—James Sams, National Energy Technology Laboratory
The Department of Energy's (DOE's) National Energy Technology Laboratory's (NETL's) Geosciences Division is currently performing research on stream sediment in the Allegheny National Forest in Northwestern Pennsylvania. We are developing a sediment potential index, which is based on a formula utilizing a weighted set of spatial object and activity attributes. The index and its input attributes (in particular road slope and proximity to stream) are derived from various raster and vector data sources using ArcGIS ModelBuilder. The goal of the study is to adjust the weights of the attributes, such as slope and proximity, using a model in ArcGIS to accurately reflect sediment amounts in streams for use with other forests. The objective of this presentation is to inform users of challenges in deriving not only the sediment potential index but also input attributes using ArcGIS geoprocessing capabilities through ModelBuilder.