If your interests include land use and land cover, hydrology, urban water issues, and climate change, you may wish to venture downtown to PSU on Friday, September 8th for a lunch-and-learn talk by Adam Nayak.
The talk promises to be accessible to a general audience, full of compelling visual imagery, and could give you interesting ideas for online tools to use in your own projects. The presentation runs from 12:15 – 1:00 p.m. and occurs at the Metro main office (600 NE Grand Avenue) in room 370…feel free to bring your lunch. See below for the presentation abstract and more information about Adam.
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Modeling the effects of land use change on flooding in Northwest streams
Due to population growth, urban areas in Oregon have been expanding, leading to increases in impervious surfaces and net losses in wetlands, riparian vegetation, and forestation in the Northwest. Utilizing ArcGIS and NOAA’s C-CAP imagery, this study classifies and analyzes urban land use changes between 1996 and 2010. Developmental trends were first analyzed alongside historical flood records to validate the relationship between flood severity and land use. Through regression analysis, predictions of annual impervious change were then calculated using NOAA’s Impervious Surface Analysis Tool within four urban stream basins (Johnson Creek, Tualatin River, Pudding River, and Clackamas River). Based upon these predictions, changes in flood severity were determined through a novel application of NOAA’s CHPS Streamflow Modeling System. Significant discharge change predictions due to development were calculated, and represented visually in flood inundation maps using USGS’s GIS Flood Tool. With this information, projected necessary rates of wetland and green infrastructure implementation were able to be formulated, quantifying the necessary changes needed to counteract urban development within the Willamette River Basin. These findings shed light on the importance of land use management in urban settings and can be used by local watershed councils to advocate for changes within their stream basins.
About the Presenter: Adam Nayak lives in Portland, Oregon where he is now a senior at Cleveland High School. He has been conducting research surrounding environmental conservation since the sixth grade, and has recently been recognized at Intel’s International Science & Engineering Fair. In his free time, Adam enjoys drawing and running on the cross country team.