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Data release for the Geographic context affects the landscape change and fragmentation caused by wind energy facilities.

Metadata Updated: July 6, 2024

Wind energy generation causes transformation of landscapes as new roads, pads, and transmission lines are constructed. We mapped, quantified, and analyzed the effects of facilities geographic context on road networks and changes in landscape patterns by digitizing the footprints of 39 wind facilities and the surrounding land cover using high-resolution imagery. We then measured landscape pattern before and after facility construction, using 3 metrics associated with species responses to habitat loss and fragmentation (amount, core area, and connectivity of undeveloped land) at the scale of 1km around newly constructed turbines and roads. This data here was used in understanding how new facilities change the amount of undeveloped land and changes in metrics of landscape patterns as key measures that could be used by developers and planners to make informed siting and layout decisions. Results showed that for these sites, new facilities decreased the amount of undeveloped land, on average, by just 1.8% while changes in metrics of landscape pattern were relatively much larger (50 to 125%). Linear models in the research paper results indicated levels of pre-construction development were a key factor explaining the impact of new wind facilities on landscape metrics, with pre-construction road networks, turbine spacing, and topography having smaller influences. Furthermore, as the proportion of developed land around facilities increased, a higher proportion of the facility utilized pre-construction developed land and a lower density of new roads were built, resulting in smaller impacts to undeveloped landscapes.

Access & Use Information

Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

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Dates

Metadata Created Date June 1, 2023
Metadata Updated Date July 6, 2024

Metadata Source

Harvested from DOI EDI

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Created Date June 1, 2023
Metadata Updated Date July 6, 2024
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Maintainer
@Id http://datainventory.doi.gov/id/dataset/36063db33a03122df7594837e3eecbcf
Identifier USGS:5a1343cfe4b09fc93dce6580
Data Last Modified 20200820
Category geospatial
Public Access Level public
Bureau Code 010:12
Metadata Context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
Metadata Catalog ID https://datainventory.doi.gov/data.json
Schema Version https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
Catalog Describedby https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
Harvest Object Id 5c7a843b-c568-49ec-98e8-e2cb3dc569f8
Harvest Source Id 52bfcc16-6e15-478f-809a-b1bc76f1aeda
Harvest Source Title DOI EDI
Metadata Type geospatial
Old Spatial -163.605532926,14.150962351,-67.776254535,46.571708591
Publisher Hierarchy White House > U.S. Department of the Interior > U.S. Geological Survey
Source Datajson Identifier True
Source Hash 44b2ed8fbb8dd392b5af7ecc435cd598352fa7a7b3dcca4c9bcd8698cac262b5
Source Schema Version 1.1
Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": -163.605532926, 14.150962351, -163.605532926, 46.571708591, -67.776254535, 46.571708591, -67.776254535, 14.150962351, -163.605532926, 14.150962351}

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