Publications

After a major disaster, a satellite image or a collection of aerial photographs of the event is frequently the fastest, most effective way to determine its scope and severity. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Emergency Operations Portal provides emergency first responders and support personnel with easy access to imagery and geospatial data, geospatial Web services, and a digital library focused

The mission of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center Topographic Science is to establish partnerships and conduct research and applications that facilitate the development and use of integrated national and global topographic datasets. Topographic Science includes a wide range of research and applications that result in improved seamless topographic da

Ecological risk assessments typically are organized using the processes of planning (a discussion among managers, stakeholders, and analysts to clarify ecosystem management goals and assessment scope) and problem formulation (evaluation of existing information to generate hypotheses about adverse ecological effects, select assessment endpoints, and develop an analysis plan). These processes requir

Fuzzy association rules (FARs) can be powerful in assessing regional soil quality, a critical step prior to land planning and utilization; however, traditional FARs mined from soil quality database, ignoring the importance variability of the rules, can be redundant and far from optimal. In this study, we developed a method applying different weights to traditional FARs to improve accuracy of soil

Across nearly four decades since 1972, Landsat satellites continuously have acquired space-based images of the Earth's land surface, coastal shallows, and coral reefs. The Landsat Program, a joint effort of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), was established to routinely gather land imagery from space; consequently, NASA develops remote-s

The Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) is the follow-on mission to Landsat 7 and will be the eighth mission in the Landsat series. The mission is in development via an interagency partnership between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Department of Interior (DOI) / United States Geological Survey (USGS). The LDCM satellite will carry two earth-observing sensors, t

The Committee on Earth Observation Satellites is an international group that coordinates civil space-borne observations of the Earth, and provides the space component of the Global Earth Observing System of Systems (GEOSS). The CEOS Virtual Constellations concept was implemented in an effort to engage and coordinate disparate Earth observing programs of CEOS member agencies and ultimately facilita

Quantitative estimation of vegetation water content (VWC) using optical remote sensing techniques is helpful in forest fire assessment, agricultural drought monitoring and crop yield estimation. This paper reviews the research advances of VWC retrieval using spectral reflectance, spectral water index and radiative transfer model (RTM) methods. It also evaluates the reliability of VWC estimation us

The Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center is a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) facility focused on providing science and imagery to better understand our Earth. As part of the USGS Geography Discipline, EROS contributes to the Land Remote Sensing (LRS) Program, the Geographic Analysis and Monitoring (GAM) Program, and the National Geospatial Program (NGP), as well as our Federal part

The U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center is generating a suite of products called 'eMODIS' based on Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data acquired by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Earth Observing System (EOS). With a more frequent repeat cycle than Landsat and higher spatial resolutions than the Adva

Digital elevation data commonly are used to extract surface flow features. One source for high-resolution elevation data is light detection and ranging (lidar). Lidar can capture a vast amount of topographic detail because of its fine-scale ability to digitally capture the surface of the earth. Because elevation is a key factor in extracting surface flow features, high-resolution lidar-derived dig

Tracking landscape-scale water status in high-latitude boreal systems is indispensable to understanding the fate of stored and sequestered carbon in a climate change scenario. Spaceborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery provides critical information for water and moisture status in Alaskan boreal environments at the landscape scale. When combined with results from optical sensor analyses, a