Social Values for Ecosystem Services (SolVES)
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Ben Sherrouse (bcsherrouse@usgs.gov) - Contact for detailed troubleshooting or general information.
Darius Semmens (dsemmens@usgs.gov) - Contact for general information.

Version 3.0, October 2014

This file outlines the steps you should take to begin using SolVES 3.0 for assessing, mapping, and quantifying the social values of ecosystem services.  To download the program, or for other SolVES 3.0 information, including user manual, tutorial, journal articles, and sample data, please visit http://solves.cr.usgs.gov.


Disclaimers
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The SolVES tool, sample datasets, and statistical models described here and available at http://solves.cr.usgs.gov are applied at the user's own risk. The U.S. Department of the Interior or the system authors cannot assume responsibility for system operation, output, interpretation, or use.

Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

SolVES is a tool for mapping and analyzing social survey response data. It is not a tool designed for the collection of survey data, nor is any survey attached to SolVES. Any survey or survey response data referred to in the SolVES documentation, sample data, or publications is the work and responsibility of the persons or groups who developed and conducted that survey. Please note that before a Federal agency may collect information or sponsor a collection of information, the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) requires approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Any Federal agency or sponsored program interested in developing and conducting a survey for use with SolVES is wholly responsible for submitting an Information Collection Request (ICR) to OMB.


System Requirements
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SolVES 3.0 requires the ESRI ArcGIS 10.x (currently 10.0, 10.1, or 10.2) software and the Spatial Analyst Extension for working with grid-based data. The application is available as a custom toolbar Add-In that must be installed in ArcMap. SolVES 3.0 was developed and tested on systems running Microsoft Windows 7 Enterprise Edition but should function with other operating systems supported by ArcGIS 10. SolVES 3.0 also requires the installation of Maxent maximum entropy modeling software, version 3.3.3k. Additionally, the users computer must also run the .NET Framework and Java. Processing time will vary depending on factors such as the computers processor speed, the spatial resolution and extent of the study area, and the number of variables selected for analysis.


Downloading and Installing SolVES 3.0
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1. Download the SolVES_V3.zip file from the SolVES website http://solves.cr.usgs.gov.

2. Unzip the file.

3. Double-click the SolVES_v3.esriAddIn file.

4. Click Install Add-In on the Esri ArcGIS Add-In Installation Utility screen.

5. Click OK at the Installation succeeded prompt.


Confirming ArcMap Settings for SolVES 3.0
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1. Open ArcMap.

2. Choose Customize -> Extensions from the main menu.

3. Confirm the checkbox next to Spatial Analyst is checked.

4. Close the Extensions form.

5. Choose Geoprocessing -> Geoprocessing Options from menu.

6. On the General tab, confirm the checkbox next to Overwrite the outputs of geoprocessing operations is checked.

7. Select OK to close the Options form.

8. If the SolVES toolbar is not already displayed in ArcMap, Choose Customize -> Toolbars from the main menu.

9. Click on SolVES. 

10. If not already docked to the top of the ArcMap window, click and drag the SolVES toolbar there.


Installing Maxent Maximum Entropy Modeling Software
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Maxent maximum entropy modeling software is freely available for educational and research activities; however, it is not authorized for redistribution by its users. Maxent must be downloaded directly from the Maxent website www.cs.princeton.edu/~schapire/maxent/. The website also contains various links to additional information regarding Maxent. After navigating to the website, complete the following steps:

1. Follow the website instructions to download Maxent version 3.3.3k.
 
2. Return to the location of the unzipped SolVES 3.0 download file and copy the three downloaded Maxent files (maxent.bat, maxent.jar, and readme.txt) into the Maxent folder contained within the SolVES directory (\\SolVES\Maxent).


Data Installation
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1. Copy the entire SolVES folder to a local directory that will serve as the SolVES home directory (for example, D:\\SolVES).

2. If a properly loaded file geodatabase containing study area data is available, copy it into the \\SolVES\Data folder to make it accessible to SolVES. 

File geodatabases containing sample datasets for the Pike and San Isabel National Forests and Grand County, Colorado, can be downloaded from the SolVES website http://solves.cr.usgs.gov to provide hands-on experience using SolVES. These data, along with the supplied social-value models generated from these data, are meant for demonstration purposes only.


What's new in Version 3.0
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Revised Categorical Data Graphs:
Graphs of categorical environmental data were previously presented as bar graphs on the map layouts generated by SolVES. This resulted in overlapping bars that obscured all but the maximum value of each category. These graphs are now presented as modified scatterplots. This allows users to observe the majority or dominant category across the entire range of the value index.

Weight Survey Points Option:
Users can now choose to not apply weights to the survey points used to generate social-value maps. These weights are derived from the total amount allocated to each social-value type by all survey respondents and are applied to points of the same social-value type. This option allows users to directly compare analyses conducted with and without weights as well as facilitates the analysis of survey data that do not include value-allocation data.

Threshold Features Option:
Through its integration with Maxent, SolVES relies on features calculated by Maxent from user-supplied environmental variables to generate its final output. When combined, these features serve as the basis of Maxents model exponents. The inclusion of various combinations of these features allows Maxent to generate the best-fitting model for the provided point and environmental data.  However, one of these features, called a threshold, can sometimes result in abrupt changes in social-value maps, which are caused by steps introduced into the function describing the relationship between the value index and explanatory environmental variables. Users can now choose to exclude threshold features from a SolVES analysis in order to eliminate spatial artifacts from social-value maps.




