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David I Donato

By profession and avocation, David I. Donato is an applied mathematician and computational scientist. David has contributed as a quantitative professional to a number of the programs of the Department of the Interior, including offshore minerals leasing, quantitative policy analysis, information dissemination, and geographic and regional studies.

In addition to his work in applied mathematics, statistics, and scientific computation, he has developed and administered Web sites and has designed and built interactive Web applications. He has also applied his knowledge of quantitative micro-economics to various studies and analyses, including work with mercury in fish and land-change modeling. Because of his particular interest in probability and mathematical statistics, he specializes in stochastic computer simulation. David is an expert scientific programmer and a prolific technical writer. In recent years he has worked on statistical modeling of mercury in fish tissue and spatially-explicit land-change modeling.

Research Interests

  • Modeling spatially-explicit environmental and land-use futures
  • Designing scientific computer models for generality and radically deep interoperation
  • Developing (designing and coding) stochastic computer simulations and models
  • Solving difficult quantitative and computational problems using mathematics, statistics, GIScience, economics, and comput

Professional Experience

  • Research Computer Scientist         U.S. Geological Survey               2009-Present

  • Computer Scientist                        U.S. Geological Survey               1997-2009  

  • Operations Research Analyst          U.S. Geological Survey               1985-1997

  • Statistician                                     Minerals Management Service   1982-1985

  • Statistician                                     Bureau of Land Management     1976-1982

Education and Certifications

  • B.S. in Mathematics from Colorado State University - Pueblo (1975)

  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  • Tulane University College (New Orleans)

  • University of New Orleans

Affiliations and Memberships*

  • American Statistical Association (ASA)

  • Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)

  • IEEE and IEEE Computer Society

  • Mathematical Association of America

Science and Products

The USGS pursues research programs related to land change and land-change modeling as well as environmental mercury as a contaminant that affects the health of fish and other wildlife.

No Result Found
Filter Total Items: 14

Historic and forecasted population and land-cover change in eastern North Carolina, 1992-2030 Historic and forecasted population and land-cover change in eastern North Carolina, 1992-2030

The Southeast Regional Partnership for Planning and Sustainability (SERPPAS) was formed in 2005 as a partnership between the Department of Defense (DOD) and State and Federal agencies to promote better collaboration in making resource-use decisions. In support of this goal, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) conducted a study to evaluate historic population growth and land-cover change...
Authors
Peter R. Claggett, Hearn, David I. Donato

Computing ordinary least-squares parameter estimates for the National Descriptive Model of Mercury in Fish Computing ordinary least-squares parameter estimates for the National Descriptive Model of Mercury in Fish

A specialized technique is used to compute weighted ordinary least-squares (OLS) estimates of the parameters of the National Descriptive Model of Mercury in Fish (NDMMF) in less time using less computer memory than general methods. The characteristics of the NDMMF allow the two products X'X and X'y in the normal equations to be filled out in a second or two of computer time during a...
Authors
David I. Donato
By
Water Resources Mission Area

Effects of mercury deposition and coniferous forests on the mercury contamination of fish in the south central United States Effects of mercury deposition and coniferous forests on the mercury contamination of fish in the south central United States

Mercury (Hg) is a toxic metal that is found in aquatic food webs and is hazardous to human and wildlife health. We examined the relationship between Hg deposition, land coverage by coniferous and deciduous forests, and average Hg concentrations in largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides)-equivalent fish (LMBE) in 14 ecoregions located within all or part of six states in the South Central...
Authors
Ray W. Drenner, Matthew M. Chumchal, Christina M. Jones, Christopher M.B. Lehmann, David A. Gay, David I. Donato

Computing maximum-likelihood estimates for parameters of the National Descriptive Model of Mercury in Fish Computing maximum-likelihood estimates for parameters of the National Descriptive Model of Mercury in Fish

This report presents the mathematical expressions and the computational techniques required to compute maximum-likelihood estimates for the parameters of the National Descriptive Model of Mercury in Fish (NDMMF), a statistical model used to predict the concentration of methylmercury in fish tissue. The expressions and techniques reported here were prepared to support the development of...
Authors
David I. Donato

Designing and implementing a regional urban modeling system using the SLEUTH cellular urban model Designing and implementing a regional urban modeling system using the SLEUTH cellular urban model

This paper presents a fine-scale (30 meter resolution) regional land cover modeling system, based on the SLEUTH cellular automata model, that was developed for a 257000 km2 area comprising the Chesapeake Bay drainage basin in the eastern United States. As part of this effort, we developed a new version of the SLEUTH model (SLEUTH-3r), which introduces new functionality and fit metrics...
Authors
Claire A. Jantz, Scott J. Goetz, David I. Donato, Peter R. Claggett

Secure Web-Site Access with Tickets and Message-Dependent Digests Secure Web-Site Access with Tickets and Message-Dependent Digests

Although there are various methods for restricting access to documents stored on a World Wide Web (WWW) site (a Web site), none of the widely used methods is completely suitable for restricting access to Web applications hosted on an otherwise publicly accessible Web site. A new technique, however, provides a mix of features well suited for restricting Web-site or Web-application access...
Authors
David I. Donato
By
Water Resources Mission Area

Science and Products

The USGS pursues research programs related to land change and land-change modeling as well as environmental mercury as a contaminant that affects the health of fish and other wildlife.

No Result Found
Filter Total Items: 14

Historic and forecasted population and land-cover change in eastern North Carolina, 1992-2030 Historic and forecasted population and land-cover change in eastern North Carolina, 1992-2030

The Southeast Regional Partnership for Planning and Sustainability (SERPPAS) was formed in 2005 as a partnership between the Department of Defense (DOD) and State and Federal agencies to promote better collaboration in making resource-use decisions. In support of this goal, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) conducted a study to evaluate historic population growth and land-cover change...
Authors
Peter R. Claggett, Hearn, David I. Donato

Computing ordinary least-squares parameter estimates for the National Descriptive Model of Mercury in Fish Computing ordinary least-squares parameter estimates for the National Descriptive Model of Mercury in Fish

A specialized technique is used to compute weighted ordinary least-squares (OLS) estimates of the parameters of the National Descriptive Model of Mercury in Fish (NDMMF) in less time using less computer memory than general methods. The characteristics of the NDMMF allow the two products X'X and X'y in the normal equations to be filled out in a second or two of computer time during a...
Authors
David I. Donato
By
Water Resources Mission Area

Effects of mercury deposition and coniferous forests on the mercury contamination of fish in the south central United States Effects of mercury deposition and coniferous forests on the mercury contamination of fish in the south central United States

Mercury (Hg) is a toxic metal that is found in aquatic food webs and is hazardous to human and wildlife health. We examined the relationship between Hg deposition, land coverage by coniferous and deciduous forests, and average Hg concentrations in largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides)-equivalent fish (LMBE) in 14 ecoregions located within all or part of six states in the South Central...
Authors
Ray W. Drenner, Matthew M. Chumchal, Christina M. Jones, Christopher M.B. Lehmann, David A. Gay, David I. Donato

Computing maximum-likelihood estimates for parameters of the National Descriptive Model of Mercury in Fish Computing maximum-likelihood estimates for parameters of the National Descriptive Model of Mercury in Fish

This report presents the mathematical expressions and the computational techniques required to compute maximum-likelihood estimates for the parameters of the National Descriptive Model of Mercury in Fish (NDMMF), a statistical model used to predict the concentration of methylmercury in fish tissue. The expressions and techniques reported here were prepared to support the development of...
Authors
David I. Donato

Designing and implementing a regional urban modeling system using the SLEUTH cellular urban model Designing and implementing a regional urban modeling system using the SLEUTH cellular urban model

This paper presents a fine-scale (30 meter resolution) regional land cover modeling system, based on the SLEUTH cellular automata model, that was developed for a 257000 km2 area comprising the Chesapeake Bay drainage basin in the eastern United States. As part of this effort, we developed a new version of the SLEUTH model (SLEUTH-3r), which introduces new functionality and fit metrics...
Authors
Claire A. Jantz, Scott J. Goetz, David I. Donato, Peter R. Claggett

Secure Web-Site Access with Tickets and Message-Dependent Digests Secure Web-Site Access with Tickets and Message-Dependent Digests

Although there are various methods for restricting access to documents stored on a World Wide Web (WWW) site (a Web site), none of the widely used methods is completely suitable for restricting access to Web applications hosted on an otherwise publicly accessible Web site. A new technique, however, provides a mix of features well suited for restricting Web-site or Web-application access...
Authors
David I. Donato
By
Water Resources Mission Area

*Disclaimer: Listing outside positions with professional scientific organizations on this Staff Profile are for informational purposes only and do not constitute an endorsement of those professional scientific organizations or their activities by the USGS, Department of the Interior, or U.S. Government

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