Roadside Revegetation

PLANNING PHASE ONE: ORIENT
site on a map of the United States, so instead of using data from a single weather station located
miles away from the project, this website creates a weather profile specific to the project site.
It does this by extrapolating data from surrounding weather stations using a digital elevation
model and expert knowledge of complex climatic patterns. This website also displays weather
trends and anomalies (e.g., extreme heat) that can be helpful in planning (Figure 4-4).
Figure 4-3 | Rainfall probability graphs
Another helpful graph from the Western
Regional Climate Center, www.wrcc.dri.edu/
coopmap, displays the probablility of receiving
precipitation through the year. The graph
on the left below shows the probability of
receiving 2 inches of rainfall in a 30-day period
for a station in southwestern Oregon. This graph
indicates that it is highly unlikely this will ever
happen during the summer, which may lead
the practitioner to consider supplemental
watering or some other measure to keep plants
alive during the first year after the seedlings are
planted. In comparison, the graph on the lower
right shows the probabilities that 2 inches of
precipitation would occur in 30 days in upstate
New York any time of the year is more than
90 percent, indicating that irrigation of newly
planted seedlings may not be necessary.
Figure 4-4 | Precipitation trends
The PRISM website allows the user to obtain
extrapolated weather data for any point in
the United States. By identifying the project
location on an interactive map of the U.S., a report
is generated that summarizes site-specific
climate information for that area. In addition,
this website displays climate information in a
variety of ways that may be helpful in revegetation
planning. This map, for instance, shows
precipitation trends for the past five years
across the U.S., which can be useful during the
development of the revegetation plan.
Roadside Revegetation: An Integrated Approach to Establishing Native Plants and Pollinator Habitat
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