Many thanks to Mindi Sheer at NOAA, now in North Carolina, for her contribution to this project. Her assistance was a key contribution to make this effort possible. Thanks, Mindi!!!
As stated on ONRC’s main page, TerrainWorks, the architects of NetMap, the software we have been using the last four years, has issued this advisory relating to an overestimate of high IP scores. As a consequence, all maps relating to earlier IP modeling work have been removed. Please note however that all the documentation and references have been retained and are still available at the sidebar to the left. Below is a summary of the sidebar links.
- Outer Coast IP Map Portal
Phase II Models
This sidebar item links to the actual Phase II models for use in TerrainWorks NetMap addin for ArcGIS.
In 2012 and 2013, ONRC had partnered with Wild Salmon Center to implement IP modeling for the three species in four basins* of varying sizes:
- Bear River (a single HUC12* unit)
- Hoh River Basin, containing 7 HUC12* units
- Queets River Basin, containing 14 HUC12* units
- Quillayute River Basin, containing 19 HUC12* units
Work on developing viable IP models for the Outer Washington Coast (OWC) has involved several steps. Phase I, which involved IP modeling using default parameters supplied with NetMap watershed modeling software, was completed. Phase I NetMap models were implemented in the above basins for Chinook, Coho, and Steelhead. Following the compilation of participant responses at the IP Review Workshop, new models were constructed in consultation with Mindi Sheer at NOAA.
The WSC | ONRC 2012 models are a product of earlier IP modeling efforts and subsequent review from fish biologists, local experts, and other stakeholders.
IP Review Results / Documents
This sidebar item links to the results and documents relating to the IP Peer Review Workshop held on October 31, 2012
Following the implementation of Phase I, a workshop to gather OWC experts in fish biology, hydrology, GIS, and other fields was organized and took place on October 31, 2012. Workshop information, packets, and presentations are available here.
The purpose of the workshop was to open a dialogue across the various disciplines to accomplish these goals:
- Introduce the concept of IP modeling as a habitat potential model
- Introduce the NetMap software and how it is used
- Determine which parameters are important for OWC salmonids
- Determine the scope of the models and the species to be modeled
- Review Phase I work and refine the IP models used
Addressing the first two goals, a primer on just what Habitat Intrinsic Potential modeling is and how it is done in NetMap is provided in this presentation.
Following introductions and the presentation above, participants were divided into two groups, a Map Review Group and Habitat Suitability Values Group. Each group received worksheets and questionnaires which were used to collate responses and to guide discussions of the last three goals.
An important disussion took place regarding binning and symbolization. Binning refers to the classification of ranges of IP scores into categories, called “bins” and is a method of catagorization for use in symbolizing habitat quality on a map. During Phase I mapping of IP scores, a six bin scheme was used as no viable relationship existed between IP scores and what is on the ground along the Outer Washington Coast in terms of habitat quality.
Workshop discussions lead to a consensus on two important points:
- Zero IP values should be separated out from nonzero IP values
- A “High” IP score has different implications for different regions
Much more extensive coverage of these discussions available here.
Phase I Models
This sidebar item links to the actual Phase I models for use in TerrainWorks NetMap addin for ArcGIS.
The Habitat Intrinsic Potential Modeling project is a mature, in-process Olympic Peninsula wide effort.
Two reports with extensive information on the work done prior to 2015 were generated. The first, the “Phase I Report June 2012” sidebar item links to the documents that describe the work done prior to the IP Peer Review Workshop, October 31, 2012 which was attended by more than 30 particpants. The phase II models and mapping efforts following this workshop are detailed in the documents point to by the “Phase II Report February 2013” sidebar item.
These two reports, together with the information and documents provided above, provide a wealth of data and metadata relating to the current effort just completed.
WRIA 19 has been added to the previously modeled WRIAs* on the Outer Washington Coast expanding the modeling area to the entire Olympic Peninsula not including Puget Sound waters under study elsewhere:
- WRIA 19 (Crescent – Hoko)
- WRIA 20 (Soleduc)
- WRIA 21 (Queets – Quillayute)
- WRIA 22 (Grays Harbor)
- WRIA 23 (Upper Chehalis)
- WRIA 24 (Willapa Bay) — Coming Soon
*Basins are equivalent to watersheds, Level 6, or 6th Field Hydrologic Units; the NRCS HUC12 units are equivalent to subwatershed, Level 7, or 7th Field Hydrologic Units. WRIAs, or Water Resource Inventory Areas, can be considered approximately a Level 5, or 5th Field Hydrologic unit.
As a mature project, the focus has narrowed to three salmonid species: Chinook, Coho, and Steelhead. There are seven models, three provided by default with TerrainWorks’ NetMap software, and four provided by ONRC and WSC.