land cover-based landscape assessment algorithms in the smartconservation model robert cheetham...

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Land Cover-basedLandscape Assessment

AlgorithmsIn the SmartConservation™

Model

Robert CheethamAvencia Incorporated

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Avencia Introduction

Clients: Local/State/Federal Government

Non-Profits

Academic Institutions

Topic Domains: GIS Software Development in:

— Real Estate

— Urban/Neighborhood Redevelopment

— Natural Resources

— Crime Analysis

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Presentation Objectives

How does SmartConservation™ Model use Land Cover data for calculating landscape metrics?

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What is SmartConservation?

• A method of identifying, evaluating and prioritizing landscape resources for their potential habitat health and viability.

• A weighted hierarchical model for evaluating arbitrary areas of land in Southeast Pennsylvania for their conservation value.

TM

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What is SmartConservation?A Decision Support System for assessing the ecological/conservation value of a given site:

- Model- Web-based assessment tool- Data Sets – existing + derived maps- Green Infrastructure Plan

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Some Guiding Principles

1. Score any arbitrary polygon in Piedmont region2. Generate scores on demand3. Use publicly available data (mostly)4. Generate comparable scores5. Make all assessments available to all users6. Integrate data with processes and make available

to organizations that don’t have access to analysis tools.

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Presentation

1. Overview of Model Components

2. Land Cover Adjustments

3. Land Cover Metrics

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What is Smart Conservation?

Data Methods+ Metrics

Metrics Site Assessme

nt

+Standar

d Weights

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Partner Relationships

- Manage the Project - Convene Science Forum committees - Develop methodologies - Acquire data sets

NLT

- Develop Software Components - Develop Algorithms - Collaborate w/ NLT on methodologies - Install and maintain softwareAvencia

- Assess data sets - Develop assessment methodologies - Approve methodologies and weights

Science Forum

PASDA

- Host web site and data - Primary Data Provider

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Model Weights

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Weighted Hierarchical Model<?xml version="1.0"?>

<!--Generated by Natural Lands Trust Smart Conservation Model version 1.0, Avencia Incorporated, 2001-->

<model>

<user id=""/>

<site id="26"/>

<components>

<component id="FinalScore" label="Final Score" weight="1" score="4.32248001008288" display="true">

<component id="Mammals" label="Mammals" weight="15" score="4.39732593215804" display="true">

<component id="MPotentialHabitatSize" label="Potential Habitat Size" weight="17" score="10" display="true"/>

<component id="MPotentialHabitatShape" label="Potential Habitat Shape" weight="13" score="0.587051895130942" display="true"/>

<component id="MSpecialHabitat" label="Special Habitat" weight="13" score="7" display="true"/>

<component id="MLandscapeMatrix" label="Landscape Matrix" weight="23.5" score="0" display="true"/>

<component id="MInterestLevel" label="Interest Level" weight="10" score="7" display="true"/>

<component id="MPotentialSpeciesRichness" label="Potential Species Richness" weight="13.5" score="4.30216674804687" display="true"/>

<component id="MPotentialConservationValue" label="Potential Conservation Value" weight="10" score="4.30216674804687" display="true"/>

</component>

<component id="Plants" label="Plants" weight="20" score="6.70319445153518" display="true">

<component id="PNonDisturbance" label="Non-disturbance" weight="17.2" score="10" display="true">

<component id="PNDHuman" label="Human" weight="33.3" score="10" display="true"/>

<component id="PNDInvasivePlant" label="Invasive Plant" weight="33.3" score="10" display="true"/>

<component id="PNDDeer" label="Deer" weight="33.3" score="10" display="true"/>

</component>

<component id="PCommunityDiversity" label="Community Diversity" weight="10.3" score="5" display="true"/>

<component id="PPotentialHabitatSize" label="Potential Habitat Size" weight="12.1" score="10" display="true"/>

<component id="PPotentialHabitatShape" label="Potential Habitat Shape" weight="3.5" score="0.587186612676846" display="true"/>

<component id="PLandscapeMatrix" label="Landscape Matrix" weight="8.6" score="0" display="true"/>

</component>

<component id="Birds" label="Birds" weight="15" score="4.65108337402344" display="true">

<component id="BLandscapeMatrix" label="Landscape Matrix" weight="25" score="0" display="true"/>

<component id="BPotentialHabitatSize" label="Potential Habitat Size" weight="25" score="10" display="true"/>

<component id="BPotentialSpeciesRichness" label="Potential Species Richness" weight="25" score="4.30216674804687" display="true"/>

<component id="BPotentialConservationValue" label="Potential Conservation Value" weight="25" score="4.30216674804687" display="true"/>

</component>

<component id="Aquatics" label="Aquatics" weight="15" score="4.62908699362623" display="true">

<component id="AquRiparianCorridorCover" label="Riparian Corridor Cover" weight="10" score="6.25" display="true">

<component id="AquRCC1_2" label="1st and 2nd Order" weight="62.5" score="10" display="true"/>

<component id="AquRCC3_4_5" label="3rd, 4th and 5th Order" weight="31.25" score="0" display="true"/>

<component id="AquRCC6_" label="6th+ Order" weight="6.25" score="0" display="true"/>

</component>

<component id="AquRiparianCorridorFragmentation" label="Riparian Corridor Fragmentation" weight="10" score="6.25" display="true">

<component id="AquRCFrag1_2" label="1st and 2nd Order" weight="62.5" score="10" display="true"/>

<component id="AquRCFrag3_4_5" label="3rd, 4th and 5th Order" weight="31.25" score="0" display="true"/>

<component id="AquRCFrag6_" label="6th+ Order" weight="6.25" score="0" display="true"/>

</component>

<component id="AquWatershedLandUse" label="Watershed Land Use" weight="10" score="8.34398746490479" display="true"/>

<component id="AquCommunityHealth" label="Aquatic Community Health" weight="10" score="10" display="true"/>

<component id="AquLocationSiteWatershed" label="Location of Site in Watershed" weight="10" score="0.837754829584176" display="true"/>

<component id="AquPotentialSpeciesRichness" label="Potential Species Richness" weight="10" score="4.30216674804687" display="true"/>

<component id="AquPotentialConservationValue" label="Potential Conservation Value" weight="10" score="4.30216674804687" display="true"/>

<component id="AquWetlandInventory" label="Wetland Inventory" weight="10" score="0" display="true"/>

<component id="AquFloodplains" label="Floodplains" weight="10" score="0" display="true"/>

<component id="AquForestedWaterQuality" label="Forested Water Quality" weight="10" score="6.00479414567964" display="true"/>

</component>

<component id="ReptilesAmphibians" label="Reptiles and Amphibians" weight="10" score="4.30216674804687" display="true">

<component id="HerpPotentialSpeciesRichness" label="Potential Species Richness" weight="50" score="4.30216674804687" display="true"/>

<component id="HerpPotentialConservationValue" label="Potential Conservation Value" weight="50" score="4.30216674804687" display="true"/>

</component>

<component id="LandscapeEcology" label="Landscape Ecology" weight="10" score="5" display="true">

<component id="StewardshipLandDistance" label="Stewardship Land Distance" weight="50" score="5" display="true"/>

<component id="StewardshipLandDensity" label="Stewardship Land Density" weight="50" score="5" display="true"/>

</component>

<component id="Rarity" label="Rarity" weight="15" score="0" display="true">

<component id="RareAnimals" label="Rare Animals" weight="40" score="0" display="false">

<component id="RAOnsite" label="Rare Animal Species Onsite" weight="67" score="0" display="false"/>

<component id="RAOffsite" label="Rare Animal Species Offsite" weight="33" score="0" display="false"/>

</component>

<component id="RarePlants" label="Rare Plant Species" weight="40" score="0" display="false">

<component id="RPOnsite" label="Onsite" weight="67" score="0" display="false"/>

<component id="RPOffsite" label="Offsite" weight="33" score="0" display="false"/>

</component>

<component id="RarePlantCommunities" label="Rare Plant Communities" weight="20" score="0" display="false">

<component id="RPCOnsite" label="Onsite" weight="67" score="0" display="false"/>

<component id="RPCOffsite" label="Offsite" weight="33" score="0" display="false"/>

</component>

</component>

</component>

</components>

</model>

Plant Criteria

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Site Score

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Model Components - Mammals

Mammals 13 %

Potential Habitat Size 2 %

Potential Habitat Shape 1 %

Special Habitat 1 %

Landscape Matrix 2 %

Important Mammal Area (IMA) 2 %

Habitat Structure Health (Deer) 1 %

Potential Species Richness 2 %

Potential Conservation Value 2 %

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Model Components - Plants

Plants 25 %

Habitat Disturbance 7.5 %

Human

Invasive Plant

Deer

Community Diversity 2.5 %

Plant Community Health 10 %

Potential Habitat Size 2 %

Potential Habitat Shape 1 %

Landscape Matrix 2 %

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Model Components - Birds

Birds 13 %

Landscape Matrix 2 %

Potential Habitat Size 2 %

Important Bird Area 2 %

Interior Forest Habitat 2 %

Habitat Structure Health (Deer) 1 %

Potential Species Richness 2 %

Potential Conservation Value 2 %

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Model Components - Aquatics

Aquatics 18 %

Riparian Corridor Fragmentation 2 %

1st and 2nd Order

3rd, 4th and 5th Order

6th+ Order

Watershed Land Cover 2 %

Aquatic Community Health 2 %

Location of Site in Watershed 1 %

Potential Fish Species Richness 2 %

Potential Fish Conservation Value 2 %

NWI Wetlands 2 %

Hydric Soils 1 %

Floodplains 1 %

Forested Water Quality 2 %

Steep Slopes 1 %

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Model Components - Herps

Reptiles and Amphibians 4 %

Potential Species Richness 2 %

Potential Conservation Value 2 %

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Model Components – Land. Eco.

Landscape Ecology 8 %

Hub Distance

Hub Density

Corridor Distance

Rarity 19 %

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Model Components

Totals 100 %

Directly derived from Land Cover data 20 %

Indirectly derived from Land Cover data 27 %

No relationship to Land Cover data 53 %

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Presentation

1. Overview of Model Components

2. Land Cover Adjustments

3. Land Cover Metrics

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Using the Tool

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Land Cover Adjustments• Adjustments

can be made to the local land use in order to make the local land survey more accurate. PDF files are made available to generate maps for the site survey.

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Presentation

1. Overview of Model Components

2. Land Cover Adjustments

3. Land Cover Metrics

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Land Cover Metrics

Indirect Metrics – MRLC land cover being used as a component, but is not the main focus

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Potential Species RichnessMammals

Fish

Birds

Herps

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Potential Conservation ValueMammals

Fish

Birds

Herps

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Interior Forest Habitat

Forested areas – edge = Interior Forest

Rank based on size

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Landscape Ecology - Merged Hubs

Protected Lands

PNDI

Cons. Resource Locations

Merged Hubs

merge

Before merge

After merge

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Modified Impermeability

+Modified Impedance -= ( )Barriers Conservati

on ValueHub Proximity

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Relative Travel CostRelative Travel Cost

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Barrier

Co

st

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Preliminary Impedance

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Hub Proximity Values• Merged

protected land sites with overlapping donut buffers of 1km and 2 km and values of 50% and 10 % respectively.

Overlap region with cumulativeproximity values

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Conservation Resource Lands

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Land Cover Metrics

Direct Metrics – MRLC land cover is the primary component of the metric

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Landscape Matrix: Preprocessing

Develop Taxa-specific land cover grid

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Landscape Matrix: on-the-flyCalculate Zonal Mean on site and in buffer

(10 - Abs(SiteLCMean – 1MileLCMean)) * SiteLCMean / 10

(10 - Abs(5.625 – 5.284)) * 5.625 / 10 = 5.433

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Potential Habitat Size/Shape1. Create taxa-specific

land cover value coverages

2. Slice up with TNC land blocks

3. Remove noise

4. Convert to polygons

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Potential Habitat Size/Shape1. Look at largest contiguous, un-fragmented land cover that is good habitat for taxa group

2. Assign size score based on size thresholds

3. Assign shape score based on roundedness.

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Watershed Land CoverDevelop Aquatic Taxa-specific land cover grid

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Watershed Land Cover1. Buffer site by 2 miles

2. Using site as pour point, calculate upstream watershed

3. Clip to 2 mile buffer.

4. Calculate Zonal mean of aquatic land cover

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Riparian Corridor Fragmentation

Buffer Streams and Water body edges to 100m

Convert to GRID using Stream Order

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Riparian Corridor Fragmentation

1. Clip Land Cover to Site Boundary

2. Clip Site Land Cover to the Stream Corridor

3. Reclass using Aquatic Land Cover and site survey adjustments

4. Average the Land Cover Values

5. Calculate NeighborhoodVariety

6. Convert to a 0-10 scale and Average for corridors

7. Lather, Rinse, Repeat….

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Neighborhood Variety

5 86

3 50

1 51

5

In Out

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Neighborhood Variety

8 88

8 8 48

8 48

4 8 2

8 4 1

1 11

1 2 21

2 31

2 4 3

2 3 3

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Technology Challenges

Web-based system is being accessed by multiple users simultaneously— Limit the Number of Users— Precalculate— Limit Extent— Queue requests for asynchronous calculation to

preserve rapid feedback

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Technology Challenges

Software Licensing— Partnering with PASDA— Worked with ESRI for special licensing arrangement

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Technology Challenges

Changing Requirements – changing data, changing model— Modular— Hierarchical— Use XML— Trained users before system complete— Versioning is still tough.

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Technology Innovations

Centralized geoprocessing using ArcObjects for multiple users

Asynchronous geoprocessing queue Automatic error recovery features Dynamic ArcIMS map layer generation

— Store layer info and symbology in database— Allows us to change datasets without changing ArcIMS services

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Other Challenges

We want it to be public but...

We want to move it outside SE PA, but …

SmartConservation is explicitly interpreted data, but …

We want people to do field surveys, but …

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Still to do….

SmartConservation™ Lite – no field survey

Update MRLC – versioning

Generalize model to other ecoregions – will require re-calibration of some criteria to account for differences in ecoregions.

Develop a Generalized Spatial Metric and Model Documentation Protocol

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Acknowledgements

PASDAConservation Science Partners

PA DEPPA DCNRWilliam Penn Foundation

Delaware Valley Regional Planning CommissionPennsylvania Environmental CouncilBrandywine ConservancyESRI

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Questions

Clare Billett – Natural Lands Trust – cbillett@natlands.org

Robert Cheetham – Avencia – cheetham@avencia.com

http://cegis4.cas.psu.edu/scm/