Spatial Analysis | Water and Watersheds (W&W) Program - USDA Forest Service Science

Research

SPATIAL ANALYSIS

Three disciplines support spatial analysis research: cartography is primarily focused on the design and production of maps, but is more broadly concerned with the effective communication of qualitative and quantitative geographic data; a geographic information systems (GIS) enables us to visualize, question, analyze, interpret, and understand data to reveal relationships, patterns, and spatial trends; and, remote sensing is the science of obtaining information about objects or areas from a distance, typically from aircraft or satellites and runs the gamut of sensors from traditional film-based aerial photography, to digital aerial photos, to satellite multi-spectral scanners and radar, to emerging technologies such as hyperspectral scanners and LiDAR.

FEATURED RESEARCH

The Bull Trout eDNA The bull trout is an ESA-listed species with a historical range that encompasses many waters across the Northwest. Though once abundant, bull trout have declined in many locations and are at risk from a changing climate, nonnative species, and habitat degradation. Informed conservation planning relies on sound and precise information about the distribution of bull trout in thousands of streams, but gathering this information is a daunting and expensive task. To overcome this problem, we have coupled 1) a range-wide, spatially precise model that predicts the location of natal habitats of bull trout with 2) a sampling template for every 8-digit hydrologic unit in the historical range of bull trout, based on the probability of detecting bull trout presence using environmental DNA (eDNA) sampling.

The Aquatic eDNAtlas Project provides information about: 1) the science behind eDNA sampling, 2) the recommended field protocol for eDNA sampling and the equipment loan program administered by the NGC, 3) a systematically-spaced sampling grid for all flowing waters of the U.S. in a downloadable format that includes unique database identifiers and geographic coordinates for all sampling sites, and 4) the results of eDNA sampling at those sites where project partners have agreed to share data.

The National forest contributions to streamflow modeling work illustrates the importance of water yield from National Forest System land to water quantity and quality through visual and textual presentations of each forest’s contributions to regional streamflow.

The National Stream Internet pages contain shapefiles of the NSI stream hydrography network and are available for download by NHDPlus version 2 production units; as are shapefiles of prediction points that can be used to make predictions at unsampled locations and map the results of SSN analyses.

The NorWeST webpage hosts stream temperature data and geospatial map outputs from a regional temperature model for the Northwest U.S.

The Climate Shield Cold-Water Refuge Streams Digital Maps & ArcGIS Shapefiles hosts High-resolution NorWeST temperature scenarios are used to highlight climate refugia for preserving native trout populations.

The Geomorphic Road Analysis and Inventory Package (GRAIP) is designed to help land managers learn about the impacts of road systems on erosion and sediment delivery to streams.

The Stream Temperature Monitoring and Modeling interactive maps provide spatial index to nearly 3,200 sites on streams and rivers in the U.S. and Canada where full year stream temperatures are currently being monitored by numerous agencies.

Spatial Stream Network (SSN) for streams provide a new set of analytical tools that can be used to improve predictions of physical, chemical, and biological characteristics on stream networks. These models are unique because they account for patterns of spatial autocorrelation among locations based on both Euclidean and in-stream distances. Includes GIS tools and data.

The Valley Confinement Algorithm (VCA) is a GIS based program that uses NHDPlus data to delineate unconfined valley bottoms. This webpage provides access to the VCA ArcGIS Toolbox script and documentation describing the program.

WEPP Publication: Geospatial application of the Water Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP) Model

SCIENTISTS

Complex issues arise in spatial analysis, many of which are neither clearly defined nor completely resolved, but form the basis for ongoing research. At the RMRS Water and Watersheds (W&W) Program, cartography, remote sensing, and GIS are used in numerous applications such as modeling sediment yield from roads, estimating soil erosion rates, predicting stream temperatures, and mapping aquatic habitat. W&W scientists actively involved in this research include: