Jon Dewitz
Jon Dewitz is a Physical Scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey at the Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center and is the USGS Program Coordinator and Integration lead for the Landscape Fire and Resource Management Planning Tools (LANDFIRE) project.
Jon has worked at EROS since 2000, with his first 8 years as a contractor. Jon spent the majority of his career creating Land Cover products. He led the modernization of the National Land Cover Database (NLCD) through virtualization, scripting, and machine learning for the 2001 to 2021 production runs including prototyping and designing the NLCD processing systems for those years. Jon played a large part in all NLCD accuracy assessment strategies and data collection, as well as leading Impervious surface and Forest Canopy product creation. Jon has also conducted field work across Alaska and the conterminous United States and has trained and led field work teams for both.
Professional Experience
Nov. 2024 – Present: USGS Program Coordinator and Integration lead for the LANDFIRE project.
Jan. 2024 - Nov. 2024: Acting LANDFIRE Project Manager
2019 – 2024: NLCD Operations Manager
2020 – 2023: Acting NLCD Project Manager
2012 – 2019: NLCD Production Manager
2008 – 2012: NLCD Technical Lead and Quality Supervisor
2003 – 2008: NLCD Quality Supervisor, Contractor to USGS EROS
2002 – 2003: NLCD Technical Specialist, Contractor to USGS EROS
2002: National Park Service Burn Mapping Technical Specialist, Contractor to USGS EROS
2000 – 2002: IT Specialist, Contractor to USGS EROS
Education and Certifications
South Dakota State University, Master of Science in Geography
Augustana College, Bachelor of Science in Management Information Systems
South Dakota State University, Major in Computer Science
North Dakota State University, Major in Biology and Physics
University of Minnesota, Major in Biology and Physics
Affiliations and Memberships*
National GeoSpatial Database Asset (NGDA) Land Cover Theme Coordinator, Dec 2023 to Current
Multi Resolution Land Characteristics Consortium Member (MRLC), 2008 to current
Science and Applications Branch (SAB) representative for IT resources, 2013 to 2020
Affiliate Faculty, University of Alaska Fairbanks Jan 2017 to Jan 2020
EROS Representative to USGS Science for Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable (FAIR) data 2019
Science and Products
Completion of the 2011 National Land Cover Database for the conterminous United States – Representing a decade of land cover change information Completion of the 2011 National Land Cover Database for the conterminous United States – Representing a decade of land cover change information
Accuracy assessment of NLCD 2006 land cover and impervious surface Accuracy assessment of NLCD 2006 land cover and impervious surface
Quantifying urban land cover change between 2001 and 2006 in the Gulf of Mexico region Quantifying urban land cover change between 2001 and 2006 in the Gulf of Mexico region
Completion of the 2006 national land cover database for the conterminous united states Completion of the 2006 national land cover database for the conterminous united states
Change of impervious surface area between 2001 and 2006 in the conterminous United States Change of impervious surface area between 2001 and 2006 in the conterminous United States
The United States 2001 National Land Cover Database The United States 2001 National Land Cover Database
Completion of the 2001 National Land Cover Database for the conterminous United States Completion of the 2001 National Land Cover Database for the conterminous United States
Science and Products
Completion of the 2011 National Land Cover Database for the conterminous United States – Representing a decade of land cover change information Completion of the 2011 National Land Cover Database for the conterminous United States – Representing a decade of land cover change information
Accuracy assessment of NLCD 2006 land cover and impervious surface Accuracy assessment of NLCD 2006 land cover and impervious surface
Quantifying urban land cover change between 2001 and 2006 in the Gulf of Mexico region Quantifying urban land cover change between 2001 and 2006 in the Gulf of Mexico region
Completion of the 2006 national land cover database for the conterminous united states Completion of the 2006 national land cover database for the conterminous united states
Change of impervious surface area between 2001 and 2006 in the conterminous United States Change of impervious surface area between 2001 and 2006 in the conterminous United States
The United States 2001 National Land Cover Database The United States 2001 National Land Cover Database
Completion of the 2001 National Land Cover Database for the conterminous United States Completion of the 2001 National Land Cover Database for the conterminous United States
*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