Developing a Simple Hydrodynamic-based GIS-toolbox for Mapping the Suitable Zones for Aquatic Species Migratory

TL;DR

This paper presents a GIS-based toolbox that integrates hydrodynamic modeling and habitat suitability analysis to map potential migratory zones for aquatic species, aiding environmental planning and conservation efforts.

Contribution

It introduces an automated GIS toolbox that interpolates hydrodynamic data and models fish habitat suitability, providing a user-friendly platform for ecological assessment.

Findings

Hydrodynamic data interpolation enhances habitat mapping accuracy.

The toolbox supports multiple fish species with different physical properties.

Graphical interface facilitates ecological and infrastructural planning.

Abstract

Several external sources may change the river's geomorphology, hydrodynamic characteristics, and water quality. Therefore, having a comprehensive assessment of the rivers' hydrodynamic would bring the preliminary information to reduce the human-made structures' short- and long-term effects on a different aspect of a region. An automated GIS toolbox is developed in the present study, which interpolates the hydrodynamic data from the HEC-RAS hydrodynamic model. A suitable fish habitat model is designed in the GIS toolbox, which uses the hydrodynamic interpolation result to assess the suitable habitat for aquatic species. In the study, different fish species' physical properties were considered to be used in conjunction with the hydrodynamic model to generate the habitat suitability raster datasets. This study provides the designers and scholars with a graphical interface of the GIS platform to model the potential migratory maps of the fish species under different hydrodynamic conditions.