With the continuing degradation of riverine ecosystems, advancing our understanding of the spatially and temporally variable floodplain conditions produced by a river’s flood regime is essential to better manage these systems for greater ecological integrity. This requires development of analysis and visualization techniques for multi-dimensional spatio-temporal data. Research presented here applies 2D hydrodynamic modeling output of a floodplain restoration site along the lower Cosumnes River, California in R to analyze this spatio-temporal raster data and develop informative and engaging visualizations. Modeling output is quantified and compared within and across modeled flood events in space and time using metrics such as depth, velocity, and duration. To aid comparison and interpretation, rasters of model time steps are also summarized by integrating across space as well as across time. Data manipulation and summary is performed primarily within the raster package. This research presents new methods for quantifying and visualizing hydrodynamic modeling outcomes, improving understanding of the complex and variable floodplain inundation patterns that drive ecosystem function and process.
