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Kevin Foley

I work as a member of the USGS PRISM project (Pliocene Research, Interpretation and Synoptic Mapping).  I provide data management and programming to make the project's twenty-year collection of data useable and available to the Climate Modeling Community.  Our primary users are the NASA GISS project and PlioMIP (Pliocene Model Inter-comparison Project) , an international consortium of climate modelers. 

I previously worked as a member of the Glacier Studies Project  on the Coastal Change and Glaciological Maps of Antarctica map series.  This map series draws on a broad range of resources from satellite imagery and aerial photographs to ships logs from previous centuries to demonstrate changes in the configuration of Antarctic glaciers and coastal ice over time.  The project dates back to 1990.  I joined the project in 2000 to study problems in map production that existed due to the broad range of source materials of varying scale and projections and the small number of reliable positional ground control points.  I initiated a program to digitize all source materials and shift the production of maps to digital means.

Professional Experience

  • 2007 to present – GIN project, formerly PRISM Project, U.S. Geological Survey, FBSC, EGPSC, Reston, Virginia. Programming, data management and micropaleontology.

  • 2015 – Detail to USGS Core Science/ Land Remote Sensing Group for feasibility study of a LANDSAT data cube project.

  • 2000 to 2014 – Coastal Change and Glaciological Maps of Antarctica, EGPSC, Reston, Virginia. Digital mapping of glaciers and coastal change in Antarctica.

  • 1995 to 1999 – Warm Climates Project, Physical Scientist, Climate History Team. Management of computer graphic lab, GIS application servers and network data servers.

  • 1989 to 1995 – Physical Science Technician, Paleontology and Stratigraphy Branch, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia. Microfossil Laboratory Manager.

  • 1987 to 1989 – Physical Science Aide, Paleontology and Stratigraphy Branch, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia. Moving offices, repairing computers, shaking sieves.

Education and Certifications

  • Master of Public Administration, with Concentration in Environmental Science and Policy, George Mason University. 2015

  • B.S. Geology, George Mason University. 1995

Science and Products

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An illustration of PRISM3 site locations displayed on PRISM3 Mean Annual SST

Pliocene Research, Interpretation and Synoptic Mapping (PRISM4)

PRISM will help distinguish the USGS as a world leader in paleoclimate research, data generation and delivery for use in addressing the modern world's climate-related needs. We will be recognized for the passion of our researchers and partners in providing quality, innovative paleoclimate interpretation and data analysis to the science (climate change) community and to the public we serve.
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Florence Bascom Geoscience Center
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Pliocene Research, Interpretation and Synoptic Mapping (PRISM4)

PRISM will help distinguish the USGS as a world leader in paleoclimate research, data generation and delivery for use in addressing the modern world's climate-related needs. We will be recognized for the passion of our researchers and partners in providing quality, innovative paleoclimate interpretation and data analysis to the science (climate change) community and to the public we serve.
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USGS science for a changing world logo

PlioMIP (Pliocene Model Intercomparison Project) Strategy, Communications and Synthesis for the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report (IPCC AR5)

USGS PRISM (Pliocene Research, Interpretation and Synoptic Mapping) Project global data sets of Pliocene conditions, which form the most comprehensive global reconstruction for any warm period prior to the recent past, are used to drive numerical climate model simulations designed to explore the impact of climate forcings and feedbacks during the Pliocene. The Pliocene world provides an unequaled
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John Wesley Powell Center for Analysis and Synthesis
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PlioMIP (Pliocene Model Intercomparison Project) Strategy, Communications and Synthesis for the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report (IPCC AR5)

USGS PRISM (Pliocene Research, Interpretation and Synoptic Mapping) Project global data sets of Pliocene conditions, which form the most comprehensive global reconstruction for any warm period prior to the recent past, are used to drive numerical climate model simulations designed to explore the impact of climate forcings and feedbacks during the Pliocene. The Pliocene world provides an unequaled
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Community sourced mid-Piacenzian sea surface temperature (SST) data

This data set collects, from peer-reviewed research, values of sea surface temperature (SST) that occurred at various sites across the Earth during a brief period of the mid-Piacenzian
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Florence Bascom Geoscience Center

PRISM late Pliocene (Piacenzian) alkenone - derived SST data

This dataset collects sea surface temperature data generated through alkenone analysis of late Pliocene sediments collected from cores and field localities by USGS PRISM project members. Alkenone analysis of sample material was performed by Timothy Herbert at Brown University.
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Florence Bascom Geoscience Center

Coastal-change and glaciological map of the Amery Ice Shelf area, Antarctica: 1961–2004

Reduction in the area and volume of Earth’s two polar ice sheets is intricately linked to changes in global climate and to the resulting rise in sea level. Measurement of changes in area and mass balance of the Antarctic ice sheet was given a very high priority in recommendations by the Polar Research Board of the National Research Council. On the basis of these recommendations, the U.S. Geologica
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Ecosystems, Climate Research and Development Program

Coastal-change and glaciological map of the Ross Island area, Antarctica

Reduction in the area and volume of Earth?s two polar ice sheets is intricately linked to changes in global climate and to the resulting rise in sea level. Measurement of changes in area and mass balance of the Antarctic ice sheet was given a very high priority in recommendations by the Polar Research Board of the National Research Council. On the basis of these recommendations, the U.S. Geologica

Coastal-Change and Glaciological Map of the Palmer Land Area, Antarctica: 1947-2009

Reduction in the area and volume of the two polar ice sheets is intricately linked to changes in global climate, and the resulting rise in sea level could severely impact the densely populated coastal regions on Earth. Antarctica is Earth's largest reservoir of glacial ice. Melting of the West Antarctic part alone of the Antarctic ice sheet would cause a sea-level rise of approximately 6 meters (m

Coastal-Change and Glaciological Map of the Larsen Ice Shelf Area, Antarctica, 1940-2005

Changes in the area and volume of polar ice sheets are intricately linked to changes in global climate, and the resulting changes in sea level could severely impact the densely populated coastal regions on Earth. Antarctica is Earth's largest reservoir of glacial ice. Melting of the West Antarctic part alone of the Antarctic ice sheet would cause a sea-level rise of approximately 6 meters (m), and

Coastal-Change and Glaciological Map of the Northern Ross Ice Shelf Area, Antarctica: 1962-2004

Changes in the area and volume of polar ice sheets are intricately linked to changes in global climate, and the resulting changes in sea level could severely impact the densely populated coastal regions on Earth. Melting of the West Antarctic part alone of the Antarctic ice sheet would cause a sea-level rise of approximately 6 meters (m). The potential sea-level rise after melting of the entire An

Coastal-change and glaciological map of the Trinity Peninsula area and south Shetland Islands, Antarctica: 1843-2001: Chapter A in <i>Coastal-change and glaciological maps of Antarctica</i>

Changes in the area and volume of polar ice sheets are intricately linked to changes in global climate, and the resulting changes in sea level could severely impact the densely populated coastal regions on Earth. Melting of the West Antarctic part alone of the Antarctic ice sheet would cause a sea-level rise of approximately 6 meters (m). The potential sea-level rise after melting of the entire An
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Ecosystems, Climate Research and Development Program

Coastal-change and glaciological map of the Eights Coast area, Antarctica, 1972-2001

Changes in the area and volume of polar ice sheets are intricately linked to changes in global climate, and the resulting changes in sea level may severely impact the densely populated coastal regions on Earth. Melting of the West Antarctic part alone of the Antarctic ice sheet could cause a sea-level rise of approximately 6 meters (m). The potential sea-level rise after melting of the entire Anta

Coastal-change and glaciological map of the Saunders Coast area, Antarctica: 1972-1997

Changes in the area and volume of polar ice sheets are intricately linked to changes in global climate, and the resulting changes in sea level may severely impact the densely populated coastal regions on Earth. Melting of the West Antarctic part alone of the Antarctic ice sheet could cause a sea-level rise of approximately 6 meters (m). The potential sea-level rise after melting of the entire Anta

Coastal-change and glaciological map of the Bakutis Coast, Antarctica: 1972-2002

Changes in the area and volume of the polar ice sheets are intricately linked to changes in global climate, and the resulting changes in sea level may severely impact the densely populated coastal regions on Earth. Loss of the West Antarctic part of the Antarctic ice sheet alone could cause a sea-level rise of approximately 6 m. The potential sea-level rise after melting of the entire Antarctic
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PRISM3/GISS Topographic Reconstruction

The PRISM3/GISS topographic reconstruction is one of the global data sets incorporated into a new reconstruction for the mid-Piacenzian warm interval of the Pliocene, at about 3.3 to 3.0 Ma. The PRISM3/GISS topography-gridded data set is a digitization of a graphical reconstruction, provided at 2 deg x 2 deg resolution and based on updated paleoaltimetry data and a refined land/ocean mask. Mid-Pia

Coastal-change and glaciological maps of Antarctica

Distribution of benthic foraminifers (>125 um) in the surface sediments of the Arctic Ocean

Census data on benthic foraminifers (>125 ?m) in surface sediment samples from 49 box cores are used to define four depth-controlled biofacies, which will aid in the paleoceanographic reconstruction of the Arctic Ocean. The shelf biofacies contains a mix of shallow-water calcareous and agglutinated species from the continental shelves of the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas and reflects the variabl

Pliocene planktic foraminifer census data from Ocean Drilling Program holes 659A and 667A

Planktic foraminifer census data from Northwind Ridge Core 5, Arctic Ocean

The U.S. Geological Survey recovered 9 piston cores from the Northwind Ridge in the Canada Basin of the Arctic Ocean from a cruise of the USCGC Polar Star during 1988. Preliminary analysis of the cores suggests sediments deposited on Northwind Ridge preserve a detailed record of glacial and interglacial cycles for the last few hundred-thousand to one million years. This report includes quantitativ

Modern benthic foraminifer census data from box-cores collected on Northwind Ridge, Arctic Ocean during the PI-92-AR cruise of the U.S.C.G.C. Polar Star

Planktic foraminifer census data from Northwind Ridge cores PI-88-AP P3, PI-88-AR P7 and PI-88-AR P9, Arctic Ocean

The U.S. Geological Survey recovered 9 piston cores from the Northwind Ridge in the Canada Basin of the Arctic Ocean from a cruise of the USCGC Polar Star during 1988. Preliminary analysis of the cores suggests sediments deposited on Northwind Ridge preserve a detailed record of glacial and interglacial cycles for the last few hundred-thousand to one million years. This report includes quantitativ

Computational considerations for collecting and using data in the equidistant cylindrical map projection and the bounds of sampling geographic data at progressively higher resolution

The Equidistant Cylindrical Map projection is popular with digital modelers and others for storing and processing worldwide data sets because of the simple association of latitude and longitude to cell values or pixels in the resulting grid. This projection does not accurately display area, and the diminished geographic area represented by cells at high latitudes is not often carefully considered.
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Water Resources, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center

Sea surface temperatures of the mid-Piacenzian Warm Period: A comparison of PRISM3 and HadCM3

It is essential to document how well the current generation of climate models performs in simulating past climates to have confidence in their ability to project future conditions. We present the first global, in-depth comparison of Pliocene sea surface temperature (SST) estimates from a coupled ocean–atmosphere climate model experiment and a SST reconstruction based on proxy data. This enables th
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John Wesley Powell Center for Analysis and Synthesis, Florence Bascom Geoscience Center

State of the Earth’s cryosphere at the beginning of the 21st century : glaciers, global snow cover, floating ice, and permafrost and periglacial environments: Chapter A in <i>Satellite image atlas of glaciers of the world</i>

This chapter is the tenth in a series of 11 book-length chapters, collectively referred to as “this volume,” in the series U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1386, Satellite Image Atlas of Glaciers of the World. In the other 10 chapters, each of which concerns a specific glacierized region of Earth, the authors used remotely sensed images, primarily from the Landsat 1, 2, and 3 series of sp
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Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

Mid-Piacensian mean annual sea surface temperature: an analysis for data-model comparisons

Numerical models of the global climate system are the primary tools used to understand and project climate disruptions in the form of future global warming. The Pliocene has been identified as the closest, albeit imperfect, analog to climate conditions expected for the end of this century, making an independent data set of Pliocene conditions necessary for ground truthing model results. Because mo
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Florence Bascom Geoscience Center

The PRISM3D paleoenvironmental reconstruction

The Pliocene Research, Interpretation and Synoptic Mapping (PRISM) paleoenvironmental reconstruction is an internally consistent and comprehensive global synthesis of a past interval of relatively warm and stable climate. It is regularly used in model studies that aim to better understand Pliocene climate, to improve model performance in future climate scenarios, and to distinguish model-dependent
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Florence Bascom Geoscience Center

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