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: 252
A Systems Thinking approach to post-disaster restoration of maritime transportation systems
A Systems Thinking approach is used to examine elements of a maritime transportation system that are most likely to be impacted by an extreme event. The majority of the literature uses a high-level view that can fail to capture the damage at the sub-system elements. This work uses a system dynamics simulation for a better view and understanding of the Port of San Juan, Puerto Rico, as a whole syst
Authors
Lizzette Pérez Lespier, Suzanna K. Long, Thomas G. Shoberg
Crowdsourcing The National Map
Using crowdsourcing techniques, the US Geological Survey’s (USGS) Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) project known as “The National Map Corps (TNMCorps)” encourages citizen scientists to collect and edit data about man-made structures in an effort to provide accurate and authoritative map data for the USGS National Geospatial Program’s web-based The National Map. VGI is not new to the USGS,
Authors
Elizabeth McCartney, Kari J. Craun, Erin M. Korris, David A. Brostuen, Laurence R. Moore
How a national vegetation classification can help ecological research and management
The elegance of classification lies in its ability to compile and systematize various terminological conventions and masses of information that are unattainable during typical research projects. Imagine a discipline without standards for collection, analysis, and interpretation; unfortunately, that describes much of 20th-century vegetation ecology. With differing methods, how do we assess communit
Authors
Scott Franklin, Patrick Comer, Julie Evens, Exequiel Ezcurra, Don Faber-Langendoen, Janet Franklin, Michael Jennings, Carmen Josse, Chris Lea, Orie Loucks, Esteban Muldavin, Robert K. Peet, Serguei Ponomarenko, David G. Roberts, Ayzik Solomeshch, Todd Keeler-Wolf, James Van Kley, Alan Weakley, Alexa McKerrow, Marianne Burke, Carol Spurrier
Minerals, lands, and geology for the common defence and general welfare, Volume 4, 1939-1961: A history of geology in relation to the development of public-land, federal science, and mapping policies and the development of mineral resources in the United
The fourth volume of the comprehensive history of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is titled “Minerals, Lands, and Geology for the Common Defence and General Welfare—Volume 4, 1939‒1961.” The title is based on a passage in the preamble of the U.S. Constitution.
The late Mary C. Rabbitt (1915‒2002), a geophysicist who served with the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey (1948‒1949) and the USGS (1949‒19
Authors
Mary C. Rabbitt, Clifford M. Nelson
Modeling climate change, urbanization, and fire effects on Pinus palustris ecosystems of the southeastern U.S.
Managing ecosystems for resilience and sustainability requires understanding how they will respond to future anthropogenic drivers such as climate change and urbanization. In fire-dependent ecosystems, predicting this response requires a focus on how these drivers will impact fire regimes. Here, we use scenarios of climate change, urbanization and management to simulate the future dynamics of the
Authors
Jennifer Costanza, Adam J. Terando, Alexa McKerrow, Jaime A. Collazo
Synoptic evaluation of scale-dependent metrics for hydrographic line feature geometry
Methods of acquisition and feature simplification for vector feature data impact cartographic representations and scientific investigations of these data, and are therefore important considerations for geographic information science (Haunert and Sester 2008). After initial collection, linear features may be simplified to reduce excessive detail or to furnish a reduced-scale version of the features
Authors
Larry V. Stanislawski, Barbara P. Buttenfield, Paulo Raposo, Madeline Cameron, Jeff T. Falgout
Future land-use scenarios and the loss of wildlife habitats in the southeastern United States
Land-use change is a major cause of wildlife habitat loss. Understanding how changes in land-use policies and economic factors can impact future trends in land use and wildlife habitat loss is therefore critical for conservation efforts. Our goal here was to evaluate the consequences of future land-use changes under different conservation policies and crop market conditions on habitat loss for wil
Authors
Sebastián Martinuzzi, John C. Withey, Anna M. Pidgeon, Andrew Plantinga, Alexa McKerrow, Steven G. Williams, David P. Helmers, Volker C. Radeloff
2014-2015 Partnership accomplishments report on joint activities: National Gap Analysis Program and LANDFIRE
The intended target audience for this document initially is management and project technical specialist and scientists involved in the Gap Analysis Program (GAP) and the Landscape Fire and Resource Management Planning Tools - (LANDFIRE) program to help communicate coordination activities to all involved parties. This document is also intended to give background information in other parts of the US
Authors
Anne Davidson, Alexa McKerrow, Don Long, Todd Earnhardt
Complex Topographic Feature Ontology Patterns
Semantic ontologies are examined as effective data models for the representation of complex topographic feature types. Complex feature types are viewed as integrated relations between basic features for a basic purpose. In the context of topographic science, such component assemblages are supported by resource systems and found on the local landscape. Ontologies are organized within six thematic m
Authors
Dalia E. Varanka, Thomas J. Jerris
Crisis crowdsourcing framework: designing strategic configurations of crowdsourcing for the emergency management domain
Crowdsourcing is not a new practice but it is a concept that has gained significant attention during recent disasters. Drawing from previous work in the crisis informatics, disaster sociology, and computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW) literature, the paper first explains recent conceptualizations of crowdsourcing and how crowdsourcing is a way of leveraging disaster convergence. The CSCW conc
Authors
Sophia B. Liu
Specification for the U.S. Geological Survey Historical Topographic Map Collection
This document provides the detailed requirements for producing, archiving, and disseminating a comprehensive digital collection of topographic maps for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Historical Topographic Map Collection (HTMC). The HTMC is a digital archive of about 190,000 printed topographic maps published by the USGS from the inception of the topographic mapping program in 1884 until the la
Authors
Gregory J. Allord, Jennifer L. Walter, Kristin A. Fishburn, Gale A. Shea
The Multi-Resolution Land Characteristics (MRLC) Consortium: 20 years of development and integration of USA national land cover data
The Multi-Resolution Land Characteristics (MRLC) Consortium demonstrates the national benefits of USA Federal collaboration. Starting in the mid-1990s as a small group with the straightforward goal of compiling a comprehensive national Landsat dataset that could be used to meet agencies’ needs, MRLC has grown into a group of 10 USA Federal Agencies that coordinate the production of five different
Authors
James D. Wickham, Collin G. Homer, James E. Vogelmann, Alexa McKerrow, Rick Mueller, Nate Herold, John Coluston