Publications

Imaging radar is a promising tool for mapping snow and ice cover in alpine regions. It combines a high-resolution, day or night, all-weather imaging capability with sensitivity to hydrologic and climatic snow and ice parameters. We use the spaceborne imaging radar-C/X-band synthetic aperture radar (SIR-C/X-SAR) to map snow and glacial ice on the rugged north slope of Mount Everest. From interferom

As part of the activities of the Multi-Resolution Land Characteristics (MRLC) Interagency Consortium, an intermediate-scale land cover data set is being generated for the conterminous United States. This effort is being conducted on a region-by-region basis using U.S. Standard Federal Regions. To date, land cover data sets have been generated for Federal Regions 3 (Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Vir

Many organizations require accurate intermediate-scale land-cover information for many applications, including modeling nutrient and pesticide runoff, understanding spatial patterns of biodiversity, land-use planning, and policy development. While many techniques have been successfully used to classify land cover in relatively small regions, there are substantial obstacles in applying these method

The feasibility of measuring volcanic deformation or monitoring deformation of active volcanoes using space-borne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) interferometry depends on the ability to maintain phase coherence over appropriate time intervals. Using ERS 1 C band (λ=5.66 cm) SAR imagery, we studied the seasonal and temporal changes of the interferometric SAR coherence for fresh lava, weathered lava

This study presents an analysis of the interaction of humans and their environment in the arid Sahel ian zone of northern Senegal. It compares a pastoral community which lives primarily from the production of livestock and a farming community whose activities have traditionally centered on crop production. Living side by side but following different strategies for securing their livelihoods, these

A land cover map of the National Park Service northwest Alaska management area was produced using digitally processed Landsat data. These and other environmental data were incorporated into a geographic information system to provide baseline information about the nature and extent of resources present in this northwest Alaskan environment.This report details the methodology, depicts vegetation pro

A national 1-km resolution fire danger fuel model map was derived through use of previously mapped land cover classes and ecoregions, and extensive ground sample data, then refined through review by fire managers familiar with various portions of the U.S. The fuel model map will be used in the next generation fire danger rating system for the U.S., but it also made possible immediate development o

This case study is one of several carried out as part the Long-term Environmental Monitoring in Senegal Project. Co-financed by USAID and the U.S. Geological Survey's EROS Data Center (EDC), and implemented by EDC and the Centre de Suivi Ecologique (CSE), this project has carried out extensive monitoring of natural resources and land use patterns in Senegal in order to better understand the comple

The Mississippi Basin Carbon Project of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is an effort to examine interactions between the global carbon cycle and human-induced changes to the land surface, such as farming and urbanization. Investigations in the Mississippi River basin will provide the data needed for calculating the global significance of land-use changes on land-based carbon cycling. These data

Urban mapping research has demonstrated that historic maps can be integrated with remotely sensed data and related geographic information to successfully detect changing urban land characteristics for large metropolitan areas. Effective and efficient temporal mapping requires that procedures be defined for selecting the temporal range and geographic extent of a study area. Procedures were develope

Report on the first workshop on USGS wildland fire expertise and capabilities. The workshop brought together operationaland research representatives ofthe Federal fire management agencies to initiate a more comprehensive assessmentofthe USGS's capabilities and the appropriate role(s) for USGS interaction and involvement with the fire community. Thereport discusses how the USGS can play a significa

The understanding of land surface processes and their parameterization in atmospheric, hydrologic, and ecosystem models has been a dominant research theme over the past decade. For example, many studies have demonstrated the key role of land cover characteristics as controlling factors in determining land surface processes, such as the exchange of water, energy, carbon, and trace gases between the