Publications
Here you will find publications, reports and articles produced by Core Science System scientists. For a comprehensive listing of all USGS publications please click the button below.
Filter Total Items: 282
Unravelling spatial heterogeneity of inundation pattern domains for 2D analysis of fluvial landscapes and drainage networks
Fluvial landscape analysis is an essential part of geomorphology, hydrology, ecology, and cartography. It is traditionally focused on the transition between hillslopes and channel domain, in which the network drainage is represented by static flow lines. However, the natural fluctuations of the processes occurring in the watershed induce lateral and longitudinal expansions and...
Authors
Pierfranco Costabile, Carmelina Costanzo, Margherita Lombardo, Ethan J. Shavers, Larry Stanislawski
Physics-based satellite-derived bathymetry (SDB) using Landsat OLI images
The estimation of depth in optically shallow waters using satellite imagery can be efficient and cost-effective. Active sensors measure the distance traveled by an emitted laser pulse propagating through the water with high precision and accuracy if the bottom peak intensity of the waveform is greater than the noise level. However, passive optical imaging of optically shallow water...
Authors
Minsu Kim, Jeffrey J. Danielson, Curt Storlazzi, Seonkyung Park
Segment anything model can not segment anything: Assessing AI foundation model's generalizability in permafrost mapping
This paper assesses trending AI foundation models, especially emerging computer vision foundation models and their performance in natural landscape feature segmentation. While the term foundation model has quickly garnered interest from the geospatial domain, its definition remains vague. Hence, this paper will first introduce AI foundation models and their defining characteristics...
Authors
Wenwen Li, Chia-Yu Hsu, Sizhe Wang, Yezhou Yang, Hyunho Lee, Anna Liljedahl, Chandi Witharana, Yili Yang, Brendan M. Rogers, Samantha Arundel, Matthew B. Jones, Kenton McHenry, Patricia Solis
Monitoring polar ice change in the twilight zone
Landsat’s new extended data collection program is mapping Arctic and Antarctic regions year-round, even in polar twilight.
Authors
Theodore A. Scambos, Christopher Shuman, Mark Fahnestock, Tasha Snow, Christopher J. Crawford
Remote sensing-based 3D assessment of landslides: A review of the data, methods, and applications
Remote sensing (RS) techniques are essential for studying hazardous landslide events because they capture information and monitor sites at scale. They enable analyzing causes and impacts of ongoing events for disaster management. There has been a plethora of work in the literature mostly discussing (1) applications to detect, monitor, and predict landslides using various instruments and...
Authors
Hessah Albanwan, Rongjun Qin, Jung-Kuan (Ernie) Liu
Need and vision for global medium-resolution Landsat and Sentinel-2 data products
Global changes in climate and land use are threatening natural ecosystems, biodiversity, and the ecosystem services people rely on. This is why it is necessary to track and monitor spatiotemporal change at a level of detail that can inform science, management, and policy development. The current constellation of multiple Landsat and Sentinel-2 satellites collecting imagery at...
Authors
Volker C. Radeloff, David P. Roy, Mike Wulder, Martha Anderson, Bruce D. Cook, Christopher J. Crawford, Mark Friedl, Feng Gao, Noel Gorelick, Matthew Hansen, Sean Healey, Patrick Hostert, Glynn Hulley, Justin Huntington, Dave Johnson, Christopher Neigh, Alexei Lyapustin, Leo Lymburner, Nima Pahlevan, Jean-Francois Pekel, Theodore A. Scambos, Crystal Schaaf, Peter Strobl, Eric Vermote, Curtis Woodcock, Hankui K. Zhang, Zhe Zhu
GeoAI for spatial image processing
The development of digital image processing, as a subset of digital signal processing, depended upon the maturity of photography and image science, introduction of computers, discovery and advancement of digital recording devices, and the capture of digital images. In addition, government and industry applications in the Earth and medical sciences were paramount to the growth of the...
Authors
Samantha Arundel, Kevin G McKeehan, Wenwen Li, Zhining Gu
Assessment of a new GeoAI foundation model for floodinundation mapping
Vision foundation models are a new frontier in GeoAI research because of their potential to enable powerful image analysis by analyzing and extracting important image features from vast amounts of geospatial data. This paper evaluates the performance of the first-of-its-kind geospatial foundation model, IBM-NASA’s Prithvi, to support a crucial geospatial analysis task: flood inundation...
Authors
Wenwen Li, Hyunho Lee, Sizhe Wang, Chia-Yu Hsu, Samantha Arundel
At what scales does a river meander? Scale-specific sinuosity (S3) metric for quantifying stream meander size distribution
Stream bend geometry is linked to terrain features, hydrologic and ecologic conditions, and anthropogenic forces. Knowledge of the distributions of geometric properties of streams advances understanding of changing landscape conditions and associated processes that operate over a range of spatial scales. Statistical decomposition of sinuosity in natural linear features has proven a...
Authors
Larry Stanislawski, Barry J. Kronenfeld, Barbara P. Buttenfield, Ethan J. Shavers
Space-based Earth observation and ecosystem extent: Exploring opportunities
The purpose of this white paper is to explore and communicate potential new opportunities for using space-based Earth observation (EO) for monitoring biodiversity with a focus on ecosystem extent (the distribution of ecosystems on the Earth). It is part of a new activity of the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS), a collaboration of the world’s space agencies that...
Authors
Gary Geller, Shaun Levick, Sandra Luque, Roger Sayre, Andreas Brink, Nicholas Coops, Sylvie Durrieu, Judith Ewald, Hannes Feilhauer, Jean-Baptiste Feret, Simon Ferrier, Miroslav Honzák, Dino Lenco, Amanda Koltz, Nikhil Lele, Shea Lombardo, Miguel Mahecha, Carsten Meyer, Marc Paganini, Cassidy Rankine, Duccio Rocchini, Amy Rosenthal, Maria J. Santos, Lucie Viciano
Reimagining standardization and geospatial interoperability in today’s GeoAI culture
Integrating Geospatial Artificial Intelligence (GeoAI) into our technological landscape has revolutionized our capacity to understand and engage with the world. However, the burgeoning adoption of GeoAI applications has underscored the imperative of data, format, and conveyance standardization and enhancing geospatial interoperability. This vision paper delves into the intricacies of the...
Authors
Samantha Arundel, Wenwen Li, Bryan B Campbell
A guide to creating an effective big data management framework
Many agencies and organizations, such as the U.S. Geological Survey, handle massive geospatial datasets and their auxiliary data and are thus faced with challenges in storing data and ingesting it, transferring it between internal programs, and egressing it to external entities. As a result, these agencies and organizations may inadvertently devote unnecessary time and money to convey...
Authors
Samantha Arundel, Kevin G McKeehan, Bryan B Campbell, Andrew N. Bulen, Philip T. Thiem