USGS Submissions

Agriculture

Early Warning eXplorer for Food Security Monitoring

Submitted by tadamson on

Climate-related impacts on food security and water availability continue to affect many parts of the globe.  Several regions, including sub-Saharan Africa, are not only susceptible to these impacts, but also lack the ability to monitor climate-related risk.  Earth observation (EO) satellites have been instrumental in offering large-scale monitoring capabilities for analysis of rainfall, evapotranspiration,

Evaluating Crop Residue Bands for the Landsat Next Mission

Submitted by tadamson on

Non-photosynthetic vegetation (NPV) includes the residual material left on a field after crop harvest, such as stalks, stubble, and seeds. Satellite-based detection and mapping of NPV supports better understanding of soil health, adoption of conservation tillage practices, and vegetation dynamics in cropland, pasture, and rangeland settings.

Coastal Studies

Developing Bare-earth Digital Elevation Models from Structure from Motion Data on Barrier Islands

Submitted by tadamson on

Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS) can be used to collect monitoring data, including elevation information via Structure from Motion (SfM) and vegetation information from multispectral imagery, with a temporal resolution that is well-suited for dynamic barrier island environments. However, SfM data represent the elevation of the land surface including the vegetation canopy.

Informing Hurricane Flooding and Sea-Level Rise Vulnerability

Submitted by tadamson on

Fusing remote sensing products from different satellite sensors allows the development of enhanced maps of the current distribution of coastal wetland plants and more accurate models of coastal elevations. This critical information about vulnerability to sea-level rise and hurricane flooding is being used by DOI partners and State and local agencies to improve management in a changing climate.

Multiscale Spectroscopy of Intertidal Biofilm Quantity, Quality, and Composition

Submitted by tadamson on

Microbial biofilm communities, which are comprised of bacteria, diatoms, protozoa, and fungi, inhabit the surface of intertidal mudflats. They play a major role in intertidal food webs and comprise a large proportion of shorebirds’ diets, so understanding biofilm distribution, quantity, and nutritional value is important for shorebird conservation and management.

Drought