i-Tree Eco International Limitations and Data Requirements

i-Tree Team Joined: 27 Jun 2008 Posts: 150

The following information is provided to summarize international limitations and data requirements for users considering using i-Tree Eco outside the United States. This information is meant to supplement the i-Tree Eco manual http://www.itreetools.org/resource_learning_center/manuals_workbooks.shtm and other documentation which primarily provide details for use of the Eco model within the United States. The i-Tree Team is currently working with cooperators to improve functionality of the model outside the U.S as time and limited resources will permit.

 Processing Time – Processing time for international Eco projects can range from 2-6 months after field data is submitted for analysis. This is due to additional formatting time required by the Forest Service to make adjustments to the model to accept and analyze international data. Processing time can vary depending on the current backlog and the amount of data integrity issues needing resolution.

 Species list limitations – International Eco users may find that certain trees are not available in the Eco species database when entering or collecting field data. International users are advised to choose a substitute tree/shrub species from the list that has similar characteristics such as size, structure and leaf type. A unique substitution should be made for each tree not available on the list because reporting (charts & tables) will be generated with the substitute species and users may then edit the output charts & tables to reflect the true tree species as desired. The USDA Plants Database http://plants.usda.gov/ and other resources may help users in this process.

A methodology for integrating new user-defined tree/shrub species along with necessary characteristics into the Eco species database is yet to be developed. Please also submit your species substitution list to the Forest Service for reference when submitting project data.

 Air Pollution data – Users outside of the United States will need to supply a full year of local hourly pollution data in the specified format which can be found in the Eco user’s manual.

 Weather data - The Forest Service uses weather data which is available for international cities from the National Climatic Data Center. Therefore, most international users will not need to supply this data. However, in some instances, international weather data may be incomplete or unavailable and international users will need to find local and submit local weather data in the required format. Reference weather data and formatting documents are available on the i-Tree website Resources section. http://www.itreetools.org/resource_learning_center/history_and_links.shtm

 Energy Effects - This model component is designed for US Climate types, building types, energy use and emission factors. As such, this model component is limited in international applications, except for possibly Lower Canada. Past international studies have requested that their data be analyzed using the values of U.S. cities with similar climates. However, the model estimates are highly uncertain in these instances and the Forest Service will not estimate economic values in these cases. Users should consider international energy effect limitations carefully before deciding to collect tree-building interaction data.

 Structural Value – The Eco model uses the Council of Tree and Landscape Appraisers (CTLA) formula methodology to determine the structural value of trees within the United States. The Eco model currently does not have the data needed to generate amenity values using other accepted international methods for determining tree values. Therefore, structural values are not estimated for international Eco projects.

 Carbon Valuation – The model estimates monetary values associated with carbon storage and sequestration by multiplying carbon values by $22.8/tonne of carbon. This is based on the estimated social costs of carbon dioxide emissions for 2001 to 2010 from the literature. Carbon valuation is not estimated for international projects. See (Frankenhauser 1994) in the UFORE methods paper for details. http://www.itreetools.org/resource_learning_center/reports/ufore_methods.pdf

 Pollution Removal Valuation- The monetary value of pollution removal by trees is estimated using the median externality values for the United States for each pollutant analyzed. Recently, the values were adjusted to 2007 values, based on the producer’s price index, and are now in dollars per metric ton. International literature and other resources are currently being evaluated to decide how to update pollution valuation numbers in the future.

 Reporting- The Eco written report, i-Tree Ecosystem Analysis, which Eco users can generate after receiving results from the Forest Service is not available for projects completed outside the United States. This is due to the lack of international information in the Eco database needed to generate some values in this automated report.

 Charts & Tables – Certain charts and tables may not be available to international Eco users because of limitations in the Eco databases needed to generate values for cities outside the U.S. The Forest Service can provide raw data output files which are used to generate the Eco charts and tables as a substitute in some instances.