Rachel Sleeter is a Research Geographer who develops methods for various applications ranging from terrestrial ecosystem carbon modeling, ecosystem services assessments, land use/land cover trends for the United States, and geospatial tool development for population dynamics.
I started my career with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in 2000, directly after graduating with a B.S. in Geography from University of Oregon. I initially worked for the Earth Science Information Center in Menlo Park, CA. where I became an expert on USGS data products, outreach and public needs. At this time I continued on as a student and obtained my Masters Degree in Geography from San Jose State University. My thesis work motivated me to pursue Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Remote Sensing as a platform for accomplishing research on new geographic mapping methods. Dasymetric mapping for population density became my primary focus in my graduate work and also for various USGS hazard vulnerability applications. We built a Dasymetric Mapping Tool, an ArcGIS enabled tool, that is publically available to download. This tool automates the interpolation process used to allocate census population to suitable urban land use and cover cells. I continue to integrate this tool into many USGS projects and work with the requests from the academic and professional community.
Currently, I am developing an integrated modeling framework for the Great Dismal Swamp ecosystem, where net ecosystem carbon balance, natural disturbance, and land management can be evaluated with scenarios. Multi-year, in situ field collection of the ecological and biological processes will be used to develop a baseline carbon budget. The baseline carbon budget for the Great Dismal Swamp is input into a state and transition simulation model coupled with a stock-flow model. Future scenarios will be modeled to evaluate priority ecosystem services and assist the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service with land management decisions. This research is funded and led by the Climate and Land Use Change Mission Area as part of the LandCarbon program and represents one part of a multi-partner project with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, The Nature Conservancy, and George Mason, Clemson, East Carolina, and Southern Methodist Universities.
I have also been involved with LandCarbon at the national scale. I worked as part of a team to develop modeling inputs to integrate the comprehensive results from 1970-2000 Land Cover Trends data with global climate scenarios to spatially represent land use and cover out to 2100. Since the release of the first LandCarbon assessment for the conterminous United States, we adopted a state and transition modeling framework that uses a stock-flow model to track carbon flows. The model is referred to as the Land Use and Carbon Scenario Simulator (LUCAS). The LUCAS model is highly flexible, capable of running on local desktop workstations or in supercomputing environments (we are running extensive Monte Carlo simulations using NASA AMES's Pleiades supercomputer). This work represents an exciting breakthrough in the ability to model future changes in LULC and ecosystem carbon dynamics.
Science and Products
Modeling the impacts of hydrology and management on carbon balance at the Great Dismal Swamp, Virginia and North Carolina, USA
Estimating the societal benefits of carbon dioxide sequestration through peatland restoration
A carbon balance model for the great dismal swamp ecosystem
A carbon balance model for the great dismal swamp ecosystem
Regional analysis of social characteristics for evacuation resource planning: ARkStorm scenario
Methods used to parameterize the spatially-explicit components of a state-and-transition simulation model
Land-use impacts on water resources and protected areas: applications of state-and-transition simulation modeling of future scenarios
Land-use threats and protected areas: a scenario-based, landscape level approach
Spatially explicit modeling of 1992-2100 land cover and forest stand age for the conterminous United States
Scenarios of land use and land cover change in the conterminous United States: Utilizing the special report on emission scenarios at ecoregional scales
Mapping socio-environmentally vulnerable populations access and exposure to ecosystem services at the U.S.-Mexico borderlands
Spatially explicit land-use and land-cover scenarios for the Great Plains of the United States
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.
Great Dismal Swamp carbon dynamics
Dasymetric Mapping
Model parameters and output of net ecosystem carbon balance for the Great Dismal Swamp, Virginia and North Carolina, USA
Satellite-Derived Training Data for Automated Flood Detection in the Continental U.S.
Soil flux (CO2, CH4), soil temperature, and soil moisture measurements at the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge (2015 - 2017)
Historic Simulation of Net Ecosystem Carbon Balance for the Great Dismal Swamp
Science and Products
- Publications
Filter Total Items: 15
Modeling the impacts of hydrology and management on carbon balance at the Great Dismal Swamp, Virginia and North Carolina, USA
The impact of drainage on the stability of peatland carbon sinks is well known; however, much less is understood regarding the way active management of the water-table affects carbon balance. In this study, we determined the carbon balance in the Great Dismal Swamp, a large, forested peatland in the southeastern USA, which has been drained for over two hundred years and is now being restored throuAuthorsRachel SleeterEstimating the societal benefits of carbon dioxide sequestration through peatland restoration
The Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge (GDS) is a forested peatland that provides a number of ecosystem services including carbon (C) sequestration. We modeled and analyzed the potential capacity of the GDS to sequester C under four management scenarios: no management, no management with catastrophic fire, current management, and increased management. The analysis uses the Land Use and CaAuthorsEmily J. Pindilli, Rachel Sleeter, Dianna M. HoganA carbon balance model for the great dismal swamp ecosystem
BackgroundCarbon storage potential has become an important consideration for land management and planning in the United States. The ability to assess ecosystem carbon balance can help land managers understand the benefits and tradeoffs between different management strategies. This paper demonstrates an application of the Land Use and Carbon Scenario Simulator (LUCAS) model developed for local-scalAuthorsRachel Sleeter, Benjamin M. Sleeter, Brianna Williams, Dianna M. Hogan, Todd Hawbaker, Zhiliang ZhuA carbon balance model for the great dismal swamp ecosystem
BackgroundCarbon storage potential has become an important consideration for land management and planning in the United States. The ability to assess ecosystem carbon balance can help land managers understand the benefits and tradeoffs between different management strategies. This paper demonstrates an application of the Land Use and Carbon Scenario Simulator (LUCAS) model developed for local-scalAuthorsRachel Sleeter, Benjamin M. Sleeter, Brianna Williams, Dianna M. Hogan, Todd Hawbaker, Zhiliang ZhuRegional analysis of social characteristics for evacuation resource planning: ARkStorm scenario
Local planning is insufficient for regional catastrophes; regional exercises are needed to test emergency plans and decision-making structures. The ARkStorm scenario would trigger a mass evacuation that would be complicated by the social characteristics of populations [e.g., vehicle ownership, age, poverty, English language limitation (ELL), and shelter needs]. Land cover data and dasymetric mappiAuthorsAnne Wein, Jamie L. Ratliff, Allan Baez, Rachel SleeterMethods used to parameterize the spatially-explicit components of a state-and-transition simulation model
Spatially-explicit state-and-transition simulation models of land use and land cover (LULC) increase our ability to assess regional landscape characteristics and associated carbon dynamics across multiple scenarios. By characterizing appropriate spatial attributes such as forest age and land-use distribution, a state-and-transition model can more effectively simulate the pattern and spread of LULCAuthorsRachel Sleeter, William Acevedo, Christopher E. Soulard, Benjamin M. SleeterLand-use impacts on water resources and protected areas: applications of state-and-transition simulation modeling of future scenarios
Human land use will increasingly contribute to habitat loss and water shortages in California, given future population projections and associated land-use demand. Understanding how land-use change may impact future water use and where existing protected areas may be threatened by land-use conversion will be important if effective, sustainable management approaches are to be implemented. We used aAuthorsTamara S. Wilson, Benjamin M. Sleeter, Jason T. Sherba, Dick CameronLand-use threats and protected areas: a scenario-based, landscape level approach
Anthropogenic land use will likely present a greater challenge to biodiversity than climate change this century in the Pacific Northwest, USA. Even if species are equipped with the adaptive capacity to migrate in the face of a changing climate, they will likely encounter a human-dominated landscape as a major dispersal obstacle. Our goal was to identify, at the ecoregion-level, protected areas inAuthorsTamara S. Wilson, Benjamin M. Sleeter, Rachel R. Sleeter, Christopher E. SoulardSpatially explicit modeling of 1992-2100 land cover and forest stand age for the conterminous United States
Information on future land-use and land-cover (LULC) change is needed to analyze the impact of LULC change on ecological processes. The U.S. Geological Survey has produced spatially explicit, thematically detailed LULC projections for the conterminous United States. Four qualitative and quantitative scenarios of LULC change were developed, with characteristics consistent with the IntergovernmentalAuthorsTerry L. Sohl, Kristi Sayler, Michelle Bouchard, Ryan R. Reker, Aaron M. Friesz, Stacie L. Bennett, Benjamin M. Sleeter, Rachel R. Sleeter, Tamara S. Wilson, Christopher E. Soulard, Michelle Knuppe, Travis Van HofwegenScenarios of land use and land cover change in the conterminous United States: Utilizing the special report on emission scenarios at ecoregional scales
Global environmental change scenarios have typically provided projections of land use and land cover for a relatively small number of regions or using a relatively coarse resolution spatial grid, and for only a few major sectors. The coarseness of global projections, in both spatial and thematic dimensions, often limits their direct utility at scales useful for environmental management. This paperAuthorsBenjamin M. Sleeter, Terry L. Sohl, Michelle A. Bouchard, Ryan R. Reker, Christopher E. Soulard, William Acevedo, Glenn E. Griffith, Rachel R. Sleeter, Roger F. Auch, Kristi Sayler, Stephen Prisley, Zhi-Liang ZhuMapping socio-environmentally vulnerable populations access and exposure to ecosystem services at the U.S.-Mexico borderlands
Socio-environmental vulnerable populations are often unrepresented in land-use planning yet have great potential for loss when exposed to changes in ecosystem services. Administrative boundaries, cultural differences, and language barriers increase the disassociation between land-use management and marginalized populations living in the U.S.–Mexico borderlands. This paper describes the developmentAuthorsLaura M. Norman, Miguel L. Villarreal, Francisco Lara-Valencia, Yongping Yuan, Wenming Nie, Sylvia Wilson, Gladys Amaya, Rachel SleeterSpatially explicit land-use and land-cover scenarios for the Great Plains of the United States
The Great Plains of the United States has undergone extensive land-use and land-cover change in the past 150 years, with much of the once vast native grasslands and wetlands converted to agricultural crops, and much of the unbroken prairie now heavily grazed. Future land-use change in the region could have dramatic impacts on ecological resources and processes. A scenario-based modeling frameworkAuthorsTerry L. Sohl, Benjamin M. Sleeter, Kristi Sayler, Michelle A. Bouchard, Ryan R. Reker, Stacie L. Bennett, Rachel R. Sleeter, Ronald L. Kanengieter, Zhi-Liang ZhuNon-USGS Publications**
Burns, W.J., Mickelson, K.A., Jones, C.B., Pickner, S.G., Hughes, K.L., Sleeter, R., 2013. Landslide hazard and risk study of northwestern Clackamas County, Oregon: Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries, Open-File Report O-13-08**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
Great Dismal Swamp carbon dynamics
The Land Use and Carbon Scenario Simulator (LUCAS) model was used to develop a baseline carbon (C) budget for the Great Dismal Swamp, VA., using an annualized Stock-Flow approach. The model infrastructure will be used going forward to assist with future land management and ecosystem services assessments.Dasymetric Mapping
By using the USGS- developed, GIS-based tool, we can automate the dasymetric mapping process. We have worked with various communities to create accurate population density maps to aid in risk and vulnerability analysis linked to natural hazards. By using the USGS- developed, GIS-based tool, we can automate the dasymetric mapping process. We have worked with various communities to create accurate... - Data
Model parameters and output of net ecosystem carbon balance for the Great Dismal Swamp, Virginia and North Carolina, USA
In this study, we determined the carbon balance in the Great Dismal Swamp, a large forested peatland in the southeastern USA, which has been drained for over two hundred years and now is being restored through hydrologic management. We modeled future net ecosystem carbon balance over 100 years (2012 to 2112) using in situ field observations paired with simulations of water-table depth. The three sSatellite-Derived Training Data for Automated Flood Detection in the Continental U.S.
Remotely sensed imagery is increasingly used by emergency managers to monitor and map the impact of flood events to support preparedness, response, and critical decision making throughout the flood event lifecycle. To reduce latency in delivery of imagery-derived information, ensure consistent and reliably derived map products, and facilitate processing of an increasing volume of remote sensing daSoil flux (CO2, CH4), soil temperature, and soil moisture measurements at the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge (2015 - 2017)
Data were obtained to assess how forest type, hydrologic conditions and management strategies affect GHG soil flux at the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge. The goal is to relate changes in GHG fluxes to shifts in refuge hydrologic management on forested peatlands. We identified nine study site locations, representing three mature vegetation communities [Atlantic White Cedar (desired comHistoric Simulation of Net Ecosystem Carbon Balance for the Great Dismal Swamp
Estimating ecosystem carbon (C) balance relative to natural disturbances and land management strengthens our understanding of the benefits and tradeoffs of carbon sequestration. We conducted a historic model simulation of net ecosystem C balance in the Great Dismal Swamp, VA. for the 30-year time period of 1985-2015. The historic simulation of annual carbon flux was calculated with the Land Use an