Stream Shade Calculator

The Importance of Shade

Historically streams in Oregon had a protective canopy of trees that cooled their water making conditions ideal for juvenile salmon and other fish species. Over the years many streams have lost this protective canopy, and this has been one factor contributing to the decline of salmon stocks in the Pacific Northwest. One simple way to improve stream conditions for fish is to plant trees that restore water cooling shade.

A Calculator for Estimating Shade

You can get a good sense of the relative shadiness of your stream just by looking at it.  Quantifying this impression, however, requires a bit more work and some specialized equipment.  Our Stream Shade Calculator automates this work and provides you with a quick and reliable estimate of your stream's current shade condition and its potential for restoration.

Using the calculator is easy.  A Google Maps interface allows you to locate the stretch of stream you are interested in.  Using the digitizer tool, you can then highlight the exact stream reach you would like to get results for.  Then just press the calculate button to see the current shade conditions for your stream as well as what the potential shade conditions could be if you restored the riparian vegetation.  You can also print the results in the form of a simple summary report.

Try out the calculator for yourself here:

Stream Shade Calculator

You can download the user guide and instructions for the calculator using the attachment link at the bottom of the page.

How the Calculator Works

The calculator makes use of the increasing amount of remotely sensed environmental data that is available for Oregon. This allows the calculator to get estimates of traits like tree height and canopy density at a fine spatial scale so that you (or someone else) doesn't actually have to go out in the field to measure them.  We also estimate what the ideal vegetatio n conditions for your stretch of stream would likely be based on historical vegetation records and soil conditions.  The calculator input s th e current and potential vegetation conditions into a model (Heat Source)  that converts these into an estimate of stream shading. He at Source was developed at OSU and is used by the Oregon Depart ment of Environmental Quality to simulate stream thermodynamics and hydrology.

Getting Credit for Shade

A number of programs exist to help you preserve or enhance stream habitat on your property.  The Natural Resources Conservation Service and your local Soil and Water Conservation District can provide a wealth of technical assistance for planning and implementing a stream restoration project.  In addition they offer a number of incentive and cost share programs to help offset the costs of improving habitat on your farm. One of the best ways to learn about these resources is to contact your local USDA service center.

Some Notes and Disclaimers

Unfortunately, fully quantifying the habitat quality of your stream is not as simple as measuring shade.  Habitat quality involves a number of different parameters beyond shade like in stream refugia and water levels.  It also varies for the specific species you are interested in and  depends somewhat on the conditions beyond your stream in the greater watershed.  Still, shade is a significant component of overall habitat quality, and it is relatively straightforward to measure and compare.  The calculator is meant only to help you get a sense of your stream's current shade conditions and potential for improvement.  It is not meant to provide an official estimate of restoration potential or ecosystem service credits.  If you are interested in doing stream restoration on your property you should contact the resources listed above under "Getting Credit for Shade" 

We are still testing the calculator and can't make any specific claims about its accuracy.  If you get strange results, encounter a problem using the tool, or would just  like to give us feedback we would like to hear from you at the contact below.  Also, be assured that we do not collect or store any personal information or the calculated results of any user session.  While you can print out a summary report of the results for your own use we do not keep or share any of this information.

Funding

This projected was funded by a Conservation Innovation Grant from the Natural Resources Conservation Service

Project Leaders and More Information

John Lambrinos
Assistant Professor
Department of Horticulture, Oregon State University
email: lambrinj@hort.oregonstate.edu
phone: 541-737-3484
Website:http://hort.oregonstate.edu/faculty-staff/lambrinos

Michael Guzy

Assistant Professor Senior Research
Department of Biological & Ecological Engineering
Oregon State University
Corvallis, OR 97331
email: guzym@engr.orst.edu
phone: 541.737.6294
Website: http://bee.oregonstate.edu