Jill Cress is a Computer Scientist at the National Unmanned Aircraft Systems Project Office in the Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center.
Science and Products
A global ecological classification of coastal segment units to complement marine biodiversity observation network assessments
Earth's coastlines
The geography of islands
A new 30 meter resolution global shoreline vector and associated global islands database for the development of standardized ecological coastal units
A new high-resolution map of world mountains and an online tool for visualizing and comparing characterizations of global mountain distributions
U.S. Geological Survey Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Roadmap 2014
A new map of global ecological land units — An ecophysiographic stratification approach
A new map of standardized terrestrial ecosystems of Africa
Implementation of unmanned aircraft systems by the U.S. Geological Survey
A New Map of Standardized Terrestrial Ecosystems of the Conterminous United States
Rapid Data Delivery System (RDDS)
Global Data Toolset (GDT)
Non-USGS Publications**
**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.
National Uncrewed Systems Office
Global Ecosystems Continental Data
Global Ecosystems Global Data
Global Ecosystems
World Terrestrial Ecosystems Explorer
This online explorer tool, the World Terrestrial Ecosystems Explorer, allows for the map-based visualization and query of any terrestrial location on Earth for its ecosystem type and characteristics.
Global Coastline Explorer
The Global Coastline Explorer has a high-resolution dataset of Earth's coastlines and the ecological settings in which coastlines occur. This geospatial data represents 4 million 1 km or shorter coastal segments, each attributed with values from ten ecological settings variables representing the adjacent ocean, the adjacent land, and the coastline itself.
Global Island Explorer
The Global Island Explorer has 340,691 global island polygons grouped into four size classes: continental mainlands, big islands, small islands, and very small islands. Each polygon was derived from a new 30m resolution Global Shoreline Vector (GSV) dataset that was created by interpreting coastal shorelines from 2014 satellite imagery in Google Earth Engine.
Global Mountain Explorer 2.0
The Global Mountain Explorer supports the visual comparison of three well-known global mountain raster datasets. The first two were derived from 1km DEMs with the first being produced by Kapos et al. (2000), and the second by Körner et al. (2011). The third global mountain dataset, produced by Karagulle et al. (2017), was derived from a finer resolution 250m DEM.
Global Ecosystems Viewer
The Global Ecosystems Viewer provides visualization and feature identification of continental and global ecosystems data. Data from the Global Ecosystems activity allow for a fine resolution inventory of land-based ecological features anywhere on Earth, and contribute to increased understanding of ecological pattern and ecosystem distributions.
Science and Products
- Publications
Filter Total Items: 14
A global ecological classification of coastal segment units to complement marine biodiversity observation network assessments
A new data layer provides Coastal and Marine Ecological Classification Standard (CMECS) labels for global coastal segments at 1 km or shorter resolution. These characteristics are summarized for six US Marine Biodiversity Observation Network (MBON) sites and one MBON Pole to Pole of the Americas site in Argentina. The global coastlines CMECS classifications were produced from a partitioning of a 3AuthorsRoger Sayre, Kevin Butler, Keith Van Graafeiland, Sean Breyer, Dawn Wright, Charlie Frye, Deniz Karagulle, Madeline T. Martin, Jill Janene Cress, Tom Allen, Rebecca Allee, Rost Parsons, Bjorn Nyberg, Mark Costello, Peter Harris, Frank Muller-KargerEarth's coastlines
With approximately half the world’s population living less than 65 miles from the ocean, coastal ecosystems are arguably Earth’s most critical real estate. Yet coastlines are among the more difficult features to accurately map; until now, no comprehensive high-resolution geospatial dataset existed. This chapter presents a new map and ecological inventory of global coastlines developed by Esri, theAuthorsRoger Sayre, Madeline T. Martin, Jill Janene Cress, Kevin Butler, Keith Van Graafeiland, Sean Breyer, Dawn Wright, Charlie Frye, Deniz Karagulle, Tom Allen, Rebecca Allee, Rost Parsons, Bjorn Nyberg, Mark J. Costello, Frank Muller-Karger, Peter HarrisThe geography of islands
Islands come in all shapes, sizes and types, from tiny rocky outcrops, to enormous continental landmasses. The true number of islands distributed in the planet’s seas and oceans is still elusive. Recent efforts bolstered by an abundance of detailed satellite imagery and the sophistication of geographic information systems (GIS) are bringing real answers to those questions closer than ever.AuthorsRoger Sayre, Madeline Thomas Martin, Jill Janene Cress, Nick Holmes, Osgur McDermott-Long, Lauren Weatherdon, Dena Spatz, Keith VanGraafeiland, David WillA new 30 meter resolution global shoreline vector and associated global islands database for the development of standardized ecological coastal units
A new 30-m spatial resolution global shoreline vector (GSV) was developed from annual composites of 2014 Landsat satellite imagery. The semi-automated classification of the imagery was accomplished by manual selection of training points representing water and non-water classes along the entire global coastline. Polygon topology was applied to the GSV, resulting in a new characterisation of the numAuthorsRoger Sayre, Suzanne Noble, Sharon L. Hamann, Rebecca A. Smith, Dawn J. Wright, Sean P. Breyer, Kevin Butler, Keith Van Graafeiland, Charlie Frye, Deniz Karagulle, Dabney Hopkins, Drew Stephens, Kevin Kelly, Zeenatul Basher, Devon Burton, Jill Janene Cress, Karina Atkins, D. Paco Van Sistine, Beverly Friesen, Rebecca Allee, Tom Allen, Peter Aniello, Irawan Asaad, Mark John Costello, Kathy Goodin, Peter Harrison, Maria T. Kavanaugh, Helen Lillis, Eleonora Manca, Frank E. Muller-Karger, Bjorn Nyberg, Rost Parsons, Justin Saarinen, Jac Steiner, Adam ReedA new high-resolution map of world mountains and an online tool for visualizing and comparing characterizations of global mountain distributions
Answers to the seemingly straightforward questions “what is a mountain?” and “where are the mountains of the world?” are in fact quite complex, and there have been few attempts to map the mountains of the earth in a consistent and rigorous fashion. However, knowing exactly where mountain ecosystems are distributed on the planet is a precursor to conserving them, as called for in Sustainable DeveloAuthorsRoger Sayre, Charlie Frye, Deniz Karagulle, Jürg Krauer, Sean Breyer, Peter Aniello, Dawn J. Wright, Davnah Payne, Carolina Adler, Harumi Warner, D. Paco Van Sistine, Jill Janene CressU.S. Geological Survey Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Roadmap 2014
The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) is responsible for protecting the natural resources and heritage contained on almost 20 percent of the land in the United States. This responsibility requires acquisition of remotely sensed data throughout vast lands, including areas that are remote and potentially dangerous to access. One promising new technology for data collection is unmanned aircraft sAuthorsJill J. Cress, Michael E. Hutt, Jeff L. Sloan, Mark A. Bauer, Mark R. Feller, Susan E. GoplenA new map of global ecological land units — An ecophysiographic stratification approach
In response to the need and an intergovernmental commission for a high resolution and data-derived global ecosystem map, land surface elements of global ecological pattern were characterized in an ecophysiographic stratification of the planet. The stratification produced 3,923 terrestrial ecological land units (ELUs) at a base resolution of 250 meters. The ELUs were derived from data on land surfaAuthorsRoger Sayre, Jack Dangermond, Charlie Frye, Randy Vaughan, Peter Aniello, Sean P. Breyer, Douglas Cribbs, Dabney Hopkins, Richard Nauman, William Derrenbacher, Dawn J. Wright, Clint Brown, Charles Convis, Jonathan H. Smith, Laurence Benson, D. Paco VanSistine, Harumi Warner, Jill Janene Cress, Jeffrey J. Danielson, Sharon L. Hamann, Thomas Cecere, Ashwan D. Reddy, Devon Burton, Andrea Grosse, Diane True, Marc Metzger, Jens Hartmann, Nils Moosdorf, Hans Durr, Marc Paganini, Pierre Defourny, Olivier Arino, Simone Maynard, Mark Anderson, Patrick ComerA new map of standardized terrestrial ecosystems of Africa
Terrestrial ecosystems and vegetation of Africa were classified and mapped as part of a larger effort and global protocol (GEOSS – the Global Earth Observation System of Systems), which includes an activity to map terrestrial ecosystems of the earth in a standardized, robust, and practical manner, and at the finest possible spatial resolution. To model the potential distribution of ecosystems, newAuthorsRoger G. Sayre, Patrick Comer, Jon Hak, Carmen Josse, Jacquie Bow, Harumi Warner, Mahamane Larwanou, Ensermu Kelbessa, Tamrat Bekele, Harald Kehl, Ruba Amena, Rado Andriamasimanana, Taibou Ba, Laurence Benson, Timothy Boucher, Matthew Brown, Jill J. Cress, Oueddo Dassering, Beverly A. Friesen, Francis Gachathi, Sebei Houcine, Mahamadou Keita, Erick Khamala, Dan Marangu, Fredrick Mokua, Boube Morou, Ladislav Mucina, Samuel Mugisha, Edward Mwavu, Michael Rutherford, Patrice Sanou, Stephen Syampungani, Bojoi Tomor, Abdallahi Ould Mohamed Vall, Jean Pierre Vande Weghe, Eunice Wangui, Lucy WaruingiImplementation of unmanned aircraft systems by the U.S. Geological Survey
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Project Office is leading the implementation of UAS technology in anticipation of transforming the research methods and management techniques employed across the Department of the Interior. UAS technology is being made available to monitor environmental conditions, analyse the impacts of climate change, respond to natural hazards, uAuthorsJ.J. Cress, J.L. Sloan, M.E. HuttA New Map of Standardized Terrestrial Ecosystems of the Conterminous United States
A new map of standardized, mesoscale (tens to thousands of hectares) terrestrial ecosystems for the conterminous United States was developed by using a biophysical stratification approach. The ecosystems delineated in this top-down, deductive modeling effort are described in NatureServe's classification of terrestrial ecological systems of the United States. The ecosystems were mapped as physicallAuthorsRoger G. Sayre, Patrick Comer, Harumi Warner, Jill CressRapid Data Delivery System (RDDS)
Since the start of the active 2000 summer fire season, the U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) Rocky Mountain Geographic Science Center (RMGSC) has been actively engaged in providing crucial and timely support to Federal, State, and local natural hazards monitoring, analysis, response, and recovery activities. As part of this support, RMGSC has developed the Rapid Data Delivery System (RDDS) to provideAuthorsJill J. Cress, Susan E. GoplenGlobal Data Toolset (GDT)
According to the United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) approximately 60 percent of the data contained in the World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA) has missing or incomplete boundary information. As a result, global analyses based on the WDPA can be inaccurate, and professionals responsible for natural resource planning and priority setting must reAuthorsJill J. Cress, Jodi L. RiegleNon-USGS Publications**
**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.
- Science
National Uncrewed Systems Office
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Uncrewed Systems Office (NUSO) leads the research activities needed to make Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS) data collection an efficient, safe, and cost-effective remote sensing tool for Department of the Interior (DOI) and USGS scientists. DOI manages over 20 percent of the Nation’s public lands and is responsible for migratory bird and wildlife...Global Ecosystems Continental Data
Ecosystems in the continental maps were geospatially delineated as facets of the landscape generated through biophysical stratification of bioclimate, biogeography, lithology, landforms, surface moisture, and land cover. This approach was framed on the understanding that the biodiversity that occurs in any area is largely the result of a biotic response to physical environmental potential and...Global Ecosystems Global Data
USGS transitioned from its continental work into developing the data needed to address natural resource management from a global perspective. USGS is also responsible for the implementation of companion tools, called Explorers, to provide web-based visualization and query functionality for each new global dataset. Development of these datasets is being done by the USGS in partnership with Esri and...Global Ecosystems
The Earth contains an astonishing variety of terrestrial, freshwater, and marine ecosystems, that provide the biological resources and services essential to our survival. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in partnership with other organizations, is generating the datasets needed to better manage, conserve, and restore these vital natural resources that are increasingly threatened by fragmentation... - Web Tools
World Terrestrial Ecosystems Explorer
This online explorer tool, the World Terrestrial Ecosystems Explorer, allows for the map-based visualization and query of any terrestrial location on Earth for its ecosystem type and characteristics.
Global Coastline Explorer
The Global Coastline Explorer has a high-resolution dataset of Earth's coastlines and the ecological settings in which coastlines occur. This geospatial data represents 4 million 1 km or shorter coastal segments, each attributed with values from ten ecological settings variables representing the adjacent ocean, the adjacent land, and the coastline itself.
Global Island Explorer
The Global Island Explorer has 340,691 global island polygons grouped into four size classes: continental mainlands, big islands, small islands, and very small islands. Each polygon was derived from a new 30m resolution Global Shoreline Vector (GSV) dataset that was created by interpreting coastal shorelines from 2014 satellite imagery in Google Earth Engine.
Global Mountain Explorer 2.0
The Global Mountain Explorer supports the visual comparison of three well-known global mountain raster datasets. The first two were derived from 1km DEMs with the first being produced by Kapos et al. (2000), and the second by Körner et al. (2011). The third global mountain dataset, produced by Karagulle et al. (2017), was derived from a finer resolution 250m DEM.
Global Ecosystems Viewer
The Global Ecosystems Viewer provides visualization and feature identification of continental and global ecosystems data. Data from the Global Ecosystems activity allow for a fine resolution inventory of land-based ecological features anywhere on Earth, and contribute to increased understanding of ecological pattern and ecosystem distributions.