Geology topics

Claudia Young

Publications and source records attributed to Claudia Young.

12 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS2025

Chapter three - Global SSEBop actual evapotranspiration modeling and mapping using the VIIRS data

A Actual evapotranspiration (ETa) is an essential climate variable that can be used for drought monitoring and water availability assessment because of its close connection with vegetation, soil moisture, and the water cycle. An operational ETa using the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) and global weather datasets was developed through the Simplified Surface Energy Balance Model (SSEBop) model. An operational framework is established with the Famine Early Warning System Network ( https://earlywarning.usgs.gov/fews ) to generate and update global 1 km ETa at dekadal (∼10 day), monthly, and yearly time scales since February 2012. Modeled ETa at monthly and annual time scales was evaluated using 67 eddy covariance (EC) flux tower stations around the world and water balance-based ETa based on 810 United States eight-digit Hydrologic Unit Code (HUC8) and 18 Global Runoff Data Center (GRDC) basins. The correlation coefficient ( r =0.68–0.94) shows relatively strong and consistent performance across the three datasets, capturing the spatiotemporal variability in HUC8 and GRDC basins and EC tower sites reliably. The bias (3%–15%) and root mean square error (RMSE: 13%–34%) showed relatively large errors and high variability among the three datasets. The evaluation results indicate the usefulness of the VIIRS ETa for drought monitoring and early warning applications without further adjustments, while bias-correction and calibration procedures may be required before using the VIIRS ETa data for localized water budget assessments. Availability of gridded actual ETa data from a combination of flux towers and basin-scale ETa is desired to establish bias-correction procedures to improve the absolute accuracy of remote-sensing ETa such as the SSEBop VIIRS operational products.

Book chapter↗

USGS2021

Integrating satellite thermal imagery and global weather datasets for operational actual evapotranspiration mapping and drought early warning applications

The development and online access to an operational global actual evapotranspiration (ETa) is described. The global ETa is generated using the Operational Simplified Surface Energy Balance (SSEBop) model with inputs from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) land surface temperature and gridded weather datasets. Global and regional ETa, as well as anomaly graphics and data, are posted at https://earlywarning.usgs.gov/fews at dekadal, monthly, and annual aggregation periods at 1 km spatial resolution since 2003. As part of the convergence of evidence, the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) consults these products along with precipitation- and vegetation-derived products for drought monitoring and early warning applications to avert food insecurity crises around the world.

Conference Paper↗

USGS2015

Projecting the spatiotemporal carbon dynamics of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem from 2006 to 2050

Background Climate change and the concurrent change in wildfire events and land use comprehensively affect carbon dynamics in both spatial and temporal dimensions. The purpose of this study was to project the spatial and temporal aspects of carbon storage in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) under these changes from 2006 to 2050. We selected three emission scenarios and produced simulations with the CENTURY model using three General Circulation Models (GCMs) for each scenario. We also incorporated projected land use change and fire occurrence into the carbon accounting. Results The three GCMs showed increases in maximum and minimum temperature, but precipitation projections varied among GCMs. Total ecosystem carbon increased steadily from 7,942 gC/m 2 in 2006 to 10,234 gC/m 2 in 2050 with an annual rate increase of 53 gC/m 2 /year. About 56.6% and 27% of the increasing rate was attributed to total live carbon and total soil carbon, respectively. Net Primary Production (NPP) increased slightly from 260 gC/m 2 /year in 2006 to 310 gC/m 2 /year in 2050 with an annual rate increase of 1.22 gC/m 2 /year. Forest clear-cutting and fires resulted in direct carbon removal; however, the rate was low at 2.44 gC/m 2 /year during 2006–2050. The area of clear-cutting and wildfires in the GYE would account for 10.87% of total forested area during 2006–2050, but the predictive simulations demonstrated different spatial distributions in national forests and national parks. Conclusions The GYE is a carbon sink during 2006–2050. The capability of vegetation is almost double that of soil in terms of sequestering extra carbon. Clear-cutting and wildfires in GYE will affect 10.87% of total forested area, but direct carbon removal from clear-cutting and fires is 109.6 gC/m 2 , which accounts for only 1.2% of the mean ecosystem carbon level of 9,056 gC/m 2 , and thus is not significant.

Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem↗

USGS2015

Drought monitoring and assessment: Remote sensing and modeling approaches for the Famine Early Warning Systems Network

Drought monitoring is an essential component of drought risk management. It is usually carried out using drought indices/indicators that are continuous functions of rainfall and other hydrometeorological variables. This chapter presents a few examples of how remote sensing and hydrologic modeling techniques are being used to generate a suite of drought monitoring indicators at dekadal (10-day), monthly, seasonal, and annual time scales for several selected regions around the world. Satellite-based rainfall estimates are being used to produce drought indicators such as standardized precipitation index, dryness indicators, and start of season analysis. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index is being used to monitor vegetation condition. Several satellite data products are combined using agrohydrologic models to produce multiple short- and long-term indicators of droughts. All the data sets are being produced and updated in near-real time to provide information about the onset, progression, extent, and intensity of drought conditions. The data and products produced are available for download from the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) data portal at http://earlywarning.usgs.gov . The availability of timely information and products support the decision-making processes in drought-related hazard assessment, monitoring, and management with the FEWS NET. The drought-hazard monitoring approach perfected by the U.S. Geological Survey for FEWS NET through the integration of satellite data and hydrologic modeling can form the basis for similar decision support systems. Such systems can operationally produce reliable and useful regional information that is relevant for local, district-level decision making.

Book chapter↗

USGS2013

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 dynamics in various terrestrial ecosystems in the southeastern United States from 1992 to 2050 using a process-based modeling system and then to investigate the impacts of LUCC. Spatial LUCC information was reconstructed and projected using the FOREcasting SCEnarios of future land cover (FORE-SCE) model according to information derived from Landsat observations and other sources. Results indicated that urban expansion (from 3.7% in 1992 to 9.2% in 2050) was expected to be the primary driver for other land cover changes in the region, leading to various declines in forest, cropland, and hay/pasture. The region was projected to be a carbon sink of 60.4 gC m −2 yr −1 on average during the study period, primarily due to the legacy impacts of large-scale conversion of cropland to forest that happened since the 1950s. Nevertheless, the regional carbon sequestration rate was expected to decline because of the slowing down of carbon accumulation in aging forests and the decline of forest area.

Environmental Research Letters↗

USGS2013

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) project the land use and land cover (LULC) by mid-century using the FORecasting SCEnarios of future land-use (FORE-SCE) model under the A1B greenhouse gas emission scenario (future condition) and (2) assess its potential impacts on the water cycle and water quality against the 2001 baseline condition in the Cedar River Basin using the physically based soil and water assessment tool (SWAT). We compared the baseline LULC (National Land Cover data 2001) and 2050 projection, indicating substantial expansions of urban area and pastureland (including the cultivation of bioenergy crops) and a decrease in rangeland. We then used the above two LULC maps as the input data to drive the SWAT model, keeping other input data (e.g., climate) unchanged to isolate the LULC change impacts. The modeling results indicate that quick-response surface runoff would increase significantly (about 10.5%) due to the projected urban expansion (i.e., increase in impervious areas), and the baseflow would decrease substantially (about 7.3%) because of the reduced infiltration. Although the net effect may cause an increase in water yield, the increased variability may impede its use for public supply. Additionally, the cultivation of bioenergy crops such as switchgrass in the newly added pasture lands may further reduce the soil water content and lead to an increase in nitrogen loading (about 2.5% increase) due to intensified fertilizer application. These study results will be informative to decision makers for sustainable water resource management when facing LULC change and an increasing demand for biofuel production in this area.

Environmental Research Letters↗

USGS2013

Reconstructing satellite images to quantify spatially explicit land surface change caused by fires and succession: A demonstration in the Yukon River Basin of interior Alaska

Land surface change caused by fires and succession is confounded by many site-specific factors and requires further study. The objective of this study was to reveal the spatially explicit land surface change by minimizing the confounding factors of weather variability, seasonal offset, topography, land cover, and drainage. In a pilot study of the Yukon River Basin of interior Alaska, we retrieved Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), albedo, and land surface temperature (LST) from a postfire Landsat image acquired on August 5th, 2004. With a Landsat reference image acquired on June 26th, 1986, we reconstructed NDVI, albedo, and LST of 1987–2004 fire scars for August 5th, 2004, assuming that these fires had not occurred. The difference between actual postfire and assuming-no-fire scenarios depicted the fires and succession impact. Our results demonstrated the following: (1) NDVI showed an immediate decrease after burning but gradually recovered to prefire levels in the following years, in which burn severity might play an important role during this process; (2) Albedo showed an immediate decrease after burning but then recovered and became higher than prefire levels; and (3) Most fires caused surface warming, but cooler surfaces did exist; time-since-fire affected the prefire and postfire LST difference but no absolute trend could be found. Our approach provided spatially explicit land surface change rather than average condition, enabling a better understanding of fires and succession impact on ecological consequences at the pixel level.

ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing↗

USGS2013

Simulating the water budget of a Prairie Potholes complex from LiDAR and hydrological models in North Dakota, USA

Hydrological processes of the wetland complex in the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) are difficult to model, partly due to a lack of wetland morphology data. We used Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR) data sets to derive wetland features; we then modelled rainfall, snowfall, snowmelt, runoff, evaporation, the “fill-and-spill” mechanism, shallow groundwater loss, and the effect of wet and dry conditions. For large wetlands with a volume greater than thousands of cubic metres (e.g. about 3000 m 3 ), the modelled water volume agreed fairly well with observations; however, it did not succeed for small wetlands (e.g. volume less than 450 m 3 ). Despite the failure for small wetlands, the modelled water area of the wetland complex coincided well with interpretation of aerial photographs, showing a linear regression with R 2 of around 0.80 and a mean average error of around 0.55 km 2 . The next step is to improve the water budget modelling for small wetlands.

North Dakota↗

USGS2012

Estimations of evapotranspiration and water balance with uncertainty over the Yukon River Basin

In this study, the revised Remote Sensing-Penman Monteith model (RS-PM) was used to scale up evapotranspiration (ET) over the entire Yukon River Basin (YRB) from three eddy covariance (EC) towers covering major vegetation types. We determined model parameters and uncertainty using a Bayesian-based method in the three EC sites. The 95 % confidence interval for the aggregate ecosystem ET ranged from 233 to 396 mm yr −1 with an average of 319 mm yr −1 . The mean difference between precipitation and evapotranspiration ( W ) was 171 mm yr −1 with a 95 % confidence interval of 94–257 mm yr −1 . The YRB region showed a slight increasing trend in annual precipitation for the 1982–2009 time period, while ET showed a significant increasing trend of 6.6 mm decade −1 . As a whole, annual W showed a drying trend over YRB region.

Alaska↗

USGS2012

The General Ensemble Biogeochemical Modeling System (GEMS) and its applications to agricultural systems in the United States: Chapter 18

The General Ensemble Biogeochemical Modeling System (GEMS) was es in individual models, it uses multiple site-scale biogeochemical models to perform model simulations. Second, it adopts Monte Carlo ensemble simulations of each simulation unit (one site/pixel or group of sites/pixels with similar biophysical conditions) to incorporate uncertainties and variability (as measured by variances and covariance) of input variables into model simulations. In this chapter, we illustrate the applications of GEMS at the site and regional scales with an emphasis on incorporating agricultural practices. Challenges in modeling soil carbon dynamics and greenhouse emissions are also discussed.

Book chapter↗

USGS2011

Integration of Palmer Drought Severity Index and remote sensing data to simulate wetland water surface from 1910 to 2009 in Cottonwood Lake area, North Dakota

Spatiotemporal variations of wetland water in the Prairie Pothole Region are controlled by many factors; two of them are temperature and precipitation that form the basis of the Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI). Taking the 196 km 2 Cottonwood Lake area in North Dakota as our pilot study site, we integrated PDSI, Landsat images, and aerial photography records to simulate monthly water surface. First, we developed a new Wetland Water Area Index (WWAI) from PDSI to predict water surface area. Second, we developed a water allocation model to simulate the spatial distribution of water bodies at a resolution of 30 m. Third, we used an additional procedure to model the small wetlands (less than 0.8 ha) that could not be detected by Landsat. Our results showed that i) WWAI was highly correlated with water area with an R 2 of 0.90, resulting in a simple regression prediction of monthly water area to capture the intra- and inter-annual water change from 1910 to 2009; ii) the spatial distribution of water bodies modeled from our approach agreed well with the water locations visually identified from the aerial photography records; and iii) the R 2 between our modeled water bodies (including both large and small wetlands) and those from aerial photography records could be up to 0.83 with a mean average error of 0.64 km 2 within the study area where the modeled wetland water areas ranged from about 2 to 14 km 2 . These results indicate that our approach holds great potential to simulate major changes in wetland water surface for ecosystem service; however, our products could capture neither the short-term water change caused by intensive rainstorm events nor the wetland change caused by human activities.

North Dakota↗

USGS2009

TerraLook: A GIS-ready time-series of satellite imagery

The goal of TerraLook is to provide satellite images that anyone can use to see changes in the Earth's surface over time. Landsat and other satellites have been collecting images of the Earth from Space for more than 35 years. TerraLook allows users to create their own collections of georeferenced simulated natural-color JPEG images from Landsat (circa 1975, 1990, 2005) and ASTER (2000 to present) at no charge. The simulated natural colors in TerraLook images are consistently processed so that images from these time periods can be easily compared. TerraLook images are bundled with stands- compliant metadata, a world file, and an outline of each image's ground footprint, enabling their use in Geographic Information Systems and Web mapping applications. Different ArcGIS solutions were developed to use with TerraLook Collections. For ArcGIS and ArcGIS Explorer users, project files are available to permit TerraLook Collections to be easily integrated into GIS projects of educational curricula for visual analysis. A Pythion Script is available to extract vector data, such as country boundaries, protected areas, hydrography, and populated places, from global datasets to create extended TerraLook collections. Users can add local data, included ground photography, to the TerraLook Collections, These localized collections can be easily shared. An ArcGIS Publisher tool is provided with the ArcMap project file for publishing documents for use with the free ArcReader application.

Conference Paper↗