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Assessment of high-resolution digital imagery for UMRS vegetation mapping and software-based vegetation classification

Rohweder, J., Rogala, J. T., Johnson, B. L., Anderson, D., Clark, S., Chamberlin, F., Potter, D., and Runyon, K., 2012, Application of Wind Fetch and Wave Models for Habitat Rehabilitation and Enhancement Projects – 2012 Update. Contract report prepared for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Upper Mississippi River Restoration – Environmental Management Program. 52 p.

Abstract

Models based upon coastal engineering equations have been developed to quantify wind fetch length and several physical wave characteristics including significant height, length, peak period, maximum orbital velocity, and shear stress. These models, developed using Environmental Systems Research Institute's ArcGIS 10.x Geographic Information System platform, were used to quantify differences in proposed island construction designs for the Harper's Slough Habitat Rehabilitation and Enhancement Project in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers St. Paul District. Weighted wind fetch was calculated using land cover data supplied by the Upper Mississippi River Restoration - Environmental Management Program's (UMRR-EMP) Long Term Resource Monitoring Program (LTRMP) for each island design scenario. Figures and graphs were created to depict the results of this analysis. The difference in weighted wind fetch from existing conditions to each potential future island design was calculated. A simplistic method for calculating sediment suspension probability was also applied. This analysis involved determining the percentage of days that maximum orbital wave velocity calculated over the growing seasons of 2008-2012 exceeded a threshold value taken from the literature where fine unconsolidated sediments may become suspended. This analysis also evaluated the difference in sediment suspension probability from existing conditions to the potential island designs. Bathymetric data used in the analysis were collected from the UMRR-EMP LTRMP and wind direction and magnitude data were collected from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Climatic Data Center.

The report can be linked to: http://www.umesc.usgs.gov/management/dss/wind_fetch_wave/wind_fetch_wave_2012update/wind_wave_2012_update_070814.pdf

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