Providing Tools for USDA Monitoring and Assessment

CBI is using the latest remote sensing, machine learning, and modeling approaches to assess the quality of grasslands and pollinator habitat. Outputs from this analysis will be delivered to USDA through an online-decision support system, designed and built by CBI, called the USDA Conservation Toolkit. This suite of map-based tools will support the USDA Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and other land-based conservation and restoration programs operating across the United States. CRP currently covers ~24.8 million acres of working lands nationwide.

Goal: Assess ecosystems services across the CRP portfolio
  • Generate products to support USDA policies and program initiatives
  • Provide actionable conservation intelligence
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Targets
  • Quantify foundational supporting ecosystem services across CRP enrollments
    • Grasslands ecosystem quality
    • Pollinator habitat quality
  • Incorporate resulting spatial data and metrics into online applications, allowing for program reporting at multiple scales
  • A priority for this effort is to quantify the CRP national portfolio return on investment, screening enrolled farms, and assessing at state, regional and national scales
A map of the United States displays grassland quality, highlighting ecosystem services. States are outlined, with colors from dark purple (low quality) to light orange (high quality). A legend in the bottom left shows the scale from 0 to max quality, reflecting USDA CRP objectives.
Fig 1. Nationwide grassland quality model at 30 m resolution using a fuzzy-logic hierarchical model framework using 17 diagnostic indicators, including outputs from the Rangeland Analysis Platform (RAP) model.

CBI CRP Grassland Quality Model – Overview

Components
Map of Colorado showing the percentage of perennial grass cover, highlighting ecosystem services. Various shades of green indicate different coverage levels, with darker green representing higher percentages. Labeled cities include Fort Collins, Boulder, Denver, Colorado Springs, and Pueblo.
Fig 2 . Utilizes advances in remote sensing and machine learning combining imagery, climate, soils, and topography inputs to model  grassland ecosystems. In this example only the % perennial grass  for Colorado is shown.
What does it tell us?
  • Indicator for ecosystem health, form, function, and supporting services strength, based on the USDA grassland operational definition (USDA-NRCS 2024, National Resources Inventory Grazing Land On-Site Data Collection Handbook)
  • Complements existing frameworks (Rangeland Health Assessment) and other modeling efforts (RAP, K. Barnes 2024)
What does it offer USDA?
  • Multi-scale (non-monetary), valuation of ecosystem condition for CRP enrolled lands and surrounding landscape
  • Insights on baseline field-level condition and landscape-level spatial analytics for CRP assessment and reporting
  • Illustrates CRP return on investment at a programmatic scale and quantifies enrolled land performance with nuanced metrics
How is it unique?
A flowchart detailing steps from image processing to point extraction, highlighting filtering, atmospheric correction, and seasonal composite creation. It calculates vegetation indices and extracts training point values tabulated for USDA CRP analysis, emphasizing ecosystem services within the Conservation Reserve Program.

Pollinator Habitat Quality Model – Overview

Components
  • Integrative, comprehensive approach to modeling using the best available spatial data and remotely sensed metrics (e.g. US National Phenology Network, NLCD, Rangeland Analysis Platform (RAP), NatureServe Explorer, custom CBI products)
What does it tell us?
  • Describes pollinator natural resource needs and spatial use of the landscape
  • Indicator for pollinator population health and pollination service strength
  • Spatial complement to on-ground pollinator assessments funded by USDA
A landscape featuring a green field with patches of yellow plants under a cloudy sky. The sun is setting on the horizon, casting a soft orange glow and reflecting hues of blue and pink in the clouds.
What does it offer USDA?
  • Multi-dimensional, non-monetary valuation of pollinator habitat
  • Foundation for field to landscape-level spatial analytics for CRP assessment and reporting
  • Illustrates CRP return on investment at a programmatic scale and quantifies enrolled land performance with nuanced metrics
How is it unique?
Map of the United States showing pollinator habitat quality, color-coded from low (purple) to high (yellow). The western and central regions have more yellow, indicating better habitat quality, aligning with USDA CRP efforts to enhance ecosystem services compared to the eastern regions.
Fig 3 . Nationwide pollinator Habitat Quality model at 30 m resolution using a customized InVest© model framework informed by 300,000 bee observations.

Project Details

Partner

USDA Farm Services Agency

Location

WA, KS, NE, ND,SD, CO

Date

Sep, 2022 - Current

Services Provided

Related Content

Project Lead & Contact

Project Team

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