New CITYgreen.

AMERICAN FORESTS has released a new version of its CITYgreen geographic information system (GIS) software that allows users to take advantage of new GIS tools.

The software uses the strength of the Internet to import landcover data from remote sources via the Internet. From there users can access many types of geographic content, including dynamic maps, downloadable data, and more advanced Web services.

CITYgreen for ArcGIS, which is designed for professional GIS users, "can help communities save millions of dollars in meeting air and water quality regulations by accurately calculating the work performed by their green infrastructure," says Gary Moll, vice president of urban forestry at AMERICAN FORESTS.

A water quality analysis model that computes the effect trees and other forms of landcover have on 10 pollutants present in nearby bodies of water is new in the latest version. The software also includes a simplified user interface, updated equations for computing analyses, and enhanced reporting and presentation capabilities.

Previous versions of CITYgreen ran as extensions to ArcView 3.x. AMERICAN FORESTS continues to offer CITYgreen 5 for those wishing to stay with the ArcView platform or who wish to run energy conservation and tree growth models. The version is ideal for schools, and free teaching materials and lesson plans are provided on AMERICAN FORESTS' website. CITYgreen for Windows, planned for later this year, is designed for nontechnical users who want to run an analysis without having additional need of ArcGIS.

For more information, visit www.americanforests.org/campaigns/ecological_services.