1. Adam Skibbe US-EPA Ecological Modeling of the Flint Hills

2. Happy GIS Day!

3. The Project Background Research goals How that applies to the Flint Hills Long-term My work What do I do? Overview

4. Region 7 and ORD Corvallis A Collaborative Effort

5. EPA Regions

6. Initial research Hydrology modeling at H.J. Andrews LTER (Oregon) Georgia Tech Hydrology Model (TOPMODEL) Interest in applying to additional ecosystems Chesapeake Bay Background

7. Kansas City air pollution concerns Clean air = government money Pollution = less/no money Issue concerning spike in particulate matter… city questions burning in the Flint Hills How does burning in the Flint Hills impact air quality in KC? Background

8. ORD – Region 7 team up How to address this question…? Models Things to consider What is burning… ? (land cover) How much… ? (total biomass) What is in it… ? (nutrients) Contributing… ?(hydrology, climate) Background Bill Snead / Journal - World

9. Development of a Multi-Model Ecosystem Simulator Modify models to run i/o from each other Single set of input variables Modifiable Application to different ecosystems Distribute for use Future (phases 2 and 3) Links to air quality models Alternative futures Scenario based  changes over time Research Goals

10. Ecosystem Simulator Biogeochemistry (MEL) Hydrology (GTHM) Land Cover (FORCLIM) Disturbances Environmental Effects

11. Modeling Disturbances Vegetation change Climate variability Management Fire frequency Grazing intensity Pesticides Fertilizers Environmental effects Terrestrial effects Vegetation changes Productivity Carbon storage Aquatic effects Stream discharge Nutrient loads

12. The Multiple Element Limitation Model - MEL CO 2 PsPs N fix Coarse Woody Debris Vegetation Phase I SOM Phase II SOM Soil Nutrients Deposition Weathering LeachingOcclusion C Both Nutrients Courtesy of Ed Rastetter Example:

13. Tasks Regional ecosystem modeling in the Flint Hills Local ecosystem modeling in Konza Prairie Focus on the Kings Creek watershed Use for calibration of regional models Slight differences between models Mainly due to scale issues Hydrology Regional vs. local climate As it Relates

14. 3,487 ha Native tallgrass prairie 13 km S of Manhattan Owned by The Nature Conservancy / KSU Long – term ecological research (LTER) station Began 1982 Focus on burn, grazing research, etc. Konza Prairie

16. 1,637 ha Within Konza Sub-basin data collection model calibration Available Data! Kings Creek Watershed

18. The Flint Hills

19. Around 10,000 sq. miles Eastern Kansas into Northern Oklahoma Originally Bluestem Pastures, renamed for high chert content Primarily used for grazing, as land not suitable for tillage The Flint Hills

20. Data Collection (gopher) Analysis Management Collaboration at KSU Communication Web Metadata Visualization “jack of all data” Explorer “GIS Support”

21. Data Types - General Stream flow (local) Stream chemistry (local) Climate Precipitation Temperature Max, Min, Avg Solar radiation Relative humidity Soils Horizons Texture Bulk density Hydraulic conductivity Total N, C, P Boundaries FH, Konza, Watersheds Modeling units Elevation Slope, Aspect, etc. Land cover Leaf Area Index Impervious surfaces Land use Disturbances Grazing / burning Bedrock Permeability Structure

22. Flint Hills Data

23. Data Issues Identifying gaps Finding workarounds Soils example All variables not part of SSURGO Append SCD pedon data Surrogates for missing soil types Regional vs. local climate Worldclim vs. weather stations

24. Diffuse research team with varied backgrounds Math Chemistry Physics Biology Statistics Programming I can see the landscape… they cannot Communication

25. What do they need to know? How do I tell them? Maps Videos 3D KML Communication

26. Early reliance on static images / videos ArcMap, ArcScene, ArcGlobe Later expansion to use Kehole Markup Language (KML) Google Earth, ArcExplorer KML is a simple, interactive setup for end users Visualization

27. Google Earth

28. Web-site to distribute all information related to project Archive of all maps, data, metadata, presentations, etc. Always available for access by collaborator Hosted.KML files http://epa.adamskibbe.com Knowledge Distribution

29. Explorer

30. ORD Corvallis – Dr. Bob McKane Region 7 – Brenda Groskinsky A Collaborative Effort Dr. Marc Steiglitz Dr. Feifei Pan Bonnie Kwiatkowski Dr. Ed Rastetter Dr. Shawn Hutchinson Dr. John Blair Dr. Loretta Johnson Countless others

31. Thanks

32. Questions