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Copy file name to clipboardExpand all lines: paper/paper.Rmd
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title: 'Open Riverine Ecosystem Synthesis (OpenRES): A QGIS plugin for automated extraction of hydrogeomorphic features to support Functional Process Zone classification of river networks'
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tags:
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- QGIS
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- river network classification
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- river classification
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- Riverine Ecosystem Synthesis
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- Functional Process Zones
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- hydrogeomorphology
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- name: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Merced, Merced, CA, USA
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index: 1
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date: 1 Dec 2025
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date: 24 Mar 2026
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bibliography: paper.bib
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---
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# Statement of need
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Functional Process Zones (FPZs) represent recurring hydrogeomorphic units within river corridors that operate at the reach-to-valley scale. Accurate classification and mapping of these zones are essential for evaluating how spatial variations in hydrogeomorphic structure influence ecological communities and ecosystem functioning within the Riverine Ecosystem Synthesis (RES) framework (@thorp_2006). However, the delineation and classification of FPZs have been constrained by the deprecation of standardized GIS tools (e.g., RESonate for ArcMap; @williams_2013) and by the absence of open-source alternatives capable of extracting the diverse hydrogeomorphic features required for FPZ classification across entire river networks. This limitation has hindered reproducibility and comparability across studies seeking to test or extend the RES framework.
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# Summary
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**Open Riverine Ecosystem Synthesis**, or `OpenRES`, addresses this gap by providing an open-source, modular, and GUI-accessible QGIS plugin that automates the extraction of key hydrogeomorphic features necessary for FPZ classification. By integrating reproducible methods within a widely adopted open-source GIS platform, `OpenRES` promotes standardization, accessibility, and scalability in riverine ecosystem analyses.
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**Open Riverine Ecosystem Synthesis**, or `OpenRES`, is an open-source, modular, and GUI-accessible QGIS plugin that automates the extraction of key hydrogeomorphic features necessary for Functional Process Zone (FPZ) classification of river networks. FPZs represent recurring hydrogeomorphic units within river corridors that operate at the reach-to-valley scale. Accurate classification and mapping of these zones are essential for evaluating how spatial variations in hydrogeomorphic structure influence ecological communities and ecosystem functioning within the Riverine Ecosystem Synthesis (RES) framework (@thorp_2006). However, the delineation and classification of FPZs have been constrained by the deprecation of standardized GIS tools (e.g., RESonate for ArcMap; @williams_2013) and by the absence of open-source alternatives capable of extracting the diverse hydrogeomorphic features required for FPZ classification across river networks at scale. This limitation has hindered reproducibility and comparability across studies seeking to test or extend the RES framework. By integrating reproducible methods within a widely adopted open-source GIS platform, `OpenRES` promotes standardization, accessibility, and scalability in riverine ecosystem analyses.
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# Background
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# Statement of need
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The Riverine Ecosystem Synthesis (RES) reconceptualizes rivers as downstream mosaics of large, discrete, and repeating hydrogeomorphic patches rather than continuous longitudinal gradients (in contrast with the River Continuum Concept; @vannote_1980). These hydrogeomorphic patches, termed Functional Process Zones, arise from interactions between catchment geomorphology, hydrology, and climate and typically span 5–10 km of river valley (@thorp_2010). FPZs describe differences in channel and valley structure, floodplain connectivity, and sediment and flow dynamics across watersheds (@hestir_2007), and have been linked to variation in ecological communities and ecosystem properties in rivers across five continents (@thorp_2023).
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The Riverine Ecosystem Synthesis (RES) reconceptualizes rivers as downstream mosaics of large, discrete, and repeating hydrogeomorphic patches rather than continuous longitudinal gradients (in contrast with the River Continuum Concept; @vannote_1980). These hydrogeomorphic patches, termed Functional Process Zones, arise from interactions between catchment geomorphology, hydrology, and climate and typically span 5–10 km sections of a river valley (@thorp_2010). FPZs describe differences in channel and valley structure, floodplain connectivity, and sediment and flow dynamics across watersheds (@hestir_2007), and have been linked to variation in ecological communities and ecosystem properties in rivers across five continents (@thorp_2023).
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FPZ classification requires spatially consistent measures of climatic, geologic, and geomorphic features, yet collecting these data in the field is often impractical. Automated geospatial tools therefore play a critical role in enabling watershed scale classification. `OpenRES` was developed to meet this need by offering a unified, reproducible, and open-source workflow for extracting the hydrogeomorphic features required for FPZ delineation.
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# OpenRES Audience
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`OpenRES` is intended for students, instructors, researchers, and practitioners in river science, geomorphology, hydrology, and ecosystem management who use QGIS and need a standardized, open-source tool to delineate FPZs and conduct studies of riverine ecosystems.
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# OpenRES Functionality
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# State of the field
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# Software design
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## Data Preparation
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There are six required datasets needed prior to the extraction of hydrogeomorphic features along a user's watershed of interest using OpenRES in QGIS:
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There are six required datasets needed prior to the extraction of hydrogeomorphic features along a user's watershed of interest using `OpenRES` in QGIS:
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- A rasterized mean annual precipitation layer.
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- A geomorphically corrected stream network layer.
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- A valley-boundary line layer delimiting valley bottoms and confining slopes.
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- A valley-boundary line layer delineating valley bottoms and confining slopes.
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- A channel-belt line layer defining the active or recently active channel zone.
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## Using OpenRES
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### Geomorphology Tools
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### Geomorphology tools
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OpenRES includes optional tools to help users prepare valley and channel-belt boundaries:
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These tools assist in constructing the line layers required for subsequent feature extraction.
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### Data Extraction Tools
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### Data extraction tools
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The core functionality of `OpenRES` is contained in seven data extraction tools, each of which is intended to be used sequentially to automate the extraction of fifteen hydrogeomorphic features.
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-**[1] Generate Transects**: Perpendicular transects are generated from each river segment centerline to the valley boundaries. The tool iteratively extends transects until two intersections with both left and right valley boundary lines are found, providing a consistent sampling framework for valley geometry.
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The resulting dataset contains standardized metrics that collectively describe longitudinal and lateral hydrogeomorphic variation along the river corridor.
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## After OpenRES: Unsupervised Classification
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## After OpenRES: unsupervised classification
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The extracted attributes can be exported to Python, R, or another software for clustering analyses commonly used to delineate FPZs (e.g., hierarchical clustering; @maasri_2019; @elgueta_2019). The resulting FPZ classes can be joined back to the river network for visualization and spatial analysis within QGIS. This workflow enables reproducible, cross-watershed FPZ classification and supports testing of RES hypotheses regarding linkages among hydrogeomorphic structure, ecological composition, and ecosystem function (@thorp_2023).
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# Research impact statement
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`OpenRES` is the first open-source implementation of a complete hydrogeomorphic feature extraction workflow for FPZ classification within QGIS. Unlike legacy tools such as RESonate, which depend on deprecated ArcMap environments, `OpenRES`:
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- operates in a modern, actively maintained GIS platform,
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- provides a modular and extensible architecture,
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- enables reproducible workflows across watersheds, and
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- integrates directly with open-source geospatial ecosystems.
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By lowering technical and software barriers, `OpenRES` facilitates broader adoption of the RES framework in river science and ecosystem studies.
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# Acknowledgements
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`OpenRES` was developed by members of the Earth Observation and Remote Sensing Laboratory at the University of California, Merced. The authors would like to thank Matthew Rossi, Rachel S. Meyer, E. Natasha Stavros, Madeline Slimp, and Meghan T. Hayden for their feedback, suggestions, and support during the development of OpenRES.
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