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Spatial and Temporal Patterns of Impervious Cover Relative to Watershed Stream Location
Citation:
Wickham, J. Spatial and Temporal Patterns of Impervious Cover Relative to Watershed Stream Location. US-IALE, Asheville, NC, April 04 - 07, 2016.
Impact/Purpose:
Spatial pattern of impervious cover was introduced as a new metric for the EnviroAtlas
Description:
The influence of spatial pattern on ecological processes is a guiding principle of landscape ecology. The guiding principle of spatial pattern was used for a U.S. nationwide assessment of impervious cover (IC). Spatial pattern was measured by comparing IC concentration near streams and water body shorelines to its overall amount across a watershed for three dates (2001, 2006, 2011). IC near streams increased by nearly 10,000 km between 2001 and 2011, and, across all three dates, ~27% of the ~82,250 watersheds analyzed had higher concentrations of IC near streams than across the entire watershed (i.e., a proximally distributed impervious cover spatial pattern). In addition to its use as an indicator of watershed condition, IC is now also being used to guide watershed planning and management, including reporting under the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. §1251 et seq.). The use of IC spatial patterns to inform watershed planning and management is discussed.
