Alberta Merged Wetland Inventory and

Relative Wetland Value Assessment Unit Wetlands by Section

Kathleen Jaques March 24, 2015

Alberta Merged Wetland Inventory Relative Wetland Value Assessment Unit Wetlands by

Section

• 2 datasets that depict Alberta wetlands differently

• Alberta Merged Wetland Inventory was used as base to create the Relative Wetland Value Assessment Unit Wetlands by Section

• AMWI = wetland polygons • RWVAU Wetlands by Section = AMWI

summarized by ATS section polygons

Alberta Merged Wetland Inventory

• Alberta Merged Wetland Inventory released by Data Distribution, Informatics Branch ESRD on September 4, 2014

• Replacement for Alberta Canadian Wetland Classification System (CWCS) Merged Wetland Inventory data that was previously released on November 6, 2013

AMWI - Data Structure • 3 components in database

– Alberta Merged Wetland Inventory Index – Alberta Merged Wetland Inventory Status – Alberta Merged Wetland Inventory

• Stored as an enterprise geodatabase and extracted for distribution but not currently downloadable

• Distributed as a zipfile with 3 feature classes within a feature dataset and includes Federal Geospatial Data Committee metadata

• Shapefiles are provided for index and status but not the data (exceeds size limit for shapefile)

• Metadata and links to view the data are available inside of GeoDiscover Alberta metadata record

AMWI - Data Structure Index

• Provincial extent minus Eastern Slopes and Wood Buffalo National Park

• Collected under a variety of initiatives from a number of different sources

• Different classification systems in source data

AMWI - Data Structure Status

• 30 Project Areas • Depicts the extent of

project areas • Contains details regarding

the imagery and classification systems in the original blocks of source data

• Easier to update if a block is replaced with newer data

AMWI - Data Structure Data

• ~ 7 million polygons • Generalized to 5 wetland

classes (marsh, fen, bog, swamp, open water)

• Project area identified for each polygon as per Status map

• Potential update of attribute table structure to match the Alberta wetland classification system when finalized

AMWI - Data Structure Metadata

• Federal Geospatial Data Committee metadata – Metadata record viewable through GeoDiscover

Alberta – Links provided inside of FGDC metadata record to

view data inside of GDA Map Viewer • Additional documents

– Brief assessment of accuracy – Terms of Use – Documentation for individual component project

areas – Original blocks of data not included

AMWI - Processing Source Data

• 4 classification systems • Boreal - Enhanced

Wetland Classification • High Resolution • Landsat – Canadian

Wetland Classification System

• SPOT – Grassland Vegetation Inventory (Stewart & Kantrud)

AMWI - Processing Geoprocessing

• Original blocks of raster data were re-classified to 4 Canadian Wetland Classification System classes (Bog, Fen, Swamp, Marsh) plus Open Water

• CWCS classification of Shallow Open Water could not be easily extracted from Open Water

• Individual blocks of raster data vectorized to minimize shifting

• Vectorized blocks clipped to boundaries as per Status map

• Clipped vectorized blocks merged

AMWI – Issues and Limitations

• Data gaps • Data resolution • Mapping detail • Classification detail • Data Accuracy • Pixellation • Classification bias • Currency

AMWI – Issues and Limitations Data Gaps

• Data gaps are largely within the National Parks with some covered by provincial parks, wildlands and reserves

• Potential to fill in gaps using other inventories

– Federal data – AVI – Parks

AMWI – Issues and Limitations Data Resolution

• Mostly derived from coarse or medium resolution imagery

• Restricts the amount of detail that can be captured

• Landsat = 30 metre pixellation (coarse)

• SPOT = 10 metre pixellation (medium)

• Orthophotography = 0.5 metre resolution (fine)

AMWI – Issues and Limitations Mapping Detail

• Minimum mapping unit is variable

• Most of the province captured at .09 hectares (30 metres x 30 metres)

• Significant amount captured at .04 hectares (20 metres x 20 metres)

• Very little captured at .02 hectares (14 metres x 14 metres)

AMWI – Issues and Limitations Classification Detail

• Generalization of classification to create merged inventory resulted in loss of information for some project areas

• Potential to be recovered with enhanced attribute table

AMWI – Issues and Limitations Data Accuracy

• Spatial definition and attribute accuracy • Variable by project area as a result of different source

imageries and methodologies • Spatial definition accuracy

– Raster source data (Landsat & SPOT) has spatial inaccuracy due to pixellation

– Vector source data has spatial error due to photo-interpretation • Attribute accuracy

– Classification errors (omission and commission) due to difficulty in raster processing set up and inaccurate photo-interpretation

– Classification bias between project areas

AMWI – Issues and Limitations Pixellation

Landsat (30 M) SPOT (10 M) Orthos (0.5M)

AMWI – Issues and Limitations Classification Bias

• Classification bias between project areas

• Particularly obvious between the SPOT-derived LUF data and the Landsat-derived Boreal EWC data

AMWI – Issues and Limitations Data Currency

• Source imagery dates range from 1998 to 2009

• Newest imagery is more than 5 years old

• Oldest imagery is more than 16 years old

AMWI – Availability Offline Distribution

• Requests sent to Data Distribution Unit, ESRD • Zipfile uploaded to ftp site • ESRI file geodatabase and shapefile (where possible) • All documentation

– Specifications – Reports associated with source data – Error assessments – Metadata

• Will include pdfs of hardcopy maps when complete

AMWI - Availability Offline Distribution Package

AMWI Availability Online Distribution

• GeoDiscover Alberta – Metadata only in Federal Geospatial Data Committee

format available through GeoDiscover Alberta and as part of data package

– Map service created with links embedded in GeoDiscover Alberta metadata record to view the data

• Web Mapping – Some sites reference older version (Alberta Merged

CWCS Wetland Inventory) – Potentially could be added to the existing Biophysical

web mapping site

AMWI Applications Planning & Regulation

• Planning – Forest Companies – Municipalities – Watershed Alliances – Consultants – Land-use Framework – Energy Sector – Utility Companies

• Regulation – GOA staff – AER

AMWI Applications Other

• Land Transactions – Real Estate Companies

• Restoration – Consultants

• Research – Conservation Organizations – Universities – GOA

Relative Wetland Value Assessment Unit Wetlands by Section

• Relative Wetland Value Assessment Unit Wetlands by Section not yet ready for release

• Developed by processing AMWI wetlands that have been consolidated and rated as A (highest), B, C or D (lowest) value with Alberta Township System section grid

• Requires metadata construction and loading into enterprise geodatabase before publication

RWVAU WS - Data Structure • 3 components in database

– Relative Wetland Value Assessment Units – Relative Wetland Value Assessment Wetlands by Section Index – Relative Wetland Value Assessment Wetlands by Section

• To be stored as an enterprise geodatabase and extracted for distribution but not downloadable yet

• To be distributed as a zipfile with 3 feature classes within a feature dataset and includes Federal Geospatial Data Committee metadata

• Shapefiles will be provided for RWVAUs, index and data • Metadata and links to view the data will be available inside

of GeoDiscover Alberta metadata record

RWVAU - Data Structure

• 21 Relative Wetland Value Assessment Units

• Base for attaching value to individual wetland complexes

• White Area has been assessed but not Green Area

RWVAU WS - Data Structure Index

• Relative Wetland Value Assessment Unit Wetlands by Section

• Generally in the White Area but not an exact match as RWVAUs used as a base

• To be expanded to Green Area

RWVAU WS - Data Structure Data

• ~140 thousand sections (slightly more than half of the province)

• Information on section, township, range, meridian

• Abundance factor • Hectares for total

wetlands within section • Hectares for A, B, C, D

value wetlands within section

RWVAU WS - Data Structure Data - Abundance Factor

• Values generated by RWVAU and adjusted by abundance factor (1, 0, -1)

• -1 reflects a low historic loss of wetlands (values adjusted downwards)

• 0 reflects a moderate historic loss of wetlands (values not adjusted)

• 1 reflects a high historic loss of wetlands (values adjusted upwards)

RWVAU WS - Data Structure Data

RWVAU WS - Data Structure Data – Wetlands Area

• Abundance of wetlands by section rounded to nearest full hectare

• Higher intensity blue indicates more hectares of wetlands per section

• Ranges from 0 to 274 hectares (no coverage to full coverage)

RWVAU WS - Processing Source Data

• Alberta Township System Version 4.1 Township – Sections with Road Allowance

• Relative Wetland Value Assessment Units (boundaries)

• Relative Wetland Value Assessment Unit Wetlands (generalized from AMWI wetlands)

• Relative Wetland Value Assessment Unit Function Scores (areas for generalized wetlands)

RWVAU WS - Processing Geoprocessing

• ATS V4.1 Township – Sections with Road Allowance – Clipped to RWVAUs – Road allowance removed

• RWVAU Wetlands – Joined to RWVAU Function Scores – Areas for overall, A, B, C and D value wetlands added

• RWVAU Wetlands + Areas – clipped by ATS V4.1 – Areas summarized by section – Abundance factor by RWVAU added after

RWVAU WS – Issues and Limitations

• Issues as per the delineation and attribution of the AMWI (base for RWVAU Wetlands)

• Issues and assumptions in the calculation of the value of the wetland as per the RWVAU Function Scores

• Inaccuracy introduced by parsing generalized complex wetlands as per the RWVAU Wetlands

• Rounding of A, B, C and D value wetland areas may result in differences between the total area and the sum of these areas

RWVAU WS – Availability

• Currently unpublished • To be made available

– Data Distribution package – GeoDiscover Alberta metadata with map service

RWVAU WS – Applications

• Intended for use as a general planning tool • Highlights sections with high value wetlands • Will not replace site assessment as the source

data are coarse for much of the province and the exact locations for wetlands are not indicated

Data Availability • Alberta Merged Wetland Inventory

– Data Distribution (data and supporting documents) http://esrd.alberta.ca/forms-maps-services/maps/resource-data-product-catalogue/default.aspx

– GeoDiscover Alberta (metadata) https://geodiscover.alberta.ca/geoportal/catalog/main/home.page

– Landscape Analysis Tool (LAT) • Older version, not yet updated

– Open Data Portal • Older version

• RWVAU Wetlands by Section – Not yet available