Publications
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Residential and service-population exposure to multiple natural hazards in the Mount Hood region of Clackamas County, Oregon
The objective of this research is to document residential and service-population exposure to natural hazards in the rural communities of Clackamas County, Oregon, near Mount Hood. The Mount Hood region of Clackamas County has a long history of natural events that have impacted its small, tourism-based communities. To support preparedness and emergency-management planning in the region, a geospatia
Authors
Amy M. Mathie, Nathan Wood
The development and application of a decision support system for land management in the Lake Tahoe Basin—The Land Use Simulation Model
This report describes and applies the Land Use Simulation Model (LUSM), the final modeling product for the long-term decision support project funded by the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act and developed by the U.S. Geological Survey’s Western Geographic Science Center for the Lake Tahoe Basin. Within the context of the natural-resource management and anthropogenic issues of the basin and
Authors
William M. Forney, I. Benson Oldham, Neil Crescenti
Selection of hyperspectral narrowbands (HNBs) and composition of hyperspectral twoband vegetation indices (HVIs) for biophysical characterization and discrimination of crop types using field reflectance and Hyperion/EO-1 data
The overarching goal of this study was to establish optimal hyperspectral vegetation indices (HVIs) and hyperspectral narrowbands (HNBs) that best characterize, classify, model, and map the world's main agricultural crops. The primary objectives were: (1) crop biophysical modeling through HNBs and HVIs, (2) accuracy assessment of crop type discrimination using Wilks' Lambda through a discriminant
Authors
P.S. Thenkabail, I. Mariotto, M.K. Gumma, E.M. Middleton, D.R. Landis, K.F. Huemmrich
Accounting for non-photosynthetic vegetation in remote-sensing-based estimates of carbon flux in wetlands
Monitoring productivity in coastal wetlands is important due to their high carbon sequestration rates and potential role in climate change mitigation. We tested agricultural- and forest-based methods for estimating the fraction of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation (f APAR), a key parameter for modelling gross primary productivity (GPP), in a restored, managed wetland with a dense litter
Authors
Lisa M. Schile, Kristin B. Byrd, Lisamarie Windham-Myers, Maggi Kelly
Community exposure to tsunami hazards in California
Evidence of past events and modeling of potential events suggest that tsunamis are significant threats to low-lying communities on the California coast. To reduce potential impacts of future tsunamis, officials need to understand how communities are vulnerable to tsunamis and where targeted outreach, preparedness, and mitigation efforts may be warranted. Although a maximum tsunami-inundation zone
Authors
Nathan J. Wood, Jamie Ratliff, Jeff Peters
Biodiversity losses and conservation trade-offs: Assessing future urban growth scenarios for a North American trade corridor
The Sonoran Desert and Apache Highlands ecoregions of North America are areas of exceptionally high plant and vertebrate biodiversity. However, much of the vertebrate biodiversity is supported by only a few vegetation types with limited distributions, some of which are increasingly threatened by changing land uses. We assessed the impacts of two future urban growth scenarios on biodiversity in a b
Authors
Miguel L. Villarreal, Laura M. Norman, Cynthia S.A. Wallace, Kenneth G. Boykin
An integrated multi-criteria scenario evaluation web tool for participatory land-use planning in urbanized areas: The Ecosystem Portfolio Model
Land-use land-cover change is one of the most important and direct drivers of changes in ecosystem functions and services. Given the complexity of the decision-making, there is a need for Internet-based decision support systems with scenario evaluation capabilities to help planners, resource managers and communities visualize, compare and consider trade-offs among the many values at stake in land
Authors
Bill Labiosa, William M. Forney, Paul P. Hearn,, Dianna M. Hogan, David R. Strong, Eric D. Swain, Ann-Margaret Esnard, D. Mitsova-Boneva, R. Bernknopf, Leonard Pearlstine, Hugh Gladwin
What is the economic value of satellite imagery?
Does remote-sensing information, such as that from Landsat and similar Earth-observing satellites, provide economic benefits to society, and can this value be estimated? Using satellite data for northeastern Iowa, U.S. Geological Survey scientists modeled the relations among land uses, agricultural production, and dynamic nitrate (NO3-) contamination of aquifers. They demonstrated that information
Authors
Ronald P. Raunikar, William M. Forney, Susan P. Benjamin
An automated digital imaging system for environmental monitoring applications
Recent improvements in the affordability and availability of high-resolution digital cameras, data loggers, embedded computers, and radio/cellular modems have advanced the development of sophisticated automated systems for remote imaging. Researchers have successfully placed and operated automated digital cameras in remote locations and in extremes of temperature and humidity, ranging from the isl
Authors
Rian Bogle, Miguel Velasco, John Vogel
A support system for assessing local vulnerability to weather and climate
The changing number and nature of weather- and climate-related natural hazards is causing more communities to need to assess their vulnerabilities. Vulnerability assessments, however, often require considerable expertise and resources that are not available or too expensive for many communities. To meet the need for an easy-to-use, cost-effective vulnerability assessment tool for communities, a pr
Authors
Alex Coletti, Peter D. Howe, Brent Yarnal, Nathan J. Wood
Cumulative biological impacts framework for solar energy projects in the California Desert
This project developed analytical approaches, tools and geospatial data to support conservation planning for renewable energy development in the California deserts. Research focused on geographical analysis to avoid, minimize and mitigate the cumulative biological effects of utility-scale solar energy development. A hierarchical logic model was created to map the compatibility of new solar energy
Authors
Frank W. Davis, Jason R. Kreitler, Oliver Soong, David M. Stoms, Stephanie Dashiell, Lee Hannah, Whitney Wilkinson, John Dingman
Trends in landscape and vegetation change and implications for the Santa Cruz Watershed
Monitoring and characterizing the interactive effects of land use and climate on land surface processes is a primary focus of land change science, and of particular concern in arid Wells Distribution in Shallow Groundwater Areas Pumping Trends Increase Streamflow Extent Declines 27 environments where both landscapes and livelihoods can be impacted by short-term climate variability. Using a multi-o
Authors
Miguel L. Villarreal, Laura M. Norman, Robert H. Webb, Raymond M. Turner