Susquehanna Basin Climate Change Resiliency GIS Toolkit

Our Climate Change modeling team developed a series of ESRI shapefiles identifying potential resiliency-oriented Best Management Practice locations across the watershed.   Target BMPs may add flood storage, prevent erosion and reduce in-stream temperatures all important aspects of improving the resiliency of our landscape. We prioritized BMP locations based on landscape position to maximize their efficacy for assisting farms with climate adaptation.  For instance, larger areas in headwater positions are generally favored over smaller downstream sites. Similarly, locations closer to farms, are prioritized over those farther away. We utilized peer-reviewed literature to assign general efficiencies for different types of BMPs.

Best Management Practices include wetland restoration, wetland protection targets, riparian buffer restoration targets.  Upland and wetland conditions, steep-slope reforestation zones and pond construction site id are additional data layers identified in the toolkit. The base-resolution of data varies somewhat between BMPs.  Wetland restoration target resolution is estimated at 10m, and other layers are generally at 30m resolution. As such, potential zones for BMP implementation are approximate, and may need to fit around local on the ground conditions.

Download Resources:

Stand alone Susquehanna Basin Climate Change Resiliency GIS Toolkit: arcGIS map package 294 Mb
Report summarizing project: Climate change resiliency project Final Report 2.8 Mb

Map package data screen shots:

USC Climate Resiliency Tool Screen Shot

Climate Change Model Output screen shot

Frequently Asked Questions

We incorporated available GIS layers describing terrain, soils, slope, wetlands and landcover. Riparian buffer gaps were identified from the 2011 NLCD dataset. Steep slope areas came from a 10m resolution elevation file and cross-referenced with unvegetated areas in the 2011 NLCD dataset. Potential wetland restoration and pond creation areas were modeled from GIS variables.

The tool is not a replacement for sound on-site assessments. Generally speaking, BMPs may be installed within the zones identified – but may not, for a variety of reasons, span the entire areas identified. It is the role of the planner and farmer to work together to identify projects that best fit needs.

We restricted BMP identification in the tool to practices that could be identified remotely using GIS. We encourage technicians to explore other soil management practices and opportunities with farms as appropriate.

Given that the tool spans the entire NY portion of the Susquehanna River Basin, the tool infers farm location based on landcover type in the 2011 National Land Cover Dataset (NLCD). Because BMPs were identified from remotely sensed data, there may be situations where suitable locations are not identified in the tool. We encourage natural resource managers using the tool to consider appropriate BMPs even in locations not identified by the tool.

The tool is intended to aid Soil and Water Conservation Districts in prioritizing work areas.  Specifically, areas with high densities of farms that are in need of best management practices that together may have an above average impact on improving natural resource resiliency to climate change. Headwater areas are emphasized in the tool to provide down-stream flood reduction benefits. Moreover the tool is intended to allow district staff to quickly scan for areas where efforts can be focused – i.e., it identifies hotspots of areas in need of BMPs. Such a focus can potentially reduce equipment mobilization costs (e.g., fence post pounder) by identifying a suite of projects in close proximity to one another. In general this tool’s strength will be as a general screening tool intended to assist districts with quickly identifying potential work areas.

Whenever using remotely sensed data – recognize that the tool is intended to provide guidance, not be a replacement for best professional judgement. GIS-based tools are generally intended to complement local on the ground knowledge. The tool does have some resolution limitations, and more detailed on-site planning will likely be required to deliver many of the projects that may ultimately take shape.

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