The Connecting River Systems Restoration Assessment (CRSRA) model was co-developed by investigators in the Environmental Studies Program at the New College of Florida in
Sarasota, Florida and the USGS - Great Lakes Science Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The web mapping application for interfacing with the CRSRA model was developed
by developers on the Web Informatics and Mapping team.
The development of the CRSRA has been supported by the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes Landscape Conservation Cooperative and the University of Michigan Water Center.
CRSRA version 1.0.0
Below is a list of CRSRA layers with description and source. For complete metadata, please visit the USGS ScienceBase catalog item for GLCWRA
CRSRA Composite Index: Restorability model developed by New College of Florida, USGS, TNC, and NOAA using detailed terrain and historical lake levels, and national soils, wetlands, land use, and land cover data.
Source: New College of Florida, USGS
Study Area Boundary: The boundary line for the CRSRA study area was determined with the alongshore extent from the Detroit River to beginning of the St. Clair River in Michigan. The offshore boundary is determined by the U.S. border with Canada. The landward boundary is determined from the elevation of the maximum St. Clair River water level height buffered by 1 m of elevation and 1 km inland. For informational purposes only.
Source: New College of Florida and U.S. Geological Survey
Oblique Aerial Imagery: These points show the locations of linked ACOE oblique aerial photography from
greatlakes.usace.army.mil
Source: US Army Corps of Engineers
Lake Level Stations: Locations of lake level measurements from NOAA CO-OPS.
Source: NOAA CO-OPS
Wetland Biological Integrity: Plant indicator scores are based on data collected as part of the Great Lakes Coastal Wetland Monitoring Program. Total vegetation indicator scores are based on 10 metrics that collectively evaluate the relative condition of each wetland. Metrics included entire-site and vegetation-zone specific calculations, which are combined into an overall site score. Metric and scoring calculations are described at
greatlakeswetlands.org
Source: Great Lakes Coastal Wetland Monitoring Program
GLRI Wetland Restoration Areas: Project boundaries digitized from GLRI habitat restoration database. http://habitat.glc.org/
Source: New College of Florida
Parameters Group
Water Mask (P0): Areas excluded from the analysis but within study area boundary. Most areas are permanent or perennial water features previously mapped by the National Wetlands Inventory and the National Hydrographic Dataset.
Source: New College of Florida, USGS
Hydroperiod (P1): Developed as the first parameter to the restorability model. Hydroperiod is the amount of time a coastal landscape area is inundated with surface water from western Lake Erie. Areas more frequently inundated are better for restoration.
Source: New College of Florida, USGS
Wetsoils (P2): Developed as the second parameter to the restorability model. Wetland soils areas are mapped as existing wetlands or as hydrologic soils that support wetlands. These areas are better for restoration.
Source: New College of Florida, USGS
Flowline (P3): Developed as the third parameter to the restorability model. Flowline areas are mapped as part of a drainage network connecting to Lake Erie. These areas are better for restoration.
Source: New College of Florida, USGS
Conserved Lands (P4): Developed as the fourth parameter to the restorability model representing areas within ranges of mapped CARL boundaries. Areas closer to CARL boundaries are better for restoration.
Source: New College of Florida, USGS
Impervious Surfaces (P5): Developed as the fifth parameter to the restorability model representing areas with impervious surfaces such as roads, parking lots and buildings. Impervious surfaces can be important societal infrastructure and expensive / difficult to modify for restoration.
Source: New College of Florida, USGS
Landuse (P6): Developed as the sixth parameter to the restorability model representing areas without impervious surfaces but high societal importance such as active agriculture, golf courses and parks. These areas can be expensive / difficult to modify for restoration.
Source: New College of Florida, USGS
Hydro Conditioning Group
Culverts: Locations of potential culverts or other hydraulic control structures. These locations are important for understanding the hydrologic connections between a coastal area and the lake.
Source: New College of Florida, University of Michigan-Dearborn, The Nature Conservancy, NOAA, USGS
Degree Flowlines: Attribute flowline reaches used in model parameter three with the number of artificial disconnections between the reach and western Lake Erie. These data will help identify the degree of hydrologic separation between potential restoration areas and Lake Erie.
Source: New College of Florida, University of Michigan-Dearborn, The Nature Conservancy, NOAA, USGS
Dikes: Modeled locations of dikes. Dikes are important control features for restoring coastal wetlands.
Source: New College of Florida, University of Michigan-Dearborn, The Nature Conservancy, NOAA, USGS
Data Limitations
These data are preliminary or provisional and are subject to revision. They are being provided to meet the need for timely best science. The data have not received final approval by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and are provided on the condition that neither the USGS nor the U.S. Government shall be held liable for any damages resulting from the authorized or unauthorized use of the data.
This application and the others in the GLCWRA project will be improved with additional features throughout 2017. To receive email updates of future feature additions and other improvements to this application, along with periodic news regarding latest efforts to improve coastal resilience in the region, please join the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes LCC Coastal Conservation Community mailing list.
or visit Contact tab for project info.
