Watershed Analysis. Using WEPP Technology For the Clear Creek Restoration Project. Bill Elliot & Ina Sue Miller Rocky Mountain Research Station

Transcription

1 Watershed Analysis Using WEPP Technology For the Clear Creek Restoration Project International ESRI User Conference July 10-14, 2017 San Diego, CA Bill Elliot & Ina Sue Miller Rocky Mountain Research Station

2 What we are presenting An overview of our approach to analyzing the watershed impacts of the propose actions on the Clear Creek Restoration Project Accessing the GeoWEPP and ArcMap files generated during the analysis Evaluating erosion on individual treatment an

3 Methods An overview FlamMap -LANDFIRE DATABASE -FireFamilyPlus GeoWEPP and Water Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP) -Rapid Response Erosion Database (RRED) LANDFIRE/ FireFamilyPlus FlamMap Burn Severity map RRED Database GeoWEPP ArcMap

4 What were we given? 8 Proposed Treatments 647 Treatment Units 5600 ha (13,800 acres) Within an 18,000-ha (44,000-acre) watershed

5 FlamMap analysis Simulated model for current fuel load conditions LANDFIRE Database and FireFamilyPlus Note: The highest intensity fires were on the ridge tops Note: Only low and unburned flame lengths Vaillant, N.M., Ager, A.A., Anderson, J. 2013

6 Forest Erosion modeling with WEPP Rapid Response Erosion Database (RRED) Treatment/burn severity raster Climate data Land cover data DEM Soil data Climate forecast FS WEPP Database Land use/management Slope FS WEPP Database Soil parameters GeoWEPP Erosion maps Adapted from Miller, ME, 2017

7 Data prep for WEPP modeling GIS data from the Rapid Response Erosion Database RRED Input includes: - Personal raster (FlamMap) - Area of choice -Selection of past soil burn severity raster ( ) FlamMap Burn Severity map RRED Database GeoWEPP ArcMap

8 Data prep for WEPP modeling Collected GIS data from the Rapid Response Erosion Database RRED - Input includes: - Personal raster (FlamMap) - Area of choice - Selection of past soil burn severity raster ( ) - Output includes: - DEM - Soils raster - Land cover raster Divide area into 40 smaller watersheds with Fire ArcToolbox (Miller, ME, 2016)

9 Erosion estimate map tractor logging Estimated erosion with GeoWEPP for: - the FlamMap intensities - the proposed treatments for every treatment unit polygon simulations Use GIS tools to extract GeoWEPP erosion within the treatment unit area

10 Predicted erosion rates Treatment Proposed Area (ha) Estimated Erosion Rate (Mg/ha) Wildfire under Current Conditions Wildfire following fuel treatments Undisturbed Forest Pre-commercial Thin, Tractor Pre-commercial Thin, Skyline Regeneration, Tractor Regeneration, Skyline Improvement, Tractor Improvement, Skyline Prescribed Fire, Broadcast Burn Prescribed Fire, Jackpot Burn

11 Overall watershed summary Source Frequency of Disturbance (years) Year of Disturbance (Mg/km 2 ) Average Annual (Mg/km 2 ) Forest Surface Erosion 1-7 Landslides Wildfire on 44,000 acres every 80 years Treatment of 10,000 acres once every 20 years

12 Things to consider -Buffering is not available in GeoWEPP -Channel algorithms need improvement in WEPP routines -WEPP does not model landslides or debris flows. Results can be used to: -Produce more detailed maps -Adjust treatment scenarios -Enhance analysis of individual treatment units

13 LANDFIRE DATABASE - Questions? FireFamilyPlus - FlamMap - ArcFuels - Rapid Response Erosion Database (RRED) - GeoWEPP - Water Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP) This project was supported by: Nez-Perce National Forest NASA Applied Sciences Program for Wildfires Grant #NNX12AQ89G