eco-logical gis
DESCRIPTION
The development and use of the Eco-Logical GIS for the 8-county Houston-Galveston area.TRANSCRIPT
Eco-Logical GISThe development and use of the Eco-Logical GIS for
the 8-county Houston-Galveston area
October 27, 2010
Bill Bass, GISP
Houston-Galveston Area Council
Socio-Economic Modeling
Overview
What is Eco-Logical?
Our region
Eco-Logical Stakeholders
Eco-Logical Objectives
Eco-Logical GIS Development
Regional Eco-Logical Statistics
Using the Eco-Logical GIS
What is Eco-Logical?
Stems from a national effort by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to integrate infrastructure and eco-system planning
H-GAC was 1 of 15 agency to receive a grant
Overall aim is to help advance FHWA’s Eco-Logical goals through local and regional pilot projects
Goals
ConservationConnectivityPredictabilityTransparency
6th Largest Metro Area in U.S.
Forecasted to have 9.5 Million people by 2040
Variety of valuable eco-systems
• Tidal Wetlands
• Coastal Prairies
• Forests
• Waterways
Eco-System Benefits
• Mitigate flooding
• Improve air & water quality
• Wildlife habitat
• Tourism & recreation
Our Region
Eco-Logical Stakeholders
Eco-Logical Advisory Committee (EAC)
• Multi-disciplinary committee
• Development of metrics and eco-types
• Guided development of a web-based GIS
EAC included…
Galveston Bay Estuary Program Houston-Galveston Area Council
Harris County Flood Control District Texas Forest Service
Texas Parks & Wildlife Department Katie Prairie Conservancy
US Fish & Wildlife Service Legacy Land Trust
Houston Advanced Research Center Texas A&M Galveston
Texas Sea Grant The Park People
The Trust for Public Land The Nature Conservancy
Eco-Logical Objectives
Identify top priority areas for conservation
Develop a metrics system to prioritize environmental resources
Establish measures by which potential transportation projects may be evaluated
• Early conflict identification
• Regional analysis
Develop a Regional Decision Support System
• Free GIS based application
• Interactive and web-based (no software necessary)
• Not just an online map, but also analytics
Eco-Logical GIS Development
Development of metrics and GIS data for measuring the intrinsic value of an ecotype
Eco-Logical GDB• Ecotype polygon features• Ecotype classifications• Calculated metrics for each feature• Un-weighted score for each feature
GIS/SASMetrics Model
EcotypeMetrics
Eco-Logical GDB
Eco-LogicalAdvisory
Committee
SizeShapeQuality
Adjacency
Regional Scarcity
Threatened Species
IsolationDiversity
Watershed Scarcity
Metrics
Coastal PrairieUpland ForestBottomland ForestTidal Wetlands
Ecotype Features
Eco-Logical GIS Development
Definition of metrics and calculation
• Size: Area occupied
• Shape: Measure of compactness
• Quality: Beneficial properties of an ecotype feature
• Regional Scarcity: Rarity within the region
• Watershed Scarcity: Rarity within the watershed
• Threatened Species: Presence of threatened species
• Adjacency: Bordering other ecotype features
• Isolation: Degree that an ecotype is separated
• Diversity: Number of different ecotypes within 1 mile
Scores for each metric were computed on a scale of 0-100 for each ecotype feature
Eco-Logical GIS Development
Ecotype Features & Classification
Imagery, land cover, and other environmental resource data were used to identify features and classify levels of quality
Generally focused on areas 100 acres or more in size
Ecotypes are not mutually exclusive (e.g. Forest with wetland) Classified based on the greatest coverage for an area
Coastal Prairie
Coastal Prairie 1
Coastal Prairie 2
Coastal Prairie 3
Upland Forest
Upland Forest 1
Upland Forest 2
Upland Forest 3
Bottomland Forest
Bottomland Forest 1
Bottomland Forest 2
Bottomland Forest 3
1 = Highest Quality2 = Intermediate Quality3 = Lowest Quality*All tidal wetlands considered high quality
Tidal Wetlands Tidal Wetlands*
Regional Eco-Logical Statistics
399,286
465,994
222,065
40,179
1,127,524
-35%
-46%
-55%
-74%
-47%
*Change based on 2035 Regional Growth Land Use Forecast
Ecotype N 2008 2035* % Chg*
Acres
Coastal Prairie
Bottomland Forest
Upland Forest
Tidal Wetlands
459
345
276
142
1,222Total
613,298
855,530
492,468
153,054
2,114,350
Using the Eco-Logical GIS
Using data in the Eco-Logical database, developed a web-based interactive GIS
Key Capabilities
• Layers accessible through multiple user interfaces
• Models accessible through multiple user interfaces
• Models can be integrated with other models
• Models and metrics are table driven, thus making updates to the database efficientz
ArcGISServer
Eco-Logical Layers
Internet
ArcGISDesktop
Browser(Flex API)
3rd Party Apps
ESRI Base Maps
GDBAnalytical Models
Un-weighted
WeightediPhone/
IPad
ESRI
Using the Eco-Logical GIS
Eco-Logical Homepage http://eco-logical.h-gac.com
Using the Eco-Logical GIS
Browser-Based Flex InterfaceMP4 Format
WMV Format
ArcGIS Desktop InterfaceMP4 Format
WMV Format
Additional Resources
GIS Applications & Data
http://www.h-gac.com/go/cegis
ArcGIS.com
H-GAC Community & Environmental Planning GIS
