Geographic Information Services
Our Team in the Geographic Information Services
The San Francisco Estuary Institute comprises over sixty scientists, technologists, and designers who offer a wide range of expertise. Each team member, in her or his own way, helps to define environmental problems, advance public debate about them through sound science, and support consensus-based solutions that improve environmental planning, management, and policy development.
Projects Related to the Geographic Information Services
California Aquatic Resource Inventory (CARI)
The California Aquatic Resources Inventory (CARI) is a Geographic Information System (GIS) based map of wetlands, streams, and riparian areas within California that is hosted online through EcoAtlas.
Shallow Groundwater Response to Sea Level Rise
The response of shallow groundwater to sea-level rise is a relatively new field of study. For low-lying coastal communities, sea-level rise adaptation efforts must consider the potential for groundwater rise to avoid maladaptation. The need to better understand this slow and chronic threat was identified as a critical data gap in the San Francisco Bay Area’s adaptation efforts during the Bay Area Groundwater and Sea-Level Rise Workshop in 2019.
RipZET: A GIS-based Tool for Estimating Riparian Zones
The Riparian Zone Estimator Tool (RipZET) is a decision support tool developed by the San Francisco Estuary Institute and Aquatic Science Center for the California Riparian Habitat Joint Venture and the California Water Resources Control Board to assist in the visualization and characterization of riparian areas in the watershed context.
Healthy Watersheds Resilient Baylands
Through the EPA-funded Healthy Watersheds Resilient Baylands project, SFEI and sixteen partner organizations are developing multi-benefit tools to enhance climate change resilience in San Francisco Bay. Healthy Watersheds Resilient Baylands has two major components: Multi-benefit Urban Greening and Tidal Wetlands Restoration. Through both components, we have developed strategies that inform policy, planning, and design of innovative implementation projects.
GreenPlan-IT
Green infrastructure (GI), such as permeable pavement, rain gardens, tree-well planters, or bioswales, can be used as cost-effective, resilient approaches to managing stormwater at its source while delivering environmental, social, and economic benefits for your community. GreenPlan-IT is a versatile open-source toolset that helps aid municipalities with their efforts to plan and evaluate the placement of green infrastructure in the landscape and track the effectiveness of these installations in reducing stormwater run-off, PCB, and mercury in receiving waters.
EcoAtlas
EcoAtlas is a set of tools for generating, assembling, storing, visualizing, sharing, and reporting environmental data and information.
Russian River Watershed Projects at the San Francisco Estuary Institute
Our projects in the Russian River Watershed help us to understand our past, understand our present, and envision our future. Learn more about what SFEI is doing in partnership with others to advance our scientific understanding of this valuable landscape.
Satellite Imaging to Detect Cyanobacterial Blooms
Satellite remote sensing will aid the State of California in assessing cyanobacterial bloom threats to animal and human health across the state’s numerous large lakes.
U.S. Coast Survey Maps of California (South Coast)
Until the advent of this new map viewer, a valuable resource was largely unavailable to coastal planners. Now, US Coastal Survey maps are free for broad use.
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Publications related to the Geographic Information Services
The Institute has collectively produced more than 1300 reports, articles, and other publications over the course of its 24-year existence. The following list represents those publications associated with this individual program and its focus areas.
Year of Publication: 2024
Baylands Change Basemap: Mapping Progress Toward Habitat Restoration Goals. 2024. (15.8 MB) .
Year of Publication: 2023
Adding Salinity Modifiers to CARI - Methods Brief. San Francisco Estuary Institute; 2023 . (1.13 MB) .
Year of Publication: 2021
Aquatic, Wetland, and Riparian Habitat Mapping Committee -- Draft Charter. 2021 . (652.54 KB) .
California Trash Monitoring Methods and Assessments Playbook. Richmond, Calif.: San Francisco Estuary Institute; 2021 . Report No.: 1025. (299.99 MB) .
Field Testing Report: California Trash Monitoring Methods. Richmond, Calif.: San Francisco Estuary Institute; 2021 . Report No.: 1026. (14.46 MB) .
Green Stormwater Infrastructure Planning-level Analysis for Livermore-Amador Valley. Richmond, Calif.: San Francisco Estuary Institute; 2021 . Report No.: 1063. (20.75 MB) (12.19 MB) .
OPC Coastal Wetlands, Beaches and Watersheds Inventory Factsheet. March 2021th ed. 2021. (4.3 MB) .
Year of Publication: 2020
Shared Basemap to Measure Baylands Change. 2020. (4.37 MB) .
Year of Publication: 2019
Optimal Selection and Placement of Green Infrastructure in Urban Watersheds for PCB Control. Journal of Sustainable Water in the Built Environment [Internet]. 2019;5(2). https://doi.org/10.1061/JSWBAY.0000876 .
Year of Publication: 2018
GreenPlan-IT Tracker. . Richmond, CA: San Francisco Estuary Institute; 2018. (1.43 MB) .
Year of Publication: 2016
EcoAtlas - Lake Tahoe Environmental Improvement Program: Tool Integration White Paper. 2016 . Report No.: 800. (703.29 KB)
San Francisco Bay Shore Inventory: Mapping for Sea Level Rise Planning. Richmond, CA: San Francisco Estuary Institute; 2016 . Report No.: 779. (20.33 MB) .
Year of Publication: 2015
Riparian Zone Estimation Tool Hydrologic Connectivity Module: Documentation and Validation of Selected Methodology. 745: San Francisco Estuary Institute; 2015 . (3.15 MB) .
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