Chesapeake Conservancy, Inc.

Project Period: 9 1 23-3 31 25PROJECT Title: Geospatial Assistance for Usgs Activities in the Chesapeake Bay Watershedactivities: Biodiversity Mapping - Will Develop a Suite of Models Within the Chesapeake Watershed to Model Species Distribution at the Best Possible Resolution, Integrating Predictor Data Layers of Current and Future Climate and Land Use Conditions to Identify Critical Landscapes for Conservation of Target Species.improving the Predictive Power and Utility of Land Use Change Forecasts - Will Explore Alternative Modeling Frameworks and Geospatial Covariates for Use in the Chesapeake Bay Land Change Model to Improve Predictions of Land Use Change Related to Development, Especially Residential, Commercial, and Solar Land Uses. Protected Lands Assessmentobj 1: Development of 3D Integrated Mesh Datasets for Crisfield and Ellicott City, MD - Will Collect Aerially Flown Data From Two Communities to Be Processed and Transformed Into 3-D Integrated Mesh Layers Using Photogrammetric Techniques, and Shared via Web Applications Obj 2: Critical Assessment of Current Tracking Methodology and Recommendations for Future Tracking - Will Develop Written Reports to: Identify Barriers to Meaningful Reporting and Tracking of Chesapeake Bay Program Land Conservation Goals Identify Common Practices, Data Formats and Schemas Most Useful for Long-term Tracking and Ease of Updating and Addressing Errors, Omissions and Inconsistencies in Jurisdictional and National Input Datasets for the Geospatial Data Used for the Protected Lands Indicator.obj 3: Development of Southern Maryland Parcel Analytics for Conservation and Restoration - Will Support a Regional Parcel-scale Assessment and Prioritization Analysis of Conservation and Restoration Opportunities, and the Development of a Web Application for Sharing Said Analysis. Obj 4: Delineation of Geographic Service Areas for Watershed Organizations - Will Compile a List of Watershed Organizations Within the Chesapeake Bay Watershed and Develop a Geospatial Layer of Their Respective Service Areas.deliverables and Expected Outcomes:biodiversity Mapping - Literature Review and Background Research Report Data Dictionary of Available Covariate Predictor Layers R Scripts to Fit Species Distribution Model Algorithms Virtual Environments for Fitting Species Distribution Models Compliant Species Distribution Prediction Layers Proof of Concept Report Improving the Predictive Power and Utility of Land Use Change Forecasts - Python Modules That Construct, Compile, and Return Artificial Neural Networks and Output Per-pixel Transition Probability Vectors Preprocess and Serve Pairs of Predictor and Response Variables: Python Scripts to Train and Obtain Predictions: R Scripts and Modules That Construct and Fit Hierarchical Bayesian and Output: Python Virtual Environments: Compliant Solar Array and Barren Land Time Series Vector Data and Metadata: Model Methodology and Accuracy Assessments: Protocols to Create and Configure Cloud Based Storage and Virtual Machines.protected Lands Assessmentobj 1- Raw Unmanned Aircraft Systems Imagery and Elevation Products: Intermediary Files: 3D Integrated Mesh Data: Updated Collection in Chesapeakedataobj 2 - Data Quality Assessment Report: Desired Future Conditions Report: Data Aggregation Needs and Challenges Report: Implementation Strategy Obj 3 - Geodatabase of Metric Layers Used to Prioritize Parcels: Final Layer of Prioritized Parcels: Data Dictionary: Web Application Designed Using Esri Infrastructure With Custom Widgets and Design, Including Print Functionality: Final User Guide, Presentation and Project Documentationobj 4 - Fully Attributed Feature Class for Service Areas of Watershed Organizations Operating in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed: Brief RCP Evaluation Document Intended Beneficiary(ies): Chesapeake Bay Stakeholderssubrecipient Activities: Na