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Heather Tollerud

Heather Tollerud is a Research Physical Scientist at the Earth Resources Observation and Science Center in Sioux Falls, SD.

Heather Tollerud is a Research Physical Scientist at the Earth Resources Observation and Science Center in Sioux Falls, SD. Since joining USGS as a Mendenhall Fellow, she has focused on land surface change, time series remote sensing analysis, land-atmosphere interactions, and drought. She is currently a member of the Land Change Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection (LCMAP) team.

Education

Ph.D. Geoscience, Penn State University

M.S. Astrophysical and Planetary Science, University of Colorado

B.A. Physics, Math, St. Olaf College

Science and Products

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USGS

19-39. Land Change Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection (LCMAP): Translating imagery and weather into predictions of surface reflectance

 

Closing Date: January 4, 2021

This Research Opportunity will be filled depending on the availability of funds. All application materials must be submitted through USAJobs by 11:59 pm, US Eastern Standard Time, on the closing date.

How to Apply

Apply Here

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19-39. Land Change Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection (LCMAP): Translating imagery and weather into predictions of surface reflectance

 

Closing Date: January 4, 2021

This Research Opportunity will be filled depending on the availability of funds. All application materials must be submitted through USAJobs by 11:59 pm, US Eastern Standard Time, on the closing date.

How to Apply

Apply Here

Learn More
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USGS

19-40. Land Change Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection (LCMAP): Improving the detection of land surface change using satellite time series data

 

Closing Date: January 4, 2021

This Research Opportunity will be filled depending on the availability of funds. All application materials must be submitted through USAJobs by 11:59 pm, US Eastern Standard Time, on the closing date.

How to Apply

Apply Here

link

19-40. Land Change Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection (LCMAP): Improving the detection of land surface change using satellite time series data

 

Closing Date: January 4, 2021

This Research Opportunity will be filled depending on the availability of funds. All application materials must be submitted through USAJobs by 11:59 pm, US Eastern Standard Time, on the closing date.

How to Apply

Apply Here

Learn More
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Color image of land cover map of Conterminous United States

LCMAP Updates: Adding Data on an Annual Basis

The USGS Land Change Monitoring, Assessment and Projection (LCMAP) initiative strives to keep data products up-to-date and to make those updated products available quickly for the user community.
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LCMAP Updates: Adding Data on an Annual Basis

The USGS Land Change Monitoring, Assessment and Projection (LCMAP) initiative strives to keep data products up-to-date and to make those updated products available quickly for the user community.
Learn More
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Dr. Heather Tollerud with graphic for USGS EROS podcast Eyes on Earth

Eyes On Earth Episode 22 - Meet the Mendenhall Fellow

Eyes on Earth is a podcast on remote sensing, Earth observation, land change and science, brought to you by the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center. In this episode, we hear about one scientist’s journey from USGS Mendenhall fellow to full-time USGS researcher.

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Eyes On Earth Episode 22 - Meet the Mendenhall Fellow

Eyes on Earth is a podcast on remote sensing, Earth observation, land change and science, brought to you by the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center. In this episode, we hear about one scientist’s journey from USGS Mendenhall fellow to full-time USGS researcher.

Learn More
USGS scientists gathered around a computer at an LCMAP workshop
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Trends in tree cover change over three decades related to interannual climate variability and wildfire in California

The U.S. State of California has experienced frequent drought events, hotter temperatures and other disruptions to the climate system whose effects on ecosystems have been widely reported in recent decades. Studies primarily confined to specific vegetation communities or species, individual drought incidents, or analysis over a relatively short intervals, has limited our understanding of the broad
Authors
Francis K Dwomoh, Roger F. Auch, Jesslyn F. Brown, Heather J. Tollerud
By
Core Science Systems Mission Area, Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center , Land Change Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection

Toward consistent change detection across irregular remote sensing time series observations

The use of remote sensing in time series analysis enables wall-to-wall monitoring of the land surface and is critical for assessing and understanding land cover and land use change and for understanding the Earth system as a whole. However, variability in remote sensing observation frequency through time and across space presents challenges for producing consistent change detection results through
Authors
Heather J. Tollerud, Zhe Zhu, Kelcy Smith, Danika F. Wellington, Reza Hussain, Donna Viola
By
Core Science Systems Mission Area, Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center , Land Change Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection

Conterminous United States land-cover change (1985-2016): New insights from annual time series

Sample-based estimates augmented by complete coverage land-cover maps were used to estimate area and describe patterns of annual land-cover change across the conterminous United States (CONUS) between 1985 and 2016. Most of the CONUS land cover remained stable in terms of net class change over this time, but a substantial gross change dynamic was captured by the annual and cumulative time interval
Authors
Roger F. Auch, Danika Fay Wellington, Janis L. Taylor, Stephen V Stehman, Heather J. Tollerud, Jesslyn F. Brown, Thomas Loveland, Bruce Pengra, Josephine Horton, Zhe Zhu, Alemayehu Midekisa, Kristi Sayler, George Xian, Christopher Barnes, Ryan R. Reker
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Core Science Systems Mission Area, Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center , Land Change Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection

Hotter drought escalates tree cover declines in blue oak woodlands of California

California has, in recent years, become a hotspot of interannual climatic variability, recording devastating climate-related disturbances with severe effects on tree resources. Understanding the patterns of tree cover change associated with these events is vital for developing strategies to sustain critical habitats of endemic and threatened vegetation communities. We assessed patterns of tree cov
Authors
Francis K Dwomoh, Jesslyn F. Brown, Heather J. Tollerud, Roger F. Auch
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Ecosystems Mission Area, Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center , Land Change Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection, Wildland Fire Science

Investigating the effects of land use and land cover on the relationship between moisture and reflectance using Landsat Time Series

To better understand the Earth system, it is important to investigate the interactions between precipitation, land use/land cover (LULC), and the land surface, especially vegetation. An improved understanding of these land-atmosphere interactions can aid understanding of the climate system and modeling of time series satellite data. Here, we investigate the effect of precipitation and LULC on the
Authors
Heather J. Tollerud, Jesslyn F. Brown, Thomas Loveland
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Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center , Land Change Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection

Land change monitoring, assessment, and projection

There is a pressing need to monitor and understand the rapid land change happening around the world. The U.S. Geological Survey is developing a new capability, called Land Change Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection (LCMAP), to innovate the understanding of land change. This capability is the Earth Resources Observation and Science Center's foundation for an integrated U.S. Geological Survey-wid
Authors
Jennifer Rover, Jesslyn F. Brown, Roger F. Auch, Kristi Sayler, Terry L. Sohl, Heather J. Tollerud, George Xian
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Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center , Land Change Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection

Training data selection for annual land cover classification for the LCMAP initiative

The U.S. Geological Survey’s Land Change Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection (LCMAP) initiative characterizes changes in land cover, use, and condition with the goal of producing land change information that improves understanding of the earth system and provides insight into the impacts of land change on society. For LCMAP, all available high-quality data from the Landsat archive is used in a
Authors
Qiang Zhou, Heather J. Tollerud, Christopher Barber, Kelcy Smith, Daniel J. Zelenak
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Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center , Land Change Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection

Lessons learned implementing an operational continuous U.S. national land change monitoring capability: The LCMAP approach

Growing demands for temporally specific information on land surface change are fueling a new generation of maps and statistics that can contribute to understanding geographic and temporal patterns of change across large regions, provide input into a wide range of environmental modeling studies, clarify the drivers of change, and provide more timely information for land managers. To meet these need
Authors
Jesslyn F. Brown, Heather J. Tollerud, Christopher Barber, Qiang Zhou, John L. Dwyer, James Vogelmann, Thomas Loveland, Curtis Woodcock, Stephen V Stehman, Zhe Zhu, Bruce Pengra, Kelcy Smith, Josephine Horton, George Xian, Roger F. Auch, Terry L. Sohl, Kristi Sayler, Alisa L. Gallant, Daniel Zelenak, Ryan R. Reker, Jennifer R. Rover
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Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center , Land Change Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection

Drought and land-cover conditions in the Great Plains

Land–atmosphere interactions play a critical role in the Earth system, and a better understanding of these interactions could improve weather and climate models. The interaction among drought, vegetation productivity, and land cover is of particular significance. In a semiarid environment, such as the U.S. Great Plains, droughts can have a large influence on the productivity of agriculture and gra
Authors
Heather J. Tollerud, Jesslyn F. Brown, Thomas Loveland, Rezaul Mahmood, Norman B. Bliss
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Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center

Non-USGS Publications**

Heather J. Tollerud, Matthew S. Fantle, 2014. The temporal variability of centimeter-scale surface roughness in a playa dust source: Synthetic aperture radar investigation of playa surface dynamics, Remote Sensing of Environment, Volume 154, Pages 285-297, ISSN 0034-4257, doi: 10.1016/j.rse.2014.08.009.

**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.

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EROS Offers Two Postdoctoral Land Change Fellowships for 2021

The USGS Land Change Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection (LCMAP) initiative is offering two Mendenhall Fellowships to improve its land change...

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Research Grade Evaluation Offers Path to Advancement, Scientific Leadership

Scientific research, development, and operations meant to help manage Earth’s natural resources are the bread and butter of work done at the Earth...

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Mendenhall Program Served as Springboard into Remote Sensing Career for Tollerud

Dr. Heather Tollerud came to the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center with an eye to drought and its ripple effects across time...

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EROS Research Presented at AGU

The American Geophysical Union’s Fall Meeting takes place Dec. 10-14 in Washington, D.C. The work of the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science...

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