Use of Spatial Climate Data Sets in an Optimum Species Selection System for the United States and China Matt Doggett Christopher Daly & David Hannaway Spatial Climate Analysis Service Oregon State University 13 th AMS Conference on Applied Climatology, May 2002

Overview  Problem  Solution  Implementing the solution

Problem  Optimum vegetation species selection  climate conditions  soils conditions  Geographically separated researchers  Universities nationwide  International

Problem  How is species adaptability related to environmental parameters?  Can we introduce suitable vegetation species into new regions with similar characteristics?  How do we facilitate sharing of information?  How can we put tools into the hands of the researchers?

Problem tmax tmin ppt pH salt drain

Solution – Environmental Data  Climate – PRISM  July Max Temp  Jan Min Temp  Annual Precip  Soils  Salinity  pH  Drainage

Solution – Geographic Info. System (GIS)  Analyze spatial relationships  Grid layers  Grid arithmetic  Allows researcher to manipulate the data  Refine the modeling parameters

Solution – Communication  Internet  Web browser  Web server  Internet Map Server  Provides GIS-like functionality to investigators in a familiar web-based application  Facilitates sharing of information

tmax ppt tmin pH DATA salt drain Solution – Communication Map Server Web Server SERVER Web Browser CLIENTS Web Browser Internet GIS speciesA speciesB speciesC

Internet Map Server  Public access  Read only  Private access  Password required  Dynamic modeling of species adaptations

 Features: Cities, geopolitical, rivers, roads, etc.  Raster:  Climate elements by month  Soil grids  Adaptation:  Tall Fescue, Orchardgrass, Rye grass Map Features PRISM Layers Adaptation Maps Soil Layers  Map services  Contiguous US  China  Toolbar  Zoom/Pan, Identify, select, Query, etc.

Run the Suitability Model   Expressed as a range of valid values for each adaptation classification  Well, moderate, marginal  Simple rules-based logic  Can include/exclude parameters MaxT = July Maximum Temperature MinT = January Minimum Temperature PPT = Mean Annual Precipitation pH = soil pH Salt = soil salinity Drain = soil drainage characteristic

Suitability Model

 Map updates to show regions of favorable and unfavorable adaptation based on inputs to the model.

Future  Graphics-based  Different functions  More Species types  Additional countries  More parameters in the model

Questions Matt Doggett