Mission Areas
Land Resources
Understanding a changing world and how it affects our natural resources, livelihoods, and communities. Science plays an essential role in helping communities and resource managers understand the local to global implications of change, anticipate the effects of change, prepare for change, and reduce the risks associated with decisionmaking in a changing environment.
EROS Center
The Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center is responsible for satellite operations, including Landsat, and performs image data collection, archiving, processing, and distribution.
Explore EROSLandCarbon
The biologic carbon sequestration assessment program (LandCarbon) studies ecosystem carbon cycle research topics, investigates carbon management science needs, and develops monitoring methods.
Learn MoreData and Tools
Land Resources supports the science community with its long-term observational networks and extensive databases encompassing the fields of climate history, land-use and land-cover change, and carbon and nutrient cycles.
U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit
News
Black Hills Perfect Laboratory for Multi-Sensor Fire Science Research
After the Legion Lake Fire at Custer State Park in South Dakota’s Black Hills erupted in December 2017— burning across private, state, and federal landscapes all at once—scientists at the Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center discovered an important opportunity among the ashes.
President Proposes $983 Million FY20 Budget for USGS
Budget Focuses on Priorities Supporting American Energy Enterprise, National Security, and Natural Hazard Response Efforts
USGS contributes to the Fourth National Climate Assessment
USGS Research Hydrologist Glenn Hodgkins co-authored the Fourth National Climate Assessment’s Northeast chapter. USGS Research Geologist Erika Lentz was also a co-author. The recently published chapter discusses historical and potential future impacts of climatic changes on New England’s people and natural resources, including it’s inland and coastal waters.
Publications
Optimizing historical preservation under climate change—An overview of the optimal preservation model and pilot testing at Cape Lookout National Seashore
Adapting cultural resources to climate-change effects challenges traditional cultural resource decision making because some adaptation strategies can negatively affect the integrity of cultural resources. Yet, the inevitability of climate-change effects—even given the uncertain timing of those effects—necessitates that managers begin prioritizing...
Seekamp, Erin; Post van der Burg, Max; Fatorić, Sandra; Eaton, Mitchell J.; Xiao, Xiao; McCreary, Allie
Landscape connectivity planning for adaptation to future climate and land-use change
Purpose of ReviewWe examined recent literature on promoting habitat connectivity in the context of climate change (CC) and land-use change (LUC). These two global change forcings have wide-reaching ecological effects that are projected to worsen in the future. Improving connectivity is a common adaptation strategy, but CC and LUC can also degrade...
Costanza, Jennifer K.; Terando, Adam J. Optimizing historic preservation under climate change: Decision support for cultural resource adaptation planning in national parks
Climate change poses great challenges for cultural resource management, particularly in coastal areas. Cultural resources, such as historic buildings, in coastal areas are vulnerable to climate impacts including inundation, deterioration, and destruction from sea-level rise and storm-related flooding...
Xiao, Xiao; Seekamp, Erin; Post van der Burg, Max; Eaton, Mitchell; Fatorić, Sandra; McCreary, Allie