Science Analytics and Synthesis (SAS)
Publications
Promoting synergy in the innovative use of environmental data—Workshop summary
From December 2 to 4, 2015, NatureServe and the U.S. Geological Survey organized and hosted a biodiversity and ecological informatics workshop at the U.S. Department of the Interior in Washington, D.C. The workshop objective was to identify user-driven future directions and areas of collaboration in advanced applications of environmental data...
Hamilton, Healy; Guala, Gerald F.; Simpson, Annie
Community for Data Integration 2017 annual report
The Community for Data Integration (CDI) is a group that helps members grow their expertise on all aspects of working with scientific data. The CDI’s activities advance data and information integration capabilities in the U.S. Geological Survey and in the wider Earth and biological sciences. This annual report describes the presentations,...
Hsu, Leslie; Langseth, Madison L.
U.S. Geological Survey Community for Data Integration 2017 Workshop Proceedings
Executive SummaryThe U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Community for Data Integration (CDI) Workshop was held May 16–19, 2017 at the Denver Federal Center. There were 183 in-person attendees and 35 virtual attendees over four days. The theme of the workshop was “Enabling Integrated Science,” with the purpose of bringing together the community to...
Hsu, Leslie; Hutchison, Vivian B.; Langseth, Madison L.; Wheeler, Benjamin
Advancing marine biological observations and data requirements of the complementary Essential Ocean Variables (EOVs) and Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs) Frameworks
Measurements of the status and trends of key indicators for the ocean and marine life are required to inform policy and management in the context of growing human uses of marine resources, coastal development, and climate change. Two synergistic efforts identify specific priority variables for monitoring: Essential Ocean Variables (EOVs) through...
Muller-Karger, Frank E.; Miloslavich, Patricia; Bax, Nicholas; Simmons, Samantha E.; Costello, Mark John; Sousa Pinto, Isabel; Canonico, Gabrielle; Turner, Woody; Gill, Michael J.; Montes, Enrique; Best, Benjamin D.; Pearlman, Jay; Halpin, Patrick N.; Dunn, Daniel; Benson, Abigail L.; Martin, Corinne S.; Weatherdon, Lauren; Appeltans, Ward; Provoost, Pieter; Klein, Eduardo; Kelble, Christopher R.; Miller, Robert J.; Chavez, Francisco P.; Iken, Katrin; Chiba, Sanae; Obura, David; Navarro, Laetitia M.; Pereira, Henrique M.; Allain, Valerie; Batten, Sonia; Benedetti-Checchi, Lisandro; Duffy, J. Emmett; Kudela, Raphael M.; Rebelo, Lisa-Maria; Shin, Yunne; Geller, Gary Patterns of species richness hotspots and estimates of their protection are sensitive to spatial resolution
AimSpecies richness is a measure of biodiversity often used in spatial conservation assessments and mapped by summing species distribution maps. Commission errors inherent those maps influence richness patterns and conservation assessments. We sought to further the understanding of the sensitivity of hotspot delineation methods and conservation...
McKerrow, Alexa J.; Tarr, Nathan M.; Rubino, Matthew J.; Williams, Steven G. Enhancement of a parsimonious water balance model to simulate surface hydrology in a glacierized watershed
The U.S. Geological Survey monthly water balance model (MWBM) was enhanced with the capability to simulate glaciers in order to make it more suitable for simulating cold region hydrology. The new model, MWBMglacier, is demonstrated in the heavily glacierized and ecologically important Copper River watershed in Southcentral Alaska. Simulated water...
Valentin, Melissa M.; Viger, Roland J.; Van Beusekom, Ashley E.; Hay, Lauren E.; Hogue, Terri S.; Foks, Nathan Leon
U.S. Geological Survey science for the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative—2016 annual report
This is the ninth annual report highlighting U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) science and decision-support activities conducted for the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI). The activities address specific management needs identified by WLCI partner agencies. In fiscal year (FY) 2016, there were 26 active USGS WLCI science-based projects...
Bowen, Zachary H.; Aikens, Ellen; Aldridge, Cameron L.; Anderson, Patrick J.; Assal, Timothy J.; Chalfoun, Anna D.; Chong, Geneva W.; Eddy-Miller, Cheryl A.; Garman, Steven L.; Germaine, Stephen S.; Homer, Collin G.; Johnston, Aaron; Kauffman, Matthew J.; Manier, Daniel J.; Melcher, Cynthia P.; Miller, Kirk A.; Walters, Annika W.; Wheeler, Jerrod D.; Wieferich, Daniel; Wilson, Anna B.; Wyckoff, Teal B.; Zeigenfuss, Linda C.
Development and release of phenological data products—A case study in compliance with federal open data policy
In Autumn 2015, USA National Phenology Network (USA-NPN) staff implemented new U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) data-management policies intended to ensure that the results of Federally funded research are made available to the public. The effort aimed both to improve USA-NPN data releases and to provide a model for similar programs within the USGS....
Rosemartin, Alyssa H.; Langseth, Madison L.; Crimmins, Theresa M.; Weltzin, Jake F. Biodiversity Information Serving Our Nation (BISON)
Researchers collect species occurrence data, records of an organism at a particular time in a particular place, as a primary or ancillary function of many biological field investigations. Presently, these data reside in numerous distributed systems and formats (including publications) and are consequently not being used to their full potential. As...
The evolution, approval and implementation of the U.S. Geological Survey Science Data Lifecycle Model
This paper details how the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Community for Data Integration (CDI) Data Management Working Group developed a Science Data Lifecycle Model, and the role the Model plays in shaping agency-wide policies. Starting with an extensive literature review of existing data Lifecycle models, representatives from various...
Faundeen, John L.; Hutchison, Vivian Landscape context and the biophysical response of rivers to dam removal in the United States
Dams have been a fundamental part of the U.S. national agenda over the past two hundred years. Recently, however, dam removal has emerged as a strategy for addressing aging, obsolete infrastructure and more than 1,100 dams have been removed since the 1970s. However, only 130 of these removals had any ecological or geomorphic assessments, and fewer...
Foley, Melissa M.; Magilligan, Francis J.; Torgersen, Christian E.; Major, Jon J.; Anderson, Chauncey W.; Connolly, Patrick J.; Wieferich, Daniel; Shafroth, Patrick B.; Evans, James E.; Infante, Dana M.; Craig, Laura Mapping burned areas using dense time-series of Landsat data
Complete and accurate burned area data are needed to document patterns of fires, to quantify relationships between the patterns and drivers of fire occurrence, and to assess the impacts of fires on human and natural systems. Unfortunately, in many areas existing fire occurrence datasets are known to be incomplete. Consequently, the need to...
Hawbaker, Todd J.; Vanderhoof, Melanie K.; Beal, Yen-Ju G.; Takacs, Joshua; Schmidt, Gail L.; Falgout, Jeff T.; Williams, Brad; Brunner, Nicole M.; Caldwell, Megan K.; Picotte, Joshua J.; Howard, Stephen M.; Stitt, Susan; Dwyer, John L.