Title: Characterizing, measuring and visualizing forest resources
1Characterizing, measuring and visualizing forest
resources
- An inadequate treatment by an unqualified
presenter.
2Things in this talk
- Remote Sensing 001
- Ways Were Measuring Forests at UConn
- Quick Note on Visualization
3Geospatial Technologies
- Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
- Remote Sensing (RS)
- Global Positioning Systems (GPS)
4And since were talking forest rather than trees
- Remote sensing is the art and science of
detecting, identifying, classifying, and
analyzing the earths surface using special
sensors onboard airplanes and satellites.
5Landscape Features Reflect Light Differently
Value
Value
Band
Band
6Examples of RS Data
Land Cover
Elevation
7RS Imagery
- General reference/Base mapping
- Visual background to other data
- Digitize new data
- Update existing data
8What is land cover?
Land cover map
9Land 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)
10Things in this talk
- Remote Sensing 001
- Ways Were Measuring Forests at UConn
- Quick Note on Visualization
11Analysis Characterization
- Forest cover maps
- Forest block maps
- Forest fragmentation analysis
- Distance from a road analysis
- Buffer analysis
122002 Land cover
132002 Land cover forest only
(and water)
Coniferous Forest
Deciduous Forest
Forested Wetland
Water
Non-forest
142002 Forest Cover by town
Town of Coventry 67 forested
152002 Forest Cover by county
Tolland County 68 forested
162002 Forest Cover by watershed
Willimantic Regional Basin 73 forested
17Forest Cover Advantages
- Easy to understand
- Total cover relates to watershed research,
possible watershed plan goals - Can easily fit into Basic NEMO educational
approach
18Analysis Characterization
- Forest cover maps
- Forest block maps
- Forest fragmentation analysis
- Distance from a road analysis
- Buffer analysis
19Forest 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
20Forest Blocks by Town
Town of Coventry
21Forest Blocks by County
Tolland County
22Forest Blocks by Watershed
Willimantic Regional Basin
23Forest 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
24Analysis Characterization
- Forest cover maps
- Forest block maps
- Forest fragmentation analysis
- Distance from a road analysis
- Buffer analysis
25UConn CLEAR FF 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).
26Pixel-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.
27Forest 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.
28Forest 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.
29Forest 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.
30Forest 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.
31Forest 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.
32Forest Cover Map
2002
Forested area 1,886,426 acres 59.3 of CT
33Forest Fragmentation Map
( 9x9 analysis window )
2002
Core Forest 576,764 acres 18.1 of CT
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35Forest 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
36Forest 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
37Forest 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
38Forest 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
39Forest Cover
Forest Cover
Forest Blocks
Forest Fragmentation
- all based on the same input data (land cover)
- best use(s) for each???
40The Forest Frag Wizard!
41There are many other Forest Fragmentation tools
out there
42Analysis Characterization
- Forest cover maps
- Forest block maps
- Forest fragmentation analysis
- Distance from a road analysis
- Buffer analysis
43A Road Runs Through It
- A nationwide study by Foreman (2000) estimates
that 22 of total land area is affected
ecologically by roads (within 100m of roads). - This is further supported by Riitters Wickham
(2003). - A study in Massachusetts along Rte. 2 by Foreman
Deblinger (2000) reports that the maximum
distance that could be directly impacted by roads
is up to 300m (984ft).
44- 11 of Connecticut forest is within 100 ft of
roads - 29 of Connecticut forest is within 300 ft of
roads - 52 of Connecticut forest is within 600 ft of
roads
45Distance of Forest From Roads
100 feet
A nationwide study by Foreman (2000) estimates
that 22 of total land area is affected
ecologically by roads (within 100m of roads).
5400 feet
46Analysis Characterization
- Forest cover maps
- Forest block maps
- Forest fragmentation analysis
- Distance from a road analysis
- Buffer analysis
47Land Cover Within Buffers
48Land Cover Within Buffers
100 ft
200 ft
300 ft
49What we measured
Developed
Turf Grass
Other Grasses Ag.
Deciduous Forest
Coniferous Forest
Water
Forest Wetland
Non-forested Wetland
Tidal Wetland
Barren
Utility Right-of-way
5025 Basins with greatest Natural Vegetation loss
(percent) 1985-2002
51Combined Indicators of Stream Health
Stream Health Impervious Watershed Natural Veg. 100 ft riparian buffer
Excellent lt 6 gt 65
Good lt10 gt60
Fair 10-25 40-60
Poor gt25 lt40
After Goetz et al., 2003
52Visualization
53Stupid PPT Photoshop Tricks
54Economic modeling
55Web Tools
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59Build Out Analysis
60Potential New Homes
61Google Earth
Residential buildout analysis
62Are you insinuating that my talk wasnt all it
was supposed to be??!