How-toUsei-TreeVueSoftwareforRapidlyAssessing
theBenefitsofLocalforests:ACaseStudyfromBath,
Maine
Ryan Wynne and Andrew Whitman
What is i-Tree Vue?
i-Tree Vue is a free software appication that estimate of tree
cover and some environmental benefits for urban, community,
and private forests using online, National Land Cover Data (NLCD)
data.
Who might use i-Tree Vue?
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Land trust staff
Municipal planners
Community groups
Urban foresters
What information is produced by i-Tree Vue?
• Tree cover, pollution removal and carbon storage and annual
Figure 1. Choosing NLCD imagery for i-Tree Vue analysis.
carbon sequestration.
• Ability to visualize variations in cover (29 land cover classes).
• Allows users to simulate effects of changes in tree cover on environmental benefits.
How long would it take to learn how to use i-Tree Vue?
1 hour
How long would it take to produce a product with i-Tree Vue?
30 minutes – 1 hour+
Why would you use i-Tree vue?
i-Tree Vue is designed to provide rapid estimates of some environmental benefits for urban areas. Users can use i-Tree
Vue to assess existing cover and benefits, and then model user developed scenarios of tree cover and changes in
environmental benefits. Data can be used to illustrate the types and amounts of environmental benefits in order to
identify broad-based strategies for using urban and community forests to improve conditions in local communities.
How would you use i-Tree Vue?
Users have options for conducting analyses including: carbon removal, pollution removal, assessing existing urban
forest structure (available and canopy green space) and canopy scenario modeling for percent gain and loss. By
modeling canopy changes in specific areas (e.g. developed vs. wetland vs. forest) users can assess where the biggest
environmental benefits may occur and prioritize areas for tree planting or conservation.
Key Steps:
1. Use the i-Tree Vue program to delineate the study area
from NLCD imagery.
2. Perform an analysis to assess current conditions or apply
different scenarios in which canopy cover is increased or
reduced.
3. Compare different scenarios to current conditions to
assess opportunities to increase environmental benefits.
What are the advantages of using i-Tree Vue?
• Software is free.
• No field data are required.
• GIS data sets can be generated, but not required.
• Cover analysis estimates provided by web can be adjusted to
provide more accurate results.
Figure 2. Google Map view of the City of Bath, Maine (outlined by white
dashed line). The Kennebec River is the large waterbody running north to
south in the middle of the photo. U.S. Route 1 is the bold yellow line
running rough west to east in the middle of the photo
What are the limitations of i-Tree Vue?
• The estimates of environmental benefits: cover, pollution, carbon storage and sequestration, and monetary values
for each cover type are based on state averages.
• Tree cover estimates are based on 30m pixel NLCD data and may be underestimated by about 10%.
Case Study: Bath, Maine
Purpose:
To estimate environmental befits of increasing tree canopy cover in the suburban and urban areas of Bath
Study Area:
The study area was the downtown urban areas of Bath, Maine. Bath is a small city located in the Sagadahoc region of
coastal Maine River. It included the commercial main street area and surrounding high-density residential areas.
Approach:
We assessed differences in environmental benefits derived from the open, low intensity, medium intensity and high
intensity developed areas of downtown Bath. We conducted an initial analysis of current conditions to create a
baseline. Additional analyses were performed after, modeling a 10% percent canopy gain across the four developed
NLCD sub-classes (e.g., open, low, medium and high intensities).
Results:
Increasing the canopy by 10% in all sub-classes increased the total canopy cover from 26% to 33.1%. The greatest
increases in environmental benefits were achieved by increasing canopy in the medium intensity developed areas. By
increasing the canopy in developed areas, carbon sequestered annually increased by 23.2 short tons with a value
increase of $448; carbon storage increased by 635.7 tons with a value increase of $12,348; and 433.9 more pounds of air
pollution were removed with a value increase of $1911.30.
Summary:
i-Tree Vue is most useful for assessing benefits from specific locations and cover classes in a user’s study area. Sixteen
unique analyses can be performed in i-Tree Vue, allowing users to evaluate scenarios of tree canopy change in specific
land cover classes or visualize how specific areas impact environmental benefits (e.g., carbon sequestration). It is easy
select the relevant NLCD imagery using the Multi-Resolution Land Characteristics Consortium (MRLC) viewer
(http://www.mrlc.gov/viewerjs/). i-Tree Vue can be used to assess study areas of odd shapes and sizes. It is especially
useful in urban environments where there are many patches of different cover classes because i-Tree Vue can readily
assign different patches to different sub-classes.
For more about i-Tree Vue visit these websites:
i-Tree information:
http://www.itreetools.org/vue/index.php
Video learning resources:
http://www.itreetools.org/resources/videos.php?
Figure 3. Results of i-Tree Vue 10% canopy increase modeling scenario.