Abstract
An assessment of stream health within the Chesapeake Bay Basin can be made using the Stream Health and Runoff Potential (SHARP) model, which is based solely on the relationship between land cover and stream constituents: Total phosphorus (TP), total nitrogen (TN), and total suspended sediment (TSS). While not intended to compete with more complex models that utilize a range of specific input data, SHARP’s advantage is that it requires little input, is easily applied, and can show whether a stream or watershed is likely to be impacted (impaired). The model allows the user to define a watershed boundary on screen within which a stream health index (SHI), concentrations of TP, TN and TSS, percentages of five land cover types, a color-coded land cover snapshot, impervious surface area and fractional vegetation cover are output. The paper describes SHARP, its output and an overview of how it can be used.
Highlights
The Stream Health and Runoff Potential (SHARP) model was designed to show where and to what degree watersheds are liable to be impaired by high concentrations of total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP) and total suspended sediment (TSS) within the Chesapeake Bay Basin
Constituent data published for the SPARROW model for TN and Total phosphorus (TP) [1] and measurement data based on [11] and [5] were used to compare with SHARP and to generally evaluate the stream health index (SHI) generated from Equations (1)-(3) for the TN and TP concentrations
SHARP is not meant to supplant any of these more complex nutrient models currently under development or in use, it can serve as a very useful tool, allowing the user quick and easy way to make at least a preliminary assessment of the biological viability and land cover distribution for any of the tens of thousands streams and watersheds within Pennsylvania and the Chesapeake Bay Basin
Summary
The Stream Health and Runoff Potential (SHARP) model was designed to show where and to what degree watersheds are liable to be impaired by high concentrations of total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP) and total suspended sediment (TSS) within the Chesapeake Bay Basin. The model allows the user to quickly assess the health of a selected watershed or stream basin with a minimum of input Both the SPARROW and GWLF models are more physically based than SHARP and require a variety of environmental data as input. Output contains estimates of TN, TP, and sediment loads for the designated area, a stream health index, area percentages of urban, woodland, water, short vegetation and bare soil/scrub, plus impervious surface area and fractional vegetation cover. It provides a color coded snapshot of the area based on a Landsat image classification for the year 2000.
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