COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH IN THE PANTHER CREEK WATERSHED:

WILLAMETTE RIVER BASIN, OREGON

George McFaddenOregon State Office

Bureau of Land Managementgeorge_mcfadden@blm.gov

PANTHER CREEK WATERSHED

Ball Bearing Mountain 2265 ft.

Carlton City Reservoir 575 ft.

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH PARTNERS

• Bureau of Land Management *• Environmental Protection Agency *• Natural Resource Conservation Service *• Weyerhaeuser Company *• U.S. Forest Service, PNW Research Station *• Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral

Industries *• City of Carlton• McMinnville Water and Light

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH PARTNERS

• Forest Capitol Partners• Oregon State University *• Portland State University• Seattle Biometrics *• Watershed Sciences *• Hampton Affiliates• Yamhill Basin Council

* Core Research Organizations

PANTHER CREEK RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

• Develop LiDAR stand level inventory methods• Conduct a systematic soil sample• Develop methods to predict distribution of soil

carbon• Characterize Panther Creek slope stability• Characterize Panther Creek soil chemistry• Assess effects of forest / land use management

on carbon storage

PANTHER CREEK COLLABORATION TENANTS

• All data is part of the public record• Research in landowner blind• Each collaborator funds the research where

they have interest• Data sharing and external analysis is

encouraged

DISCRETE RETURN LIDAR COLLECTION SCHEDULE

• Leaf on 2007 Complete• Leaf off 2007 Complete• Leaf off 2008 (2009) Complete• Leaf off 2009 (2010) Complete• Leaf on 2010 Scheduled• Leaf off 2010 (2011) Planned• Leaf off 2011 (2012) Planned

DISCRETE RETURN LIDAR SPECIFICATIONS

Scan Angle 24o (±12o from Nadir)

Returns Collected Per Laser Pulse Up to 4

Multi-Swath Pulse Density ≥8 pulses/m2

Intensity Range 1-255

Swath Overlap 50% side-lap (100% overlap)

GPS PDOP During Acquisition ≤3.5

GPS Satellite Constellation ≥6

Maximum GPS Baseline 13 nautical miles

Slope Elevation RMSE (1σ) at 0 degrees ≤ 15 cmat 20 degrees ≤ 35 cmat 50 degrees ≤ 100 cm

Horizontal Accuracy (1σ), bare earth, slope <20 o 30 cm

DISCRETE RETURN LIDAR EFFECTIVENESS

Pulse per m2

Ground Points per m2

Pulse Spacing (m)

Ground Point Spacing (m)

Probability of LiDAR Hitting Ground

Minimum Raster DEM Resolution

Actual PNW Data 8.17 1.15 0.35 0.93

14 %

> 1

Various Resolutions

4 0.56 0.50 1.34 > 2

2 0.28 0.71 1.89 > 2

1 0.14 1.00 2.67 > 3

0.5 0.07 1.41 3.78 > 4

0.25 0.04 2.00 5.35 > 6

Source: Watershed Sciences Report 1/22/2010

DISCRETE RETURN LIDAR EFFECTIVENESS

DISCRETE RETURN LIDAR EFFECTIVENESS

2010 LEAF ON FLIGHT REQUIREMENTS

• Discrete return LiDAR at 8 pulses per square meter

• Hyperspectral digital imagery at up to 256 bands, probably 24 to 30 bands

• Wavelength return LiDAR• Imagery co-registration with products from

2010 leaf on flight

2010 LEAF ON FLIGHT REQUIREMENTS

PANTHER CREEK GROUND PLOTS

VEGETATION SAMPLE PLOTS

• 42 1/5 acre circular plots• Grid cells stratified into 3 by 3 block based

upon tree height and canopy cover• 9 plots randomly located, 1 per block• 1 plot randomly located in mixed hardwood /

conifer strata• 3 additional plots randomly located in each

“stand” where a random plot is located• 2 additional plots randomly located in

riparian stands

VEGETATION PLOT VARIABLES

• Species• Status (live or dead)• DBH• Total height• Height-to-live-crown• Lean percent (> 10%)• Dead top• Location (x,y) coordinates

SOIL PIT PLOTS

• Three soil pits will be randomly selected in each of the 10 to 12 dominant kinds of soils in Panther Creek

• 1/5 acre plot established at each of the 36 soil pit locations selected in Panther Creek

• 36 total plots / Only 35 associated with soil pits as one pit location is on a skid road and was not installed but the vegetation plot was installed

• Measurements the same as vegetation plots

PANTHER CREEK SAMPLE PLOTS

PLOT 1093003

PLOT 1093003

PLOT 1093003

PLOT 1093003

SOIL SAMPLES

SOIL SAMPLES

SOIL VARIABLES SAMPLED

• Acid oxalate extractable Fe, Al & Si• Active soil carbon (AC)• Aggregate stability• Bulk density• Calcium carbonate equivalent• Cation exchange capacity (CEC)• Clay mineralogy via x-ray diffraction• Dithionite-citrate extractable Fe, Al & Si• Effervescence in 1N HCl• Extractable acidity (BaCl2-TEA)

SOIL VARIABLES SAMPLED (CONT)

• Exchangeable cations (Na, K, Ca, Mg)• KCl extractable NH4

+ & NO3-

• Micromorphology – thin section• Mineral content• New Zealand phosphorus retention• Optical analysis – glass count• Particulate organic matter (POM)• p-Nitrophenol, β-Glucosidase• pH in NaF• pH in water & CaCl2

SOIL VARIABLES SAMPLED (CONT)

• Particle size analysis (sand, silt and clay)• Total N, C & S• Water retention (0.06 Bar)• Water retention (0.1 Bar)• Water retention (0.33 Bar)• Water retention (1 Bar)• Water retention (2 Bar)• Water retention (5 Bar)• Water retention (15 Bar)

WEATHER INSTRUMENTS

• RAWS Station Installed Spring 2010

• Soil Pits (36) Installed Spring 2010• Air Temperature• Relative Humidity• Soil Moisture• Soil Temperature

LANDSLIDE ANALYSIS

LANDSLIDE ANALYSISLandslide inventory mapping is greatly improved using high resolution (~8pts/m2) LiDAR data collected during leaf-on and/or leaf-off conditions

In Panther Creek identified landslides went from 7 to 93

Great care is needed when using differential LiDAR DEMs to map, quantify, and interpret elevation change caused by landslides

In Panther Creek 90 % of high confidence sites were active landslides but only 10 % of low confidence sites were active landslides

Source: Burns, W.J., Coe, J.A., Kaya Sener, K, Ma, L., 2009. Analysis of Elevation Changes Detected from Multi-Temporal LiDAR Surveys in Forested Landslide Terrain in Western Oregon. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, Vol. 41, No. 7, p. 379

DATA SHARING METHODOLOGY

Seattle Biometrics maintains a password protected website where core researchers upload raw data sets for storage and archiving

Oregon State University is developing a public website with project descriptions, sample designs, list of publications and a selected sample of raw data

Bureau of Land Management will distribute the archived raw data upon request and submission of a portable hard drive for data transfer