i-Tree Tools

The i-Tree Tools are a software suite developed by the USDA Forest Service. These tools are free and available for use by the wide range of practitioners interested in urban forestry. With these tools, a user may undertake projects ranging from quantifying the benefits of an individual tree all the way to a project assessing the role trees play in the environmental functioning of a watershed or a municipality.

Applications:

• i-Tree Design
  • What it needs -
    • species, size, location and condition of an existing tree or a potential tree yet to be planted
  • What it does -
    • estimates the benefits provided by an individual tree or multiple trees
  • What it provides - 
    • a comprehensive assessment of the environmental and economic benefits of tree(s) for the current year, current lifespan of the tree, and future projected year

• i-Tree Canopy allows users to assess land cover, including tree canopy cover and impervious surface, on a given property or area of land. Based on this assessment of land cover, the application can give an estimate of the ecosystem services provided by the trees within this geographic area from what is known of the local forest composition. 
  
  
• i-Tree Eco
  • What it needs -
    • field data collected from the study area
  • What it does -
    • analyzes this field data combined with available data on local air quality and on weather patterns
  • What it provides - 
    • an assessment of the structure, functions, and benefits of the urban forest

The predecessor of i-Tree Eco, UFORE, was used to assess Hartford's urban forest.

• i-Tree Streets
  • What it needs -
    • inventory data collected on street trees in the study areas, including community specific information such as maintenance budget and city population
  • What it does -
    • compares the benefits and costs associated with a street tree population
    • calculates structure, function, and management needs
  • What it produces -
    • charts and graphs showing the extent of the costs and benefits of street trees, broken down by comparisons of specific benefits such as air pollution removal

The predecessor of i-Tree Streets, STRATUM, was used to assess New Haven's street tree population and had a important role in the developing of New Haven's Street Tree Map.

i-Tree Streets differs from i-Tree Eco in that Eco allows for an analysis of the full urban forest, including public and private trees, while Streets is dedicated to the analysis of street trees.

• i-Tree Landscape  

Through i-Tree Landscape, a user does not need access to an inventory or a background in GIS in order to guide the software through an analysis of the tree canopy cover of a selected geographical area. An assessment of the environmental benefits that stem from these trees is produced from the application. Users can also prioritize tree planting based on demographic information, health statistics, and benefits from trees.

• i-Tree Hydro focuses on the water that flows through an ecosystem, such as a local watershed or a municipality, and how those may be influenced by changes in canopy cover or impervious surface. The user can view the changes that results from various changes in tree and impervious cover characteristics input by the user. Hydro will use recorded stream flow data to quantify and illustrate hourly and total changes in stream flow and water quality.

Through i-Tree Hydro, planners and others can see how the effects of various practices, such as the construction of a housing development, might influence flooding and/or water quality in an adjacent watershed.

DEEP Forestry would like to include additional examples of local use of these i-Tree tool applications, as a way of expanding their use and sharing insights. Local users are invited to contact the state's Urban Forestry Coordinator:

Chris Donnelly
Urban Forestry Coordinator
CT DEEP Forestry
860-424-3178

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