Modeling and visualizing landscape development and modification and environmental change.

Monitoring today's environmental challenges and learning about environmental change on the landscape level requires massive inter-related databases and cost-effective solutions to data acquisition and interpretation. Research in conservation biology also stresses the importance of environmental heterogeneity and patchiness or fragmentation in the longevity of ecosystems and sustainability of biodiversity. Spatial analysis tools such as remote sensing and geographic information systems (GIS) have been developed over the past several decades to address these applied science needs.

DEES faculty use spatial modeling techniques to develop predictive future landscape scenarios for land use and environmental planning in broad ecoregions such as the Mojave Desert, or the spread of Hanta virus through rodent populations in the Great Basin. We employ hyperspectral remote-sensing mixture modeling to discriminate archaeological sites, vegetation composition and condition, and disturbance patterns.

DEES faculty use GIS to develop spatial databases for large, complex watersheds to assess water distribution systems and water rights. We are developing integrated geological and paleoenvironmental databases for the Great Basin, and are using digital imaging technology to create virtual paleontological and archaeological collections.

Image above provided by Tim Minor.