70 likes | 93 Views
iTree-Hydro is a stand-alone application for urban vegetation effects modeling on stream flow and water quality in watersheds. It helps quantify impacts on local hydrology for management decisions using iTree v4.0 platform. Easy-to-use, gives hourly changes in flow/quality, requires GIS, weather data, and stream gauge info.
E N D
iTree-Hydro (Beta Version) Hydro is a stand alone application designed to simulate the effects of changes in tree and impervious cover characteristics within a defined watershed on stream flow and water quality. It was designed specifically to handle urban vegetation effects so urban natural resource managers and urban planners can quantify the impacts of changes in tree and impervious cover on local hydrology to aid in management and planning decisions. iTree v4.0 is the current platform.
Easy to use • Can be used on small plots • Gives hourly and total changes in stream flow and water quality • Can quantify the effects of urban vegetation on runoff. • Can determine how urban forestry can affect water quality • Works with other iTree programs to provide input. • Use iTree Vue or iTree Canopy to determine cover. This can be complex or simple and done by lightly trained people.
Requires GIS (USGS Seamless, Spatial Analyst Extension for ArcGIS) DEM of your watershed USGS stream gauge data (online source) Weather information (online source) Google Earth Adobe Reader 9.0 Microsoft Data Access Component 2.8 or higher Microsoft Excel Windows XP Service Pack 2 or higher
The easiest method for visualizing stream gauge stations and their associated watersheds is Google Earth. Begin by downloading the two files necessary: • 1 At the EPA’s Waters website (http://www.epa.gov/waters/tools/WATERSKMZ/WATERSKMZ.html), download the WATERS.KMZ file in vector format. (or whatever they now call it – Google search waterskmz) • 2 From www.itreetools.org > Resources > Archives under the Hydro section, download the KMZ file of the stream gauge stations available in Hydro: i-Tree_Hydro_Gauging Stations_2005.kmz. Once you have identified your watershed of interest and noted the stream gauge station number and stream name, your next step is to create a digital elevation model (DEM) of the watershed. The end product should be a DEM clipped to the boundaries of your watershed, projected in the proper UTM zone in meters, and converted to ASCII format. Calibrate the model against actual stream flow.
Program gives out graphs like this for rainfall on top and various scenarios on the graph. It can get messy, so try not to show everything on one page.
Outputs: Under current conditions (first run), see a graph to show how rainfall and water flow are related. Change the inputs (chance IC to vegetation) to predict changes in hydrology Gives graphs to show results of changes in watershed cover (baseflow, overland flow, etc.) Takes a little practice and there are help lines for users.
http://www.unri.org/webcasts/itree/Archived PowerPoints Workshop Schedule & Resouce LibrariesClick on a date for more details, including log-on and telephone dial-up information April 21, 2011 – 1:00 PM (Eastern)An Overview of i-Tree 4.0i-Tree Website and User Forumi-Tree Species April 28, 2011 – 1:00 PM (Eastern)i-Tree Eco, Vue, and Canopy* – *moved to May 5th session May 5, 2011 – 1:00 PM (Eastern)Canopy*, i-Tree Hydro and Design *moved from April 28th session May 12, 2011 – 1:00 PM (Eastern)i-Tree Streeets, Storm and IPEDSeries Wrap-up