Kristi Sayler
Kristi Sayler is a physical scientist with the US Geological Survey at the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center in Sioux Falls, SD.
Kristi Sayler is a physical scientist with the US Geological Survey at the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center in Sioux Falls, SD. She has worked on numerous projects involving mapping land cover and land use change using remotely sensed data. She was one of the original team members on the Land Cover Trends project, helping both with project design and land cover mapping activities. In 2010, this project completed one of the first ever assessments of 1973-2000 land-cover change for the conterminous U.S. She has also helped with the development of a scenario-based land-cover projection model called Forecasting Scenarios of Land-use Change (FORE-SCE). The model has been successfully used for applications examining the impacts of projected land cover change on carbon dynamics, climate, and regional hydrology. She has more recently become involved with the Land Change Monitoring Assessment and Projection (LCMAP) science team contributing to the Assessment Team’s analysis of current and historical processes of cover and change. In 2016, Kristi also took on a supervision role for members of the Integrated Science and Application Branch at EROS. In April 2020, Kristi became the Project Manager for the LSDS Science Research and Development (LSRD) project. This project provides science consultation and support across the formulation, development, and operations phases of the Landsat missions which includes performing algorithm development and validation for the generation of advanced science data products to enable monitoring of land surface change, conducting and evaluating technology investigations related to new sensor and science data processing capabilities, and producing and distributing provisional science products for community evaluation to facilitate product generation capabilities from research to operations. The LSRD project also maintains the Landsat Missions Website and conducts Landsat user community outreach to communicate Landsat mission objectives, capabilities, and accomplishments.
Education and Certifications
1994 Bachelor of Science in Mathematics, with Computer Science minor, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
1998 Master of Science in Geography, South Dakota State University
Science and Products
Baseline and projected future carbon storage and greenhouse-gas fluxes in the Great Plains region of the United States
Ecoregional differences in late-20th-century land-use and land-cover change in the U.S. northern great plains
Land-cover change in the Lower Mississippi Valley, 1973-2000
Addressing foundational elements of regional land-use change forecasting
Exploring subtle land use and land cover changes: A framework for future landscape studies
Using the FORE-SCE model to project land-cover change in the southeastern United States
The FORE-SCE model: a practical approach for projecting land cover change using scenario-based modeling
A strategy for estimating the rates of recent United States land-cover changes
The land cover trends project: A strategy for monitoring land cover change at a national scale
Science and Products
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Filter Total Items: 33
Baseline and projected future carbon storage and greenhouse-gas fluxes in the Great Plains region of the United States
This assessment was conducted to fulfill the requirements of section 712 of the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) of 2007 and to improve understanding of carbon and greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes in the Great Plains region in the central part of the United States. The assessment examined carbon storage, carbon fluxes, and other GHG fluxes (methane and nitrous oxide) in all major terrestrialAuthorsMichelle Bouchard, David Butman, Todd Hawbaker, Zhengpeng Li, Jinxun Liu, Shu-Guang Liu, Cory McDonald, Ryan R. Reker, Kristi Sayler, Benjamin Sleeter, Terry Sohl, Sarah Stackpoole, Anne Wein, Zhi-Liang ZhuEcoregional differences in late-20th-century land-use and land-cover change in the U.S. northern great plains
Land-cover and land-use change usually results from a combination of anthropogenic drivers and biophysical conditions found across multiple scales, ranging from parcel to regional levels. A group of four Level 111 ecoregions located in the U.S. northern Great Plains is used to demonstrate the similarities and differences in land change during nearly a 30-year period (1973-2000) using results fromAuthorsRoger F. Auch, K. L. Sayler, D.E. Napton, Janis L. Taylor, M.S. BrooksLand-cover change in the Lower Mississippi Valley, 1973-2000
The Land Cover Trends is a research project focused on understanding the rates, trends, causes, and consequences of contemporary United States land-use and land-cover change. The project is coordinated by the Geographic Analysis and Monitoring Program of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in conjunction with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Aeronautics and Space AdminAuthorsKrista A. Karstensen, Kristi SaylerAddressing foundational elements of regional land-use change forecasting
Regional land-use models must address several foundational elements, including understanding geographic setting, establishing regional land-use histories, modeling process and representing drivers of change, representing local land-use patterns, managing issues of scale and complexity, and development of scenarios. Key difficulties include managing an array of biophysical and socioeconomic processAuthorsTerry L. Sohl, Thomas Loveland, Benjamin M. Sleeter, Kristi Sayler, Christopher BarnesExploring subtle land use and land cover changes: A framework for future landscape studies
Land cover and land use changes can have a wide variety of ecological effects, including significant impacts on soils and water quality. In rural areas, even subtle changes in farming practices can affect landscape features and functions, and consequently the environment. Fine-scale analyses have to be performed to better understand the land cover change processes. At the same time, models of landAuthorsThomas Houet, Thomas Loveland, Laurence Hubert-Moy, Cedric Gaucherel, Darrell Napton, Christopher Barnes, Kristi SaylerUsing the FORE-SCE model to project land-cover change in the southeastern United States
A wide variety of ecological applications require spatially explicit current and projected land-use and land-cover data. The southeastern United States has experienced massive land-use change since European settlement and continues to experience extremely high rates of forest cutting, significant urban development, and changes in agricultural land use. Forest-cover patterns and structure are projeAuthorsTerry Sohl, Kristi SaylerThe FORE-SCE model: a practical approach for projecting land cover change using scenario-based modeling
A wide variety of ecological applications require spatially explicit, historic, current, and projected land use and land cover data. The U.S. Land Cover Trends project is analyzing contemporary (1973–2000) land-cover change in the conterminous United States. The newly developed FORE-SCE model used Land Cover Trends data and theoretical, statistical, and deterministic modeling techniques to projectAuthorsTerry L. Sohl, Kristi Sayler, Mark A. Drummond, Thomas R. LovelandA strategy for estimating the rates of recent United States land-cover changes
Information on the rates of land-use and land-cover change is important in addressing issues ranging from the health of aquatic resources to climate change. Unfortunately, there is a paucity of information on land-use and land-cover change except at very local levels. We describe a strategy for estimating land-cover change across the conterminous United States over the past 30 years. Change ratesAuthorsThomas R. Loveland, Terry L. Sohl, S.V. Stehman, Alisa L. Gallant, K. L. Sayler, D.E. NaptonThe land cover trends project: A strategy for monitoring land cover change at a national scale
Policy-makers and scientists often require comprehensive data on the types and rates of land use and land cover change at a variety of scales. However, there is generally a lack of local, regional, and national land use and land cover data of sufficient reliability and temporal and geographic detail for providing accurate estimates of landscape change. The U.S. Geological Survey's EROS Data CenterAuthorsTerry L. Sohl, Thomas Loveland, Kristi Sayler, Alisa L. Gallant, Roger F. Auch, Darrell E. Napton - News