Presents the methodology of the Human-Environment Regional Observatory project (HERO), which developed infrastructure for monitoring and understanding local dimensions of global change.

1. Infrastructure for observing local human-environment interactions Brent Yarnal, John Harrington, Jr, Andrew C. Comrie, Colin Polsky and Ola Ahlqvist; 2. Theory: computing with knowledge to represent and share understanding Mark Gahegan, William A. Pike and Junyan Luo; 3. Infrastructure for collaboration Bill Pike, Alan MacEachren and Brent Yarnal; 4. Representing and reasoning with conceptual understanding Ola Ahlqvist and Chaoqing Yu; 5. Establishing vulnerability observatory networks to coordinate the collection and analysis of comparable data Colin Polsky, Rob Neff and Brent Yarnal; 6. Comparative assessment of human-environment landscape change John Harrington, Jr, Brent Yarnal, Diana Liverman, Billie Lee Turner II and Brandi Nagle; 7. Landsat mapping of local landscape change: the satellite-era context Rachel M. Kurtz, Robert Gilmore Pontius, Jr, John Harrington, Jr and Cynthia L. Sorrensen; 8. Assessing local vulnerabilities: methodological approaches and regional contexts Colin Polsky, Cynthia Sorrensen, Jessica Whitehead and Rob Neff; 9. Rapid vulnerability assessments of exposures, sensitivities, and adaptive capacities of the HERO study sites Colin Polsky, Andrew Comrie, Jessica Whitehead, Cynthia Sorrensen, Lisa M. Butler Harrington, Max Lu, Rob Neff and Brent Yarnal; 10. Evaluating vulnerability assessments of the HERO study sites Colin Polsky, Cynthia Sorrensen, Jessica Whitehead, Lisa M. Butler Harrington, Max Lu, Rob Neff and Brent Yarnal; 11. The mounting risk of drought in a humid landscape: structure and agency in suburbanizing Massachusetts Colin Polsky, Sarah Assefa, Kate Del Vecchio, Troy Hill, Laura Merner, Isaac Tercero and Gil Pontius; 12. A diverse human-environment system: traditional agriculture, industrial agriculture, and service economy in central Pennsylvania Brent Yarnal; 13. Fossil water and agriculture in southwestern Kansas Lisa M. Butler Harrington, Max Lu and John A. Harrington, Jr; 14. Urbanization and hydroclimatic challenges in the Sonoran Desert border region Cynthia L. Sorrensen and Andrew C. Comrie; 15. Lessons learned from the HERO project Brent Yarnal, John Harrington, Jr, Andrew C. Comrie, Colin Polsky, Ola Ahlqvist and the HERO Team; References; Index.