Natural Resource Management

Clark Labs has developed an unparalleled set of tools to facilitate the management and protection of our natural resources. For example, IDRISI includes tools for modeling soil erosion, calculating runoff and identifying watersheds. It also provides a host of spatial statistical functionality for modeling, analysis and evaluation.

Whether you are modeling erosion potential, fire risk or managing forest stands, IDRISI Taiga has the tools to address the complex analytical challenges that resource managers face.

Application areas include:

• Watershed and rainfall runoff analysis
• Erosion potential modeling with RUSLE
• Fire risk assessment
• Flood modeling and prediction
• Forest mapping

Analytical Examples: [click images to enlarge]

A soil erosion modeling tool, utilizing the Revised Universal Soil Loss equation (RUSLE), computes average soil loss on field units of relative homogeneity.

In addition to determining the flow pattern over an elevation model, the RUNOFF module includes the capability to allow for both a precipitation surface and a permeability surface to model surface runoff.

Watershed analysis and planning is crucial for environmental sustainability. IDRISI includes tools for automatic watershed determination from DEMs. IDRISI also includes tools for the derivation of runoff potential and stream networks.

NDVI data are often used for monitoring change. Here long-term average NDVI for July is compared to July 1994 NDVI to develop an image of NDVI anomalies for July 1994. Monthly NDVI data for Africa, 1982-1999, as well as other data sets, are available on CD from Clark Labs.