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THE SAN PEDRO RIVER SPATIAL DATA ARCHIVE, A DATABASE BROWSER FOR COMMUNITY-BASED ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
Citation:
Kepner, W G., D T. Heggem, R. P. Czaja, E. J. Evanson, AND C M. Edmonds. THE SAN PEDRO RIVER SPATIAL DATA ARCHIVE, A DATABASE BROWSER FOR COMMUNITY-BASED ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION. Presented at Southwest Landscape Change Workshop, Las Cruces, NM, January 20-21, 2002.
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:
It is currently possible to measure landscape change over large areas and determine trends in ecological and hydrological condition using advanced space-based technologies accompanied by geospatial data. Specifically, this process is being tested in a community-based watershed in southeast Arizona and northeast Sonora, Mexico using a system of landscape pattern measurements derived from satellite remote sensing, spatial statistics, process modeling, and geographic information systems technology. These technologies provide the basis for developing landscape composition and pattern indicators as sensitive measures of large-scale environmental change and thus may provide an effective and economical method for evaluating watershed condition related to disturbance from human and natural stresses. This project utilizes spatial data from a number of sources. The information has been modified to fit the community project area and assembled into a database browser with search functionality. We have produced all spatial data into a one-stop, easy-access product that will be useful to all others who utilize geographic information systems and could benefit from the information in regard to research, natural resource management, human-use planning, and policy development. The San Pedro Data Browser is currently available on-line via the EPA server (htip://www.epa.gov/nerlesdl/land- sci/san-pedro.htm) and distributed as CD-ROMS. The purpose of the database is to disseminate available data that could be used by the stakeholder community to address environmental issues and improve environmental decision-making.