Study confirms fossil footprints at White Sands National Park date to the Last Glacial Maximum
National Uncrewed Systems Office
Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center
The Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center (GECSC) delivers critical science that supports Administrative and Departmental priorities. Through geologic mapping and Earth system research, GECSC provides essential data on the nation’s geologic resources, landscape dynamics, and surface processes—informing resource development, hazard mitigation, and land-use planning.
News
USGS Unveils New National Geologic Map
USGS Unveils New National Geologic Map
The Next Fueling Discovery Webinar Takes Place May 29
The Next Fueling Discovery Webinar Takes Place May 29
The Powerhouse of USGS Paleo-research
The Powerhouse of USGS Paleo-research
Publications
Rising rates of wildfire building destruction in the conterminous United States Rising rates of wildfire building destruction in the conterminous United States
Many regions of the world have seen an increase in highly destructive wildfires, driven by well-documented increases in burned area and growth of housing in the wildland–urban interface (WUI), which exposes more homes to fire. However, it is unclear whether wildfires are also becoming more destructive due to changes in wildfire behavior or in the development patterns of exposed...
Offsetting the noise: A framework for applying phenological offset corrections in remotely sensed burn severity assessments Offsetting the noise: A framework for applying phenological offset corrections in remotely sensed burn severity assessments
Background Phenological correction of pre- and post-fire imagery is used to improve remotely sensed burn severity evaluations. Unburned offset values standardize greenness between image pairs; however, efficacy across diverse scenarios remains underexplored.Aims We evaluated the impact of phenological offset correction methods to support analyst decision-making across fire-prone...
The rise of U.S. photovoltaics: An exploration of land use density trends in large-scale solar facility attributes, 2012-2021 The rise of U.S. photovoltaics: An exploration of land use density trends in large-scale solar facility attributes, 2012-2021
An energy transition is underway in the United States; renewable energy generation is now on par with coal and nuclear generation. The number of large-scale solar photovoltaic facilities increased approximately tenfold between 2012 and 2021, with an associated 25-fold increase in cumulative installed capacity. With ambitious decarbonization and renewable energy deployment goals at both...