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Focusing on the big picture: urban vegetation and eco-hydrological services in U.S. cities (abstract)
Citation:
Ossola, A. AND M. Hopton. Focusing on the big picture: urban vegetation and eco-hydrological services in U.S. cities (abstract). Stormwater Drainage Conference, West Lafayette, IN, February 09, 2017.
Impact/Purpose:
We discuss principles and opportunities to enhance stormwater management using residential greenspace, as well as the larger implications for decentralized stormwater management at city-wide scale.
Description:
Trees and vegetation can be key components of urban green infrastructure and green spaces such as parks and residential yards. Large trees, characterized by broad canopies, and high leaf and stem volumes, can intercept a substantial amount of stormwater while promoting evapotranspiration and reducing stormwater runoff and pollutant loads. Urban vegetation cover, height, and volume are likely to be affected not only by local climatic characteristics, but also by complex socio-economic dynamics resulting from management practices and resident’s preferences. We examine the benefits provided by private greenspace and present preliminary findings related to the climatic and socio-economic drivers correlated with structural complexity of residential urban vegetation. We use laser (LiDAR) and multispectral remotely-sensed data collected throughout 1400+ neighborhoods and 1.2+ million residential yards across 8 US cities to carry out this analysis. We discuss principles and opportunities to enhance stormwater management using residential greenspace, as well as the larger implications for decentralized stormwater management at city-wide scale.