Coastal Services Center

Habitat Priority Planner
This geospatial decision-support tool is used to prioritize conservation efforts. Users can classify habitats according to project goals and calculate basic ecological metrics related to habitat quality and connectivity to identify potential areas for protection. The tool can be used in a group setting, allowing project teams and partners to interactively prioritize sites based on conservation criteria and stakeholder input.

Impervious Surface Analysis Tool (ISAT)
This tool is used to quickly estimate the amount of impervious surface in a watershed or other area of interest using widely available land cover data. The amount of impervious surface is an important indicator of threats to water quality and the general impact of the built environment. ISAT is used to detect and analyze unforeseen threats to conservation targets. 

Nonpoint Source Pollution and Erosion Comparison Tool (N-SPECT)
N-SPECT helps conservation practitioners quickly and easily identify land areas that generate high sediment and nonpoint source pollutant loads. N-SPECT’s scenario analysis functionality allows people to test the relative effectiveness of different land cover management options on sediment and pollutant yields. The map-based outputs are easily incorporated into planning documents and are useful visualizations in public forums.

Risk and Vulnerability Assessment Tool
Understanding your community’s risk to coastal hazards can help prioritize conservation efforts for hazard mitigation. This six step process helps identify people, property, and resources that are at risk of injury, damage, or loss from hazardous incidents or natural hazards.

Visualize Landscape Changes: CanVis
Visual simulations can help conservation planners and stakeholders understand the impacts of their decisions. CanVis allows users to quickly and easily add objects to and change the landscape of their images. This software is a great option for those who have little to no experience or access to photo editing or 3-D software.