External link: http://www.virginiadot.org/vtrc/main/online_reports/pdf/16-r21.pdf

Publication date: June 1, 2016

Capsule summary: This report focuses on the Virginia Department of Transportation’s development of an efficient and effective wetland identification tool that takes advantage of existing data while screening.

Author(s): Felton, Benjamin; Goodall, Jonathan; Fitch, G Michael

Publisher(s): Virginia Department of Transportation; FHWA

Definition: Data analysis techniques for transportation planning
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Description: Construction and development continues to threaten wetland ecosystems throughout the United States, thus necessitating their protection. In order to effectively preserve the wetlands, their locations must be identified. Project delays can result from the time and cost of acquiring the data and tools necessary for wetland identification. The research team gathered data and developed a tool that allows users to run several screening processes simultaneously in an automated method, increasing efficiency.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to expedite project delivery by minimizing the hours and resources dedicated to identifying wetlands. The research team identified and analyzed existing key datasets, and compiled the data from various sources using the ModelBuilder tool in ArcGIS. The diverse collection of data allowed for thorough analysis of imagery.

Findings: The research team found that the tool was effective in identifying wetlands, with the majority of disagreement between the tool and a trained image analyst resulting in false positives, where the tool identified a wetland and the analyst did not. The study demonstrated the emerging power of analytical and predictive tools in automating the process of wetland identification.

Recommendations: The wetland screening tool developed in this study revealed areas of improvement for wetland screening, such as the potential success of an automated process and the need for higher resolution imagery. Future research is recommended in order to validate the integrity of the tool in various application areas, to assess the value of the tool as opposed to a consultant model of photointerpretation, and to continue to identify areas of improvement.

Research Theme: Environment, Innovative Data Analysis

Community Type:

Transportation Mode:

Planning Scope:

Organization Type: County, DOT, MPO or RPO

Planning Subject: Analysis, Evaluation and Assessment, Facility or Land Use, Forecasting, Planning Methods, Transportation Planning