Search USGS⌕ Search
Home/Archive/USGS

USGS · tm9A0

General introduction for the “National Field Manual for the Collection of Water-Quality Data”

U.S. Geological Survey
View original source ↗Read source document ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

Background As part of its mission, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) collects data to assess the quality of our Nation’s water resources. A high degree of reliability and standardization of these data are paramount to fulfilling this mission. Documentation of nationally accepted methods used by USGS personnel serves to maintain consistency and technical quality in data-collection activities. “The National Field Manual for the Collection of Water-Quality Data” (NFM) provides documented guidelines and protocols for USGS field personnel who collect water-quality data. The NFM provides detailed, comprehensive, and citable procedures for monitoring the quality of surface water and groundwater. Topics in the NFM include (1) methods and protocols for sampling water resources, (2) methods for processing samples for analysis of water quality, (3) methods for measuring field parameters, and (4) specialized procedures, such as sampling water for low levels of mercury and organic wastewater chemicals, measuring biological indicators, and sampling bottom sediment for chemistry. Personnel who collect water-quality data for national USGS programs and projects, including projects supported by USGS cooperative programs, are mandated to use protocols provided in the NFM per USGS Office of Water Quality Technical Memorandum 2002.13. Formal training, for example, as provided in the USGS class, “Field Water-Quality Methods for Groundwater and Surface Water,” and field apprenticeships supplement the guidance provided in the NFM and ensure that the data collected are high quality, accurate, and scientifically defensible.

Explore related subjects

Techniques and MethodsReport

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

U.S. Geological Survey. 2018-02-28. General introduction for the “National Field Manual for the Collection of Water-Quality Data”. https://doi.org/10.3133/tm9a0

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related USGS reports

USGS2026

Methods and considerations for writing science syntheses for use in decision making on public lands

Natural resource managers are required by multiple laws to use science to inform decisions on public lands in the United States. However, large numbers of science papers about conservation and management of natural resources are published annually, increasing the amount of effort required to maintain awareness of the best available science on relevant topics. As a result, products that synthesize large bodies of science can be a key tool for communicating science to natural resource managers. This report provides guidance for writing synthesis products for resource managers. Core topics and steps include coproducing syntheses with managers, scoping topics relevant to management actions and potentially affected resources, using reproducible literature search and screening methods, extracting and synthesizing multiple types of management-relevant information from science papers, organizing the synthesis product according to decision-making processes, soliciting peer and end-user review, and planning dissemination activities tailored to resource managers. Considering these topics and steps in developing science synthesis products can facilitate natural resource managers’ ability to use science in decision making and help bridge the gap between research and public land management.

Techniques and Methods↗
USGS2026

An updated decision-support tool for grassland birds in the Avian-Impact Offset Method

The Avian-Impact Offset Method (AIOM) quantifies the displacement of grassland birds and waterfowl in response to energy infrastructure and estimates the amount of habitat needed to compensate for this loss. The AIOM converts the number of bird pairs lost owing to avian behavioral avoidance (also referred to as “displacement”) and estimates the site-specific hectares of grasslands or number of wetlands needed to compensate for displaced pairs of grassland birds or waterfowl, respectively. Decision-support tools spatially apply the AIOM to estimate grassland and wetland offsets and guide the location of offsetting measures. The revised decision-support tool for grassland birds and grassland offsets described in this report provides updated grassland layers for calculating offsets and updated bird models for guiding the location of offsetting measures.

Techniques and Methods↗
USGS2026

dMODELS, a MATLAB software package for modeling crustal deformation near volcanic centers and active faults using Global Navigation Satellite System data—User guide

dMODELS is a MATLAB software package that implements the most common analytical models used to interpret deformation measurements near faults and active volcanic centers. This manual focuses on inversion of deformation data from the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). The included case studies emphasize the GNSS inversion component of the software. Source models include pressurized spherical, spheroidal, and horizontal sill (penny-crack) magma reservoirs in a homogeneous, elastic, isotropic, flat half-space. A topography correction is available for the spherical source. Dikes and faults are described following the mathematical notation for the rectangular dislocations in a homogeneous, elastic, flat half-space. Equations have been reviewed for typographical errors present in the original literature and verified against finite-element method numerical models. GNSS data from the 2006 eruption at Augustine Volcano, Alaska; the 1998–2000 unrest at Taal Volcano, Philippines; and the 2009 earthquake in L’Aquila, Italy, are used to demonstrate the application of the software package.

Techniques and Methods↗