Christopher Soulard
Chris Soulard has worked for the U.S. Geological Survey since 2002. He is currently a supervisory research geographer working with the Western Geographic Science Center in Moffett Field, CA.
I started my career with the U.S. Geological Survey in 2002 as a student intern and have never looked back, fully embracing my role as a civil servant. For over 20 years, I have had the fortune to work on a wide range of remote sensing into projects focusing on multi-temporal change analyses using Landsat imagery and aerial photography, most notably the Land Cover Trends Project. I have also had many opportunities to expand my research scope, including community vulnerability assessments of tsunami and volcanic lahar hazards in the Pacific Northwest, terrestrial laser scanning to monitor soil and vegetation changes in the Mojave Desert and elsewhere, land-use/land-cover forecasting for the Western United States, and vegetation change analyses using Google Earth Engine cloud computing. My career with the U.S. Geological Survey has afforded me the chance to develop technical geospatial and geostatistical research expertise, as well as soft skills like project management, leadership, and communication. I currently serve as the Principal Investigator of the PLACE Project (Patterns in the Landscape – Analyses of Cause and Effect) and supervise the Ecosystem Dynamics Team.
Professional Experience
2020 - present: Supervisory Research Geographer, United States Geological Survey (USGS)
2013 - 2020: Research Geographer, United States Geological Survey (USGS)
2002 - 2013: Geographer, United States Geological Survey (USGS)
Education and Certifications
B.A. in Geography, University of California Santa Barbara, 2003*
*Magna Cum Laude
B.A. in Environmental Studies, University of California Santa Barbara, 2003**
**Environmental Studies Honors Award
M.A. in Geographic Information Science with emphasis in remote sensing and land cover change, San Jose State University, 2005
Science and Products
Recent land-use/land-cover change in the Central California Valley
Salmonids, stream temperatures, and solar loading--modeling the shade provided to the Klamath River by vegetation and geomorphology
Sierra Nevada Ecoregion: Chapter 15 in Status and trends of land change in the Western United States--1973 to 2000
Northern Basin and Range Ecoregion: Chapter 23 in Status and trends of land change in the Western United States--1973 to 2000
Central Basin and Range Ecoregion: Chapter 20 in Status and trends of land change in the Western United States--1973 to 2000
Southern California Mountains Ecoregion: Chapter 18 in Status and trends of land change in the Western United States--1973 to 2000
Blue Mountains Ecoregion: Chapter 16 in Status and trends of land change in the Western United States--1973 to 2000
Scenarios of land use and land cover change in the conterminous United States: Utilizing the special report on emission scenarios at ecoregional scales
The role of fire on soil mounds and surface roughness in the Mojave Desert
Late twentieth century land-cover change in the basin and range ecoregions of the United States
Future scenarios of land-use and land-cover change in the United States--the Marine West Coast Forests Ecoregion
Estimation of late twentieth century land-cover change in California
Science and Products
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Filter Total Items: 43
Recent land-use/land-cover change in the Central California Valley
Open access to Landsat satellite data has enabled annual analyses of modern land-use and land-cover change (LULCC) for the Central California Valley ecoregion between 2005 and 2010. Our annual LULCC estimates capture landscape-level responses to water policy changes, climate, and economic instability. From 2005 to 2010, agriculture in the region fluctuated along with regulatory-driven changes in wAuthorsChristopher E. Soulard, Tamara S. WilsonSalmonids, stream temperatures, and solar loading--modeling the shade provided to the Klamath River by vegetation and geomorphology
The U.S. Geological Survey is studying approaches to characterize the thermal regulation of water and the dynamics of cold water refugia. High temperatures have physiological impacts on anadromous fish species. Factors affecting the presence, variability, and quality of thermal refugia are known, such as riverine and watershed processes, hyporheic flows, deep pools and bathymetric factors, thermalAuthorsWilliam M. Forney, Christopher E. Soulard, C. Christopher ChickadelSierra Nevada Ecoregion: Chapter 15 in Status and trends of land change in the Western United States--1973 to 2000
This chapter has been modified from original material published in Raumann and Soulard (2007), entitled “Land-cover trends of the Sierra Nevada Ecoregion, 1973–2000” (U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2007–5011). The Sierra Nevada Ecoregion covers approximately 53,413 km² (20,623 mi²) with the majority of the area (98 percent) in California and the remainder in Nevada (fig. 1AuthorsChristian G. Raumann, Christopher E. SoulardNorthern Basin and Range Ecoregion: Chapter 23 in Status and trends of land change in the Western United States--1973 to 2000
The Northern Basin and Range Ecoregion (Omernik, 1987; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1997) is located in eastern Oregon (58.7 percent), northern Nevada (20.6 percent), southwestern Idaho (14.8 percent), and northeastern California (5.9 percent), encompassing the northern extent of the hydrographic Great Basin (Grayson, 1993). The ecoregion, which covers approximately 110,039 km² (42,486 miAuthorsChristopher E. SoulardCentral Basin and Range Ecoregion: Chapter 20 in Status and trends of land change in the Western United States--1973 to 2000
This chapter has been modified from original material published in Soulard (2006), entitled “Land-cover trends of the Central Basin and Range Ecoregion” (U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2006–5288). The Central Basin and Range Ecoregion (Omernik, 1987; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1997) encompasses approximately 343,169 km² (132,498 mi2) of land bordered on the westAuthorsChristopher E. SoulardSouthern California Mountains Ecoregion: Chapter 18 in Status and trends of land change in the Western United States--1973 to 2000
This chapter has been modified from original material published in Soulard and others (2007), entitled “Land-cover trends of the Southern California Mountains ecoregion” (U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2007–5235). The Southern California Mountains Ecoregion (Omernik, 1987; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1997) encompasses approximately 17,871 km² (6,900 mi²) of landAuthorsChristopher E. Soulard, Christian G. Raumann, Tamara S. WilsonBlue Mountains Ecoregion: Chapter 16 in Status and trends of land change in the Western United States--1973 to 2000
The Blue Mountains Ecoregion encompasses approximately 65,461 km² (25,275 mi²) of land bordered on the north by the Columbia Plateau Ecoregion, on the east by the Northern Rockies Ecoregion, on the south by the Snake River Basin and the Northern Basin and Range Ecoregions, and on the west by the Cascades and the Eastern Cascades Slopes and Foothills Ecoregions (fig. 1) (Omernik, 1987; U.S. EnvironAuthorsChristopher E. SoulardScenarios of land use and land cover change in the conterminous United States: Utilizing the special report on emission scenarios at ecoregional scales
Global environmental change scenarios have typically provided projections of land use and land cover for a relatively small number of regions or using a relatively coarse resolution spatial grid, and for only a few major sectors. The coarseness of global projections, in both spatial and thematic dimensions, often limits their direct utility at scales useful for environmental management. This paperAuthorsBenjamin M. Sleeter, Terry L. Sohl, Michelle A. Bouchard, Ryan R. Reker, Christopher E. Soulard, William Acevedo, Glenn E. Griffith, Rachel R. Sleeter, Roger F. Auch, Kristi Sayler, Stephen Prisley, Zhi-Liang ZhuThe role of fire on soil mounds and surface roughness in the Mojave Desert
A fundamental question in arid land management centers on understanding the long-term effects of fire on desert ecosystems. To assess the effects of fire on surface topography, soil roughness, and vegetation, we used terrestrial (ground-based) LiDAR to quantify the differences between burned and unburned surfaces by creating a series of high-resolution vegetation structure and bare-earth surface mAuthorsChristopher E. Soulard, Todd C. Esque, David R. Bedford, Sandra BondLate twentieth century land-cover change in the basin and range ecoregions of the United States
As part of the US Geological Survey's Land Cover Trends project, land-use/land-cover change estimates between 1973 and 2000 are presented for the basin and range ecoregions, including Northern, Central, Mojave, and Sonoran. Landsat data were employed to estimate and characterize land-cover change from 1973, 1980, 1986, 1992, and 2000 using a post-classification comparison. Overall, spatial changeAuthorsChristopher E. Soulard, Benjamin M. SleeterFuture scenarios of land-use and land-cover change in the United States--the Marine West Coast Forests Ecoregion
Detecting, quantifying, and projecting historical and future changes in land use and land cover (LULC) has emerged as a core research area for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Changes in LULC are important drivers of changes to biogeochemical cycles, the exchange of energy between the Earth’s surface and atmosphere, biodiversity, water quality, and climate change. To quantify the rates of recentAuthorsTamara S. Wilson, Benjamin M. Sleeter, Terry L. Sohl, Glenn Griffith, William Acevedo, Stacie Bennett, Michelle Bouchard, Ryan R. Reker, Christy Ryan, Kristi Sayler, Rachel Sleeter, Christopher E. SoulardEstimation of late twentieth century land-cover change in California
We present the first comprehensive multi-temporal analysis of land-cover change for California across its major ecological regions and primary land-cover types. Recently completed satellite-based estimates of land-cover and land-use change information for large portions of the United States allow for consistent measurement and comparison across heterogeneous landscapes. Landsat data were employedAuthorsBenjamin M. Sleeter, Tamara S. Wilson, Christopher E. Soulard, Jinxun Liu - Software
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