GEO 265 FINAL PROJECT

Salmon Restoration in the Tillamook Basin

Background

Salmon are a powerful image of the Pacific Northwest. They are in decline; the incredible runs of huge fish returning from the sea are dwindling, replaced in part by pale fish returning to artificial hatcheries. Blocked by dams, stretches of spawning grounds have been lost and, in many places, due to loss of habitat, siltation, urbanization or the vagaries of ocean conditions, they are simply gone.

Currently, there are significant efforts being undertaken to restore stream habitats to an environment favorable to the survival of native salmon. A lot of money is being spent and it is important that the money be allocated in ways that will produce the most "bang for the buck".

This project will take you through several types of simple spatial analysis. You will be answering questions of the sort asked by resource managers, fishermen, farmers and citizens throughout the Northwest.

Photograph of a part of the Tillamook Bay Basin

The Data:

Part 1

The data for these exercises will come from the Tillamook Bay National Estuary Program. These data are available from the Tillamook county website, the data are stored at http://gisweb.co.tillamook.or.us/Current/Exports/.

Metadata for the data sets can be found at gisweb.co.tillamook.or.us/download/metadata/METADATA/.

Useful background of GIS in the Tillamook Bay basin area can be accessed from: http://gisweb.co.tillamook.or.us/

Additional background on the salmon species we are considering can be found at

Washington Fish & Wildlife

Data you will need for this project are:

Coho (a map of streams which coho salmon Oncorhynchus kisutch are known to use)

Chum (a map of streams which chum salmon Oncorhynchus keta are known to use)

Tbasins (the watersheds for each of the river systems that drain into Tillamook Bay)

Owner (land ownership in the Tillamook Bay basin)

Ms92clam (a classified Landsat MSS image, from which we will create a classification of land cover)

You may also want to download:

Fematveg (vegetation map created as part of a statewide vegetation mapping project)

Lroads (a complete coverage of roads in the study area)

Lstreams (complete stream coverage for the study area)

Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) from gisweb.co.tillamook.or.us/download/images/dem-sp/

The data on this site are compressed (zipped) ArcInfo export files. In order to make them useable you will have to BOTH uncompress (unzip) them and IMPORT the file into a form that ArcGIS will recognize.á When the files are uncompressed (unzipped) you will have a group of files with an .e00 extension. (e.g. coho.e00) these are ArcInfo export files. ArcInfo is famous for a complex file structure and unless the export command is used files can easily be lost and the whole coverage becomes corrupt. [Coverage is ArcInfo terminology, similar to shape files] To make these files visible to ArcGIS you must use the Import to Coverage utility in ArcToolbox. The icon for the Import to Coverage utility is found under the Start\Programs\ArcGIS\ArcToolbox\Conversion Tools\Import to Coverage. You will be using the Import from Interchange File command to import the export files into a coverage that can be used in ArcMap.

Task: Use the Import from Interchange File tool to import the coverages to your working directory.

When you have the coverages imported, open ArcCatalog and look at the data sets. You will see both the map symbol for shape files and a map and file folder symbol that indicates several types of coverage files are available. To see what is available in an ArcInfo coverage in ArcCatalog, click on the icon for that specific coverage while clicking on the Contents, Preview, and Metadata tabs to observe the information available.You will need to decide which of these coverages you will need in your analysis.Load the data into your new map document in ArcMap.

Task: Using the Tillamook County GIS web site at http://gisweb.co.tillamook.or.us/ as well as other resources online, answer the following questions regarding the data to be used in this study.

1. In what projection are the data sets? Determine all the parameters of this particular projection and include these in your writeup.

2. Access the metadata for each of the data files you will be working with. This may take some investigative work. Include the following information in your writeup:

a. Who created it and when was the data created?

b. What was the original scale of the data?

c. Discuss the various aspects of the data that may be of concern when using the data in this analysis, especially in terms of currency, data completeness, spatial resolution and spatial accuracy.

3. In ArcMap, examine the data carefully. Are any problems with the data? You will need to decide how you will deal with these problems. Document your decisions regarding these problems in your write-up. HINT: Note the attribute information for each data set and which attribute information is important for the project because you will need it later on!

Spatial Analysis:

Part 2. Before we can make good decisions regarding the distribution of salmon recovery money we need to answer some simple questions, such as how many miles of habitat streams do we have in each river basin. As the process will be the same for all basins, please select a single basin to evaluate (e.g. the Trask River, Wilson River, Tillamook River, Kilchis River or Miami River basins). Create a new shape file of your selected river basin. Use this shape file to clip all data to your selected river basin (chum, coho, owner, etc.).

Task: Use the coho and chum files within your selected basin. For each species, how many linear units (kilometers or miles) of spawning streams are found in the river basin? What other types of stream use information are available? (Include this in your writeup).

Tools that may be useful for this task:

Select by Attributes

Select by Location

Selection Statistics

Layer Definition Query

Create a new shapefile from a selected set (Data>Export command)

Greoprocessing Wizard (under Tools menu) > Clip and Dissolve commands

Table queries (under the Options button on the table)

Symbolize based on Categories

Part 3. In order to evaluate the effectiveness and costs of mitigation programs it is necessary to determine how much of the land along the streams are in public versus private lands.Using these data create a new shape file with which we can extract other data about the landscape. We need to buffer the streams for each species within your selected river basin. The buffer zone will be 150 feet, the immediate zone of influence along the stream.

Task: Identify the percentage of public and private ownership along the habitat streams within the buffer zone (w/in 150 feet) for each species. What might be the reason for choosing a 150 foot buffer strip? What other factors may influence the size of the buffer? (Include this in your writeup).

Tools that may be useful for this task:

Buffer Wizard (under the Tools menu)

Geoprocessing Wizard > Clip and Dissolve commands

Selection Statistics

Field Summary (within attribute table)

Creating charts from tabular data (Options button on attribute table)

Symbolize based on Categories

Part 4. Another very important factor we need to consider in this project is the type of streamside vegetation. Unfortunately the existing vegetation maps are unacceptable for this (examine the fematveg map if you wish to confirm this). We will use a simple classified landsat image (ms92clam.gis) to create our own vegetation map of the Tillamook basin. These operations will help you understand the relationship between image, raster (grid) and polygon data.

Tasks: You must first use the classified Landsat image (ms92clam.gis) to create a landcover/vegation map for the Tillamook Bay basin.The image you are using has been clustered into a very simple 5-class image. See the metadata for this image at gisweb.co.tillamook.or.us/download/metadata/METADATA/MS92CLAM.HTM. Additional information on Landsat images can be found at observe.arc.nasa.gov/nasa/gallery/landsatapp. You cannot do anything to this image. You must first convert it to a grid (Hint: In ArcCatalog, right click on the ms92clam.gis icon and choose Export> Raster to Different Format and in the next window make sure ESRI GRID is selected as file type). Your first task is to identify the type of landcover for each image class. You might find the Fematveg and Lroads useful in understanding the classes on the image as well. Aerial photographs from the vicinity of Tillamook Bay basin are available on sci-geo in \Data\Tillamoook\Tillamook Photos and Tillamook_DOQs. These may be useful in helping to learn more about the landscape of your study area.

Note again: When landcover classes for the image have been determined, you must convert the image to a grid for analysis.

Suggested landcover categories:

Grass/Shrub Lands
Conifer Forest
Hardwood Forest
Water
Development and Other

There are several options for spatial analysis using grid and polygon coverage. Your buffer polygons (created in the previous step) can be used directly with a grid by using an additional extension or script. Search the ESRI website for a script or extension that will allow you to clip a grid with a polygon (Hint: Go to http://arcscripts.esri.com/ and type in Multi-Bands Raster Clipper v1.0. Read about this tool to understand its functionality. Download the tool to your working directory and unzip the files. Next you must add the tool to the ArcMap interface- for help please ask the instructor.) *Alternatively, you can convert your grid into a polygon coverage or shapefile (note the change in shape from square pixels to polygons) and then use the clip function. Then make your determination of landcover areas. Note that you will need to calculate an area for each pixel within the grid to calculate the area for each landcover class.

Tools that may be useful for this task:

Adding extensions

Converting Raster to Vector with the Spatial Analyst Extension

Basic image interpretation skills

Adding/calculating fields within a table

Use the summary functions to chart the area.

Loading, compiling, and running an ArcObjects script (http://arcscripts.esri.com/)

Project Report:

In your write-up, following the guidelines provided for the final project, please summarize your findings (results). Use maps and charts to strengthen and clarify your findings.

The writing for your final project is meant to simulate the experience of writing a professional report as a GIS analyst (perhaps for a consulting firm that you will work for upon graduation)! Therefore, PLEASE:

DO NOT use the first person in your narrative
DO make sure to include page numbers!!!

You will be graded on the following:

Writing style (20%): Any style is ok as long as it is complete, readable, references cited, and figures/maps referenced. Are complete paragraphs used? A list of steps is not acceptable. Is the writing clear, can I understand what you are saying? Were all five elements (Introduction, Methods, Result, Discussion and Reference) discernable and complete?

Reporting data and results (50%): Data can be written in report or displayed with a map. Tables, charts, and other figures work well with text to describe data.

Methods should include descriptions of criteria and how GIS was used to accomplish the goals of the project. Is there evidence that clipping, buffering, classification and other analysis tools were used? How was GIS used to conduct the analysis? Can this be determined from the write up and/or from a map?
Must be at least one map (study area) showing the greater Tillamook region and the selected watershed in the context of Oregon, Pacific Northwest, or United States/North America. This map should be described or referenced in the introduction or methods (e.g., Figure 1). A locator map is essential for this kind of map to help readers understand where Tillamook and your watershed are in the world.
Results must include one or more maps showing your selected river basin. Maps that zoom in to a specific area of interest (your river basin or part of) must have a locator map showing where in the greater Tillamook region the zoomed area of interest is located. Maps that zoom in to parts of your selected basin must have a locator map of the entire basin showing where the zoomed area is located. Results must include how many linear units (kilometers or miles) of spawning streams are present in your river basin for each species. In addition, report the percent of each owner class (public and private) and report the area and/or percent of each landcover class in the immediate zone of influence for each species. Charts and tables are very useful in presenting this type of data and are easy to add to map layouts. Include maps showing landcover and ownership for each species. Make the maps large enough so that landcover and ownership can be clearly seen. If size and space is a problem on your layout, you may show a part of your selected basin (zoom in) as an example of landcover and ownership along streams.
Discussion should include the management implications (e.g., preserving private land vs. public land). Discuss implications for each species. This should not be complicated.All you know from this project is stream length, land ownership and landcover. You only need to address the ownership and landcover that exist along the streams "zone of influence".

Map(s) (30%)

Basic map elements (neat line, title, north arrow, credits, scale bar, legend)
Clear and complete titles on maps, legends, and figures.
Style and clarity - Is the area of interest the largest map? Is the layout balanced? Are map features and labels readable? Is the focus or primary subject of the map discernable?