Publications
Filter Total Items: 491
The Lake Tahoe Basin Land Use Simulation Model
This U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report describes the final modeling product for the Tahoe Decision Support System project for the Lake Tahoe Basin funded by the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act and the U.S. Geological Survey's Geographic Analysis and Monitoring Program. This research was conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey Western Geographic Science Center. The purpose of this
Authors
William M. Forney, I. Benson Oldham
Tools and methods for evaluating and refining alternative futures for coastal ecosystem management—the Puget Sound Ecosystem Portfolio Model
The U.S. Geological Survey Puget Sound Ecosystem Portfolio Model (PSEPM) is a decision-support tool that uses scenarios to evaluate where, when, and to what extent future population growth, urban growth, and shoreline development may threaten the Puget Sound nearshore environment. This tool was designed to be used iteratively in a workshop setting in which experts, stakeholders, and decisionmakers
Authors
Kristin B. Byrd, Jason R. Kreitler, William B. Labiosa
Land-use planning for nearshore ecosystem services—the Puget Sound Ecosystem Portfolio Model
The 2,500 miles of shoreline and nearshore areas of Puget Sound, Washington, provide multiple benefits to people—"ecosystem services"—including important fishing, shellfishing, and recreation industries. To help resource managers plan for expected growth in coming decades, the U.S. Geological Survey Western Geographic Science Center has developed the Puget Sound Ecosystem Portfolio Model (PSEPM).
Authors
Kristin Byrd
Land-cover change research at the U.S. Geological Survey-assessing our nation's dynamic land surface
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) recently completed an unprecedented, 27-year assessment of land-use and land-cover change for the conterminous United States. For the period 1973 to 2000, scientists generated estimates of change in major types of land use and land cover, such as development, mining, agriculture, forest, grasslands, and wetlands. To help provide the insight that our Nation will ne
Authors
Tamara S. Wilson
Estimation of late twentieth century land-cover change in California
We present the first comprehensive multi-temporal analysis of land-cover change for California across its major ecological regions and primary land-cover types. Recently completed satellite-based estimates of land-cover and land-use change information for large portions of the United States allow for consistent measurement and comparison across heterogeneous landscapes. Landsat data were employed
Authors
Benjamin M. Sleeter, Tamara S. Wilson, Christopher E. Soulard, Jinxun Liu
Geographic science for public and Tribal lands management
There are more than 650 million acres of U.S. public and Tribal lands, most found west of the Mississippi River. Scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey's Western Geographic Science Center are working to increase the scientific information available for natural resource decision making, while continuing productive collaborations with Federal land managers, Tribal leaders, and local communities.
Authors
Alicia Torregrosa
Development of a high-resolution binational vegetation map of the Santa Cruz River riparian corridor and surrounding watershed, southern Arizona and northern Sonora, Mexico
This report summarizes the development of a binational vegetation map developed for the Santa Cruz Watershed, which straddles the southern border of Arizona and the northern border of Sonora, Mexico. The map was created as an environmental input to the Santa Cruz Watershed Ecosystem Portfolio Model (SCWEPM) that is being created by the U.S. Geological Survey for the watershed. The SCWEPM is a map-
Authors
Cynthia S.A. Wallace, Miguel L. Villarreal, Laura M. Norman
Mapping perennial vegetation cover in the Mojave Desert
Scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey's Western Geographic Science Center have recently created a regional map of perennial vegetation cover for the Mojave Desert. The scientists used existing field data collected for a variety of previous studies and satellite data available for free through USGS archives to create a calibrated model of percent vegetation cover, an important attribute of des
Authors
Cynthia S.A. Wallace
Unravelling long-term vegetation change patterns in a binational watershed using multitemporal land cover data and historical photography
A significant amount of research conducted in the Sonoran Desert of North America has documented, both anecdotally and empirically, major vegetation changes over the past century due to human land use activities. However, many studies lack coincidental landscape-scale data characterizing the spatial and temporal manifestation of these changes. Vegetation changes in a binational (USA and Mexico) wa
Authors
Miguel L. Villarreal, Laura M. Norman, Robert H. Webb, Diane E. Boyer, Raymond M. Turner
A multitemporal (1979-2009) land-use/land-cover dataset of the binational Santa Cruz Watershed
Trends derived from multitemporal land-cover data can be used to make informed land management decisions and to help managers model future change scenarios. We developed a multitemporal land-use/land-cover dataset for the binational Santa Cruz watershed of southern Arizona, United States, and northern Sonora, Mexico by creating a series of land-cover maps at decadal intervals (1979, 1989, 1999, an
Using terrestrial light detection and ranging (lidar) technology for land-surface analysis in the Southwest
Emerging technologies provide scientists with methods to measure Earth processes in new ways. One of these technologies--ultra-high-resolution, ground-based light detection and ranging (lidar)--is being used by USGS Western Geographic Science Center scientists to characterize the role of wind and fire processes in shaping desert landscapes of the Southwest United States.
Authors
Christopher E. Soulard, Rian Bogle
Population and business exposure to twenty scenario earthquakes in the State of Washington
This report documents the results of an initial analysis of population and business exposure to scenario earthquakes in Washington. This analysis was conducted to support the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Pacific Northwest Multi-Hazards Demonstration Project (MHDP) and an ongoing collaboration between the State of Washington Emergency Management Division (WEMD) and the USGS on earthquake hazards a
Authors
Nathan Wood, Jamie Ratliff