characterizing, measuring and visualizing forest resources
DESCRIPTION
Characterizing, measuring and visualizing forest resources. An inadequate treatment by an unqualified presenter. Things in this talk. Remote Sensing 001 Ways We’re Measuring Forests at UConn Quick Note on Visualization. Geospatial Technologies. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Characterizing, measuring and
visualizing forest resourcesAn inadequate treatment by an unqualified
presenter.
Things in this talk
• Remote Sensing 001
• Ways We’re Measuring Forests at UConn
• Quick Note on Visualization
Geospatial Technologies
• Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
• Remote Sensing (RS)
• Global Positioning Systems (GPS) • Internet
Remote sensing is the art and science of detecting, identifying, classifying, and analyzing the earth’s surface using special sensors onboard airplanes
and satellites.
And since we’re talking forest
rather than trees…
Landscape Features Reflect Light Differently
Band
Value
Band
Value
Examples of RS Data Imagery
Land Cover
Elevation
RS Imagery
• General reference/Base mapping
• Visual background to other data
• Digitize new data• Update existing data
What is land cover?
RS image Land cover map
39% forest
21% developed
16% wetla
nd
Land Cover vs Land Use
• Land Cover: Literally, what is covering the land (forest, wetland, pavement)
• Land Use: What is planned, practiced or permitted on a given area (commercial, residential, dedicated open space)
Things in this talk
• Remote Sensing 001
• Ways We’re Measuring Forests at UConn
• Quick Note on Visualization
Analysis & Characterization
Forest cover maps Forest block maps Forest fragmentation
analysis Distance from a road
analysis Buffer analysis
2002 Land cover
Forest 56%
Water3%
Wetland4%Other
2%Developed
19%
Turf/Grass4%
Grasses/Ag12%
Coniferous Forest
Deciduous Forest
Forested Wetland
Water
Non-forest
2002 Land cover: forest only(and
water)
Town of Coventry: 67% forested
2002 Forest Cover: by town
Tolland County: 68% forested
2002 Forest Cover: by county
Willimantic Regional Basin: 73% forested
2002 Forest Cover: by watershed
Forest Cover: Advantages
• Easy to understand• Total cover relates to
watershed research, possible watershed plan goals
• Can easily fit into “Basic NEMO” educational approach
Analysis & Characterization
Forest cover maps Forest block maps Forest fragmentation
analysis Distance from a road
analysis Buffer analysis
Forest Block Analysis
• Isolate forest cover• Remove any polygons smaller than
the size of interest• Block size is key for birds and
others– Considerable evidence that powerline corridors
and roads reduce the quality of habitat for many species of forest birds in the surrounding habitat
– Powerlines appear to be a conduit that brings predators and cowbirds deep into the forest interior
Forest Blocks – by Town
Town of Coventry
Forest Blocks – by County
Tolland County
Forest Blocks – by Watershed
Willimantic Regional Basin
Forest Block: Advantages
• Easy to generate once you have cover data
• Relates well to specific habitat concerns
• Allows the important distinction between amount of forest and amount of usable forest for wildlife
Analysis & Characterization
Forest cover maps Forest block maps Forest fragmentation
analysis Distance from a road
analysis Buffer analysis
• Original method developed by Riitters et al. (2000) of the USDA/USFS to assess global forest fragmentation from 1 km land cover data.
• Adapted by CLEAR for use on Landsat-derived land cover information (30-meter spatial resolution).
UConn CLEAR FF Analysis
Pixel-by-pixel analysis
A moving analysis window (9x9 is shown) is used to look at each center pixel in relation to all the surrounding pixels.
Forest Pixel Non-Forest Pixel
• Core Forest - all surrounding grid cells are forest.
• Perforated Forest - the interior edge of a forest tract such as would occur around a small clearing or house lot.
• Edge Forest - grid cell is on the exterior edge of a forest tract such as would occur along a large agricultural field or urban area.
• Transitional Forest - about half of the surrounding grid cells are forest.
• Patch Forest - less than 40% of surrounding grid cells are forest.
Forest Classes
• Core Forest - all surrounding grid cells are forest.
• Perforated Forest - the interior edge of a forest tract such as would occur around a small clearing or house lot.
• Edge Forest - grid cell is on the exterior edge of a forest tract such as would occur along a large agricultural field or urban area.
• Transitional Forest - about half of the surrounding grid cells are forest.
• Patch Forest - less than 40% of surrounding grid cells are forest.
Forest Classes
• Core Forest - all surrounding grid cells are forest.
• Perforated Forest - the interior edge of a forest tract such as would occur around a small clearing or house lot.
• Edge Forest - grid cell is on the exterior edge of a forest tract such as would occur along a large agricultural field or urban area.
• Transitional Forest - about half of the surrounding grid cells are forest.
• Patch Forest - less than 40% of surrounding grid cells are forest.
Forest Classes
• Core Forest - all surrounding grid cells are forest.
• Perforated Forest - the interior edge of a forest tract such as would occur around a small clearing or house lot.
• Edge Forest - grid cell is on the exterior edge of a forest tract such as would occur along a large agricultural field or urban area.
• Transitional Forest - about half of the surrounding grid cells are forest.
• Patch Forest - less than 40% of surrounding grid cells are forest.
Forest Classes
• Core Forest - all surrounding grid cells are forest.
• Perforated Forest - the interior edge of a forest tract such as would occur around a small clearing or house lot.
• Edge Forest - grid cell is on the exterior edge of a forest tract such as would occur along a large agricultural field or urban area.
• Transitional Forest - about half of the surrounding grid cells are forest.
• Patch Forest - less than 40% of surrounding grid cells are forest.
Forest Classes
Forested area: 1,886,426 acres = 59.3% of CT
2002
Forest Cover Map
Core Forest: 576,764 acres = 18.1% of CT
( 9x9 analysis window )
Forest Fragmentation Map
2002
Forest Blocks – by Town
Developed 2672
Non-forest 5098
Water 546
Core/Interior Forest
3461
Perforated Forest
4876
Edge Forest 5724
Transitional Forest
1780
Patch Forest 548
Forest Blocks – by County
Developed 32439
Non-forest 47377
Water 6065
Core/Interior Forest
57771
Perforated Forest
50610
Edge Forest 53491
Transitional Forest
14505
Patch Forest 5490
Forest Blocks – by Watershed
Developed 16372
Non-forest 20325
Water 3209
Core/Interior Forest
30216
Perforated Forest
29549
Edge Forest 31042
Transitional Forest
7780
Patch Forest 2325
Forest Frag: Advantages
• Provide data about quality as well as quantity of forest
• Can be run at different scales/grid sizes depending on concerns
• Tells you something about pattern of the forested landscape and its suitability for habitat
Forest Cover
• all based on the same input data (land cover)
• best use(s) for each???
Forest Cover Forest BlocksForest Fragmentation
The Forest Frag Wizard!
There are many other Forest Fragmentation
tools out there
Analysis & Characterization
Forest cover maps Forest block maps Forest fragmentation
analysis Distance from a road
analysis Buffer analysis
100 feet
5400 feet
Distance of Forest From Roads
A nationwide study by Foreman (2000)
estimates that 22% of total land area is affected
ecologically by roads (within 100m of roads).
Analysis & Characterization
Forest cover maps Forest block maps Forest fragmentation
analysis Distance from a road
analysis Buffer analysis
Land Cover Within Buffers
Land Cover Within Buffers
100 ft 200 ft 300 ft
What we measured
“Natural Vegetation”
Developed
Turf & Grass
Other Grasses & Ag.
Deciduous Forest
Coniferous Forest
Water
Forest Wetland
Non-forested Wetland
Tidal Wetland
Barren
Utility Right-of-way
25 Basins with greatest Natural Vegetation loss
(percent) 1985-2002
Combined Indicators of
Stream Health
Stream Health
% Impervious Watershed
% Natural Veg. 100 ft riparian buffer
Excellent <= 6% >= 65%
Good <=10% >=60%
Fair 10-25% 40-60%
Poor >25% <40%
After Goetz et al., 2003
Vis
uali
zat
ion
Stupid PPT & Photoshop Tricks
Stupid PPT & Photoshop Tricks
Economic modeling
Web Tools
Build Out AnalysisArcGIS and Scenario360
Potential New Homes
Google EarthResidential buildout
analysis
Are you insinuating that my talk wasn’t all it was supposed to be??!