Training

ONLINE TECHNICAL ACPF TRAINING

The ACPF team is excited to debut version 2 of the online ACPF technical training! We highly recommend new users take the training prior to getting started with ACPF. The training is hosted through the University of Wisconsin-Madison and based on the training videos created by the team at the National Laboratory for Agriculture and the Environment of the USDA ARS in Ames, Iowa.

The course is divided into 7 modules and includes how to download the ACPF toolbox and the core data and run the ecological tools on your chosen watershed. It can be taken at your own pace and allows you to jump to specific sections or go through the full course from start to finish!

This training is designed for individuals who have an intermediate knowledge of GIS as it assumes viewers are comfortable navigating toolboxes, using tool dialogs, manipulating map characteristics, and moving and joining tables. In order to take this training you must have access to:

To access the course, fill out the information below and you will receive an email with access information.

    WATERSHED APPLICATIONS OF THE ACPF TRAINING

    The ACPF National Hub has hosted several trainings focusing on using the outputs of the ACPF in a watershed management context. The trainings are designed for NRCS staff, watershed practitioners, county conservation staff, watershed planners, and private consultants who are interested in learning more about using the ACPF to improve their small watershed-based planning and implementation projects. No GIS or prior ACPF experience is needed. 

    The trainings are designed to help participants learn:

    • How to use ACPF results in a watershed planning context 
    • How a watershed perspective impacts agricultural conservation work
    • What the ACPF is and how it compares to and interacts with other state-specific  tools, applications, and models
    • How the ACPF improves the effectiveness of conservation work by allowing desktop work that informs field visits
    • How a field specialist works with a GIS specialist to generate meaningful and useful ACPF results
    • How to explain the assumptions behind each of the ACPF tools to farmers and other stakeholders
    • How to use ACPF results to engage stakeholders in conservation activities

    To date, training have been held in Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin and we currently are running a number of virtual trainings focusing on using the ACPF in watershed planning and implementation.

    To aid in your learning, we also have videos recordings of a limited number of the presentations given at ACPF Watershed Applications Trainings. The videos listed below are zoom presentations describing the different ways the ACPF has been used across the region.

    Looking for additional resources? We also have a series of written Use Examples that provide high-level examples of how the ACPF has been used in different contexts.

    ACPF TRAINING SUPPORT

    There are a number of ACPF training resources for ACPF users. Explore the ACPF Resource Library which has a number of resources including ACPF publications, examples of ACPF in use, a guide for making landscape-specific adaptations to the ACPF and more.

    Specifically, read the ACPF User’s Manual! The manual describes how to apply the ACPF planning tools with written instructions on inputting data, data maintenance, file management, digital-terrain-model processing, stream delineations, and runoff risk assessment, and guidance on how to execute the Python programming scripts that are used to propose conservation-practice placements.

    Also, if you are looking for additional support, we encourage you to join the APCF forum. The ACPF Forum is a Google Group of ACPF users from around the region where you can share results, ask questions, and report issues. Discussions have addressed user topics such as tips for fixing technical errors, how to identify false depressions, how to display flow direction, and more. The forum is also a great way to find out about ACPF updates. You can also find out about ACPF updates through the ACPF mailing list where we email out the latest ACPF news and events. Subscribe to our mailing list.