Land Coverage with i-Tree Canopy
Free online tool uses Google Maps aerial imagery to assess land coverage.
Being a skilled geospatial analyst is about knowing when to bring diverse tools into a GIS project. i-Tree Canopy is one such tool.
i-Tree Canopy is a free online service to assess an area’s land coverage. Land surface features can include greenery, like trees, grasses, and shrubs, or structures like buildings, roads, and impervious surfaces. In i-Tree Canopy the user can classify land and tree coverage over a given area using random sampling of aerial imagery provided by Google Maps.
By identifying land coverage, I can quantify the extent of green versus developed space in a project area which, from a regional planning perspective, could possibly help inform decision-making towards further development or restoration.
Advantages of running a land coverage assessment include:
Air Pollution Mitigation: Knowing an area’s tree coverage is an indication of air quality. Trees act as natural air filters, capturing pollutants and producing cleaner air to breath.
Stormwater Management: Trees intercept rainwater, reducing stormwater runoff. This helps prevent flooding and improves water quality by filtering pollutants.
Urban Heat Island Effect: The shade provided by trees helps minimize the urban heat island effect. Analyzing tree cover can assess the cooling impact trees have on the local environment.
Get Started with i-Tree Canopy
In i-Tree Canopy the user has the option to select an area of interest from the map view within the i-Tree web-based interface or uphold a shapefile. Keep in mind, it’s best to use non-projected shapefiles.
The US Census Cartographic Boundary is a good place to source shapefiles for US locations.
i-Tree Tutorial
It’s easy to use i-Tree Canopy but it is a bit time consuming. They recommend between 250 to 1,000 sample points to return statistically accurate results. Each sample point is randomly generated but each point has to be manually assigned a land coverage value based on the user’s visual assessment.
This 20-minute tutorial by i-Tree Canopy explains how to run a surface coverage assessment.
Share Your Thoughts
What sort of decision-making do you think would benefit from a land coverage assessment? Are you interested in land coverage for a certain area? Leave a comment below and share your experience.
About the Author
Stephanie Scavelli is a tech writer passionate about sharing the joy of geospatial thinking in this ever-advancing technological world. She is based in the Mid-Hudson Valley in New York (USA).