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U.S. Department of the Interior
A previous study (https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20171098) demonstrated that satellite-derived Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) could detect Phragmites australis (marsh grass) dieback caused by Asian scale insect infestation. However, NDVI is a relative indicator when quantitative mapping is needed.
Mountain glacier mass change affects water resources, regional ecosystems and global sea level. Understanding the physical processes that control glacier mass change requires field measurements of winter snow accumulation and summer melt. Yet field measurements only capture discrete points across the glacier surface, which can result in systematic bias.
Nearly two years ago, the USGS project Patterns in the Landscape–Analyses of Cause and Effect (PLACE) adapted the USGS Dynamic Surface Water Extent (DSWE) model to generate monthly maps across the Landsat archive on the Google Earth Engine (GEE) cloud computing platform.
Fountain Creek, a tributary to the Arkansas River, is located along the Colorado Front Range. Over the last 100 years, considerable changes in land use and water use have occurred within the Fountain Creek watershed. To meet the needs of the growing population, water is imported from outside the watershed by means of trans-mountain diversions, and most recently, the Southern Delivery System (SDS).
The mapping and monitoring of land use and land cover (LULC) is invaluable for interdisciplinary studies assessing impacts of LULC change on hydrology, climate and regional weather, biodiversity, and many other applications.
Alterations to river flow can impact natural and cultural resources within river valleys and riparian zones.
Across the southwestern United States, ponderosa pine forests that experience high-severity fires are increasingly recovering as grassland or shrubland ecosystems. The uncertainty of the outcomes and the disparity in eventual ecosystem structure and functioning hamper the development of appropriate land management strategies.
The San Carlos Apache Tribe in Arizona wants to learn more about the historical characteristics of their woodlands, savannas, and grasslands so they have a target for restoration efforts. Restoring juniper woodland to savanna is a focus of the Tribe’s intensive management activities, and spatial information that would help determine where best to attempt restoration is needed.
The riparian reaches in the delta of the Colorado River in Mexico have undergone reductions in green vegetation from confounding pressures related to drought, precipitation declines, ground-water losses, land clearing, and fire.
Lithium is a critical element for making the high-efficiency batteries used in electric cars, cell phones, computers, and solar grid electric storage. The largest lithium production in the world comes from lithium-rich brines in playas (dry lake beds), such as the Salar de Atacama located in Chile, South America.
