HydroloGIS
Visit Tool
HydroloGIS is an in-house tool from Viridian Logic Ltd run on a consultancy basis that identifies, ranks and prioritises the best interventions to create and where to create them in order to maximise the provision of nature-based solutions to local problems. It splits ecosystem services into two categories: water-flow services (flooding, water pollution, erosion and drought reduction), which are modelled mathematically; and place-based services (all others such as recreation and carbon sequestration), which are modelled using simple GIS data layers and rules. The output maps show how to maximise ecosystem service benefits, habitat connectivity and return on investment, in order to tackle problems such as meeting water quality targets and providing natural flood management (NFM). The tool can also estimate avoided flood damage costs due to NFM.
Information Requirements
Input
Maps / GIS data (sourced and managed by Viridian or provided by user).
Output
Maps; GIS databases; Tables / statistics / reports
Resource Requirements
None – the tool is a proprietary tool provided by the developer.
How does it work?
HydroloGIS combines hydrological and GIS algorithms to rank every 5 metre pixel across the study area for its current and future ability to solve water-flow problems, such as flooding, diffuse pollution and erosion/siltation. Services such as recreation, air quality and carbon services can then be added to show trade-offs, synergies and options for improvement. The platform provides raster map outputs that indicate where habitat creation will offer the greatest benefits in a study area, including maximising return on investment and habitat connectivity. These maps show prioritised opportunities for nature-based solutions to tackle water resource provision (including pond creation and groundwater recharge); pluvial, fluvial and groundwater flooding; water quality; and enhanced agricultural management. Local preferences can be taken into consideration – for example, flooding may be more important than diffuse pollution in some areas – as well as protected sites or species. The local analyses can be expanded to regional or national scale.
Detailed Information
Terrestrial, freshwater or marine focus?
- Terrestrial
- Freshwater
- Marine Focus
User Time Requirements:
Client: none Viridian Logic: at least two days
Developer Organisation
Viridian Logic Ltd
Other Information
It is important that water-flow services (such as flooding) are modelled properly. Designing solutions using standard GIS methods ofren results in inefficient and misleading ‘opportunity maps’. Research by the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology found that 50% of natural flood management projects across Europe delivered no benefits or made flooding worse. The tool developers of HyrdoloGIS believe this is largely due to the wrong features being created in the wrong places. HydroloGIS overcomes this problem by fully integrating landscape interactions and connectivity into its algorithms, so it properly identifies the best solutions in the best places. This makes it ideal for planning projects, as well as producing meaningful numbers for natural capital valuation, costing landscape planning proposals and integrating with other projects (such as traditional flood defences). The ranking of solutions also offers stakeholders a range of options and facilitates participatory design.
