WGSC contributes to HayWired
The GFSAD30 project accomplished their goal!
Dryland Management
Aridland Water Harvesting
Cienega Ranch
Semi-desert Native Grassland Restoration
Semi-desert Native Grassland Restoration
Western Geographic Science Center
The WGSC is responsible for research and applications to understand coupled human-environmental systems in the face of land change and delivering pertinent information to decision makers on the vulnerability and resilience of these systems. WGSC scientists collaborate with partners to advance the goals of the USGS Core Science Systems and Ecosystems Mission Areas and their programs.
Dr. Prasad Thenkabail visits India in Scientist Exchange Program
Dr. Prasad Thenkabail visits India in Scientist Exchange Program
Congratulations to Dr. Prasad Thenkabail, Research Geographer at WGSC, who represented the Department of Interior at the NASA and Indian Space Research Organization Professional Engineer and Scientist Exchange Program. Congratulations Prasad!
Dr Laura Norman wins the Farouk El-Baz Award
Dr Laura Norman wins the Farouk El-Baz Award
Congratulations to Dr. Laura Norman, who won the Farouk El-Bak Award for desert research!
Projects and teams at WGSC
Projects and teams at WGSC
Just a few examples of WGSC projects and science teams.
- Hazards Vulnerability Team
- Global Food Security-Support Analysis Data at 30 m (GFSAD30)
- Hazards Societal Consequences and Risk Communication
- Land-Use and Climate Change Team (LUCC)
- Aridlands Water Harvest Study
- Applied Landscape Ecology and Remote Sensing
- Patterns in the Landscape – Analyses of Cause and Effect (PLACE)
News
Dr Laura Norman wins the 2024 Farouk El-Baz Award
Dr Laura Norman wins the 2024 Farouk El-Baz Award
The science that transformed a dry streambed into an oasis
The science that transformed a dry streambed into an oasis
Employee Shoutout: Laura Norman Receives the Geological Society of America's 2024 Farouk El-Baz Award for Desert Research
Employee Shoutout: Laura Norman Receives the Geological Society of America's 2024 Farouk El-Baz Award for Desert Research
Publications
The feasibility of using national-scale datasets for classifying wetlands in Arizona with machine learning
The advent of machine learning techniques has led to a proliferation of landscape classification products. These approaches can fill gaps in wetland inventories across the United States (U.S.) provided that large reference datasets are available to develop accurate models. In this study, we tested the feasibility of expediting the classification process by sourcing requisite training and testing d
Birdwatching preferences reveal synergies and tradeoffs among recreation, carbon, and fisheries ecosystem services in Pacific Northwest estuaries, USA
Coastal ecosystems provide multiple ecosystem services that are valued in diverse ways. The Nisqually River Delta (the Delta), an estuary in Puget Sound, Washington, U.S.A., is co-managed by the Nisqually Indian Tribe and the Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge. In an ecosystem services assessment, we used different service-appropriate methods including citizen science, statistical
U.S. Geological Survey climate science plan—Future research directions
Executive Summary Climate is the primary driver of environmental change and is a key consideration in defining science priorities conducted across all mission areas in the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Recognizing the importance of climate change to its future research agenda, the USGS’s Climate Science Steering Committee requested the development of a Climate Science Plan to identify future rese
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Water Resources Mission Area, Energy Resources Program, Climate Adaptation Science Centers, Volcano Hazards Program, Alaska Science Center, California Water Science Center, Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, Volcano Science Center, Western Geographic Science Center, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center
Science
Young and Young at Heart
Young and Young-at-Heart is an early-career group based at Moffett Field, CA.
Impacts of Anthropogenic Land Cover Changes on Wildlife Bioenergetics and Landscape Connectivity
In order to maintain viable populations, wildlife require not only contiguous habitat but also the bodily ability to move through the landscape. The spatial expansion of human development can block or slow the movement of wildlife.
Global Crop Water Productivity and Savings through waterSMART (GCWP)
The waterSMART (Sustain and Manage America’s Resources for Tomorrow) project places technical information and tools in the hands of stakeholders that allow them to answer pertinent questions regarding water availability. Two goals of waterSMART are to 1) establish water availability and its use based on an understanding of the past and present water users and to 2) project water availability and...