Research Attribution and Hosting Notice
This interactive mapping application presents original research and geographic data developed by Tyler Lobach at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown under the supervision of Dr. J. Matthew Sernell, with support from the Pennsylvania Geographical Society. Due to university IT policies governing external web applications, this project is privately hosted by Dr. Sernell rather than on university servers. The application was developed using Ty’s original GIS datasets, with artificial intelligence (AI) assistance limited to generating and refining the HTML and JavaScript code used to display and interact with the data. All underlying geographic data, scientific analysis, research findings, and interpretations are the work of Tyler Lobach. AI was used as a web-development tool, not to generate the research or its results.
Mapping Campus Carbon
UPJ Campus Environmental Mapping Explorer · Tyler Lobach & J. Matthew Sernell · PGS 2026
Interactive campus map
How the analysis works
High-resolution UAV imagery was used to delineate tree canopy, grass/fields, and impervious surfaces. Mapped canopy was separated into forest and non-forest categories and paired with published i-Tree/FIA carbon factors to estimate carbon storage and annual sequestration.
A hypothetical clearing and development scenario illustrates potential changes to canopy, pavement, and modeled carbon benefits.
Interpretation and limitations
Campus tree canopy is estimated to store approximately 81,588 metric tons of CO₂ equivalent. The hypothetical scenario would remove about 1.4% of existing canopy and reduce modeled storage by roughly 1.1%.
These are canopy-area-based planning estimates, not individual-tree inventories. Soil carbon, embodied construction emissions, and regrowth were not modeled. Totals are from the poster analysis, not recalculated by this viewer.