Terry Sohl
Biography
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. Since 1993, he has been involved in the mapping, analysis, and modeling of land-use and land-cover within USGS. Terry was one of the team members that helped develop the first 1992 National Land Cover Database (1992) and was also one of the original founders of the USGS Land Cover Trends project. Using the experience gained from mapping and analyzing current and historical land-use change, Terry led the development of the FORE-SCE (FOREcasting SCEnarios of land-use change) modeling framework, which has been used to produce scenario-based land-use and land-cover projections for the conterminous United States at high spatial and thematic resolution. Terry continues to lead land-cover modeling projects at USGS EROS, using a new, parcel-based modeling framework that models landscape change with an unprecedented combination of high spatial resolution, high thematic resolution, broad geographic coverage, representation of both anthropogenic land use and natural land cover change, and use of true land management and ownership boundaries.
Current responsibilities also include the role as Land Resources Mission Area (LRMA) representative for the USGS EarthMAP initiative. In that role, Terry serves on an interdisciplinary team of USGS researchers and managers, helping to coordinate integrated data and science activities related to EarthMAP. He also plays a lead role in coordinating the LRMA collaboration with the Water Mission Area.
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
Spatially 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...
Sohl, Terry L.; Sayler, Kristi L.; Bouchard, Michelle; Reker, Ryan R.; Friesz, Aaron M.; Bennett, Stacie L.; Sleeter, Benjamin M.; Sleeter, Rachel R.; Wilson, Tamara; Soulard, Christopher E.; Knuppe, Michelle; Van Hofwegen, Travis
Geodatabase compilation of hydrogeologic, remote sensing, and water-budget-component data for the High Plains aquifer, 2011
The High Plains aquifer underlies almost 112 million acres in the central United States. It is one of the largest aquifers in the Nation in terms of annual groundwater withdrawals and provides drinking water for 2.3 million people. The High Plains aquifer has gained national and international attention as a highly stressed groundwater supply...
Houston, Natalie A.; Gonzales-Bradford, Sophia L.; Flynn, Amanda T.; Qi, Sharon L.; Peterson, Steven M.; Stanton, Jennifer S.; Ryter, Derek W.; Sohl, Terry L.; Senay, Gabriel B. Clarity versus complexity: land-use modeling as a practical tool for decision-makers
The last decade has seen a remarkable increase in the number of modeling tools available to examine future land-use and land-cover (LULC) change. Integrated modeling frameworks, agent-based models, cellular automata approaches, and other modeling techniques have substantially improved the representation of complex LULC systems, with each method...
Sohl, Terry L.; Claggett, Peter R. Land-cover change in the conterminous United States from 1973 to 2000
Land-cover change in the conterminous United States was quantified by interpreting change from satellite imagery for a sample stratified by 84 ecoregions. Gross and net changes between 11 land-cover classes were estimated for 5 dates of Landsat imagery (1973, 1980, 1986, 1992, and 2000). An estimated 673,000 km2(8.6%) of the United States’ land...
Sleeter, Benjamin M.; Sohl, Terry L.; Loveland, Thomas R.; Auch, Roger F.; Acevedo, William; Drummond, Mark A.; Sayler, Kristi L.; Stehman, Stephen V. An integrated land change model for projecting future climate and land change scenarios
Climate change will have myriad effects on ecosystems worldwide, and natural and anthropogenic disturbances will be key drivers of these dynamics. In addition to climatic effects, continual expansion of human settlement into fire-prone forests will alter fire regimes, increase human vulnerability, and constrain future forest management options....
Wimberly, Michael; Sohl, Terry L.; Lamsal, Aashis; Liu, Zhihua; Hawbaker, Todd J. Land use and carbon dynamics in the southeastern United States from 1992 to 2050
Land use and land cover change (LUCC) plays an important role in determining the spatial distribution, magnitude, and temporal change of terrestrial carbon sources and sinks. However, the impacts of LUCC are not well understood and quantified over large areas. The goal of this study was to quantify the spatial and temporal patterns of carbon...
Zhao, Shuqing; Liu, Shuguang; Sohl, Terry L.; Young, Claudia; Werner, Jeremy M. Projecting the land cover change and its environmental impacts in the Cedar River Basin in the Midwestern United States
The physical surface of the Earth is in constant change due to climate forcing and human activities. In the Midwestern United States, urban area, farmland, and dedicated energy crop (e.g., switchgrass) cultivation are predicted to expand in the coming decades, which will lead to changes in hydrological processes. This study is designed to (1)...
Wu, Yiping; Liu, Shuguang; Sohl, Terry L.; Young, Claudia
Future 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,...
Wilson, Tamara S.; Sleeter, Benjamin M.; Sohl, Terry L.; Griffith, Glenn; Acevedo, William; Bennett, Stacie; Bouchard, Michelle; Reker, Ryan R.; Ryan, Christy; Sayler, Kristi L.; Sleeter, Rachel; Soulard, Christopher E.
Coast Range Ecoregion: Chapter 1 in Status and trends of land change in the Western United States--1973 to 2000
The Coast Range Ecoregion, which covers approximately 57,338 km2 (22,138 mi2), is a thin, linear ecoregion along the Pacific Coast, stretching roughly 1,300 km from the Olympic Peninsula, in northwest Washington, to an area south of San Francisco, California (fig. 1) (Omernik, 1987; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1997). It is bounded on the...
Sohl, Terry L. Scenarios 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...
Sleeter, Benjamin M.; Sohl, Terry L.; Bouchard, Michelle A.; Reker, Ryan R.; Soulard, Christopher E.; Acevedo, William; Griffith, Glenn E.; Sleeter, Rachel R.; Auch, Roger F.; Sayler, Kristi L.; Prisley, Stephen; Zhu, Zhi-Liang
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...
Sohl, Terry L.; Sleeter, Benjamin M. Spatially 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...
Sohl, Terry L.; Sleeter, Benjamin M.; Sayler, Kristi L.; Bouchard, Michelle A.; Reker, Ryan R.; Bennett, Stacie L.; Sleeter, Rachel R.; Kanengieter, Ronald L.; Zhu, Zhi-Liang