diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d57f016
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+.PHONY: docs clean
+
+docs: docs/build/html/index.html
+
+docs/build/html/index.html:
+	cd docs && sphinx-build -M html source build
+
+clean: 
+	rm docs/build/html/index.html
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index efa0b17..92069aa 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -24,6 +24,14 @@ python hydropop/dev/end_to_end_new.py
 
 For installation instructions and descriptions of outputs, see the [docs](https://lanl.github.io/hydropop/).
 
+### Development
+
+```shell
+# build docs
+pip install -r docs/requirements.txt
+cd docs && sphinx-build -M html source build
+```
+
 ### License
 
 This repo is released with a [BSD-3 License](https://github.com/lanl/hydropop/blob/main/LICENSE).
diff --git a/docs/requirements.txt b/docs/requirements.txt
index 145ba72..eb1c411 100644
--- a/docs/requirements.txt
+++ b/docs/requirements.txt
@@ -1,2 +1,3 @@
-furo==2021.11.16
+furo
 sphinx_rtd_theme
+sphinx>=5.0.0
diff --git a/docs/source/index.rst b/docs/source/index.rst
index 1edcc4f..305b732 100644
--- a/docs/source/index.rst
+++ b/docs/source/index.rst
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ Welcome to hpdocs's documentation!
 
    pages/installation
    pages/hpdata
+   pages/terminology
 
 
 .. Indices and tables
diff --git a/docs/source/pages/terminology.rst b/docs/source/pages/terminology.rst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1c4100e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/source/pages/terminology.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+.. _hpdata:
+.. role:: raw-html(raw)
+   :format: html
+
+=============
+Hydropop Terminology
+=============
+
+ - hthi: hydrotopo hab index -  a combination of four indicators of water availability likelihood (distance to persistent waterbody, topographic wetness, height above nearest drainage, human created habitat)
+
+ - mhi: mosquito habitat indicator
+ 
+ - pop: population density
\ No newline at end of file