UCRI Method
A transparent screening index, not a black box.
California UCRI is the statewide operating method. It combines canopy deficit, heat exposure, impervious surface, social vulnerability, and environmental burden into one documented tract-level priority signal. CalEnviroScreen 5.0 supplies the current environmental-burden component.
9,129
California 2020 tract records
9,033
fully scored and ranked
74
provisional records
22
unscorable records
Decode any score
What does a UCRI score actually mean?
Drag across the real statewide distribution to read any score in context: its percentile, how crowded that part of the curve is, and the nearest real California tract.
Score decoder | California distribution
Linking dataset
Drag the chart or tap a percentile chip. Every readout is computed in your browser from the verified public dataset, real scores only.
Formula
The current UCRI weighting
Each component is represented on a 0-100 statewide percentile scale, where higher means a stronger priority contribution. The released score is a weighted sum.
UCRI = 0.25*CDS + 0.25*HES + 0.15*ISS + 0.20*SVS + 0.15*EBS
CDS
Canopy Deficit Score
Tree canopy need
25%
HES
Heat Exposure Score
Summer land-surface heat
25%
ISS
Impervious Surface Score
Paved and built surface
15%
SVS
Social Vulnerability Score
CDC/ATSDR SVI context
20%
EBS
Environmental Burden Score
CalEnviroScreen pollution burden
15%
Current source
One California model across every workflow
The Explorer, reports, project-area calculations, APIs, downloads, and CanoProof all use this same current environmental-burden source.
| Component | Environmental burden |
|---|---|
| Current source | CalEnviroScreen 5.0 Pollution Burden percentile |
| Source release | July 1, 2026 |
| Status | Current and used in UCRI |
Previous CalEnviroScreen-based Canopulse releases are preserved separately for reproducibility and are not used in current reports.
Method details
How the score is produced
This page is intentionally plain about the current method. It is strong enough for screening and comparison; it is not a claim of parcel-level engineering certainty.
Source normalization
Raw source values are joined to 2020 census tracts by GEOID, summarized at tract scale, and converted to statewide percentile scores so unlike units can be combined.
Missing-data handling
Fully scored tracts require all five layers. Records with missing components are labeled provisional or unscorable and excluded from the 9,033-tract California ranking.
Confidence tiers
Confidence is a visible output, not a hidden footnote. Tract-level scores support screening, prioritization, and comparison; field checks remain required before siting projects.
Public vs proprietary
The tiled Explorer serves official 2020 tract geometry at tract zoom. Simplified or static geometry is used only where a smaller export, report thumbnail, or locator graphic needs it. The full master dataset, QA files, and private pipeline artifacts are controlled separately.
Confidence
What the labels mean
The platform avoids pretending that every tract has the same evidentiary strength.
All five input layers are present; confidence is still capped because tract-scale screening is not parcel-scale validation.
One or more required contextual layers are missing; the tract is excluded from the official fully scored ranking.
A visible estimate can be shown from measured layers, but it is labeled and excluded from the official ranking.
Offshore or non-land records are locked rather than forced into a numeric score.
Validation status
Released checks, version boundaries, and limits
The method record separates deterministic release checks from additional independent review.
California UCRI release
9,129 statewide tract records are indexed; 9,033 are fully scored, 74 are provisional, and 22 are unscorable.
CES 5.0 provenance
The official July 1, 2026 PollutionP field is joined by unique tract GEOID, retained as EBS, and bound to the release by source checksum. Missing official rows remain missing.
Known limits
Tract-scale screening cannot identify plantable parcels, ownership, underground utilities, irrigation feasibility, or final project cost.
Positioning
What is novel here
The index components are familiar. The product value is the workflow: statewide search, scale-based maps, county and city/place context, grounded explanation, versioned reports, and export-ready screening evidence.
Tree Equity Score
Strong equity/canopy benchmark. Canopulse differs by adding heat, imperviousness, live tract refresh, and report workflow.
i-Tree
Excellent for ecosystem services and tree-benefit modeling. Canopulse is a tract-level prioritization and reporting layer, not a tree inventory model.
CalEnviroScreen
Authoritative California environmental-burden index. Canopulse uses it as one component, not as a replacement.
Heat maps / canopy maps
Useful single-layer evidence. Canopulse combines multiple layers into a traceable screening memo.
Use the method on a real tract.
Open the unified Canopulse Explorer or inspect a current California UCRI tract report.