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Western Geographic Science Center

The WGSC is responsible for research and applications to understand coupled human-environmental systems in the face of land change and delivering pertinent information to decision makers on the vulnerability and resilience of these systems.  WGSC scientists collaborate with partners to advance the goals of the USGS Core Science Systems and Ecosystems Mission Areas and their programs. 

News

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Prestigious Talbert Abrams Grand Prize Award of ASPRS for Itiya Aneece and Prasad S. Thenkabail 2022

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WGSC Research Geographer Visits India under the Professional Engineer and Scientist Exchange Program

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Cropland water in California: The view from space

Publications

Thematic accuracy assessment of the NLCD 2019 land cover for the conterminous United States

The National Land Cover Database (NLCD), a product suite produced through the MultiResolution Land Characteristics (MRLC) consortium, is an operational land cover monitoring program. Starting from a base year of 2001, NLCD releases a land cover database every 2–3-years. The recent release of NLCD2019 extends the database to 18 years. We implemented a stratified random sample to collect land cover

Mapping vegetation index-derived actual evapotranspiration across croplands using the Google Earth Engine platform

Precise knowledge of crop water consumption is essential to better manage agricultural water use, particularly in regions where most countries struggle with increasing water and food insecurity. Approaches such as cloud computing and remote sensing (RS) have facilitated access, process, and visualization of big geospatial data to map and monitor crop water requirements. To find the most reliable V

Variation in leaf reflectance spectra across the California flora partitioned by evolutionary history, geographic origin, and deep time

Evolutionary relatedness underlies patterns of functional diversity in the natural world. Hyperspectral remote sensing has the potential to detect these patterns in plants through inherited patterns of leaf reflectance spectra. We collected leaf reflectance data from across the California flora from plants grown in a common garden. Regions of the reflectance spectra vary in the depth and strength

Science

Klamath Dam Removal Studies

Following the removal of four dams along the Klamath River, more naturally dynamic flow conditions may result in novel water quality, sediment transport, and geomorphic conditions leading to temporary or longer-term ecological impacts. USGS continuous and discrete monitoring data on aspects related to sediment and geomorphic conditions will be integral to post-dam removal assessments and...
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Klamath Dam Removal Studies

Following the removal of four dams along the Klamath River, more naturally dynamic flow conditions may result in novel water quality, sediment transport, and geomorphic conditions leading to temporary or longer-term ecological impacts. USGS continuous and discrete monitoring data on aspects related to sediment and geomorphic conditions will be integral to post-dam removal assessments and...
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Cienega Ranch - Semi-desert Native Grassland Restoration

At the Cienega Ranch, near Willcox, Arizona, in the foothills of the Dos Cabeza Mountains, a rancher is working to restore and conserve high- quality native grasslands and critical wildlife habitat, while keeping the land as a working cattle ranch. Our objectives were to estimate the hydrological effect of water harvesting on grassland restoration and quantify how grassland conservation efforts...
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Cienega Ranch - Semi-desert Native Grassland Restoration

At the Cienega Ranch, near Willcox, Arizona, in the foothills of the Dos Cabeza Mountains, a rancher is working to restore and conserve high- quality native grasslands and critical wildlife habitat, while keeping the land as a working cattle ranch. Our objectives were to estimate the hydrological effect of water harvesting on grassland restoration and quantify how grassland conservation efforts...
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Rancho Ancón – Water Cycle Augmentation

The USGS is working with partners to understand the impacts of installing structures made from rock, sandbags and wood in channels at a dryland ranch in southern Baja California. Hydrogeological instrumentation, recording observations, modeling hydrogeological scenarios, and an interdisciplinary scientific study of the watershed interactions between water, ecological systems, and human activities...
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Rancho Ancón – Water Cycle Augmentation

The USGS is working with partners to understand the impacts of installing structures made from rock, sandbags and wood in channels at a dryland ranch in southern Baja California. Hydrogeological instrumentation, recording observations, modeling hydrogeological scenarios, and an interdisciplinary scientific study of the watershed interactions between water, ecological systems, and human activities...
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