Western Geographic Science Center
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The Western Geographic Science Center (WGSC) conducts geographic research on the environmental and societal consequences of a changing landscape. Our tools and models help decision makers better use complex scientific information to understand their alternative options. Our work links natural science and social science to analyze human/environmental interactions both spatially and temporally.
Anne Wein Wins Bay Area Metro Award!
Congratulations to Dr. Anne Wein, Operations Research Analyst at WGSC, who received a 2019 Bay Area Metro Award for her work as lead researcher for the HayWired earthquake scenario!
Learn moreVegetation recovery science in the News!
“Understanding the factors that encourage successful re-vegetation is critical for resource managers to make informed decisions about this region of economic and ecological importance.” Miguel Villarreal
Read press releaseProjects and teams at WGSC
Just a few examples of WGSC projects and science teams.
Global Food Security-Support Analysis Data at 30 m (GFSAD30)
Hazards Societal Consequences and Risk Communication
Land-Use and Climate Change Team (LUCC)
Applied Landscape Ecology and Remote Sensing
Patterns in the Landscape – Analyses of Cause and Effect (PLACE)
News
Anne Wein Wins Prestigious 2019 Bay Area Metro Award
Congratulations to Dr. Anne Wein, Operations Research Analyst at WGSC, who received a 2019 Bay Area Metro Award from the Association of Bay Area Governments and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission for her work as lead researcher for the HayWired earthquake scenario.
WGSC Scientists tour a restoration project
Laura Norman's Aridland Water Harvesting Study helps lead a tour of a restoration and monitoring project at the Boy Scouts of America, Heard Scout Pueblo (HSP) in Phoenix, Arizona.
The GFSAD30 project accomplished their goal!
The global croplands mapping project has succesfully mapped croplands across the entire planet in order to understand the security of food world wide. Below are many press anouncments and interviews with the project leader Prasad Thenkabail.
Publications
Mapping cropland extent of Southeast and Northeast Asia using multi-year time-series Landsat 30-m data using Random Forest classifier on Google Earth Engine
Cropland extent maps are useful components for assessing food security. Ideally, such products are a useful addition to countrywide agricultural statistics since they are not politically biased and can be used to calculate cropland area for any spatial unit from an individual farm to various administrative unites (e.g., state, county, district)...
Oliphant, Adam; Thenkabail, Prasad S.; Teluguntla, Pardhasaradhi; Xiong, Jun; Gumma, Murali Krishna; Russell G. Congalton; Kamini Yadav Modelling development of riparian ranchlands using ecosystem services at the Aravaipa Watershed, SE Arizona
This paper describes how subdivision and development of rangelands within a remote and celebrated semiarid watershed near the US-Mexico border might affect multiple ecohydrological services provided, such as recharge of the aquifer, water and sediment yield, water quality, flow rates and downstream cultural and natural resources. Specifically, we...
Norman, Laura; Villarreal, Miguel; Niraula, Rewati; Haberstich, Mark; Wilson, Natalie
Assessing hazards and risks at the Department of the Interior—A workshop report
On February 27–28, 2018, the U.S. Geological Survey and Department of the Interior (DOI) Office of Emergency Management (OEM) hosted a workshop to gather input from DOI subject matter experts (SMEs), resource managers, facility managers, emergency managers, and law enforcement personnel. Workshop goals were to (1) determine how DOI Bureaus and...
Wood, Nathan; Pennaz, Alice; Ludwig, Kristin; Jones, Jeanne; Henry, Kevin; Sherba, Jason; Ng, Peter; Marineau, Jason; Juskie, John