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AUTOMATED GEOSPATIAL WATERSHED ASSESSMENT (AGWA): A GIS-BASED HYDROLOGIC MODELING TOOL FOR LANDSCAPE ASSESSMENT AND WATERSHED MANAGEMENT
Citation:
KEPNER, W. G., D. C. GOODRICH, D. J. SEMMENS, AND M. HERNANDEZ. AUTOMATED GEOSPATIAL WATERSHED ASSESSMENT (AGWA): A GIS-BASED HYDROLOGIC MODELING TOOL FOR LANDSCAPE ASSESSMENT AND WATERSHED MANAGEMENT. Presented at EPA 2005 Science Forum, Washington, DC, May 16 - 18, 2005.
Impact/Purpose:
The primary objectives of this research are to:
Develop methodologies so that landscape indicator values generated from different sensors on different dates (but in the same areas) are comparable; differences in metric values result from landscape changes and not differences in the sensors;
Quantify relationships between landscape metrics generated from wall-to-wall spatial data and (1) specific parameters related to water resource conditions in different environmental settings across the US, including but not limited to nutrients, sediment, and benthic communities, and (2) multi-species habitat suitability;
Develop and validate multivariate models based on quantification studies;
Develop GIS/model assessment protocols and tools to characterize risk of nutrient and sediment TMDL exceedence;
Complete an initial draft (potentially web based) of a national landscape condition assessment.
This research directly supports long-term goals established in ORDs multiyear plans related to GPRA Goal 2 (Water) and GPRA Goal 4 (Healthy Communities and Ecosystems), although funding for this task comes from Goal 4. Relative to the GRPA Goal 2 multiyear plan, this research is intended to "provide tools to assess and diagnose impairment in aquatic systems and the sources of associated stressors." Relative to the Goal 4 Multiyear Plan this research is intended to (1) provide states and tribes with an ability to assess the condition of waterbodies in a scientifically defensible and representative way, while allowing for aggregation and assessment of trends at multiple scales, (2) assist Federal, State and Local managers in diagnosing the probable cause and forecasting future conditions in a scientifically defensible manner to protect and restore ecosystems, and (3) provide Federal, State and Local managers with a scientifically defensible way to assess current and future ecological conditions, and probable causes of impairments, and a way to evaluate alternative future management scenarios.
Description:
The assessment of land use and land cover is an extremely important activity for contemporary land management. A large body of current literature suggests that human land-use practice is the most important factor influencing natural resource management and environmental condition at multiple scales. During the past two decades, important advances in the integration of remote sensing, computer processing, and spatial analysis technologies have improved our ability to examine environmental change over large geographic areas, including watersheds. It is now possible to link landscape change analysis with distributed hydrologic models to evaluate the consequences of land cover change to hydrologic response. Additionally, it is also possible to forecast alternative future conditions and the consequences of choices associated with management action. An innovative GIS-user interface, the Automated Geospatial Watershed Assessment tool, has been jointly developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the USDA Agricultural Research Service to automate the parameterization and execution of the Soil Water Assessment Tool (SW AT) and KINEmatic Runoff and EROSion (KINEROS) hydrologic models. The tool is being further developed for online decision support to provide ready access to environmental decision-makers, resource managers, researchers, and user groups. The purpose of the research has not been to determine cause and effect of land cover change, rather it has been to demonstrate the usefulness of integrating remote sensing and distributed