Comparing optimal and actual forest road locations using least-cost analysis in QGIS
Abstract
For the Lakehead Forest licence, west of Thunder Bay, Ontario, a least-cost
roads model was built in QGIS using provincial Digital Elevation Model (PDEM) data,
and data provided by Greenmantle. A cost-surface was also generated from the PDEM
using a script created in the ArcPy module of Python. The model identified the most
cost-efficient routes for operational roads within a limited criterion, connecting terminal
points in harvested stands to terminal points along primary access roads. The modelled
roads were then compared to existing roads mirroring the modelled versions, to analyze
whether differences were significant. The network of roads as a whole was significantly
different at the 0.05-alpha level, while 41 of 42 individual road pairs were significantly
different at the 0.05-alpha level.
Collections
- Undergraduate theses [325]