EPA’s EnviroAtlas - geospatial data and easy-to-use tools to better understand ecosystem services, environmental stressors and impacts on human health
Citation:
Hollenhorst, T., D. Bolgrien, J. Launspach, AND S. Green. EPA’s EnviroAtlas - geospatial data and easy-to-use tools to better understand ecosystem services, environmental stressors and impacts on human health. St Louis River Summit, Duluth, MN, March 03 - 04, 2020. https://doi.org/10.23645/epacomptox.11922921
Impact/Purpose:
This work will help us understand how EPA’s EnviroAtlas data layers can be used to help understand the relationship between ecosystem health, ecosystem services, environmental stressors and human health. This is especially needed in Great Lakes Area of Concern (AOC) communities as they work to remove beneficial use impairments through remediation and restoaration efforts.
Description:
EPA’s EnviroAtlas provides a wealth of U.S. Geospatial data and easy-to-use tools to help scientists, natural resource managers, health professionals and the public better understand the relationships between ecosystem services, environmental stressors and human health.Here we will focus on how the EnviroAtlas can help Great Lakes Area of Concern (AOC) communities better understand their project areas, nearby communities and the challenges they face as they work to delist the associated beneficial use impairments in their areas. EnviroAtlas presents data for two primary extents: national and community. The national component of EnviroAtlas summarizes data for the 48 mainland U.S. States by 12-digit hydrologic codes (HUCs) or at a 30 m pixel resolution (i.e., one data point for every 30 square meters on the ground). The community component of EnviroAtlas summarizes data by census block group or at a 1 m pixel resolution, providing high resolution data that can be compared across selected communities. The EnviroAtlas Interactive Map incorporates demographic and supplemental data to better understand the context of ecosystem services within specific populations, environmental conditions or geographic areas. Supplemental data layers include ecological, watershed and political boundaries; conservation areas; EPA assessed and impaired waters and other available national datasets. Community data include 1-meter land cover data (i.e., one data point for every one square meter on the ground). The data are organized into 20 topic areas and further linked to 7 ecosystem service benefit categories. Topic areas include engagement with the outdoors, near-road environments, pollutant reduction, and health and economic outcomes. Using U.S. Census Bureau data and spatial boundaries, the community component data layers help address the distribution of ecosystem services to specific sectors of the population allowing users to see potential disparities, prioritize future projects and address unmet needs. The EnviroAtlas also includes an interactive Eco-Health Relationship Browser that helps the user explore the linkages between ecosystems, the services they provide and their impact on human health and wellbeing. The browser is based on over 700 journal articles and includes links to the supporting literature.
URLs/Downloads:
DOI: EPA’s EnviroAtlas - geospatial data and easy-to-use tools to better understand ecosystem services, environmental stressors and impacts on human health