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Title: An analysis of human-induced land transformations in the San Francisco Bay/Sacramento area

Conference · · World Resource Review; (United States)
OSTI ID:6863357
;  [1]; ;  [2];  [3];  [4]
  1. Geological Survey, Reston, VA (United States)
  2. Geological Survey, Moffett Field, CA (United States)
  3. Hunter Coll., New York, NY (United States). Dept. of Geology and Geography
  4. Johnson Controls World Services, Moffett Field, CA (United States)

Part of the US Geological Survey's Global Change Research Program involves studying the area from the Pacific Ocean to the Sierra foothills to enhance understanding of the role that human activities play in global change. The study investigates the ways that humans transform the land and the effects that changing the landscape may have on regional and global systems. To accomplish this research, scientists are compiling records of historical transformations in the region's land cover over the last 140 years, developing a simulation model to predict land cover change, and assembling a digital data set to analyze and describe land transformations. The historical data regarding urban growth focus attention on the significant change the region underwent from 1850 to 1990. The historical change is being used to calibrate a prototype cellular automata model, developed to predict changes in urban land cover 100 years into the future. These data aid in documenting and understanding human-induced land transformations from both historical and predictive perspectives. A descriptive analysis of the region is used to investigate the relationships among data characteristic of the region. These data consist of multilayer topography, climate, vegetation, and population data for a 256-km[sup 2] region of central California. A variety of multivariate analysis tools are used to integrate the data in raster format from map contours, interpolated climate observations, satellite observations, and population estimates.

OSTI ID:
6863357
Report Number(s):
CONF-940422-; CODEN: WRRVE5
Journal Information:
World Resource Review; (United States), Vol. 6:2; Conference: 5. global warming science and policy international conference and expo, San Francisco, CA (United States), 4-7 Apr 1994; ISSN 1042-8011
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English