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At least 307 records · Page 17Linked to original sources
USGS2012

Priorities for IOOS ® Data Management and Communications (DMAC)

Dramatic increases in the volume of online data and rapid advances in information technology have transformed many aspects of our society. In the coastal ocean, the amount of data is also growing dramatically due to new sensor and modeling technologies. Lagging behind this deluge of ocean data, however, is an effective framework of standards, protocols, tools and culture needed to transform the way we generate knowledge and value from ocean data. The Data Management and Communications (DMAC) sub-system was envisioned to provide such an information management capability for IOOS®, promoting standards and policies to be implemented by data providers across the IOOS enterprise. DMAC needs to build upon the successes and lessons learned during development of web service standards and promote a set of end-to-end standards and procedures for the entire ocean-data life cycle, including documentation through metadata, quality control and quality assurance, effective data discovery, and stewardship through archiving. Because information technology is constantly changing, a multiyear, top-down design and implementation plan is not workable. DMAC should start by promoting a set of protocols that are functional for specific use cases, creating a modular framework in which modules can be replaced as technologies change. In addition to promoting protocols, DMAC needs to support training, flexible online documentation, support, and social networking that enable users to share code, techniques and experiences. Through this bottom-up approach, trust and understanding will foster adoption by the community. Finally, a compliance and certification process should be developed that allows IOOS to ensure that they meet the needs of customers and other stakeholders while complying with regulatory requirements related to the data. If this approach is followed, we will enable breakthroughs in ocean data–driven technology similar to those common elsewhere in our society, fulfilling the broader mission of IOOS.

Book↗
USGS2014

Unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) activities at the Department of the Interior

The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) is responsible for protecting and managing the natural resources and heritage on almost 20% of the land in the United States. The DOI’s mission requires access to remotely sensed data over vast lands, including areas that are remote and potentially dangerous to access. Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) technology has the potential to enable the DOI to be a better steward of the land by: (1) Improving natural hazard forecasting and the analysis of the impacts. (2) Improving the understanding of climate change to better plan for likely impacts. (3) Developing precipitation and evaporation forecasting to better manage water resources. (4) Monitoring Arctic ice change and its impacts on ecosystems, coasts, and transportation. (5) Increasing safety and effectiveness of wildland fire management. (6) Enhancing search and rescue capabilities. (7) Broadening the abilities to monitor environmental or landscape conditions and changes. (8) Better understanding and protecting the Nation’s ecosystems. The initial operational testing and evaluations performed by the DOI have proven that UAS technology can be used to support many of the Department’s activities. UAS technology provides scientists a way to look longer, closer and more frequently at some of Earth’s most remote areas—places that were previously too dangerous or expensive to monitor in detail. The flexibility of operations and relative low cost to purchase and operate Small Unmanned Aerial System (sUAS) enhances the ability to track long-term landscape and environmental change. The initial testing indicates the operational costs are approximately 10% of traditional manned aircraft. In addition, users can quickly assess landscape-altering events such as wildland fires, floods and volcanoes. UAS technology will allow the DOI to do more with less and in the process enhance the Department’s ability to provide unbiased scientific information to help stakeholders make informed decisions. It will also provide a digital baseline record that can be archived and used when monitoring future events or conditions. One possible future scenario has scientists carrying sUAS into the field allowing quick deployment and operation to observe the environment or for emergency response. This scenario could also include a persistent monitoring capability provided by a UAS that can stay airborne over a small geographic area for days or weeks, or possibly longer. While the DOI focus is on sUAS, the Department recognizes that larger UAS systems will also play a role in meeting its mission. The Department anticipates meeting long-duration or specialized acquisition commitments, such as state or national aerial photography, by collaboration with other agencies or through commercial contracts. Even though the DOI continues to evaluate UAS and sensor technology to meet the Department’s mission, some of its bureaus are already moving towards an operational capability. The authors fully anticipate that by 2020 UAS will emerge as one of the primary platforms for DOI remote sensing applications.

Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing↗
USGS2015

In situ densimetric measurements as a surrogate for suspended-sediment concentrations in the Rio Puerco, New Mexico

Surrogate measurements of suspended-sediment concentration (SSC) are increasingly used to provide continuous, high-resolution, and demonstrably accurate data at a reasonable cost. Densimetric data, calculated from the difference between two in situ pressure measurements, exploit variations in real-time streamflow densities to infer SSCs. Unlike other suspendedsediment surrogate technologies based on bulk or digital optics, laser, or hydroacoustics, the accuracy of SSC data estimated using the pressure-difference (also referred to as densimetric) surrogate technology theoretically improves with increasing SCCs. Coupled with streamflow data, continuous suspended-sediment discharges can be calculated using SSC data estimated in real-time using the densimetric technology. The densimetric technology was evaluated at the Rio Puerco in New Mexico, a stream where SSC values regularly range from 10,000-200,000 milligrams per liter (mg/L) and have exceeded 500,000 mg/L. The constant-flow dual-orifice bubbler measures pressure using two precision pressure-transducer sensors at vertically aligned fixed locations in a water column. Water density is calculated from the temperature-compensated differential pressure and SSCs are inferred from the density data. A linear regression model comparing density values to field-measured SSC values yielded an R² of 0.74. Although the application of the densimetric surrogate is likely limited to fluvial systems with SSCs larger than about 10,000 mg/L, based on this and previous studies, the densimetric technology fills a void for monitoring streams with high SSCs.

New Mexico↗
USGS2016

Byproduct metal requirements for U.S. wind and solar photovoltaic electricity generation up to the year 2040 under various Clean Power Plan scenarios

The United States has and will likely continue to obtain an increasing share of its electricity from solar photovoltaics (PV) and wind power, especially under the Clean Power Plan (CPP). The need for additional solar PV modules and wind turbines will, among other things, result in greater demand for a number of minor metals that are produced mainly or only as byproducts. In this analysis, the quantities of 11 byproduct metals (Ag, Cd, Te, In, Ga, Se, Ge, Nd, Pr, Dy, and Tb) required for wind turbines with rare-earth permanent magnets and four solar PV technologies are assessed through the year 2040. Three key uncertainties (electricity generation capacities, technology market shares, and material intensities) are varied to develop 42 scenarios for each byproduct metal. The results indicate that byproduct metal requirements vary significantly across technologies, scenarios, and over time. In certain scenarios, the requirements are projected to become a significant portion of current primary production. This is especially the case for Te, Ge, Dy, In, and Tb under the more aggressive scenarios of increasing market share and conservative material intensities. Te and Dy are, perhaps, of most concern given their substitution limitations. In certain years, the differences in byproduct metal requirements between the technology market share and material intensity scenarios are greater than those between the various CPP and No CPP scenarios. Cumulatively across years 2016–2040, the various CPP scenarios are estimated to require 15–43% more byproduct metals than the No CPP scenario depending on the specific byproduct metal and scenario. Increasing primary production via enhanced recovery rates of the byproduct metals during the beneficiation and enrichment operations, improving end-of-life recycling rates, and developing substitutes are important strategies that may help meet the increased demand for these byproduct metals.

Applied Energy↗
USGS2011

U.S. Department of Energy's regional carbon sequestration partnership initiative: Update on validation and development phases

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is the lead federal agency for the development and deployment of carbon sequestration technologies. The Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnerships (RCSPs) are the mechanism DOE utilizes to prove the technology and to develop human capital, stakeholder networks, information for regulatory policy, best practices documents and training to work toward the commercialization of carbon capture and storage (CCS). The RCSPs are tasked with determining the most suitable technologies, regulations, and infrastructure for carbon capture, transport, and storage in their respective geographic areas of responsibility. The seven partnerships include more than 400 state agencies, universities, national laboratories, private companies, and environmental organizations, spanning 43 states and four Canadian provinces. The Regional Partnerships Initiative is being implemented in three phases: Characterization, Validation, and Development. The initial Characterization Phase began in 2003 and was completed in 2005 and focused on characterization of CO2 storage potential within each region. It was followed by the Validation Phase, which began in 2005 and is nearing completion in 2011. The focus of the Validation Phase has been on small-scale field tests throughout the seven partnerships in various formation types such as saline, oil-bearing, and coal seams. The Validation Phase has characterized suitable CO2 storage reservoirs and identified the need for comprehensive legal and regulatory frameworks to enable commercial-scale CCS deployment. Finally, the Development Phase will consist of a series of large-scale, one-million-ton, injection tests throughout the United States and Canada. The objective of these large-scale tests is to identify the regulatory path or challenges in permitting CCS projects, to demonstrate the technology can inject CO2 safely, and to verify its permanence in geologic formations in preparation for the commercialization of geologic sequestration. ?? 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. ?? 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Conference Paper↗
USGS2023

Using fiber-optic distributed temperature sensing in fisheries applications: An example from the Ozark Highlands

Studies of thermal selection by organisms, including fishes, are common and provide data that are useful for conservation and management. Advances in temperature sensing technology have improved these studies; however, the benefits of new technology (e.g., increased accuracy and greater deployment flexibility) should be carefully considered and compared to disadvantages (e.g., higher costs and training requirements). Fiber-optic distributed temperature sensing (FO-DTS) has become more common in aquatic applications and may provide a novel and useful method of relating thermal patchiness to habitat selection by fishes or other aquatic organisms. We present a case study using FO-DTS to conduct a microhabitat-scale resource selection study using stream fishes of the Ozark Highland ecoregion in the south-central United States. We describe the setup and deployment of FO-DTS and how it was integrated into traditional microhabitat survey methods at three stream sites that were repeatedly surveyed over consecutive days. We successfully used FO-DTS to characterize thermal selection by Neosho Bass Micropterus velox at our sites and conclude that the technology would be applicable to similar, microhabitat-scale evaluations. We then compare costs, benefits, and disadvantages of FO-DTS to other sensing methods that could have been used to complete our study. We found that FO-DTS provided accurate measures and greater coverage compared to most alternatives but that equipment costs were far greater. We provide suggestions for additional fisheries applications where FO-DTS may be useful while acknowledging that in some instances, the upfront costs of the technology may outweigh the potential benefits.

Fisheries Research↗
USGS2015

Testing a small UAS for mapping artisanal diamond mining sites in Africa

Remote sensing technology is advancing at an unprecedented rate. At the forefront of the new technological developments are unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). The advent of small, lightweight, low-cost, and user-friendly UAS is greatly expanding the potential applications of remote sensing technology and improving the set of tools available to researchers seeking to map and monitor terrain from above. In this article, we explore the applications of a small UAS for mapping informal diamond mining sites in Africa. We found that this technology provides aerial imagery of unparalleled resolution in a data-sparse, difficult to access, and remote terrain.

Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing↗
USGS2007

Measuring bed load discharge in rivers: Bedload-surrogate monitoring workshop Minneapolis, Minnesota, 11-14 April 2007

The International Bedload-Surrogate Monitoring Workshop (http://www.nced.umn.edu/BRIC_2007.html), organized by the Bedload Research International Cooperative (BRIC; www.bedloadresearch.org), was held to assess and abet progress in continuous, semiautomated, or fully automated (surrogate) technologies for monitoring bed load discharge in gravel-, sand-, and mixed gravel-sand-bedded rivers. Direct bed load measurements, particularly at medium and high flows, during which most bed load occurs, tend to be time-consuming, expensive, and potentially hazardous. Surrogate technologies developed largely over the past decade and used at a number of research sites around the world show considerable promise toward providing relatively dense, robust, and quantifiably reliable bed load data sets. However, information on the efficacy of selected technologies for use in monitoring programs is needed, as is identification of the ways and means for bringing the most promising and practical of the technologies to fruition.

Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union↗
USGS2025

One-hundred fundamental, open questions to integrate methodological approaches in lake ice research

The rate of technological innovation within aquatic sciences outpaces the collective ability of individual scientists within the field to make appropriate use of those technologies. The process of in situ lake sampling remains the primary choice to comprehensively understand an aquatic ecosystem at local scales; however, the impact of climate change on lakes necessitates the rapid advancement of understanding and the incorporation of lakes on both landscape and global scales. Three fields driving innovation within winter limnology that we address here are autonomous real-time in situ monitoring, remote sensing, and modeling. The recent progress in low-power in situ sensing and data telemetry allows continuous tracing of under-ice processes in selected lakes as well as the development of global lake observational networks. Remote sensing offers consistent monitoring of numerous systems, allowing limnologists to ask certain questions across large scales. Models are advancing and historically come in different types (process-based or statistical data-driven), with the recent technological advancements and integration of machine learning and hybrid process-based/statistical models. Lake ice modeling enhances our understanding of lake dynamics and allows for projections under future climate warming scenarios. To encourage the merging of technological innovation within limnological research of the less-studied winter period, we have accumulated both essential details on the history and uses of contemporary sampling, remote sensing, and modeling techniques. We crafted 100 questions in the field of winter limnology that aim to facilitate the cross-pollination of intensive and extensive modes of study to broaden knowledge of the winter period.

Water Resources Research↗
USGS2021

Microbial and viral indicators of pathogens and human health risks from recreational exposure to waters impaired by fecal contamination

Fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) (e.g., fecal coliforms, Escherichia coli , and enterococci) have been used for decades to monitor for and protect the public from waterborne pathogens from fecal contamination. However, FIB may not perform well at predicting the presence of waterborne pathogens or human health outcomes from recreational exposure to fecal-contaminated surface waters. Numerous factors can influence the relationship between FIB and pathogens or human health outcomes, including the source(s) of contamination, the type of pathogen(s) present, differences in the survival and behavior of FIB and pathogens in the wastewater conveyance and treatment process, and varying environmental conditions. As a result, different indicators, such as source-specific microbial source tracking (MST) markers and viral fecal indicators, have been used as possible surrogates to better approximate pathogen abundance and human health risks in recreational waters. The performance of these alternative indicators has been mixed, with some promise of viral indicators better approximating viral pathogens than bacterial fecal indicators, and FIB generally more closely associated with bacterial and protozoal pathogen presence than human MST markers. Many of the assays to detect and quantify fecal indicators and pathogens are polymerase chain reaction-based assays, which detect and quantify nucleic acid [deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA)] sequences specific to a target of interest. Recent advances in DNA and RNA sequencing technologies may push the field toward metabarcoding approaches, where multiple targets can be detected and quantified simultaneously. Metabarcoding is currently more applicable to bacterial and protozoal assessments than viral assessments based on a lack of universal metabarcoding markers for viruses. Innovative technologies, such as biosensors and nanotechnologies, may provide more sensitive and accurate tools to detect and quantify pathogens. When a specific pathogen is of concern for a recreational water body, a practical approach in estimating the likelihood of human health outcomes is the application of quantitative microbial risk assessments (QMRAs). Quantitative microbial risk assessments can be used to model the likelihood of pathogen-specific human health outcomes from recreational exposure as a function of a surrogate indicator. Inputs for QMRAs include the ratio between the indicator to be monitored and the pathogen of interest, the concentration of the indicator, the amount of water ingested, and the likelihood of the health outcome based on the estimated amount of pathogen consumed. There are numerous unknowns about the behavior and survival of fecal indicators and pathogens in environmental waters. Developing accurate models to predict pathogen concentrations from fecal indicators in recreational waters will require a better understanding of these unknowns. Current methods and technologies for detecting and quantifying fecal indicators and pathogens are limited due to the rare and patchy nature of pathogens. Technological advances may help improve sensitivity for detecting and quantifying pathogens.

Journal of Sustainable Water in the Built Environm↗
USGS1988

Environmental impacts and regulatory policy. Implications of spray disposal of dredged material in Louisiana wetlands

The capabilities of a new wetland dredging technology were assessed along with associated newly developed state and federal regulatory policies to determine if policy expectations realistically match the technological achievement. Current regulatory practices require amelioration of spoil bank impacts upon abandonment of an oil/gas well, but this may not occur for many years or decades, if at all. Recently, a dreding method (high-pressure spray spoil disposal) was developed that does not create a spoil bank in the traditional sense. Its potential for reducing environmental impacts was recognized immediately by regulatory agencies for whom minimizing spoil bank impacts is a major concern. The use of high-pressure spray disposal as a suitable alternative to traditional dreding technology has been adopted as policy even though its value as a management tool has never been tested or verified. A qualitative evaluation at two spoil disposal sites in saline marsh indicates that high-pressure spray disposal may indeed have great potential to minimize impacts, but most of this potential remains unverified. Also, some aspects of current regulatory policy may be based on unrealistic expectations as to the ability of this new technology to minimize or eliminate spoil bank impacts.

Louisiana↗
USGS2005

Bioremediation of petroleum hydrocarbon-contaminated ground water: The perspectives of history and hydrology

Bioremediation, the use of microbial degradation processes to detoxify environmental contamination, was first applied to petroleum hydrocarbon-contaminated ground water systems in the early 1970s. Since that time, these technologies have evolved in some ways that were clearly anticipated early investigators, and in other ways that were not foreseen. The expectation that adding oxidants and nutrients to contaminated aquifers would enhance biodegradation, for example, has been born out subsequent experience. Many of the technologies now in common use such as air sparging, hydrogen peroxide addition, nitrate addition, and bioslurping, are conceptually similar to the first bioremediation systems put into operation. More unexpected, however, were the considerable technical problems associated with delivering oxidants and nutrients to heterogeneous ground water systems. Experience has shown that the success of engineered bioremediation systems depends largely on how effectively directions and rates of ground water flow can be controlled, and thus how efficiently oxidants and nutrients can be delivered to contaminated aquifer sediments. The early expectation that injecting laboratory-selected or genetically engineered cultures of hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria into aquifers would be a useful bioremediation technology has not been born out subsequent experience. Rather, it appears that petroleum hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria are ubiquitous in ground water systems and that bacterial addition is usually unnecessary. Perhaps the technology that was least anticipated early investigators was the development of intrinsic bioremediation. Experience has shown that natural attenuation mechanisms - biodegradation, dilution, and sorption - limit the migration of contaminants to some degree in all ground water systems. Intrinsic bioremediation is the deliberate use of natural attenuation processes to treat contaminated ground water to specified concentration levels at predetermined points in the aquifer. In current practice, intrinsic bioremediation of petroleum hydrocarbons requires a systematic assessment to show that ambient natural attenuation mechanisms are efficient enough to meet regulatory requirements and a monitoring program to verify that performance requirements are met in the future.

Ground Water↗
USGS2013

Tracking animals in freshwater with electronic tags: past, present and future

Considerable technical developments over the past half century have enabled widespread application of electronic tags to the study of animals in the wild, including in freshwater environments. We review the constraints associated with freshwater telemetry and biologging and the technical developments relevant to their use. Technical constraints for tracking animals are often influenced by the characteristics of the animals being studied and the environment they inhabit. Collectively, they influence which and how technologies can be used and their relative effectiveness. Although radio telemetry has historically been the most commonly used technology in freshwater, passive integrated transponder (PIT) technology, acoustic telemetry and biologgers are becoming more popular. Most telemetry studies have focused on fish, although an increasing number have focused on other taxa, such as turtles, crustaceans and molluscs. Key technical developments for freshwater systems include: miniaturization of tags for tracking small-size life stages and species, fixed stations and coded tags for tracking large samples of animals over long distances and large temporal scales, inexpensive PIT systems that enable mass tagging to yield population- and community-level relevant sample sizes, incorporation of sensors into electronic tags, validation of tag attachment procedures with a focus on maintaining animal welfare, incorporation of different techniques (for example, genetics, stable isotopes) and peripheral technologies (for example, geographic information systems, hydroacoustics), development of novel analytical techniques, and extensive international collaboration. Innovations are still needed in tag miniaturization, data analysis and visualization, and in tracking animals over larger spatial scales (for example, pelagic areas of lakes) and in challenging environments (for example, large dynamic floodplain systems, under ice). There seems to be a particular need for adapting various global positioning system and satellite tagging approaches to freshwater. Electronic tagging provides a mechanism to collect detailed information from imperilled animals and species that have no direct economic value. Current and future advances will continue to improve our knowledge of the natural history of aquatic animals and ecological processes in freshwater ecosystems while facilitating evidence-based resource management and conservation.

Animal Biotelemetry↗
USGS2013

U.S. Geological Survey ecosystems science strategy—Advancing discovery and application through collaboration

Executive Summary Ecosystem science is critical to making informed decisions about natural resources that can sustain our Nation’s economic and environmental well-being. Resource managers and policymakers are faced with countless decisions each year at local, regional, and national levels on issues as diverse as renewable and nonrenewable energy development, agriculture, forestry, water supply, and resource allocations at the urban-rural interface. The urgency for sound decisionmaking is increasing dramatically as the world is being transformed at an unprecedented pace and in uncertain directions. Environmental changes are associated with natural hazards, greenhouse gas emissions, and increasing demands for water, land, food, energy, mineral, and living resources. At risk is the Nation’s environmental capital, the goods and services provided by resilient ecosystems that are vital to the health and wellbeing of human societies. Ecosystem science—the study of systems of organisms interacting with their environment and the consequences of natural and human-induced change on these systems—is necessary to inform decisionmakers as they develop policies to adapt to these changes. This Ecosystems Science Strategy is built on a framework that includes basic and applied science. It highlights the critical roles that U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists and partners can play in building scientific understanding and providing timely information to decisionmakers. The strategy underscores the connection between scientific discoveries and the application of new knowledge, and it integrates ecosystem science and decisionmaking, producing new scientific outcomes to assist resource managers and providing public benefits. We envision the USGS as a leader in integrating scientific information into decisionmaking processes that affect the Nation’s natural resources and human well-being. The USGS is uniquely positioned to play a pivotal role in ecosystem science. With its wide range of expertise, the Bureau can bring holistic, cross-scale, interdisciplinary capabilities to the design and conduct of monitoring, research, and modeling and to new technologies for data collection, management, and visualization. Collectively, these capabilities can be used to reveal ecological patterns and processes, explain how and why ecosystems change, and forecast change over different spatial and temporal scales. USGS science can provide managers with options and decision-support tools to use resources sustainably. The USGS has long-standing, collaborative relationships with the Department of the Interior (DOI) and other partners in the natural sciences, in both conducting science and applying the results. The USGS engages these partners in cooperative investigations that otherwise would lack the necessary support or be too expensive for a single bureau to conduct. The heart of this strategy is a framework for USGS ecosystems science that focuses on five long-term goals, which are seen as interconnected components that reinforce our vision of the USGS providing science that is at the forefront of decisionmaking: Improve understanding of ecosystem structure, function, and processes. The focus for this goal is an understanding of how ecosystems work, including the dynamics of species, their populations, interactions, and genetics, and how they change across spatial and temporal scales. Advance understanding of how drivers influence ecosystem change. The challenges here are explaining the drivers of ecosystem change, their spatio-temporal patterns, their uncertainties and interactions, and their influence on ecosystem processes and dynamics. Improve understanding of the services that ecosystems provide to society. Here the emphasis is on the measurement of environmental capital and ecosystem services, and the identification of sources and patterns of change in space and time. Develop tools, technologies, and capacities to inform decisionmaking about ecosystems. This includes developing new technologies and approaches for conducting applications-oriented ecosystem science. A principal challenge will be how to quantify uncertainty and incorporate it in decision analysis. Apply science to enhance strategies for management, conservation, and restoration of ecosystems. These challenges include development of novel approaches to monitoring, assessment, and restoration of ecosystems; new methods to address species of concern and communities at risk; and innovations in decision analysis and support to address imminent ecosystem changes or those that are underway. Closely integrated with the five goals are four strategic approaches that provide the path forward for the USGS Ecosystems Mission Area. These approaches cross-cut all of the goals and are seen as essential to the implementation of this strategy: Assess information needs for ecosystem science through enhanced partnerships. Work with the DOI and other agencies and institutions to identify, design, and implement priority decision-driven ecological research. Promote the use of interdisciplinary ecosystem science. Design and conduct interdisciplinary process-oriented research in ecosystem science. Enhance modeling and forecasting. Build models to forecast ecosystem change, assess future management scenarios, and reduce uncertainties through an adaptive learning process. Support decisionmaking. Use quantitative approaches to assess the vulnerabilities of ecosystems, habitats, and species, and evaluate strategies for adaptation, restoration, and sustainable management. Following the four strategic approaches are a set of proposed actions that represent a sampling of specific USGS activities that align with this strategy and that address the Nation’s most pressing environmental needs. The strategy emphasizes coordination of activities across the USGS mission areas pursuant to these goals. Ecosystem science is inherently interdisciplinary and requires a broad perspective that incorporates the biological and physical sciences, climate science, information technology, and scientific capacity in mission areas across the Bureau. With its emphasis on coordination, this strategy can provide a critical underpinning for integrated science efforts with scientists from multiple mission areas of the USGS working together. Of course, the USGS will continue to conduct discipline-specific and interdisciplinary investigations, and both will continue to be vital parts of the ecosystem science portfolio. Finally, the strategy stresses the importance of coordination with other Federal agencies and organizations in the natural resources community. The USGS collaborates with resource agencies in the DOI and other organizations throughout the world to meet societal needs for species and ecosystem management. Working with these agencies and organizations, the USGS will play a key role in guiding sound decisionmaking during the next decade by advancing the scientific foundation for sustaining the natural resources that diverse, productive, resilient ecosystems provide.

Circular↗
USGS2007

ArcView Coal Evaluation User's Guide

Purpose: The objective of the ArcView Coal Evaluation (ACE) is to estimate the amount and location of coal available to be mined by various coal mining technologies, based on the geologic coverages developed in the National Coal Resource Assessment (NCRA) which are the starting coverages used in the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) evaluation of coal resources. The ACE Users Guide provides many examples of how to apply technical limits based upon mining technology. The methods, which are iterative for any given mining technology, should transfer directly by mining technology to other coal beds.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2012

The U.S. Geological Survey Ecosystem Science Strategy, 2012-2022 - Advancing discovery and application through collaboration

Ecosystem science is critical to making informed decisions about natural resources that can sustain our Nation’s economic and environmental well-being. Resource managers and policy-makers are faced with countless decisions each year at local, state, tribal, territorial, and national levels on issues as diverse as renewable and non-renewable energy development, agriculture, forestry, water supply, and resource allocations at the urban-rural interface. The urgency for sound decision-making is increasing dramatically as the world is being transformed at an unprecedented pace and in uncertain directions. Environmental changes are associated with natural hazards, greenhouse gas emissions, and increasing demands for water, land, food, energy, mineral, and living resources. At risk is the Nation’s environmental capital, the goods and services provided by resilient ecosystems that are vital to the health and well-being of human societies. Ecosystem science—the study of systems of organisms interacting with their environment and the consequences of natural and human-induced change on these systems—is necessary to inform decision-makers as they develop policies to adapt to these changes. This Ecosystems Science Strategy is built on a framework that includes basic and applied science. It highlights the critical roles that USGS scientists and partners can play in building scientific understanding and providing timely information to decision-makers. The strategy underscores the connection between scientific discoveries and the application of new knowledge. The strategy integrates ecosystem science and decision-making, producing new scientific outcomes to assist resource managers and providing public benefits. The USGS is uniquely positioned to play an important role in ecosystem science. With its wide range of expertise, the agency can bring holistic, cross-scale, interdisciplinary capabilities to the design and conduct of monitoring, research, and modeling and to new technologies for data collection, management, and visualization. Collectively, these capabilities can be used to reveal ecological patterns and processes, explain how and why ecosystems change, and forecast change over different spatial and temporal scales. USGS science can provide managers with options and decision-support tools to use resources sustainably. The USGS has long-standing, collaborative relationships with the DOI and other partners in the natural sciences, in both conducting science and its application. The USGS engages these partners in cooperative investigations that otherwise would lack the necessary support or be too expensive for a single bureau to conduct. The heart of this strategy is a framework and vision for USGS ecosystems science that focuses on five long-term goals, which are seen as interconnected and reinforcing components: • Improve understanding of ecosystem structure, function, and processes. The focus for this goal is an understanding of how ecosystems work, including the dynamics of species, their populations, interactions, and genetics, and how they change across spatial and temporal scales. • Advance understanding of how drivers influence ecosystem change. The challenges here are explaining the drivers of ecosystem change, their spatio-temporal patterns, their uncertainties and interactions, and their influence on ecosystem processes and dynamics. • Improve understanding of the services that ecosystems provide to society. Here the emphasis is on the measurement of environmental capital and ecosystem services, and the identification of sources and patterns of change in space and time. • Develop tools, technologies, and capacities to inform decision-making about ecosystems. This includes developing new technologies and approaches for conducting applications-oriented ecosystem science. A principal challenge will be how to quantify uncertainty and incorporate it in decision analysis. • Apply science to enhance strategies for management, conservation, and restoration of ecosystems. These challenges include development of novel approaches to monitoring, assessment, and restoration of ecosystems; new methods to address species of concern and communities at risk; and innovations in decision analysis and support to address imminent ecosystem changes or those that are underway. Closely integrated with the five goals are four strategic approaches that provide the path forward for the USGS Ecosystems Mission Area. These approaches cross-cut all of the goals and are seen as essential to the implementation of this strategy: • Assess information needs for ecosystem science through enhanced partnerships. Work with the DOI and other agencies and institutions to identify, design, and implement priority decision-driven ecological research. • Promote the use of interdisciplinary ecosystem science. Design and conduct interdisciplinary process-oriented research in ecosystem science. • Enhance modeling and forecasting. Build models to forecast ecosystem change, assess future management scenarios, and reduce uncertainties through an adaptive learning process. • Support decision-making. Use quantitative approaches to assess the vulnerabilities of ecosystems, habitats, and species, and evaluate strategies for adaptation, restoration, and sustainable management. Following the strategic approaches are a set of proposed actions that represent a sampling of specific activities that align with this strategy and that address the Nation’s most pressing environmental needs. The strategy emphasizes coordination of activities across the USGS mission areas pursuant to these goals. Ecosystem science is inherently interdisciplinary and requires a broad perspective that incorporates the biological and physical sciences, climate science, information technology, and scientific capacity in mission areas across the Bureau. With its emphasis on coordination, this strategy can provide a critical underpinning for integrated science efforts with scientists from multiple mission areas of the USGS working together. Of course, the USGS will continue to conduct both discipline-specific and interdisciplinary investigations, and both will continue to be vital parts of the ecosystem science portfolio. Finally, the strategy stresses the importance of coordination with other Federal agencies and organizations in the natural resources community. The USGS collaborates with resource agencies in the DOI and other organizations throughout the world to meet societal needs for species and ecosystem management. Working with these agencies and organizations, the USGS will play a key role over the next decade in advancing the scientific foundation for sustaining the natural resources that diverse, productive, resilient ecosystems provide.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2016

Estimating suspended sediment using acoustics in a fine-grained riverine system, Kickapoo Creek at Bloomington, Illinois

Acoustic technologies have the potential to be used as a surrogate for measuring suspended-sediment concentration (SSC). This potential was examined in a fine-grained (97-100 percent fines) riverine system in central Illinois by way of installation of an acoustic instrument. Acoustic data were collected continuously over the span of 5.5 years. Acoustic parameters were regressed against SSC data to determine the accuracy of using acoustic technology as a surrogate for measuring SSC in a fine-grained riverine system. The resulting regressions for SSC and sediment acoustic parameters had coefficients of determination ranging from 0.75 to 0.97 for various events and configurations. The overall Nash-Sutcliffe model-fit efficiency was 0.95 for the 132 observed and predicted SSC values determined using the sediment acoustic parameter regressions. The study of using acoustic technologies as a surrogate for measuring SSC in fine-grained riverine systems is ongoing. The results at this site are promising in the realm of surrogate technology.

Illinois↗
USGS2016

U.S. Geological Survey science for the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative—2015 annual report

This is the eighth annual report highlighting U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) science and decision-support activities conducted for the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI). The activities address specific management needs identified by WLCI partner agencies. In 2015, USGS scientists continued 24 WLCI projects in 5 categories: (1) acquiring and analyzing resource-condition data to form a foundation for understanding and monitoring landscape conditions and projecting changes; (2) using new technologies to improve the scope and accuracy of landscape-scale monitoring and assessments, and applying them to monitor indicators of ecosystem conditions and the effectiveness of on-the-ground habitat projects; (3) conducting research to elucidate the mechanisms that drive wildlife and habitat responses to changing land uses; (4) managing and making accessible the large number of databases, maps, and other products being developed; and (5) coordinating efforts among WLCI partners, helping them to use USGS-developed decision-support tools, and integrating WLCI outcomes with future habitat enhancement and research projects. Of the 24 projects, 21 were ongoing, including those that entered new phases or more in-depth lines of inquiry, 2 were new, and 1 was completed. A highlight of 2015 was the WLCI science conference sponsored by the USGS, Bureau of Land Management, and National Park Service in coordination with the Wyoming chapter of The Wildlife Society. Of 260 participants, 41 were USGS professionals representing 13 USGS science centers, field offices, and Cooperative Wildlife Research Units. Major themes of USGS presentations included using new technologies for developing more efficient research protocols for modeling and monitoring natural resources, researching effects of energy development and other land uses on wildlife species and habitats of concern, and modeling species distributions, population trends, habitat use, and effects of land-use changes. There was also a special session on the effectiveness of Wyoming’s Sage-Grouse Executive Order. Combined, USGS presentations provided WLCI partners with a wealth of information and conservation tools. The project completed in 2015 yielded an index of important agricultural lands in the WLCI region. The index improves upon existing measures of agricultural productivity and provides planners and managers with additional values to consider when making decisions about land use and conservation actions. The two new projects include an analysis of satellite imagery to quantify sagebrush productivity and mortality, and an evaluation of how groundwater and small streams interact in the upper Green River Basin. Initiated in response to concern among WLCI partners that large areas of sagebrush appear to have died recently, the sagebrush study objectives are to assess effects of these mortality events on overall sagebrush ecosystem productivity, evaluate the feasibility of using satellite imagery to detect patterns in sagebrush mortality over time, and identify factors driving these mortality events. The groundwater-streamflow interaction study is being conducted by hydrologists and fish ecologists to better understand how groundwater-streamflow interactions are affected by energy-resource development and how native fish communities are affected by these factors. Expected outcomes of both new projects will provide WLCI partners with additional information and decision-support tools. Highlights of ongoing science foundation activities included simulations of nine alternative build-out scenarios for oil and gas development and an associated online fact sheet that explains how the simulations were conducted, with an applied example for the Atlantic Rim. Also completed in 2015 was an update of the USGS online inventory of mineral resources data, and publication of a USGS uranium resource survey for the WLCI region. Combined, the outcomes of this work provide decisionmakers and managers with important baseline information for existing and (or) future planning and monitoring efforts. Terrestrial monitoring activities in 2015 emphasized the use of satellite data in combination with other technologies and field data to monitor, assess, and (or) forecast distribution patterns and (or) trends in sagebrush ecosystems, seasonal and migration stopover habitats used by mule deer and elk, and semi-arid aspen woodlands. Several professional papers detailing new monitoring models and results have been published. Combined, this and related work will help managers understand distribution patterns and trends among priority habitats, identify areas in need of restoration or conservation, and monitor the effectiveness of habitat-management actions. Aquatic monitoring activities entailed not only the new groundwater-streamflow interaction study already mentioned, but also continued monitoring with streamgages paired with nearby wells in the Green River Basin to assess groundwater effects on streamflow and surface water temperatures. A map that portrays groundwater levels and general direction of flow in the Green River Basin was published as well . Overall, outcomes of USGS hydrological research and monitoring will inform WLCI partners about water resources in the WLCI region and help to explain fish-community responses to energy-resource development. In 2015, USGS terrestrial wildlife ecologists continued to make crucial strides towards better understanding wildlife species responses to energy-resource development and other land-use changes. This body of research includes six taxa that require or heavily depend on sagebrush habitats: sage-grouse, pygmy rabbits, 3 songbird species, and mule deer. Native fish communities are also being evaluated. Approaches include modeling and mapping wildlife species distributions, abundances, and trends; using satellite and other technologies to track wildlife seasonal movements; conducting successive phases of research that build on the knowledge gained through prior phases to reveal the specific factors or thresholds that drive population- or individual-level responses to changes; and conducting population viability analyses. Additionally, wildlife habitat association models for pygmy rabbit and sage-grouse were combined with the oil and gas build-out scenarios to project species responses to alternative energy development scenarios. Outcomes of the wildlife response research are helping decisionmakers and managers identify specific factors that contribute to species population trends, the potential for spatial overlap between important wildlife habitats and proposed energy-resource development, locations of priority habitats for restoration and conservation, and more. Data and WLCI Web site management highlights of 2015 included not only ongoing software upgrades, but also an update of the datasets displayed in two of the online products developed for the WLCI effort: (1) a map of 15,532 oil and natural gas well pad scars and other features associated with oil and gas extraction, and (2) a map of oil and gas, oil shale, uranium, and solar energy production, both for southwestern Wyoming. In addition, a map viewer was developed for a previously published map of coal and wind production in relation to sage-grouse distribution and core management areas in southwestern Wyoming. Combined, these maps place valuable decision-support tools in the hands of WLCI partners. The USGS coordination efforts on behalf of the WLCI in 2015 included significant work on planning and executing the WLCI science conference. They also included ongoing efforts to support Local Project Development Teams and the WLCI Coordination Team (CT) with developing conservation priorities and strategies, identifying priority areas for future conservation actions, supporting the evaluation and ranking of conservation projects, and evaluating the ways in which proposed habitat projects relate to WLCI priorities. In 2015, the USGS also assisted the WLCI CT with updating the WLCI Conservation Action Plan.

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