Addition of data for new region

[John Hoile]

Are there opportunities for suitably qualified persons in my region to supply or add data to STRATUM, UFORE or MCTI to make reports more relevant to my region; Australia?

[i-Tree Support]

The answer varies by i-Tree component. The easiest is MCTI, the simple urban tree management package. There are no regional data involved, and Australian foresters can enter local field data and print reports without problem.

The ecosystem analysis component, UFORE, is somewhat more complicated. It requires three categories of data: field, meteorological, and air (pollution concentration and boundary layer height). Of these, the first would be collected locally, of course, and the second is readily available to the people in Syracuse NY who run the actual computation and need not be supplied by you. You would, however, need to supply your own hourly pollution concentration data, following a precise format specified in the User’s Manual (Section 1.4.2), and boundary layer height data.

The component least amenable to use outside the United States is the street tree assessment tool, STRATUM. Benefit calculations for this program are based on regionally specific tree growth measurements, hourly climate and air pollution concentration data, and building construction information for U.S. climate zones. Because these factors can vary a great deal from region-to-region, let alone continent-to-continent, users only obtain reliable results when using data from the climate zone where the tree resource is located. Collecting and modeling these regional data is intensive and involved, but could happen for areas outside the U.S. if interest and necessary resources are available. For more information about how STRATUM calculates benefits, please see the attached document "Science_Behind_STRATUM.pdf."

Thank you for your interest in i-Tree.

[John Hoile]

In preparing new data for STRATUM (as mentioned in your previous reply ) based on the "Science behind STRATUM" document who can load the data into the program? Is there a special format or template to follow in preparing this data?

[smaco]

Unfortunately, these data are only collected and processed throught the USFS Center for Urban Forest Research at this time. However, we are in the process of determing how to extend STRATUM--and all of i-Tree--into new regions/counties and will be seeking collaborators. We will release this information as soon as it is available. Stay tuned...

[Aus_UFORE_user]

Hi,

Regarding the reply from i-tree support about additional data required for analyses outside of the US: the only additional data required is the excel table of air pollution, and boundary layer height data? Does this only apply for analysis of an actual city?
I am conducting a UFORE analysis for an urban area immediately adjacent to a city so would additional specific meteorological data be requied for analysis?

Also, when we send in the data to what address do we send the additional air pollution data as I couldnt see anywhere to attach files to the rest of the data.

[azelaya]

Hello,

Yes, you will need to submit air pollution data only for your UFORE study area regardless if it is for a city or just a portion of an area. This information will be used to quantify hourly air pollution removal and associated air quality improvement.

The information should be submitted in a spreadsheet using Microsoft Excel following the format specified in the manual section 1.4.2 . Please forward the air pollution data as an email attachment to info@itreetools.org at the same time you submit your UFORE project data.