i-Tree Methods Documentation, Model Notes, & Technical Papers

For foreign language materials, please see our International Documents.

Para materiales traducidos, consulte los Documentos Internacionales.

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i-Tree Suite General

• Science Change Log - A running outline of changes made to the science behind the i-Tree tools
• New Carbon Equations and Methods, 2021
• i-Tree Species List - Users looking for the latest i-Tree species list should download it directly from the View tab within i-Tree Eco. The online tools generally use a subset of this species list that may eliminate certain shrubs or be regionally specific. The species list is regularly updated within i-Tree Eco and the version provided here may be out of date. This version was downloaded on January 17, 2023.
• i-Tree Version Updates - Current software versions and the i-Tree desktop change log document.
• Invasive Plant Species - A list of invasive species and associated references by state.
• Click here to see changes to the software not related to a software version update. (coming soon)

i-Tree Eco

• i-Tree Eco Methods Documentation, Model Descriptions, & Journal Articles
• i-Tree Eco International Development

i-Tree Database

i-Tree Database provides a central submission site for new location-specific data coming into i-Tree from around the world. Submitted data will be vetted and officially added to i-Tree Eco and potentially other tools in the future. Users in these new locations will be able to update their software and run an analysis with new locations and species without requiring manual processing by the US Forest Service. Below are some files that are used in the data submission process with i-Tree Database.Refer to the i-Tree Database Help section for guidance on how to use these resources.

• Eco v6.0 International Guide - for International Projects outside of the fully adapted countries.
• Precipitation Data Templates - A link to the precipitation data templates used for submitting hourly precipitation data in i-Tree Database.
• Air Pollution Data Templates - A link to the air pollution data templates used for submitting local pollution data in i-Tree Database.
• Example Hourly Air Pollution - an (.xlsx) example of hourly pollution data properly formatted for used for Ethiopian city integration.
• Example Hourly Precipitation - an (.xlsx) example of hourly precipitation data properly formatted used for Ethiopian city integration
• Ozone State Comparison Table - U.S. state ozone depth information for matching a new international location
• Climate Region Map - US climate zones available for matching a new international location used in estimating energy effects of trees.

i-Tree Canopy

• Canopy Technical Notes - A document describing basic procedures, limitations and calculations for i-Tree Canopy.
• Canopy Change Statistics Calculator - A spreadsheet tool that provides a statistical summary of change in canopy cover based on an i-Tree Canopy change survey. Methods are described in Nowak and Greenfield , 2012.
• Canopy Boundary Shapefile Guide - A guide providing basic procedures for downloading and preparing a shapefile boundary with ArcGIS for use in i-Tree Canopy. Procedures should also apply for most GIS packages and free versions such as QGIS.
• Canopy Air Pollutant Removal and Monetary Value Model Descriptions - This document describes the methods and limitations used in determining default value multipliers for air pollutant removal rates and monetary values for a unit tree cover. The derived multipliers are incorporated in the i-Tree Canopy model to estimate air pollutant removal and values for locations in the conterminous United States.
• Carbon Storage and Sequestration by Trees in Urban and Community Areas of the United States - This document is used to determine default values for carbon dioxide storage rates (g/m²) and carbon dioxide sequestration rates (g/m²/yr.) used by the i-Tree Canopy application.
• Tree and Impervious Cover Change in U.S. Cities - Nowak & Greenfield - A 2012 journal article using photointerpretation (PI) methodology to compare tree & impervious cover change in U.S. cities.
• Photo Interpretation Comparison With NLCD Imagery - A 2010 journal article comparing the accuracy of NLCD imagery using photointerpretation (PI). The PI methods are the foundation for the i-Tree Canopy application. Article also describes methods for integrating quality assurance in a survey.
• Comparing the USDA Forest Service Tree Canopy Cover Datasets 2011, 2016, 2019 and 2021 with Photointerpretation of High-Resolution Google Earth Imagery: Guidance for Use in in Community Scale Forest Management - A white paper comparing 30m resolution canopy cover imagery to photo interpretation methods to provide guidance to users in obtaining percent canopy of a geography at community scale.
• Draft metadata and data sources for UK and Sweden localizations of i-Tree Canopy - This is a preliminary draft of the data sources supporting the 2021 localization of i-Tree Canopy to Sweden and the United Kingdom.
• Predefined i-Tree Canopy Cover Classes

i-Tree Design

• iTree Design Methods - An updated summary describing methods and processes used in the i-Tree Design v6 application. Updated September 2014.
• Design Application Notes - A summary of the i-Tree Design application "About" notes describing the model. Similar information can be accessed directly from the Design application.

i-Tree Landscape

• i-Tree Landscape Methods, Limitations and Uncertainties - A document (pdf) describing i-Tree Landscape's ecosystem services estimates, modeling methods, data inputs, limitations and uncertainties.
• i-Tree Eco United States County-Based Hydrologic Estimates - A document (pdf) describing i-Tree Landscape's county-based hydrological estimates based on i-Tree Eco.
• i-Tree v6 Pollutant Removal, Biogenic Emissions and Hydrologic Processes Descriptions v1.1 - A document (pdf) describing common i-Tree v6 ecosystem services methods and processes used by i-Tree Landscape, Canopy, Design and Forecast including international adaptations for Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom. Updated April 14, 2016.
• i-Tree Landscape Pollutant Ranges - A spreadsheet (xlsx) showing ranges (min, mean and max) of air pollutant removal per unit tree cover (g/m2) used for i-Tree Landscape. Worksheets provided for county, urban and rural runs.
• i-Tree Landscape Carbon Storage and Sequestration for US Counties - A spreadsheet with estimated carbon sequestration and carbon storage values for US counties based on analysis of National Land Cover Data (NLCD) and Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) data for each county.

i-Tree Hydro

Please be advised that development has stopped for this tool, as we focus on its underlying model as part of Hydro+ in the i-Tree Research Suite. The following Hydro resources still apply to certain aspects of Hydro+ and to the last release of the Hydro Graphical User Interface (GUI) which is available in the i-Tree installer.

• Hydro: method descriptions and related journal articles
• Hydro: project creation files and data example files
• Hydro: i-Tree Canopy cover classes

i-Tree Tools Metadata

The following documents summarize the data used to perform the batch runs of i-Tree Eco that are used to create benefits multipliers (or base values) used in i-Tree Canopy, i-Tree Landscape, i-Tree Design, i-Tree Planting, MyTree, and OurTrees.

US locations: Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and US Virgin Islands.

International locations: Canada, Colombia, Mexico, and Europe.

i-Tree Pest Detection

• Information and Resources

i-Tree Species Resources

• i-Tree Species Methods - A detailed document describing the methodology of the i-Tree Species selector utility.

i-Tree Streets & STRATUM

Documents for STRATUM also pertain to i-Tree Streets as Streets is an adaptation of the original Street Tree Resource Assessment Tool for Urban Forest Managers (STRATUM) application.

• General Information
• i-Tree Streets Reference City Community Tree Guides
• i-Tree Streets Existing Inventory Import Resources

i-Tree Vue

• NLCD imagery correction factor article - A journal article comparing the accuracy of NLCD imagery with photointerpretation used to develop correction factor with Vue in version 4.0.

i-Tree Storm SDAP (Storm Damage Assessment Protocol)

• Urban Forests in Florida: Storm Damage Assessment Utility for Estimating Hurrican-Caused Tree Debris A University of Florida Extension fact sheet describing the development and utility of the Florida Hurricane Storm Damage Assessment Protocol.
• Hurricane Debris and Damage Assessment for Florida Urban Forests - A journal article describing the research and development of the Florida Hurricane Storm Damage Assessment Protocol.
• Florida Storm Damage Assessment Methods: Summary of Methods and Results for the Florida Hurricane adaptation in i-Tree Storm.
• Patterns of Urban Forest Debris from the 2004 and 2005 Florida Hurricane Seasons: A journal article discussing storm damage assessment of seven hurricanes during 2004 and 2005 Florida Seasons.
• Storm Damage Assessment Classroom Exercise - A procedure and template for conducting a simple, indoors SDAP learning module
• Storm Damage Assessment for Urban Trees: A Timely and Accurate Method - A brochure providing a summary description of the SDAP Utility.
• 2003 Storm Damage Protocol Implementation (OH-03-346) - Final report describing SDAP history, mechanics and implementation strategy.
• An Initial Storm Damage Assessment Protocol for Urban and Community Forests - A document describing SDAP methodology and function.

MCTI (Mobile Community Tree Inventory)

• MCTI Paper Tally Form - Standard data collection form for use with legacy copy of MCTI.