Abstract
This paper describes the STARS ArcGIS geoprocessing toolset, which is used to calcu- late the spatial information needed to fit spatial statistical models to stream network data using the SSN package. The STARS toolset is designed for use with a landscape network (LSN), which is a topological data model produced by the FLoWS ArcGIS geoprocessing toolset. An overview of the FLoWS LSN structure and a few particularly useful tools is also provided so that users will have a clear understanding of the underlying data struc- ture that the STARS toolset depends on. This document may be used as an introduction to new users. The methods used to calculate the spatial information and format the final .ssn object are also explicitly described so that users may create their own .ssn object using other data models and software.
Highlights
Spatial autocorrelation is an intrinsic characteristic in freshwater stream environments where nested watersheds, dendritic network structure, and the directional flow of water may produce spatial relationships that are not explained by Euclidean distance
Many common autocovariance functions used in spatial models are statistically invalid when Euclidean distance is replaced with hydrologic, or within-network, distance (Ver Hoef, Peterson, and Theobald 2006)
The functional linkage of waterbasins and streams (FLoWS) toolbox is a set of graph theoretic-based analysis tools that functionally link aquatic and terrestrial components of the landscape based on hydrologic processes (Theobald et al 2006)
Summary
Spatial autocorrelation is an intrinsic characteristic in freshwater stream environments where nested watersheds (i.e., the entire land area that drains to a single location within the stream), dendritic network structure, and the directional flow of water may produce spatial relationships that are not explained by Euclidean distance. Many common autocovariance functions used in spatial models are statistically invalid when Euclidean distance is replaced with hydrologic, or within-network, distance (Ver Hoef, Peterson, and Theobald 2006). The FLoWS toolbox is a set of graph theoretic-based analysis tools that functionally link aquatic and terrestrial components of the landscape based on hydrologic processes (Theobald et al 2006) These tools provide an efficient framework for navigating throughout the network, which makes it possible to calculate a variety of attributes related to network distance, flow direction, and terrestrial contributing areas. The STARS toolbox was developed to take advantage of the FLoWS-based landscape network LSN and provides tools to generate and format the feature geometry, attribute data, and topological relationships of GIS datasets so that they may be used to fit spatial statistical models to streams data. This document provides an overview of the LSN, an introduction to the STARS toolset, and the methods used to create the .ssn object
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