Wild and Scenic River (WSR) Outstandingly Remarkable Value (ORV)
Identification and Assessment using Georeferenced Videomapping
Paul Ayers Biosystems Engineering University of Tennessee
(Multiple UT and NPS cooperators)
Presentation Objectives • Use canoe and kayak-mounted above and underwater
videomapping system to acquire georeferenced river attributes for ORV mapping and monitoring
• Develop ORV and river habitat maps for WSR systems (Wekiva, Obed, Loxahatchee case studies)
• Examples of defining and quantifying ORV • Determine optimum habitat locations for native and
endangered aquatic species • Determine endangered and native fish population
distribution using georeferenced snorkel video • Virtual tour opportunities
Outstandingly Remarkable Values for Wekiva WSR
(NPS and Wekiva River System Advisory Management Committee)
• Wild – remote, primitive, solitude, lack of human
presence/detection, natural, habitat, native fish • Scenic – exemplary visual features and/or
attractions, limited negative intrusions • Recreational – access, sightseeing, campsites,
fishing, boating
Mapping Outstandingly Remarkable Values on the Wild and Scenic Wekiva River using
Georeferenced Video
Obed Wild and Scenic River (NPS)
• 45 miles (43 mile Wild) • Concerned about rare and endangered fish and
mussel species • Develop landscape-scale river habitat maps for
rare and endangered aquatic species
Geo-referenced Image Recording
DA Audio
Convertor
Audio output
(GPS output)
Audio Input
(GPS input)
Re
ar
Fro
nt
GPS
Video input
Video
Camera
Digital Video Recorder - DVR
GPS NMEA Data (ASCII)
GIS Attributes Defined
• GPS Position (sinuosity) • Thalweg Depth (rugosity) • Substrate • River Characteristic (pool, riffle, run) • Embeddedness • River Width • Streambank Bank, Vegetation and Cover
Modified Wentworth Scale Substrate Description
Bedrock Unbroken Rock Surface
Fines/Sand Particles < 0.25 cm (0.1 inch)
Small Gravel Rocks 0.25—1.0 cm (0.1—0.4 inch)
Large Gravel Rocks 1.0—10 cm (0.4—4 inch)
Cobble Rocks 10—30 cm (4—12 inch)
Small Boulder Rocks 30—60 cm (12—24 inch)
Large Boulder Rocks > 60 cm (24 inch)
Embeddedness
EPA RBP 3 50-75% surrounded by fine sediment.
EPA RBP 1 < 25% surrounded by fine sediment.
River Depth
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
1 115 229 343 457 571 685 799 913 1027 1141 1255 1369 1483 1597 1711 1825 1939 2053 2167 2281 2395 2509 2623
Distance
Dep
th (f
t)
Kayak-based Videomapping for Identification and Assessment of Wild and Scenic River ORV
(Conclusions) • Site-specific ―wild‖, ―scenic‖ and ―recreational‖
attributes can be identified, quantified and incorporated into a GIS
• Case studies at Wekiva, Obed, Loxahatchee WSR • 10-15 miles of river reach can be mapped per day • Provides virtual video access opportunities • Georeferenced video to provide historical reference
(baseline) which can be used to monitor and maintain ORV from time of designation