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Our Western Geographic Science Center (WGSC) priority is to continue the important work of the Department of the Interior and the USGS, while also maintaining the health and safety of our employees and the community. Based on guidance from the White House, the CDC, and state and local authorities, we are shifting our operations to a virtual mode and have minimal staffing within our offices. If you need additional assistance, please contact Susan Benjamin, sbenjamin@usgs.gov.
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 moreRemote Sensing and Dryland Management
With the use of remote sensing and spatial analysis, WGSC scientists study dryland vegetation and soils to determine disturbances and help manage recovery.
Learn moreProjects 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
Media Advisory: A Jaguar’s Field of Dreams – Live Online Public Lecture
The U.S. Geological Survey public lecture series is back and virtual. News reporters are invited to attend to learn how USGS scientists are helping protect one of the only jaguars that lives in the U.S.
New Geo-Narrative explores California’s exposure to volcanic hazards
The first step in mitigating volcanic risk and building community resilience to volcanic hazards is identifying what and who is in harm’s way.
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.
Publications
BERM: A Belowground Ecosystem Resiliency Model for estimating Spartina alterniflora belowground biomass
SummarySpatiotemporal patterns of Spartina alterniflora belowground biomass (BGB) are important for evaluating salt marsh resiliency. To solve this, we created the BERM (Belowground Ecosystem Resiliency Model), which estimates monthly BGB (30-m spatial resolution) from freely available data such as Landsat-8 and Daymet climate summaries....
O'Connell, Jessica L.; Mishra, Deepak; Alber, Merryl; Byrd, Kristin B. Trait-based filtering mediates the effects of realistic biodiversity losses on ecosystem functioning
Biodiversity losses are a major driver of global changes in ecosystem functioning. While most studies of the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning have examined randomized species losses, trait-based filtering associated with species-specific vulnerability to drivers of diversity loss can strongly influence how ecosystem...
Wolf, Amelia A.; Funk, Jennifer L; Selmants, Paul; Morozumi, Connor N; Hernandez, Daniel L.; Pasari, Jae R; Zavaleta, Erika S Hyperspectral narrowband data propel gigantic leap in the earth remote sensing
Hyperspectral narrowbands (HNBs) capture data as nearly continuous “spectral signatures” rather than a “few spectral data points” along the electromagnetic spectrum as with multispectral broadbands (MBBs). Almost all of satellite remote sensing of the Earth in the twentieth century was conducted using MBB data from sensors such as the Landsat-...
Thenkabail, Prasad; Aneece, Itiya; Teluguntla, Pardhasaradhi; Oliphant, Adam