Data and Information Assets

Spatial data on landslide occurrence across the U.S. varies greatly in quality, accessibility, and extent. This problem of data variability is common across USGS Mission Areas; it presents an obstacle to developing national-scale products and to identifying areas with relatively good/bad data coverage. We compiled available data of known landslides into a national-scale, searchable online map, whi

The Nonindigenous Aquatic Species (NAS) Database and Alert System (https://nas.er.usgs.gov/default.aspx) provides a framework for the rapid dissemination of new invasions as they are incorporated into the NAS Database. The system notifies registered users of new sightings of >1,330 non-native aquatic species as part of national-scale early detection and rapid response systems (EDRR), and in suppor

Droughts are becoming more frequent and severe and this trend is expected to continue in the coming century. Drought effects on natural resources include reduced water availability for plants and humans, as well as increased insect, disease, and vegetation mortality. Land managers need more information regarding how water availability may change and how drought will affect their sites in the futur

A BioBlitz is a field survey method for finding and documenting as many species as possible in a specific area over a short period. The National Park Service and National Geographic Society hosted the largest BioBlitz survey ever in 2016; people in more than 120 national parks used the iNaturalist app on mobile devices to document organisms they observed. Resulting records have Global Positioning

The USGS 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) is managing the acquisition of lidar data across the Nation for high resolution mapping of the land surface, useful for multiple applications. Lidar data is initially collected as 3-dimensional “point clouds” that map the interaction of the airborne laser with earth surface features, including vegetation, buildings, and ground features. Generally the product of

ScienceCache was originally developed as a mobile device data collection application for a citizen science project. ScienceCache communicates with a centralized database that facilitates near real-time use of collected data that enhances efficiency of data collection in the field. We improved ScienceCache by creating a flexible, reliable platform that reduces effort required to set up a survey a

USGS research for the Risk and Vulnerability to Natural Hazards project at the Western Geographic Science Center has produced several geospatial datasets estimating the time required to evacuate on foot from two tsunami evacuation zones (standard and extreme) traveling at three travel speeds (impaired, slow, and fast walking speeds) for the Island of O’ahu, HI. Tabulation of O’ahu resident and emp

Geotagged photographs have become a useful medium for recording, analyzing, and communicating Earth science phenomena. Despite their utility, many field photographs are not published or preserved in a spatial or accessible format—oftentimes because of confusion about photograph metadata, a lack of stability, or user customization in free photo sharing platforms. After receiving a request to releas

As one of the largest and oldest science organizations in the world, USGS has produced more than a century of earth science data, much of which is currently unavailable to the greater scientific community due to inaccessible or obsolescent media, formats, and technology. Tapping this vast wealth of “dark data” requires 1) a complete inventory of legacy data and 2) methods and tools to effectively

Land-use researchers need the ability to rapidly compare multiple land-use scenarios over a range of spatial and temporal scales, and to visualize spatial and nonspatial data; however, land-use datasets are often distributed in the form of large tabular files and spatial files. These formats are not ideal for the way land-use researchers interact with and share these datasets. The size of these la

The goal of this project was to develop a novel methodology to combine the USGS Gap Analysis Program (GAP) national land cover and species distribution data with disturbance data to describe and predict how disturbance affects biodiversity. Specifically, the project team presented a case study examining how energy development in the Williston Basin can affect grassland birds; however, the methods

Wetland soils are vital to the Nation because of their role in sustaining water resources, supporting critical ecosystems, and sequestering significant concentrations of biologically-produced carbon. The United States has the world’s most detailed continent-scale digital datasets for soils and wetlands, yet scientists and land managers have long struggled with the challenge of integrating these d