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Barry Russell Middleton

Barry Middleton is a geographer for the USGS's Western Geographic Science Center.  He is currently stationed in Tucson, Arizona.

 

 

Professional Experience

  • Geographer, 2004-present, USGS Western Geographic Science Center, Flagstaff and Tucson, AZ

    Geographer, 2002-2004, USGS Earth Science Information Center, Menlo Park, CA

    Satellite Image Analyst, 1992-1995, Arid Lands Research Laboratory, Las Cruces, NM

Science and Products

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Franklin Mountains near the Hueco Bolson

Mapping Riparian Vegetation Response to Climate Change on the San Carlos Apache Reservation and Upper Gila River Watershed to Inform Restoration Priorities: 1935 to Present

Riparian systems are critical to the human and ecological communities that interact with them. For the members of San Carlos Apache Tribe, this is particularly true, as riparian systems provide immense cultural and natural values such as ceremonial grounds and recreation areas. However, the riparian areas within the San Carlos Apache Reservation are at risk of degradation due to climate change and
By
Climate Adaptation Science Centers
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Mapping Riparian Vegetation Response to Climate Change on the San Carlos Apache Reservation and Upper Gila River Watershed to Inform Restoration Priorities: 1935 to Present

Riparian systems are critical to the human and ecological communities that interact with them. For the members of San Carlos Apache Tribe, this is particularly true, as riparian systems provide immense cultural and natural values such as ceremonial grounds and recreation areas. However, the riparian areas within the San Carlos Apache Reservation are at risk of degradation due to climate change and
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Land Cover Point of Pines

Tribal Land Vegetation and Watershed Modeling

San Carlos Apache Reservation covers 1.8 million acres in east-central Arizona, and has diverse ecosystems and vegetation types that support a natural resource-based economy.
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Natural Hazards Mission Area, Land Change Science Program, Western Geographic Science Center
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Tribal Land Vegetation and Watershed Modeling

San Carlos Apache Reservation covers 1.8 million acres in east-central Arizona, and has diverse ecosystems and vegetation types that support a natural resource-based economy.
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Photograph of gabion dam in Nogales, Sonora

Aridland Water Harvesting Study

Most of western North America has been severely grazed by cattle, causing grasslands to deteriorate and desert scrub expansion. Climate in arid and semi-arid regions is often typified by short, intense rainfall events which contribute to short-term flooding and erosion. Associated arroyo cutting occurs when ephemeral creek beds are carved into the floodplain when erratic overland flow occurs; this...
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Land Change Science Program, Western Geographic Science Center
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Aridland Water Harvesting Study

Most of western North America has been severely grazed by cattle, causing grasslands to deteriorate and desert scrub expansion. Climate in arid and semi-arid regions is often typified by short, intense rainfall events which contribute to short-term flooding and erosion. Associated arroyo cutting occurs when ephemeral creek beds are carved into the floodplain when erratic overland flow occurs; this...
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Mapping Riparian Vegetation Response to Climate Change on the San Carlos Apache Reservation and Upper Gila River Watershed to Inform Restoration Priorities: 1935 to Present - Database of Riparian Floodplain Boundaries for the San Carlos and Gila Rivers

We developed this spatial database of historic and current floodplains to analyze trends in vegetation conditions, identify areas more at risk of degradation, and assess the relationship between riparian vegetation dynamics and climate conditions.Our study area is the riparian areas along the San Carlos River and Gila River within the San Carlos Apache Reservation and the Upper Gila River Level-4
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Western Geographic Science Center

Mapping Riparian Vegetation Response to Climate Change on the San Carlos Apache Reservation and Upper Gila River Watershed to Inform Restoration Priorities: 1935 to Present - Database of Trends in Vegetation Properties and Climate Adaptation Variables

We apply a research approach that can inform riparian restoration planning by developing products that show recent trends in vegetation conditions identifying areas potentially more at risk for degradation and the associated relationship between riparian vegetation dynamics and climate conditions. The vegetation is characterized using a series of remote sensing vegetation indices developing using
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Western Geographic Science Center

Spatial Database of Known and Potential Cienegas in the Greater Madrean Archipelago Ecoregion

This dataset provides location information and some limited attributes of known and potential cienegas in the Madrean Archipelago ecoregion and closely surrounding area. This was created using point data and information provided by Dean Hendrickson and Thomas Minckley, combined with potential locations derived from analysis of classified raster land cover images and other specialized datasets. Cie
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Western Geographic Science Center

Database of Cienega Locations in Southwestern United States and Northern Mexico

Cienegas, as defined here, are wetlands in arid and semi-arid regions associated with groundwater or lotic components that ideally result in perennial waters on temporal scales of decades to centuries. Cienegas are typically no lower than 0 m, and higher than 2000 m, rarely lower but sometimes higher elevation localities occur. Cienegas are typified by significant differences in flora and fauna re
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Western Geographic Science Center

Vegetation Survey of the San Carlos Apache Reservation, Arizona and Surrounding Area (September to November 2017).

This zip file contains spatial, descriptive and digital camera image data for a vegetation field dataset collected on the San Carlos Apache Reservation and surrounding area in Arizona, and used for analysis in the associated publication. Data consists of vector point data, vegetation community type, field observations, and digital camera images that correspond with the images in the associated dir
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Western Geographic Science Center

Riparian vegetation response amid variable climate conditions across the Upper Gila River watershed: Informing Tribal restoration priorities

Riparian systems across the Southwest United States are extremely valuable for the human and ecological communities that engage with them. However, they have experienced substantial changes and stresses over the past century, including non-native vegetation expansion, vegetation die-offs, and increased fire activity. Vegetation management approaches, such as ecological restoration, may address som
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Roy Petrakis, Laura M. Norman, Barry R. Middleton
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Western Geographic Science Center

Remote sensing analysis to quantify change in woodland canopy cover on the San Carlos Apache Reservation, Arizona (1935 vs. 2017)

Since the late 1800s, pinyon–juniper woodland across the western U.S. has increased in density and areal extent and encroached into former grassland areas. The San Carlos Apache Tribe wants to gain qualitative and quantitative information on the historical conditions of their tribal woodlands to use as a baseline for restoration efforts. At the San Carlos Apache Reservation, in east-central Arizon
Authors
Barry R. Middleton, Laura M. Norman
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Western Geographic Science Center

Remote sensing analysis of vegetation at the San Carlos Apache Reservation, Arizona and surrounding area

Mapping of vegetation types is of great importance to the San Carlos Apache Tribe and their management of forestry and fire fuels. Various remote sensing techniques were applied to classify multitemporal Landsat 8 satellite data, vegetation index, and digital elevation model data. A multitiered unsupervised classification generated over 900 classes that were then recoded to one of the 16 generaliz
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Laura M. Norman, Barry R. Middleton, Natalie R. Wilson
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Western Geographic Science Center, Wildland Fire Science

Evaluating and monitoring forest fuel treatments using remote sensing applications in Arizona, U.S.A.

The practice of fire suppression across the western United States over the past century has led to dense forests, and when coupled with drought has contributed to an increase in large and destructive wildfires. Forest management efforts aimed at reducing flammable fuels through various fuel treatments can help to restore frequent fire regimes and increase forest resilience. Our research examines h
Authors
Roy Petrakis, Miguel L. Villarreal, Zhuoting Wu, Robert Hetzler, Barry R. Middleton, Laura M. Norman
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Western Geographic Science Center, Wildland Fire Science

Exploiting differential vegetation phenology for satellite-based mapping of semiarid grass vegetation in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico

We developed and evaluated a methodology for subpixel discrimination and large-area mapping of the perennial warm-season (C4) grass component of vegetation cover in mixed-composition landscapes of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. We describe the methodology within a general, conceptual framework that we identify as the differential vegetation phenology (DVP) paradigm. We introdu
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Dennis G. Dye, Barry R. Middleton, John M. Vogel, Zhuoting Wu, Miguel G. Velasco
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Western Geographic Science Center

Vegetative response to water availability on the San Carlos Apache Reservation

On the San Carlos Apache Reservation in east-central Arizona, U.S.A., vegetation types such as ponderosa pine forests, pinyon-juniper woodlands, and grasslands have significant ecological, cultural, and economic value for the Tribe. This value extends beyond the tribal lands and across the Western United States. Vegetation across the Southwestern United States is susceptible to drought conditions
Authors
Roy Petrakis, Zhuoting Wu, Jason McVay, Barry R. Middleton, Dennis G. Dye, John M. Vogel
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Western Geographic Science Center

MODIS derived vegetation index for drought detection on the San Carlos Apache Reservation

A variety of vegetation indices derived from remotely sensed data have been used to assess vegetation conditions, enabling the identification of drought occurrences as well as the evaluation of drought impacts. Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Terra 8-day composite data were used to compute the Modified Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index II (MSAVI2) of four dominant vegetation ty
Authors
Zhuoting Wu, Miguel G. Velasco, Jason McVay, Barry R. Middleton, John M. Vogel, Dennis G. Dye
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Western Geographic Science Center

Estimating forest and woodland aboveground biomass using active and passive remote sensing

Aboveground biomass was estimated from active and passive remote sensing sources, including airborne lidar and Landsat-8 satellites, in an eastern Arizona (USA) study area comprised of forest and woodland ecosystems. Compared to field measurements, airborne lidar enabled direct estimation of individual tree height with a slope of 0.98 (R2 = 0.98). At the plot-level, lidar-derived height and intens
Authors
Zhuoting Wu, Dennis G. Dye, John M. Vogel, Barry R. Middleton
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Western Geographic Science Center

Evaluating lidar point densities for effective estimation of aboveground biomass

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) was recently established to provide airborne lidar data coverage on a national scale. As part of a broader research effort of the USGS to develop an effective remote sensing-based methodology for the creation of an operational biomass Essential Climate Variable (Biomass ECV) data product, we evaluated the performance of airborne lidar d
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Zhuoting Wu, Dennis G. Dye, Jason M. Stoker, John M. Vogel, Miguel G. Velasco, Barry R. Middleton
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Core Science Systems Mission Area, National Geospatial Program, Western Geographic Science Center, 3D Elevation Program

Vegetation burn severity mapping using Landsat-8 and WorldView-2

We used remotely sensed data from the Landsat-8 and WorldView-2 satellites to estimate vegetation burn severity of the Creek Fire on the San Carlos Apache Reservation, where wildfire occurrences affect the Tribe's crucial livestock and logging industries. Accurate pre- and post-fire canopy maps at high (0.5-meter) resolution were created from World- View-2 data to generate canopy loss maps, and mu
Authors
Zhuoting Wu, Barry R. Middleton, Robert Hetzler, John M. Vogel, Dennis G. Dye
By
Western Geographic Science Center

Science and Products