Terry Sohl
Terry Sohl is a Research Physical Scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey at the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Terry Sohl serves as the acting Chief of the Integrated Science and Applications Branch. After college he began his career with the Defense Intelligence Agency at Bollings Air Force Base in Washington, DC, working with a team exploiting the use of Landsat and classified image sources to support needs of the DoD and Intelligence communities. He began his career at USGS EROS in 1993, serving as a contractor on the original team to help develop the first National Land Cover Database (NLCD) using Landsat imagery. In subsequent years, he also was on the original team that developed the Land Cover Trends project strategy and data products, assessing US land change from 1973 to 2000. With a funded NASA proposal in 2005, he initiated EROS research and development of a land-change modeling capability, developing the Forecasting Scenarios of Land Use (FORE-SCE) framework to model both historical and future land use for time periods when remote sensing data are not available. He moved from the contractor to USGS in 2009, where land-change modeling has been the core of his research interests. He's led the development of many peer-reviewed journal publications and led work on associated applications assessing feedbacks of land use and climate change on biodiversity, hydrology, carbon and greenhouse gases, and regional weather and climate. He has served as the acting Chief for the Integrated Science and Applications Branch since March of 2021, where he has emphasized a broad Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection approach to EROS science that synthesizes research and development activities across multiple projects to provide comprehensive assessments of past, present, and future US land change.
More information on the work of his land-cover modeling group at USGS EROS may be found at:
https://landcover-modeling.cr.usgs.gov/
Science and Products
Land-use and land-cover scenarios and spatial modeling at the regional scale
Spatially explicit land-use and land-cover scenarios for the Great Plains of the United States
A land-use and land-cover modeling strategy to support a national assessment of carbon stocks and fluxes
Future scenarios of land-use and land-cover change in the United States--the Marine West Coast Forests Ecoregion
Baseline and projected future carbon storage and greenhouse-gas fluxes in the Great Plains region of the United States
A method for assessing carbon stocks, carbon sequestration, and greenhouse-gas fluxes in ecosystems of the United States under present conditions and future scenarios
Public Review Draft: A Method for Assessing Carbon Stocks, Carbon Sequestration, and Greenhouse-Gas Fluxes in Ecosystems of the United States Under Present Conditions and Future Scenarios
A spatial resolution threshold of land cover in estimating terrestrial carbon sequestration in four counties in Georgia and Alabama, USA
Federal land management, carbon sequestration, and climate change in the Southeastern U.S.: a case study with fort benning
Addressing foundational elements of regional land-use change forecasting
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
Science and Products
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Filter Total Items: 63
Land-use and land-cover scenarios and spatial modeling at the regional scale
Land-use and land-cover (LULC) change has altered a large part of the earth's surface. Scenarios of potential future LULC change are required in order to better manage potential impacts on biodiversity, carbon fluxes, climate change, hydrology, and many other ecological processes. The U.S. Geological Survey is analyzing potential future LULC change in the United States, using an approach based onAuthorsTerry L. Sohl, Benjamin M. 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 ZhuA land-use and land-cover modeling strategy to support a national assessment of carbon stocks and fluxes
Changes in land use, land cover, disturbance regimes, and land management have considerable influence on carbon and greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes within ecosystems. Through targeted land-use and land-management activities, ecosystems can be managed to enhance carbon sequestration and mitigate fluxes of other GHGs. National-scale, comprehensive analyses of carbon sequestration potential by ecosystemAuthorsTerry L. Sohl, Benjamin M. Sleeter, Zhi-Liang Zhu, Kristi Sayler, Stacie Bennett, Michelle Bouchard, Ryan R. Reker, Todd Hawbaker, Anne Wein, Shu-Guang Liu, Ronald Kanengieter, William AcevedoFuture scenarios of land-use and land-cover change in the United States--the Marine West Coast Forests Ecoregion
Detecting, quantifying, and projecting historical and future changes in land use and land cover (LULC) has emerged as a core research area for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Changes in LULC are important drivers of changes to biogeochemical cycles, the exchange of energy between the Earth’s surface and atmosphere, biodiversity, water quality, and climate change. To quantify the rates of recentAuthorsTamara S. Wilson, Benjamin M. Sleeter, Terry L. Sohl, Glenn Griffith, William Acevedo, Stacie Bennett, Michelle Bouchard, Ryan R. Reker, Christy Ryan, Kristi Sayler, Rachel Sleeter, Christopher E. SoulardBaseline 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 ZhuA method for assessing carbon stocks, carbon sequestration, and greenhouse-gas fluxes in ecosystems of the United States under present conditions and future scenarios
he Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA), Section 712, mandates the U.S. Department of the Interior to develop a methodology and conduct an assessment of the Nation’s ecosystems, focusing on carbon stocks, carbon sequestration, and emissions of three greenhouse gases (GHGs): carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. The major requirements include (1) an assessment of all ecosystemsAuthorsBrian A. Bergamaschi, Richard Bernknopf, David Clow, Dennis Dye, Stephen Faulkner, William Forney, Robert Gleason, Todd Hawbaker, Jinxun Liu, Shu-Guang Liu, Stephen Prisley, Bradley Reed, Matthew Reeves, Matthew Rollins, Benjamin Sleeter, Terry Sohl, Sarah Stackpoole, Stephen Stehman, Robert G. Striegl, Anne Wein, Zhi-Liang ZhuPublic Review Draft: A Method for Assessing Carbon Stocks, Carbon Sequestration, and Greenhouse-Gas Fluxes in Ecosystems of the United States Under Present Conditions and Future Scenarios
The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA), Section 712, authorizes the U.S. Department of the Interior to develop a methodology and conduct an assessment of the Nation's ecosystems focusing on carbon stocks, carbon sequestration, and emissions of three greenhouse gases (GHGs): carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. The major requirements include (1) an assessment of all ecosysteAuthorsBrian A. Bergamaschi, Richard Bernknopf, David Clow, Dennis Dye, Stephen Faulkner, William Forney, Robert Gleason, Todd Hawbaker, Jinxun Liu, Shu-Guang Liu, Stephen Prisley, Bradley Reed, Matthew Reeves, Matthew Rollins, Benjamin Sleeter, Terry Sohl, Sarah Stackpoole, Stephen Stehman, Robert G. Striegl, Anne Wein, Zhi-Liang ZhuA spatial resolution threshold of land cover in estimating terrestrial carbon sequestration in four counties in Georgia and Alabama, USA
Changes in carbon density (i.e., carbon stock per unit area) and land cover greatly affect carbon sequestration. Previous studies have shown that land cover change detection strongly depends on spatial scale. However, the influence of the spatial resolution of land cover change information on the estimated terrestrial carbon sequestration is not known. Here, we quantified and evaluated the impactAuthorsS.Q. Zhao, S. Liu, Z. Li, Terry L. SohlFederal land management, carbon sequestration, and climate change in the Southeastern U.S.: a case study with fort benning
Land use activities can have a major impact on the temporal trendsandspatialpatternsofregionalland-atmosphereexchange of carbon. Federal lands generally have substantially different land management strategies from surrounding areas, and the carbon consequences have rarely been quantified and assessed. Using the Fort Benning Installation as a case study, we used the General Ensemble biogeochemicalAuthorsS. Zhao, S. Liu, Z. Li, Terry L. SohlAddressing 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 BarnesUsing 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. Loveland - Science
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