Hlp 2009 12 prsnttn infosessionneptunenaturalpatternemulationdssplanningtool

NEPTUNE

Natural Pattern EmulationDSS Planning Tool

Brian MaierThe Forestry Corp. December 9, 2009

What is Neptune?

A method of assessing cultural disturbances and comparing those to historic natural disturbances over a given landscape.

Features:• can assess past, current and future (planned) disturbances

• uses the same spatial analysis rules as natural disturbance assessment

• required data inputs are simple

• uses common desktop tools

Neptune Processing

Two Steps:

1. Spatial Processing

• ArcGIS version 9.2

• Arcview license

2. Analyzing the Results

• MS Access 2003

Neptune Processing …

Technology

• ArcGIS Toolbox

• Python script


Data Requirements:

1. Disturbance Data - spatial

• Cut blocks (historic and/or planned)

• Roads, seismic, well sites

• Other fires

2. Parameters for the disturbance assessment

• Start date, interval period, buffer distance

• Jurisdiction


Spatial Data Requirements: Disturbance Level:


Spatial Data Requirements: Datasets:


Spatial Data Requirements: Tenure:

Tenure addresses the concept that some disturbance types persist on the landscape for longer than others.

‘Tenure’ or ‘persistence’ is the number of years the feature is considered a disturbance feature.

For example, a primary road network may persist forever, secondary roads may persist for 30 years and cutblocks may persist for 15 years.

Spatial Data Summary:


• Data sets defined (blocks, roads, etc)• Tenure for each dataset• Disturbance features have:

– Disturbance Level– Disturbance Year

Neptune Interface

• Simple ArcTool interface allows the user to choose the datasets of interest from pull down lists, or from their file system

• Required items are identified by .

• Some basic help is attached to the side bar.

Neptune Interface

Neptune Interface

For each of the disturbance data types (blocks, roads, well sites, etc), the user selects the dataset from the pull down list or from their system drives.

For each of the disturbance data types, the tenure of those features must also be declared.

Neptune Interface

Three important Neptune run parameters:

• Reporting Interval

• Buffer Distance

• Together, the reporting interval and the buffer distance are used to create events. Disturbed patches within the “buffer distance” of each other, and within the “time interval”of each other are grouped into a single event.

• Jurisdiction

• Jurisdiction identifies which set of Natural Range of Variation (NRV) values this analysis will be compared to.

Neptune Spatial Processing

• Quality control on all data

• Calculate each features “expiry date”Expiry = Disturbance_Date + Tenure – 1

• Determines all the time slices that are necessary by examining the start date, end date, reporting interval, and earliest disturbance date of all your inputs.

Time slice = Start_Date + Report_Interval -> End_Dateand Start_Date – Report_Interval -> Earliest DisturbanceYear

• By time slice, Neptune determines which disturbance features should be included:

– Function of the disturbance date and the tenure value for that disturbance type (for example, a cutblock harvested in 1992 with a tenure of 15 years will be included in all time slices between 1992 and 2006 inclusive).

Neptune Spatial Processing …


• All the disturbance features that are in the current time slice are appended into a temporary dataset

• Events are now created by gathering disturbances together based on the buffer rule provided by the user.

• Each event is now made up of the disturbance areas that are within the same time period and are close ‘enough’ spatially to be part of the same disturbance event.


Select disturbance features in the same time slice …..

Buffer out by the selected distance …..


Merge the buffers …..


Buffer in to remove the area outside the disturbance areas …..



• Events by time slice


• Events contain the disturbed area from all the features in this time slice as well as the generated matrix remnant area.

Event 2010002

• All the event data (disturbed patches, matrix remantand island remant) for all time slices are output as a single ESRI shape file.

• This shapefile can be used for other analyses outside Neptune – for example to look at the forest types inside the matrix area by timeslice.

• Once the spatial processing is complete, the display of the landscape disturbance pattern metrics is completed in the MS Access application.


What does this tool do?

• Loads the patch and event data from the spatial processing output shape file

• Determines the Jurisdiction for NRV comparison• Classifies the Event and Patch data according to the

same rules as the NRV analysis• Create summary graphs of CRV, and NRV

comparison

Neptune Metrics Analysis

Why Access?

• relatively common desktop application

• data sets are portable

• fewer constraints than other tools such as Excel

• strong support community re: 3rd party tools




Current Range of Variation:

View metrics of landscape disturbance pattern based on the inputs provided.


Current Range of Variation compared to Natural Range of Variation:

View metrics of landscape disturbance pattern compared to the NRV metrics for the chosen jurisdiction.


• Multiple reports can be open simultaneously• Graphs are exportable to image format or cut/paste to other

documents


• Prototype summary graph (very very prototype!)• Effort to provide a quick overview of the CRV vs NRV of

various metrics


• Raw and summary data available to the planner

• Summary– Desktop tool to spatially analyze the pattern of

past and future disturbances– Calculate 10 landscape pattern metrics of based

on analyses of natural patterns of disturbance– Comparison of current pattern to natural range

of variation within specific jurisdictions

Neptune: Natural Pattern Emulation DSS Tool

NEPTUNE

Natural Pattern Emulation

DSS Planning Tool

Questions?

Brian MaierThe Forestry Corp. December 9, 2009

Documents

Hlp 2009 12 prsnttn infosessionneptunenaturalpatternemulationdssplanningtool