RC Production-Grade, Network-Scale Tools

Welcome to the documentation for the Riverscape Consortium’s own production-grade family of network-scale riverscape models. These are riverscapes-compliant tools, which have been refactored to be capable of running in the cloud over regional, state-wide and/or nation-wide extents, while still resolving predictions of what is happening in individual reaches (i.e. 100 m to 500 m length scales) of riverscape.

Unlike some of our operational-grade and professional-grade GIS tools, which “users” run the models themselves in desktop GIS, these tools are run centrally in the cloud and their outputs are consumed by users through RAVE in the web browser or through desktop GIS. Users can access tool outputs, which our packaged as riverscapes projects in our data warehouse .

Production-Grade Network-Scale RC Tool Documentation:

Riverscapes Context

The Riverscapes Context tool automatically aggregates a variety of nationally available spatial datasets into a riverscapes project for a given watershed (e.g. HUC8). These data can then be used for contextual purposes, mapping, or as input data in other tools.

Channel Area

The Channel Area tool generates polygons representing the active channel network within a watershed.

TauDEM

The TauDEM is a suite of tools for topographic analysis using DEMs.

VBET

The Valley Bottom Extraction Tool uses a DEM and a channel area network to estimate the valley bottom extents (area that could plausibly flood in contemporary natural flow regime) thereby defining the riverscape network.

BRAT

The Beaver Restoration Assessment Tool combines a model estimating the capacity of a riverscape to support dam building activity with analysis of potential anthropogenic conflicts to create a tool that can be used to inform where LTPBRrestoration using beaver can be targeted.

Anthropogenic Context

The Anthropogenic Context Tool adds attributes to stream network reaches and to points along the riverscape (valley bottom) center line that help to contextualize potential anthropogenic impacts to the riverscape. These attributes are used in portions of the BRAT and RCAT models

Tools Pending RS Compliance & Production Grade Status

These tools are undergoing refactoring to Production-Grade status.

• RVD: Riparian Vegetation Departure uses nationally available vegetation classification datasets to estimate change in riparian vegetation cover from historic conditions within riverscapes.

Support

The RC is committed to supporting users and consumers of these tool outputs. We encourage questions regarding tools and their use through our online support forum here:

Note that a free GitHub account is required to post to the discussion board but you can browse without an account.

As of December 2021, documentation has only just begun and will be actively updated through winter 2022.