Geographic Research & Applications Subactivity Senegal, at ground resolutions approaching 1.5 meters. These efforts have generated analyses and image and map products that Senegal's environmental policy-makers are using to better understand the rates, magnitudes, and causes of change. Figure NMP-6. USGS holdings of declassified Corona photographs provide an Reconstruction of Historical Land Cover for Watershed Analysis and Restoration - As part of the Urban Dynamics Research Project, USGS scientists completed a spatial reconstruction of historical land cover for the Patuxent River watershed and surrounding area in southern Maryland. GIS spatial modeling and data integration techniques were used in mapping agricultural, forest, and urban land for six time periods between 1850 and 1992. This research is helping the USGS to correlate historical land use changes in the Chesapeake Bay watershed to changes in the ecosystem over several time scales including the last several decades and the last several centuries. Preliminary findings from the Patuxent study area indicate that deforestation began near 1650 and hit a peak from about 1850-1900. During this time, agriculture accounted for over 80 percent of the land use in the greater BaltimoreWashington area. Agricultural use has decreased since 1900 and is being replaced by urban Geographic Research & Applications Subactivity land use and forest land. The extensive land clearance in the mid-to-late 1800's is also reflected in ecosystem indicators showing large changes in salinity, dissolved oxygen, and sedimentation rates. This information will be valuable in helping to establish restoration goals that accurately reflect changes in the system due to natural variability and historical land-use changes. Web site: http://edcwww2.cr.usgs.gov/urban/cbay/ag/intro.html. Hardware and Software Replacement Strategy Curbs Rising Maintenance Costs - The USGS began an effort in FY 1996 to modernize all hardware and software systems supporting the NMP by (1) replacing obsolete, expensive-to-maintain equipment with new equipment that can be maintained at lower costs, (2) utilizing more off-the-shelf, commercial software and less in-house development, and (3) assuring that all systems and facilities are Y2K compliant. Through this strategy, the NMP has been able, over the last 3 years, to reduce hardware maintenance obligations by about $1 million per year, which has allowed the development of an on-going hardware replacement strategy designed to continue to keep maintenance costs in control. The increased use of off-the-shelf software has reduced overall software maintenance costs and allowed the NMP to re-engineer many of its business practices and accommodate reductions in personnel without major programmatic disruption. Major efforts, both in time and cost, have been directed at making the NMP Y2K compliant with the result that by the end of calendar year 1999 all identified Critical and Essential systems will be certified compliant. Justification of Program Change FY 2000 Program $(000) 33,609 +1,050 Real-Time Hazards (CINDI; +$0.45 million) —— Immediately after natural disasters such as Hurricane Mitch, considerable scientific analysis is required to understand the effect and dimension of the phenomenon, how best to respond to the variety of existing and potential losses, and how to help with recovery activities. Because of the short time frames available during and after a disaster, time-critical analytical capabilities must be in place and ready to use before the event occurs. The increase will be used to begin to establish a standing analytical capability in the USGS Center for Integration of Natural Disaster Information (CINDI) to ensure that information from multiple, disparate sources can be integrated and analyzed quickly to provide the synoptic views of on-the-ground conditions and scenarios that are needed in near-real-time by the decision makers and recovery teams responding to disaster events. Research and Monitoring for Amphibians as an Indicator Species (+$0.6 million) — The proposed increase will support the compilation and analysis of geospatial data to characterize habitat in areas of demonstrated amphibian loss that have been targeted for controlled experiments by USGS biologists and to develop methods to use spatial analytical techniques to predict potential amphibian loss. In particular, geographic analysis and mapping techniques will be developed and tested for (1) measuring changes through space and time in amphibian habitat and (2) determining contaminant transport pathways. Note: The Program Redirect column reflects the redirection of funds to the Integrated Science, Science Support, and Facilities activities. Activity Summary Introduction Through its programs within the Geologic Hazards, Resources, and Processes Activity, the USGS identifies and helps meet the earth science information needs of a wide variety of Federal, State, and local agencies, and the private sector. This information is used to evaluate resource potential, to define risks associated with natural hazards, and to characterize the potential impact of natural geologic processes on human activity, the economy, and the environment. Hazards-These programs are designed to produce information and understanding that will lead to a reduced impact of natural hazards and disasters on human life and the economy. The United States is subject to a variety of natural hazards of geologic origin (earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides, coastal storms, and erosions) that present grave threats to people and property. The occurrence and reoccurrence of these hazardous events are inevitable and uncontrollable. However, the extent of damage and loss of life can be reduced through pre-event planning, social and economic adaptations, provision of real-time warning capabilities, and more effective post-event emergency response. Central to the successful design and pursuit of loss mitigation strategies is the availability of accurate, scientifically based assessments that define, on a geographic basis, the nature and degree of risk. The more precisely that risks can be defined, the greater the likelihood that appropriate mitigation strategies will be adopted (e.g., building codes for new construction and retrofitting; insurance systems, land use plans; design and location/routing of critical infrastructure such as highways, bridges, subways, water, sewer, gas, electric, and petroleum distribution networks). USGS geologic hazards programs conduct basic and applied research, gather data, operate monitoring networks, perform assessments, and disseminate findings to the public all for the purpose of advancing capabilities to better define risk and encouraging appropriate societal response to these risks. Geologic Hazards, Resources, & Processes Resources—These programs assess the availability and quality of the Nation's mineral and energy resources to include the economic and environmental effects of resource extraction and use. The availability and cost (both economic and environmental) of energy and mineral resources, their extraction and use, are limiting factors to human development. Throughout its history, our Nation has faced important, and often highly controversial, decisions regarding the use of Federal lands, environmental management, and the supply of energy and mineral resources to sustain development and enable growth. Federal land management agencies are required to develop plans that reconcile competing demands for resource development with other human activities, while recognizing environmental values and providing for the sustainability of resources and natural environments. Providing unbiased, scientifically valid assessments of the potential energy and mineral endowment of the United States, and the environmental consequences of developing these resources, are core functions of the USGS that date to the agency's creation in 1879. Historically, heavy emphasis within the USGS energy and mineral resource programs was given to fundamental research on ore genesis and the formation of mineral and energy deposits. The USGS energy and mineral resource programs have evolved significantly in recent years such that emphasis is now focused on: (a) developing and applying improved methods for oil, gas, coal, and mineral assessments, through use of advanced computer modeling, (b) routinely gathering resource quality information to companion availability data to enable assessment of environmental considerations by public and private entities involved in energy and mineral resource extraction and use, (c) gathering and disseminating census-style information on the development and use of mineral resources, and to a lesser extent energy resources, both domestically and internationally for use by other government agencies and the private sector. Geologic Processes and Systems - These programs are designed to distinguish the effects of human activities from natural changes that are part of the dynamic processes operating at or near the earth's surface to enable more effective and efficient resource and environmental management decisions. Society needs to develop usable knowledge of the Earth's natural processes and cycles; their rates, frequencies, magnitudes, and how they affect each other. Armed with such knowledge, we can respond better to both natural and human-induced changes. Natural hazards are less costly if their likely effects can be mapped and quantified. Resources can be more efficiently used if the impacts of their extraction can be anticipated. Damaged or endangered ecosystems can be repaired more effectively if the natural processes that form and maintain them are accounted for in remediation plans. Strategies for conserving and using the Nation's lands and resources are improved when the natural processes at work are recognized as well as the costs of working against them. Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program. Program reductions are proposed for the Mineral Resources Program ($5.0 million), Coastal and Marine Geology Program ($3.5 million), Energy Resources Program ($1.0 million), and Volcano Hazards Program ($250,000). Real-Time Hazards (+$2.0 million) Earthquake Hazards Program (+$1.6 million) - Emergency managers, managers of transportation and utility networks, providers of public services and the public in general need earthquake hazard information quickly in order to respond promptly and effectively to the emergency. In a Los Angeles area pilot project, the USGS has demonstrated that, with suitable equipment and data processing, maps showing the level and distribution of shaking can be produced automatically within minutes of an earthquake. The proposed increase would be used to purchase and install some 80 modern seismographs to initiate similar pilot projects in San Francisco (40 stations), Seattle (20 stations) and Salt Lake City (20 stations). Geomagnetism Program (+$0.4 million) - The demand for current, reliable information on short-term changes in the magnetic field to avoid disruptions in navigation, communication, and operation of the nations power grids and satellite networks has outpaced the capability of the current USGS operated geomagnetic network. Under this increase, faster computers at the data management center and more rapid data transmission capability from observatories will be added to improve the reliability and speed of processing and delivery of geomagnetic data. Community/Federal Information Partnership (+$1.5 million) — National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program; This increase will expand the development of the Internet-based National Geologic Map Database and the production of National Spatial Data Infrastructurecompliant digital geologic map data that meet community needs to address hazards, resources, and environmental issues, in partnership with State geological surveys and universities. The intent of the USGS is to provide half of the requested funds for this activity to the matchingfunds grants components of the program (STÁTEMAP and EDMAP) and half to the Federal mapping component (FEDMAP). The total USGS effort of $10.0 million is discussed in the General Statement. Coral Reef (+$0.6 million) — Coastal and Marine Geology; This $600,000 increase will enable modest expansion of coral reef studies to gather geologic information on the extent and character of reef ecosystems nationwide. These studies will be used to map coral reefs and |