GIS Applications for Bridgestone Nature Reserve

Abstract

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have shown to be valuable for The Nature Conservancy's Bridgestone Reserve's solar energy efforts and their outreach projects for nearby landowners. Initially, GIS analysis for light detection and ranging was utilized for determining the recommended site placement for solar panels within the Conservancy's property. This approach in calculating the most ideal site placement for solar panels is a cost-effective method for ensuring the best possible generation of energy. Based on the tools that were executed in the GIS platform relating to Digital Elevation Model and Solar Radiation, the recommendation for the placement of the panels is to be on the ground rather than rooftop. In addition, GIS used data that was supplied in an ArcGIS spreadsheet and cross checked with data from the State of Tennessee's Real Estate Assessment Database. This contributed to the team's project of identifying eligible private forest landowners for outreach. This was done by spatially joining two layers and running multiple queries within those two layers. The original database showed a total of 35,987 addresses of privately owned small, forested lands in the Upper Cumberland. After putting in parameters relating to acreage and percentage of trees, the number of workshop appropriate landowners was reduced to less than 400.