Alex Freedman
Intro to GIS
12/2/11
Assignment 7: Project Flow Chart and Process Steps
The Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences is working on a program to improve
riparian buffer zones along riverbanks in Maine, especially in agricultural areas. When farmers
farm right up to the water’s edge, there is a greater risk for erosion and agricultural run-off that
can damage the watershed as a whole, and the various ecological services and economic
activities associated.
This project will examine at least one (Androscoggin River at Rumford Point) and at most
four (adding Pleasant River, Bear River, and Sunday River) different watersheds in Maine. Along
the rivers at the heart of these watersheds, I will look at the area comprised of a 100 ft buffer
zone on each side of the river. In this area, I am tasked with quantifying the types of land cover
to determine if riparian buffer zones exist. The types of groundcover that are NOT considered
to be adequate groundcover are cultivated land, pasture/hay, and grassland/herbaceous
categories.
The next part of this project is to identify the parcels that lack an adequate buffer zone
and seek out the address and owner of these parcels. In the Parcels data layers that I currently
use, there is Tax ID information, although I haven’t investigated too deeply into how accurate
or complete this information is. I expect, however, that I will need to do some research outside
the realm of GIS.
Because this is a project for an organization, I wasn’t given a specific research question,
but if I had to sum up one from the projects tasks it would be: What are the types of ground
cover that constitute the riparian zones with the various watersheds, and, using this data, does
it provide an adequate riparian buffer? Where is does not, what are the parcels with “high
potential” for reforestation?
File
Name
NLCD
MELCD
NHD
Characteristic
Source
Notes
NLCD Land
Cover
Landcover MELCD 2004
National
Hydrography
Dataset
State Organized
Town Parcel
Data
http://nationalmap.gov/viewer
s.html
http://www.maine.gov/megis/
catalog/
http://nationalmap.gov/viewer
s.html
Sub-basin 1040002
2006 data
http://www.maine.gov/megis/
catalog/
For tax information
Sub-basin 1040002
State
Unorganized
Town Parcel
Data
TIGER 2010
Streets
http://www.maine.gov/megis/
catalog/
For tax information
http://www.census.gov/cgibin/geo/shapefiles2010/main
Depending how the areas are
clipped down, may include data
for the counties:
- Androscoggin
- Cumberland
- Franklin
- Oxford
ANALYSIS STEPS:
Step 1: Prepare Data
This is all under the assumption that I have successfully downloaded all needed data
sets. The first step will be to reset the coordinate projections to assure that they are all
following Universal Transverse Mercator coordinate system, zone 19 North, using the NAD83
datum and GRS80 spheroid. All data taken from the State of Maine website is in this format,
and since much of my data is from that location, it would make sense to convert the rest.
Next, I need to take all the larger, Maine-wide data sets (MELCD, NLDC, streets, and
parcel data sets) and reduce them to the boundaries of the watershed areas (the 10400020207,
10400020202, 10400020206 and 10400020205 sub-basins) via the Clip tool.
Step 2: Asses Groundcover in Watershed area
Before analyzing specific buffer zones, I need to establish percentages and acreage of
the various land cover types. I will do this by creating two additional columns at the end of the
attribute table. From there, I will use the Field Calculator to gather the percentages and total
acreage values.
Step 3: Establish Buffer Zones
The next step will be to begin assessing the type of ground cover within the buffer zone
alongside the rivers running through the area. First, obviously, this means I need to establish
the buffer zones. I will create a 100ft buffer on the National Hydrology Dataset layer, which will
then define the boundary of the analysis. For the purpose of this section, I will also use it as a
boundary to Clip away the rest of the area.
Step 4: Assess Groundcover in Buffer Zones
From here, I will once again create new fields in the attribute table in which to calculate
the acreage and percentages of the various groundcover types of interest, not unlike the earlier
step.
Step 5: Determine Tax Parcel Data of At-Risk Zones
As the important action step of the process, once I have analyzed the ground cover in
the buffer zone, I need to identify the high potential areas: cultivated land, pasture/hay, and
grassland/herbaceous categories. I will Select by Attribute the Parcels with those groundcover
types, and then make sure to export that as a separate data set. From there, I will need to do
research beyond the scope of GIS. Using the attribute table Tax ID information, I will have to
compile a list of addresses and homeowner names for those parcels to provide the Manomet
Center in order to pursue their campaign.
PRODUCTS OF PROJECT
For the use of the organization, the primary goal of this project is to create a series of
tables. The first will have raw groundcover data, which quantifies the percentages and acreages
of the various types of groundcover within both the NLCD and MELCD datasets (since in the
sample, there does appear to be some discrepancy, probably a result of the lower resolution in
the NLCD.) The next table will have the groundcover breakdowns within the designated buffer
zone. And the final table will have the addresses and Tax IDs of the parcels with the potential to
recreate/improve buffer zones.
For the purpose of this class, I will create a series of maps that will illustrate the buffer
zones within the sub-basins, and an additional map that has changed the colors of the “High
Potential” groundcover types some something striking and the other types to the same,
contrasting color. I will also include some of the tables.
Because I don’t know how many of the 4 basins I will be able to complete (hopefully a
four, but certainly no less than two), I don’t know how much data I plan to display on my board.
I think that more than two basins might be too much information for one board.