Project Name:
Earthworks in the Southwest
Collaborators:
Mitch McClaran, Michelle Cavanaugh, Shang Gao, Octavia Crompton, Smriti Chaulagain, Sam Anderson, Punit Gandhi, Mary Silber, Mary Nichols
Goals/purpose:
Earthworks have been constructed in dryland landscapes since antiquity to manage soil and water resources. These structures can remain in places for tens or hundreds of years. 
A map application showing earthworksOver these long timespans, earthworks have the potential to impacts water, sediment, and vegetation. However, the extent and types of long-term impacts and the locations of legacy structures are often unknown. Scientists are mapping earthworks across the Western United States with a combination of elevation data, high-resolution imagery, and machine learning. Remote sensing and modeling work based on mapped sites reveals the long-term impacts of earthworks on landscapes.