Human Health and Food Security

A planet with a changing climate and growing population forces tough decisions about the use of limited resources. Making sustainable choices in the face of global change requires an accurate cataloging of those resources. Since 1991, EROS has been the North American node for the United Nations Environment Programme’s Global Resource Information Database (UNEP-GRID), which tracks environmental...

Satellite data archived at EROS serves a critical role in the assessment of food security for FEWS NET – the Famine Early Warning System Network.

EROS work on fire activity in the United States includes the creation of an atlas of fire perimeters for fires occurring on U.S. National Wildlife Refuges from 1984 through 2013. Fire Atlas perimeter data provide information to refuge managers as they plan land management activities for their units. EROS analysts use data provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), which include a name...

The importance of sea-level rise in shaping coastal landscapes is well recognized within the earth science community, but as with many natural hazards, communicating the risks associated with sea-level rise remains a challenge.

Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (MTBS) is an interagency program whose goal is to consistently map the burn severity and extent of large fires across all lands of the United States from 1984 to present. This includes all fires 1,000 acres or greater in the western United States and 500 acres or greater in the eastern Unites States. The extent of coverage includes the continental U.S., Alaska...

EROS, alongside the USDA Forest Service Remote Sensing Applications Center (RSAC), offers rapid delivery of satellite imagery in the form of Burned Area Reflectance Classifications (BARC) and other data to the Forest Service’s Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) program.

USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center provide tools that allow user to view, search, query, download, and utilize onlne interfaces for available remote sensing and geospatial data.

USGS Emergency Response strives to ensure that the disaster response community has rapid access to timely, accurate, and relevant geospatial imagery, products, and services before, during, and after a disaster.

Weekly VegDRI maps integrate remote sensing, climate, and biophysical data to provide timely drought information for the conterminous United States. (2009-present)

Weekly geospatial model and dataset that is an indicator of short-term dryness across the conterminous United States (CONUS). Quick Drought Response Index (QuickDRI) is designed to have improved sensitivity to early-stage drought conditions and rapidly evolving drought events.

Landscapes of West Africa: A Window on a Changing World is an atlas and unique dataset that uses time-series satellite image data and field-based photography to tell the story of wide-ranging land change across 17 countries. EROS scientists selected the years 1975, 2000 and 2013 to characterize the landscapes and create the product, which represents the broadest effort to map the region in history...

The Coastal National Elevation Database (CoNED) and Applications project at EROS offers information used for a range of applications analysis needed for climate change analysis.