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Sustained forests; sustained profits
evolving since March 30, 1999

Project Pivotal-Rig

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Nelson Temperature Profiles of Project Pivotal-Rig A potential project of Rural Nelson

A profoundly important variable affecting all aspects of forestry, agriculture, tourism, and energy budgets of both wild animals and human spaces is temperature.

Klopfer has already done much work on temperatures within the state (including Nelson County) but more refinements are needed and the results can be sold to participants.

A plant hardiness map needs to be created. The county has a great variety of spaces that produce or allow freezing temperatures and an inability of plants to over winter. This is the gross concept of the plant hardiness zone shown in gardeners' catalogs but it needs to be made specific for the county to improve dicisions about plantings and to reduce the costs resulting from plant failures. The county has zones 6 and 7 often shown

• Zone 6 - Average Annual Minimum Temperatures -10 to 0 degrees F
• Zone 7 - 0 to 10 degrees F

These need to be refined and another map prepared, changing "average" to likely minimum.

New maps are needed of vegetation (Morton) and land forms (McCombs) and changing plant phenomena with elevation, latitude, and longitude (McCombs). These new GIS maps allow us to become specific about expected net crop production value per unit area per unit time. Not production from a single crop but total land-system production becomes the new criterion for county-wide evaluation.

Additional work needs to be done on temperatures within the growing season on each alpha unit; degree days in each alpha unit; and probable soil temperatures in the topsoil in each alpha unit.

Secondary studies are needed (of past research) of ground temperatures that may be used with heat exchange units for homes and businesses.

Temperature inputs need to be made for realtors ... for those who buy, build, or sell structures.

References

McCombs, J. W. 1998. Geographic information system topographic factor maps for wildlife management. M.S. Thesis, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA. 141 pp.

Klopfer, S. D. 1998. Insolation, precipitation, and moisture maps for a Virginia geographic information system. M.S. Thesis, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA. 184 pp.

Morton, D. 1998. Landcover map of Virginia. M.S. Thesis, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA.

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This Web site is maintained by R. H. Giles, Jr.
Last revision June 22, 2002.