A decision support tool for predicting water yield in North Florida forests

We present a geospatial decision support tool for predicting water yield (precipitation minus evapotranspiration) impacts of forest management strategies across North Florida. Our tool assembles geographic data layers on forest structure, hydrogeology, and hydroclimate, the inputs for an established empirical model to predict stand-level water yield. Users input areas of interest into the ArcGIS interface, and the tool collates information on satellite image-derived leaf area index (LAI), water table depth, and climate aridity to make predictions of baseline (current) water yield, as well as changes in response to user-specified LAI scenarios. Across the study domain, forest LAI was 2.72 ± 0.86 (mean ± standard deviation), while water yield was 33.4 ± 13.4 cm yr −1 . The tool successfully predicts baseline water yield observations at the 30 original field site locations ( r = +0.860). It is simple to use, enabling participatory exploration of the role of forest management in regional hydrologic processes. • FWYP is an ArcGIS-based tool for predicting water yield in North Florida forests. • FWYP uses Google Earth Engine and ArcGIS Pro to derive and integrate datasets. • It enables parcel-scale water yield predictions based on leaf area index (LAI). • FWYP uses Landsat-derived LAI to estimate water yield changes from LAI change. • It supports diverse management goals across silviculture and conservation contexts.