1. Urban Tree Canopy: Assessing the Community Forest
i-Tree Vue
Urban Tree Canopy:
Assessing the Community Forest
Eric Kuehler
Technology Transfer Specialist
USDA Forest Service
i-Tree Vue is currently being Beta tested in i-Tree This workshop session will introduce you to the concepts and functionality of this application.

2. What is i-Tree Vue Tree canopy assessment application
By land cover types
Developed, wetlands, agricultural, forest, etc.
Uses freely available national cover maps
NLCD 2001
Provides ecosystem services estimates
C storage/sequestration, pollution removal
No GIS software needed
With version 3.0 came several new i-Tree applications. i-Tree Vue is currently in Beta testing as is the i-Tree Storm Hurricane adaptation. Vue is a coarse tree canopy assessment tool that allows you to quantify ecosystem services from trees for various land cover types in your community. It uses free, on-line national cover maps for land use, tree canopy, and impervious surfaces through the National Land Cover Database which brings together satellite imagery from 2001 of all of the contiguous United States.

3. What information does i-Tree Vue provide?
Percent tree canopy cover and impervious cover
Available planting space and stocking levels
Pollution removal estimates based on canopy
User-defined canopy change scenarios
Satellite imagery of canopy and impervious cover
Pre i-Tree Eco assessment
What to expect with your Eco results
To help generate support for an Eco project
i-Tree Vue can be used as a pre-i-Tree Eco assessment to help build support for the project.

4. A Vue project was done for the entire City of Savannah
A Vue project was done for the entire City of Savannah. These NLCD 2001 images show the various land cover types within the city, where the canopy and impervious surface cover is around town, and where the variable that you are interested in looking at is located. The various analysis options are located in the drop-down menu in the lower portion of the screen.

5. i-Tree Vue produces easy to read reports that can be printed to show to potential partners to show the potential that the urban forest can provide. Having GIS is not necessary to use this tool, however, if you have an odd-shaped city boundary, you will need to work with your GIS department to create your cover area images.

6. i-Tree Vue Limitations
Satellite imagery is 8 years old now
A lot of development in that time
NLCD uses 30 m2 pixel size
Reduced resolution
Tends to underestimate canopy %
Applies ES averages per canopy cover unit
Uses national and regional averages
Significant limitations at the local level
It’s still a good tool to get initial info on your community’s canopy
i-Tree Vue provides broad estimates of tree cover and some urban forest ecosystem services, but without collecting on ground data (i.e. via i-Tree Eco), these estimates can only be considered very coarse approximations and they should not be considered final or accurate estimates. The imagery is old in development time and the resolution is very coarse compared to current satellite technology. The ecosystem services information provided is based on national and regional averages that can vary greatly at the local level. However, even with its limitations, it is still a good tool to get you in the ball park regarding your urban forest and the benefits it provides.

7. 27% UTC
11% UTC
Here is a comparison of the NLCD2001 imagery and 2007, sub-meter satellite imagery in Leesburg, VA. The NLCD imagery tends to underestimate canopy cover.