Barry Russell Middleton
Barry Middleton is a geographer for the USGS's Western Geographic Science Center. He is currently stationed in Tucson, Arizona.
Biography
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
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.
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...
Middleton, Barry R.; Norman, Laura M. 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...
Norman, Laura M.; Middleton, Barry R.; Wilson, Natalie R. 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...
Petrakis, Roy; Villarreal, Miguel L.; Wu, Zhuoting; Hetzler, Robert; Middleton, Barry R.; Norman, Laura M. 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...
Dye, Dennis G.; Middleton, Barry R.; Vogel, John M.; Wu, Zhuoting; Velasco, Miguel G. 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...
Petrakis, Roy; Wu, Zhuoting; McVay, Jason; Middleton, Barry R.; Dye, Dennis G.; Vogel, John M. 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...
Wu, Zhuoting; Velasco, Miguel G.; McVay, Jason; Middleton, Barry R.; Vogel, John M.; Dye, Dennis G. 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...
Wu, Zhuoting; Dye, Dennis G.; Vogel, John M.; Middleton, Barry R. 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...
Wu, Zhuoting; Dye, Dennis G.; Stoker, Jason M.; Vogel, John M.; Velasco, Miguel G.; Middleton, Barry R. 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...
Wu, Zhuoting; Middleton, Barry R.; Hetzler, Robert; Vogel, John M.; Dye, Dennis G.