River surveys are necessary for understanding aquatic ecosystems and managing inland fisheries. On Washington’s Olympic Peninsula, a decade of collaboration between the National Park Service, U.S. Geological Survey, and other tribal, state, and federal agencies resulted in spatially continuous surveys of adult salmonids and aquatic habitat at summer low flows for entire rivers 50-70 km in length. We integrate, store, and visualize multiple river surveys to allow stakeholders to understand and manage survey results. We are developing a riverscape platform in which georeferenced survey data are visualized by project partners using the capabilities of ESRI's ArcMap 10.3 and ArcGIS Online. We digitize and linear-reference river surveys, manipulate spatial scale with a binning approach, and design a uniform system for storage and georeferenced graphing. This system is hosted on ArcMap Online with a simplified data interface, while data are managed in geodatabase and layer packages.
Results/Conclusions
Surveys from multiple rivers across time were compared in a spatially accurate GIS environment. Use of linear referencing and data binning makes it possible to investigate rivers at multiple scales. GIS creates a versatile digital product, providing a method for multi-basin river analysis because many river surveys may be verified and shared on the same platform. Preliminary applications of this system suggest that it can enhance interagency collaboration and, ultimately, improve the usefulness of river survey data, with opportunities for streamlined communication of results to stakeholders and the public.