instant.
What it carries
One row per quarter section, carrying the dominant crop and rotation, land-use class, soil order and subgroup, CLI class, the LSRS and composite productivity scores, and the current drought class. It is the same shape that powers both the map and the Agriculture tab of the parcel report.
Coverage and refresh
The composite covers three million quarter sections across Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba - the full Prairie Dominion Land Survey grid. It is rebuilt monthly as the underlying sources refresh, and shipped as a PMTiles archive for fast client-side rendering.
Source: Township Canada, derived from AAFC, AGRASID, and the Canadian Drought Monitor.
How Township Canada shows it
The composite is what makes the Ag Summary map layer fast: the "View" switcher repaints three million quarter sections by productivity, dominant crop, or drought without a new request. The same per-quarter row backs the report, so the map and the report always agree.
/images/learn/data-sources/composite-quarter-section-layer/theme-switch.png): the Ag Summary layer with the "View" switcher, showing the grid repainting from productivity to dominant crop across a township.Related
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