nsink

nsink identifies landscape sinks within catchments, estimates their nitrogen removal potential, and maps the effect of those sinks on nitrogen movement.

Key Features:

• Landscape Sink Identification: Uses widely available GIS data to identify landscape sinks such as wetlands, streams, and ponds within HUC-12 or larger catchments.
• Nitrogen Removal Estimation: Estimates nitrogen removal potential of identified landscape sinks through transformation of dissolved N into gaseous N.
• Static Map Generation: Produces static maps to visualize nitrogen removal efficiency, transport, and delivery as an index.
• Interactive Flowpath Investigation: Generates flowpaths with tables describing nitrogen removal along each segment for user-selected locations within the catchment.
• Data Acquisition and Processing: Facilitates acquisition, processing, and visualization of GIS data for nitrogen movement analysis.

Scientific Applications:

• Coastal Ecosystem Management: Assesses landscape nitrogen removal in coastal catchments to understand effects of land management decisions on downstream nitrogen delivery.
• Land Use Planning: Enables evaluation of potential impacts of proposed development projects, zoning variances, and land acquisition or restoration on nitrogen mitigation.
• Nitrogen Reduction Strategy Analysis: Allows investigation of tradeoffs among different nitrogen reduction strategies for resource economists.
• Estuarine Water Quality Protection: Supports understanding of relationships between land use and downstream nitrogen delivery to protect estuarine water quality.

Methodology:

The N-Sink approach uses widely available GIS data to identify landscape sinks within catchments, estimate their nitrogen removal potential, and map the effect of those sinks on nitrogen movement through the catchment. Static maps are produced to visualize nitrogen removal efficiency, transport, and delivery as an index. The method was implemented as an R package to facilitate data acquisition, processing, and visualization.