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A FIRST APPROXIMATION OF IMPERVIOUS SURFACES ACROSS THE DANUBE RIVER BASIN USING THE CORINE LAND COVER DATABASE AND POTENTIAL RELATIONSHIPS TO FLOODING RISKS
Citation:
Jones, K B., T G. Wade, S T. Jarnagin, AND J D. Wickham. A FIRST APPROXIMATION OF IMPERVIOUS SURFACES ACROSS THE DANUBE RIVER BASIN USING THE CORINE LAND COVER DATABASE AND POTENTIAL RELATIONSHIPS TO FLOODING RISKS. Presented at NATO/CCMS Landscape Project Workshop, Kiel, Germany, November 19-24, 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:
This last year, broad geographic areas in Europe experienced significant levels of flooding causing extensive loss of human lives and property. In North America, the US Environmental Protection Agency has been using GIS and remotely sensed data to assess the distribution and extent of impervious surfaces at watershed and basin scales and the relationships between these patterns and discharge levels in streams and rivers. This paper applies the landscape assessment approach being developed by the EPA to the Danube River Basin, an area that has experienced significant recent flooding, to demonstrate how broad scale landscape analysis can shed some light on critical environmental issues common to many countries in Europe.