City Trees is a premier publication focused on urban + community forestry. In each issue, you’ll learn how to best manage the trees in your community and more!
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/30662
Digging into i-Tree with Scott Maco, Urban Forester, The Davey Institute I understand that version 4 of the i-Tree software tools has recently been released. How is it different from previous versions? i-Tree has grown and matured signifi- cantly from its humble beginnings as a hodgepodge of U.S. Forest Service-based tools for assessing urban forest resources. Since its first public release in 2006, i-Tree has been con- tinuously refined to become more user-friendly, accessible, and efficient for those utilizing the tools. With the recent release of i-Tree version 4 (v4), users will find that the trend towards more refined tools has continued, but it also marks a significant change in the type of assessment tools offered. Previously, i-Tree assessments were primarily con- ducted through one of two primary applications: Streets or Eco. While these two stalwarts continue to serve the urban forestry community by providing information on ecosystem services that no other tool can, their users are primarily limited to urban forest resource mangers with the means required to collect the required field data and interpret the applications’ outputs. i-Tree v4 overcomes this limita- tion by bringing new tools and functionality that will significantly broaden the user base. At its simplest, for example, homeowners, and even school children, can now use i-Tree Design to discover the benefits of individual trees. While at the other end of the spectrum, local or regional planners can use i-Tree Hydro to assess the effects trees have on water- shed hydrology. And in the middle, city foresters who have traditionally relied on expensive satellite imagery and GIS analysis to get simple canopy cover estimates can now use i-Tree (Canopy) to get these numbers in an afternoon with minimal cost. There is much more to i-Tree v4. I invite you to continue reading for a more detailed look at the highlights, but better still would be to visit the website (www.itreetools. org) and try it out for yourself! New Applications i-Tree Design (beta) is a simple online tool that provides a platform for assessments of individual trees at the parcel level. This tool links to Google Maps and allows you to see how tree selection, tree size, and placement around your home affects energy use and other ben- 20 efits. This beta tool is the first stage of development for more sophisticated options that will be available in future versions. i-Tree Canopy offers a quick and easy online tool to produce a statistically valid estimate of land cover types (e.g., tree cover) using aerial images available in Google Maps. The data can be used by urban forest managers to estimate tree canopy cover, set canopy goals, and track successes. i-Tree Hydro (beta) is a new application designed for natural resource managers, planners, and others inter- ested in modeling the watershed-scale effects of vegeta- tion on local hydrology. It is the first vegetation-specific urban hydrology model and is designed to model the effects of changes in urban tree cover and impervious surfaces on hourly stream flows and water quality. New Functions i-Tree Vue provides users with several key enhance- ments. Users can superimpose transparent national land cover data (NLCD) maps (30m resolution) on top of Google aerial images to improve orientation and allow for evaluation of differences between the 2001 NLCD data set with more recent aerial images. In addition, Vue users are now able to make regional adjustments to NLCD canopy and impervious estimates based on recent research. Vue also features a new simple image “clipping” function to define or modify an area of inter- est from within the application. i-Tree Eco offers two particularly significant upgrades over earlier versions. First, U.S. projects that make use of standard weather and air quality data will no longer need to be sent to the U.S. Forest Service for process- ing. An automated system is now available that typi- cally completes data analysis within one day. Second, updates have been made to the air quality model, including improved leaf area index simulations, weather and air pollution data processing and interpolation, updated monetary values for reduced pollutant levels, and improved charts and tables. Dynamic pollution reports now display yearly, monthly, or hourly results. Due to these changes, users can expect more refined calculations of air pollution effects when compared with earlier versions of Eco. The Pest Evaluation and Detection (i-PED) module within the i-Tree Streets application is enhanced with advanced pest reporting and analysis functionality. In addition to pest summary and symptom reports, users City Trees