Determination of burn severity models ranging from regional to continental scales for the conterminous United States
Joshua J. Picotte, C. Alina Cansler, Crystal A. Kolden, James A. Lutz, Carl Key, Nathan Benson, Kevin Robertson
2021, Remote Sensing of Environment (263)
Identifying meaningful measures of ecological change over large areas is dependent on the quantification of robust relationships between ecological metrics and remote sensing products. Over the past several decades, ground observations of wildfire and prescribed fire severity have been acquired across hundreds of wildland fires in the United States, primarily utilizing...
Hyperspectral narrowband data propel gigantic leap in the earth remote sensing
Prasad Thenkabail, Itiya Aneece, Pardhasaradhi Teluguntla, Adam Oliphant
2021, Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing. (77) 461-467
Hyperspectral narrowbands (HNBs) capture data as nearly continuous “spectral signatures” rather than a “few spectral data points” along the electromagnetic spectrum as with multispectral broadbands (MBBs). Almost all of satellite remote sensing of the Earth in the twentieth century was conducted using MBB data from sensors such as the Landsat-series, Advanced...
Comparison of historical water temperature measurements with landsat analysis ready data provisional surface temperature estimates for the Yukon River in Alaska
Carson Baughman, Jeff Conaway
2021, Remote Sensing (13)
Water temperature is a key element of freshwater ecological systems and a critical element within natural resource monitoring programs. In the absence of in situ measurements, remote sensing platforms can indirectly measure water temperature over time and space. The Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center has processed archived Landsat...
Detecting subtle change from dense landsat time series: Case studies of mountain pine beetle and spruce beetle disturbance
Su Ye, John Rogan, Zhe Zhu, Todd Hawbaker, Sarah J. Hart, Robert A. Andrus, Arjan J.H. Meddens, Jeffery A. Hicke, J. Ronald Eastman, Dominik Kulakowski
2021, Remote Sensing of Environment (263)
In contrast to abrupt changes caused by land cover conversion, subtle changes driven by a shift in the condition, structure, or other biological attributes of land often lead to minimal and slower alterations of the terrestrial surface. Accurate mapping and monitoring of subtle change are crucial for an early warning...
South Dakota and Landsat
U.S. Geological Survey
2021, Fact Sheet 2021-3035
Few States derive as much of their social and economic well-being from the land as South Dakota. Agriculture is the State’s primary industry. Hunting, fishing, tourism, mining, and hydroelectric power are also important economic and cultural drivers. Data from the U.S. Geological Survey Landsat program, archived at the U.S. Geological...
California and Landsat
U.S. Geological Survey
2021, Fact Sheet 2021-3034
California has remarkable geographic diversity, from 1,100 miles of Pacific shoreline to 33 million acres of trees, including its famous redwood forests along the Pacific Coast Highway, U.S. Route 101. And although California’s nickname is “The Golden State," it may also deserve the title of “The Extreme State.” Mount Whitney,...
Monitoring and assessing urban heat island variations and effects in the United States
George Z. Xian
2021, Fact Sheet 2021-3031
Landsat surface temperature and land cover products have been used to estimate surface temperatures in urban and surrounding nonurban areas and to quantify urban heat island intensity. Understanding the intensity and long-term temporal trends of urban heat islands enables the heat-related health challenges associated with heat waves to be monitored...
System characterization report on the Gaofen-1
Mahesh Shrestha, Aparajithan Sampath, Shankar N. Ramaseri Chandra, Jon Christopherson, Jerad Shaw, Gregory L. Stensaas, Cody Anderson
2021, Open-File Report 2021-1030-B
Executive SummaryThis report addresses system characterization of Gaofen-1 and is part of a series of system characterization reports produced and delivered by the U.S. Geological Survey Earth Resources Observation and Science Cal/Val Center of Excellence in 2020. These reports present the detail methodology and procedures for characterization; present technical and...
System characterization report on the German Aerospace Center (DLR) Earth Sensing Imaging Spectrometer (DESIS)
Mahesh Shrestha, Aparajithan Sampath, Shankar N. Ramaseri Chandra, Jon Christopherson, Jerad Shaw, Cody Anderson
2021, Open-File Report 2021-1030-A
Executive SummaryThis report addresses system characterization of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) Earth Sensing Imaging Spectrometer (DESIS) and is part of a series of system characterization reports produced and delivered by the U.S. Geological Survey Earth Resources Observation and Science Cal/Val Center of Excellence. These reports present the methodology and...
Monitoring long-term riparian vegetation trends to inform local habitat management in a mountainous environment
Timothy J. Assal, Valerie A. Steen, Todd Caltrider, Travis Cundy, Cheyenne Stewart, Nicholas Manning, Patrick J. Anderson
2021, Ecological Indicators (127)
Riparian ecosystems provide critical habitat for many species, yet assessment of vegetation condition at local scales is difficult to measure when considering large areas over long time periods. We present a framework to map and monitor two deciduous cover types, upland and riparian, occupying...
Using the Landsat Burned Area products to derive fire history relevant for fire management and conservation in the state of Florida, southeastern USA
Casey Teske, Melanie K. Vanderhoof, Todd Hawbaker, Joe Noble, J. Kevin Hires
2021, Fire (4)
Development of comprehensive spatially explicit fire occurrence data remains one of the most critical needs for fire managers globally, and especially for conservation across the southeastern United States. Not only are many endangered species and ecosystems in that region reliant on frequent fire, but fire risk analysis, prescribed fire planning,...
Maryland and Landsat
U.S. Geological Survey
2021, Fact Sheet 2021-3022
Maryland, called “America in Miniature,” encompasses nearly every geographical feature in the United States except a desert. Water dominates the State, whose borders run along much of Chesapeake Bay. The bay is the country’s largest estuary, where freshwater from watershed tributaries mingles with the ocean’s saltwater and teems with life.The...
New York and Landsat
U.S. Geological Survey
2021, Fact Sheet 2021-3020
From the iconic skyline of New York City to the forested landscapes of the Adirondack Mountains and the countryside of the Allegheny Plateau, the State of New York is overflowing with diversity and life. Bordered by the Atlantic Ocean on the east and two of the Great Lakes to the...
Geometric calibration updates to Landsat 7 ETM+ instrument for Landsat Collection 2 products
Michael J. Choate, Rajagopalan Rengarajan, James C. Storey, Mark Lubke
2021, Remote Sensing (13)
The Landsat 7 (L7) spacecraft and its instrument, the enhanced thematic mapper plus (ETM+), have been consistently characterized and calibrated since its launch in April of 1999. These performance metrics and calibration updates are determined through the U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) Landsat image assessment system (IAS), which has been...
Investigating vegetation responses to underground nuclear explosions through integrated analyses
Kurt Solander, Adam D. Collins, Erika Swanson, Ellis Margolis, Brandon Crawford, Elizabeth Miller, Min Chen, Anita Lavadie-Bulnes, Max Ryan, Isaac Borrego, Sanna Sevanto, Emily Schultz-Fellenz
2021, Journal of Geophysical Research Biogeosciences (126)
Vegetation has the potential to respond to underground nuclear explosions, yet these links have not been fully explored. Given the lack of previously described signatures, the changes in vegetation are possibly subtle. The integration of multiple different data streams is potentially a useful approach to improve...
Oregon and Landsat
U.S. Geological Survey
2021, Fact Sheet 2021-3021
Oregon’s landscape is as complex and diverse as it is beautiful. Mountain peaks in the Cascade Range soar higher than 10,000 feet. Crater Lake sinks to a depth of 1,943 feet, making it the deepest lake in the United States. Oregon’s lands feature forests, farm fields, grasslands, ocean coastline, rivers,...
The effects of urban land cover dynamics on urban heat Island intensity and temporal trends
George Z. Xian, Hua Shi, Roger F. Auch, Kevin Gallo, Qiang Zhou, Zhuoting Wu, Michael Kolian
2021, GIScience & Remote Sensing (58) 501-515
Assessments of surface urban heat island (UHI) have focused on using remote sensing and land cover data to quantify UHI intensity and spatial distribution within a certain time period by including land cover information. In this study, we implemented a prototype approach to characterize the spatiotemporal...
Riparian area changes in greenness and water use on the Lower Colorado River in the USA from 2000-2020
Pamela L. Nagler, Armando Barreto-Muñoz, Sattar Chavoshi Borujeni, Hamideh Nouri, Christopher J. Jarchow, Kamel Didan
2021, Remote Sensing (13)
Declines in riparian ecosystem greenness and water use have been observed in the delta of the Lower Colorado River (LCR) since 2000. The purpose of our case study was to measure these metrics on the U.S. side of the border between Hoover and Morelos Dams to see...
Texas and Landsat
U.S. Geological Survey
2021, Fact Sheet 2021-3017
The State of Texas has the largest land area of any in the contiguous United States, and its sprawling landscapes show rich geographic diversity. The Lone Star State has cactus flats in the high plains of its far western panhandle, rolling hills in its western Trans-Pecos region, farms and ranchlands...
Improved Automated Identification and Mapping of Iron Sulfate Minerals, Other Mineral Groups, and Vegetation using Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager Data, San Juan Mountains, Colorado, and Four Corners Region
Barnaby W. Rockwell, William R. Gnesda, Albert H. Hofstra
2021, Scientific Investigations Map 3466
Multispectral remote sensing data acquired by the Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) sensor were analyzed using a new, automated technique to generate a map of exposed mineral and vegetation groups in the western San Juan Mountains, Colo., and the Four Corners Region of the United States. Band ratio results...
Rangeland fractional components across the western United States from 1985 to 2018
Matthew B. Rigge, Collin Homer, Hua Shi, Debbie Meyer, Brett Bunde, Brian J. Granneman, Kory Postma, Patrick Danielson, Adam Case, George Z. Xian
2021, Remote Sensing (13)
Monitoring temporal dynamics of rangelands to detect and understand change in vegetation cover and composition provides a wealth of information to improve management and sustainability. Remote sensing allows the evaluation of both abrupt and gradual rangeland change at unprecedented spatial and temporal extents. Here, we describe the production of the...
Detecting shrub recovery in sagebrush steppe: Comparing Landsat-derived maps with field data on historical wildfires
Cara Applestein, Matthew Germino
2021, Fire Ecology (17)
BackgroundThe need for basic information on spatial distribution and abundance of plant species for research and management in semiarid ecosystems is frequently unmet. This need is particularly acute in the large areas impacted by megafires in sagebrush steppe ecosystems, which require frequently updated information about increases in exotic...
Landsat 8 thermal infrared sensor scene select mechanism open loop operations
Michael J. Choate, R. Rengarajan, James C. Storey, Tim Beckmann
2021, MDPI Remote Sensing (13)
The Landsat 8 (L8) spacecraft and its two instruments, the operational land imager (OLI) and thermal infrared sensor (TIRS), have been consistently characterized and calibrated since its launch in February 2013. These performance metrics and calibration updates are determined through the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Landsat image assessment system...
Ground‐penetrating radar, electromagnetic induction, terrain, and vegetation observations coupled with machine learning to map permafrost distribution at Twelvemile Lake, Alaska
S. Campbell, Martin A. Briggs, S.P. Roy, T. A. Douglas, S. Saari
2021, Permafrost and Periglacial Processes (32) 407-426
We collected ground‐penetrating radar (GPR) and frequency‐domain electromagnetic induction (FDEM) profiles in 2011 and 2012 to identify the extent of permafrost relative to surface biomass and solar insolation around Twelvemile Lake near Fort Yukon, Alaska. We compared a Landsat‐derived biomass estimate and modeled solar insolation from...
Improving Landsat predictions of rangeland fractional cover with multitask learning and uncertainty
Brady W. Allred, Brandon T. Bestelmeyer, Chad S. Boyd, Christopher Brown, Kirk W. Davies, Michael C. Duniway, Lisa M. Ellsworth, Tyler A. Erickson, Samuel D. Fuhlendorf, Timothy V. Griffiths, Vincent Jansen, Matthew O. Jones, Jason W. Karl, Anna C Knight, Jeremy D. Maestas, Jonathan J. Maynard, Sarah E. McCord, David E. Naugle, Heath D. Starns, Dirac Twidwell, Daniel R. Uden
2021, Methods in Ecology and Evolution (12) 841-849
Operational satellite remote sensing products are transforming rangeland management and science. Advancements in computation, data storage and processing have removed barriers that previously blocked or hindered the development and use of remote sensing products. When combined with local data and knowledge, remote sensing products can inform decision‐making at multiple...
