River invertebrate classification tool database and delivery system

Kral, Filip; Robertson, Oliver; Fry, Matt ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1142-4039; Laize, Cedric. 2017 River invertebrate classification tool database and delivery system. Wallingford, UK, NERC/Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, 73pp. (Client ref. R15056PUR, CEH ref. NEC05827 SEPA RICT Database / 1)

Before downloading, please read NORA policies.

Preview

Text
N517305CR.pdf - Published Version
Download (4MB) | Preview

Abstract/Summary

This project was commissioned by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) acting on behalf of a consortium of funders including SEPA, the Environment Agency (EA), and Natural Resources Wales (NRW), with additional technical support from the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA). It aims to scope and to produce a database of the model input variables for the current River Invertebrate Classification Tool (RICT), and a demonstration delivery tool allowing users to get these variables for any location in the UK. The River Invertebrate Prediction and Classification System (RIVPACS) is a predictive model dating back to 1979. The main feature of RIVPACS is that it can predict the invertebrate species composition or value of invertebrate biotic indices at any site on any watercourse in UK. Wright (2000) describes history and development until RIVPACS III. RIVPACS IV has been integrated into the RICT application, which provides a web-based platform for users to run the model free of charge. From a small set of input variables, RICT predicts invertebrate communities at reference conditions. Some of the input variables of the original model are themselves influenced by environmental conditions, causing issues when assessing certain pressure influences, so a new RIVPACS model was developed using pressure-independent variables. These new variables were derived for the model calibration sites only, but are not currently available at a national scale in the RICT software. This project aimed to develop a database of the input variables required by the latest version of RICT and to propose a solution for delivery of these variables to RICT users. RIVPACS for Great Britain (GB) and for Northern Ireland (NI) are two different models but this project aimed to generate data for GB as well as for NI as far as possible. The key output of this project is the set of variables calculated along UK rivers at 50m grid interval in the following units: • Logarithm of upstream catchment area (LOGAREA, dimensionless) • Logarithm of upstream catchment mean altitude (LOGALTBAR, dimensionless) • Proportion of time upstream catchment soils are wet (PROPWET, as a number between 0 and 1) • Upstream catchment cover of key geological types (as a number between 0 and 1 indicating proportion of catchment area) • Distance from source (m) • Altitude (m A.S.L.) • Slope (m/km) • Discharge category (integer from 1 to 10 as defined in the project specification).

Item Type:	Publication - Report
UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas:	Acreman Rees (from October 2014) Research Contracts, Licensing & Information Services
Funders/Sponsors:	Scottish Environment Protection Agency, Environment Agency, Natural Resources Wales
NORA Subject Terms:	Ecology and Environment
Date made live:	19 Jul 2017 14:47 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/517305

Item Type:

Publication - Report

UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas:

Acreman
Rees (from October 2014)
Research Contracts, Licensing & Information Services

Funders/Sponsors:

Scottish Environment Protection Agency, Environment Agency, Natural Resources Wales

NORA Subject Terms:

Ecology and Environment

Date made live:

19 Jul 2017 14:47 +0 (UTC)

URI:

https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/517305