Jesslyn Brown
Jesslyn Brown is a research geographer with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA. Jess's main interests involve improving our understanding of changes in terrestrial vegetation related to climate and other driving forces and advancing the use of remote sensing imagery in applications.
Jesslyn Brown is a research geographer with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA, where she has worked for 30 years. Since finishing her graduate program at the University of Nebraska—Lincoln in 1990, she has worked in applied geographic research utilizing remote sensing approaches. Jess’s main interests involve improving our understanding of changes in terrestrial vegetation related to climate and other driving forces and advancing the use of remotely sensed imagery for applications including drought early warning, tracking vegetation phenology (i.e., seasonal dynamics), and mapping land cover and land use. Jess was a member of the Global Land Cover Characteristics team that created the first map of global land cover at a 1-km resolution in the 1990s. From 2001 to 2017, she led multiple projects mainly focused on developing new monitoring tools to improve agricultural drought monitoring capabilities in the U.S. in a strong collaboration with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s National Drought Mitigation Center. During that time, she also led efforts to investigate recent land use change specifically focused on irrigated agriculture across the country. In 2017, she began a new role leading the Land Change Monitoring Assessment and Projection (LCMAP) science team. LCMAP is a relatively new USGS initiative developing an end-to-end capability to use the deep Landsat record to continuously track and characterize changes in land cover state and condition and translate the information into assessments of current and historical processes of cover and change.
Science and Products
Remote Sensing Phenology
The Effects of Drought on Vegetation Phenology and Wildlife
Participated in these Eyes on Earth podcast episodes.
Mapping irrigated lands across the United States using MODIS satellite imagery
Intercomparison, interpretation, and assessment of spring phenology in North America estimated from remote sensing for 1982-2006
NIDIS Remote Sensing Workshop, showcase of products and technologies—vegetation health (crops, rangeland, forest) products
Evaluation of MODIS NDVI and NDWI for vegetation drought monitoring using Oklahoma Mesonet soil moisture data
The Vegetation Drought Response Index (VegDRI): A new integrated approach for monitoring drought stress in vegetation
Assessment of 2006 and 2007 drought patterns in the vegetation drought response index across Nebraska
A five-year analysis of MODIS NDVI and NDWI for grassland drought assessment over the central Great Plains of the United States
Range condition as input to water quality monitoring in the northern Plains
A new approach for predicting drought-related vegetation stress: Integrating satellite, climate, and biophysical data over the U.S. central plains
Trend analysis of time-series phenology derived from satellite data
Integrating growing season satellite metrics with climate data to map and monitor drought
Non-USGS Publications**
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.
Science and Products
Remote Sensing Phenology
The Effects of Drought on Vegetation Phenology and Wildlife
Participated in these Eyes on Earth podcast episodes.
Mapping irrigated lands across the United States using MODIS satellite imagery
Intercomparison, interpretation, and assessment of spring phenology in North America estimated from remote sensing for 1982-2006
NIDIS Remote Sensing Workshop, showcase of products and technologies—vegetation health (crops, rangeland, forest) products
Evaluation of MODIS NDVI and NDWI for vegetation drought monitoring using Oklahoma Mesonet soil moisture data
The Vegetation Drought Response Index (VegDRI): A new integrated approach for monitoring drought stress in vegetation
Assessment of 2006 and 2007 drought patterns in the vegetation drought response index across Nebraska
A five-year analysis of MODIS NDVI and NDWI for grassland drought assessment over the central Great Plains of the United States
Range condition as input to water quality monitoring in the northern Plains
A new approach for predicting drought-related vegetation stress: Integrating satellite, climate, and biophysical data over the U.S. central plains
Trend analysis of time-series phenology derived from satellite data
Integrating growing season satellite metrics with climate data to map and monitor drought
Non-USGS Publications**
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.