Insolation, Precipitation, and Moisture Maps for a Virginia Geographic Information System

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dc.contributor.authorKlopfer, Scott D.en
dc.contributor.committeechairGiles, Robert H. Jr.en
dc.contributor.committeememberCross, Gerald H.en
dc.contributor.committeememberOderwald, Richard G.en
dc.contributor.departmentFisheries and Wildlife Sciencesen
dc.date.accessioned2014-03-14T20:52:11Zen
dc.date.adate1997-08-18en
dc.date.available2014-03-14T20:52:11Zen
dc.date.issued1997-07-25en
dc.date.rdate1997-08-18en
dc.date.sdate1997-07-25en
dc.description.abstractClimate information is valuable in understanding the ecology of systems affecting wildlife. This information is often unavailable at the landscape scale. This study evaluated the applicability of several climate factor estimates at the landscape-scale, and illustrated the usefulness of estimated climate factors in ecological investigations. Climate variables estimated for each month of the year were solar radiation, temperature, precipitation, and potential evapotranspiration. Map layers for combined temperature and precipitation, and a moisture index were also created. Accuracy of the estimates for temperature and precipitation for each 300 m x 300 m pixel were quantitatively assessed. The methods used estimated mean monthly temperature within 1 degree C. Precipitation estimates were within 9 mm of actual recorded value. The estimates for monthly solar radiation were qualitatively assessed, and provided a reasonable relative index to actual solar radiation. Estimates of potential evapotranspiration were determined to be reasonably accurate. Landscape-scale estimated climate factors were used in 2 case studies. The first used logistic regression to examine the importance of climate factors to the observed distribution of 21 select forest cover-types in Virginia.The second compared the observed climate characteristics for the distributions of 3 species of terrestrial salamanders in Virginia. Winter temperature was the most important climate variable in determining forest cover-type distribution. Several differences in the climate characteristics of the 3 salamander distributions were observed and discussed. The conclusions of this study were that landscape-scale climate factors can be accurately estimated, and the estimates may be helpful in ecological investigations.en
dc.description.degreeMaster of Scienceen
dc.identifier.otheretd-7197-113632en
dc.identifier.sourceurlhttp://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-7197-113632/en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/36915en
dc.publisherVirginia Techen
dc.relation.haspartETD04.PDFen
dc.rightsIn Copyrighten
dc.rights.urihttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/en
dc.subjectClimateen
dc.subjectecological modelingen
dc.subjectlandscapeen
dc.subjectpotential evapotranspirationen
dc.subjectprecipitationen
dc.subjectsolar radiationen
dc.subjectTemperatureen
dc.subjectdistributionen
dc.titleInsolation, Precipitation, and Moisture Maps for a Virginia Geographic Information Systemen
dc.typeThesisen
thesis.degree.disciplineFisheries and Wildlife Sciencesen
thesis.degree.grantorVirginia Polytechnic Institute and State Universityen
thesis.degree.levelmastersen
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Scienceen

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