Methodology and Interpretation

Percent barren
The percentage of barren land cover is calculated by dividing the number of barren land cover cells in the reporting unit by the total number of land cover cells in the reporting unit minus those cells classified as water (i.e., total land area). This metric can be used to identify areas that may be more susceptible to increased water run off, which may in turn cause erosional soil loss, and consequently increases in stream or lake sedimentation. This metric may be used in conjunction with other landscape metrics to determine impervious surfaces prone to erosion.

Quantile: Each class contains an approximately equal number (count) of features. A quantile classification is well-suited to linearly distributed data. Because features are grouped by the number within each class, the resulting map can be misleading, in that similar features can be separated into adjacent classes, or features with widely different values can be lumped into the same class. This distortion can be minimized by increasing the number of classes.

Metric input GIS data:

• United States Hydrologic Units (8-digit HUCs) - Metadata

• United States Coastal Change Analysis Program (CCAP) - Metadata

• Canada Hydrologic Units (Subsubdivisions) - Metadata

• Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources Data Set - Metadata