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USGS2015

Status report for the 3D Elevation Program, 2013-2014

The 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) goal is to acquire, manage, and distribute enhanced three-dimensional elevation data for the Nation and U.S. territories by 2023. This status report covers implementation activities during 2013–2014 to include meeting funding objectives, developing a management structure, modernizing systems, and collecting and producing initial 3DEP data and products. The Nation will not have complete coverage of 3DEP quality data until 2023 assuming that sufficient funding is available. In spite of the overall condition of government budgets, the 3DEP initiative has gained widespread support and had incremental budget success to include supplemental funding resulting from natural disasters. The 3DEP Executive Forum and a wide range of professional organizations are actively working to maintain support for the program. The systems that have been developed to support increasing acquisition and processing levels are largely in place. The first 3DEP quality datasets were released to the public in late 2014. In addition, light detection and ranging (lidar), interferometric synthetic aperture radar (ifsar), and digital elevation models (DEMs) acquired before 2014 are all supported within the new infrastructure and available for download. Research is ongoing to expand the suite of products and services, and to increase overall throughput and data management efficiency. Emerging technologies may result in lower acquisition costs in the future. Elevation data acquired by 3DEP partnerships will be available through The National Map representing one of the largest and most comprehensive databases publicly available for the United States.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2018

U.S. Geological Survey Community for Data Integration 2017 Workshop Proceedings

Executive Summary The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Community for Data Integration (CDI) Workshop was held May 16–19, 2017 at the Denver Federal Center. There were 183 in-person attendees and 35 virtual attendees over four days. The theme of the workshop was “Enabling Integrated Science,” with the purpose of bringing together the community to discuss current topics, shared challenges, and steps forward to advance integrated science at the USGS. The CDI welcomed several keynote speakers, including Bill Werkheiser, USGS Acting Director; Kevin T. Gallagher, USGS Associate Director of the Core Science Systems Mission Area; Bruce Caron, Earth Science Information Partners Community Architect; and Tim Quinn, Chief of the USGS Office of Enterprise Information. Their presentations focused on the importance of collaborative, cross-disciplinary, and open science and the role of the CDI in identifying and supporting new opportunities in these areas for the USGS and its partners. In addition to the stated theme, the workshop agenda was driven by the needs of the CDI, with topics highlighting current resources and technologies that could help attendees in their daily work. Topical sessions were proposed by CDI members and included subjects such as data citation, information technology architecture, legacy data, real-time data, and many more. Plenary speakers from the community talked about USGS activities in data science, elevation and hydrography data integration, advanced scientific computing solutions, cloud computing, data-management training, and data-sharing agreements. Two panels addressed the role of the CDI in enabling integrated science and examples of CDI-supported projects in action. Breakout discussions focused on the workshop theme of “Enabling Integrated Science” and covered five topics: Data and Data Integration, Modeling, Computing Capacity, Science Data Integration, and User Needs and Experience. Sessions on each topic identified actions that could bring the USGS and the broader Earth science community closer to the goal of making integrated science commonplace. The breakouts produced recommendations with the broad themes of improving communication and connections across the USGS, reducing duplication and increasing knowledge transfer, increasing training and testbed opportunities to learn and experiment, and creating community-supported standards to enable better integration and interoperability. The DataBlast poster and live demonstration session showcased 36 projects from around the CDI and included recent CDI-funded projects as well as other USGS and partner initiatives that were related to data and software integration and discovery. Importantly, the CDI workshop provided a forum for scientists, technologists, data and resource managers, program managers, and others to convene face to face to discuss common methods, interests, challenges, and solutions related to scientific data and technologies. As a result of this rare convergence, new connections were made across disciplines, backgrounds, and geographical locations, seeding future activities and collaborations. Sharing of ideas from all attendees was encouraged through the use of a mobile application to collect real-time questions and feedback from the audience The primary outcomes of the workshop are the recommendations from the breakout sessions titled “Roadmap Discussions on Enabling Integrated Science” and from the topical sessions detailed in these proceedings. These sessions, as well as the plenary discussions, identified new areas of collaboration and learning that the CDI will facilitate, such as data science, software development, scientific modeling practices, and user needs and experience. The CDI will build on the results of the workshop to guide its future topics, events, and funding opportunities to support an integrated science capacity for the USGS.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2001

Searching for biological specimens from midwestern parks: Pitfalls and solutions

This paper describes the results of searches of herbarium and museum collections and databases for records of vertebrate and vascular plant specimens that had been collected in 15 midwestern National Park System units. The records of these specimens were previously unknown to the National Park Service (NPS). In the course of our searches, numerous obstacles were encountered that prevented us from fully completing our task. These ranged from difficulties with the way databases are structured, to poor record-keeping, to incomplete or incorrect information on the actual location of specimens within collections. Despite these problems, we are convinced that the information to be gained from such searches in invaluable, and we believe that our experience, and the recommendations we offer, may well prove instructive to others undertaking this kind of work.

Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missou↗
USGS2000

U. S. Geological Survey Middle Rio Grande basin study: Proceedings of the Fourth annual workshop, Albuquerque, New Mexico, February 15-16, 2000

This volume contains a collection of short papers that document some of the conclusions and results of on-going investigations related to ground-water resources of the Middle Rio Grande Basin, New Mexico. These results, and additional project reports, were presented at the Fourth Annual Middle Rio Grande Basin workshop convened in Albuquerque during February 2000. The workshop was jointly sponsored by the U.S. Geological Survey and the New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources as a forum for public presentation and discussion of multidisciplinary studies conducted during the previous 4 years. This considerable body of work was undertaken to improve the scientific understanding of factors that control ground-water availability and quality, and to explore land-surface characteristics that have affected the development and use of this valley that currently supports a population in excess of 600,000.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2004

Global environmental databases from CEOS agencies

The Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) is an international organization charged with coordinating international civil spaceborne missions designed to observe and study planet Earth. Comprising 44 space agencies and other national and international organizations, CEOS is recognized as the major international forum for the coordination of Earth observation satellite programs and for the interaction of these programs with users of satellite data worldwide. CEOS was created in 1984 in response to a recommendation from the Economic Summit of Industrialized Nations Working Group on Growth, Technology, and Employment’s Panel of Experts on Satellite Remote Sensing. This group recognized the multidisciplinary nature of satellite Earth observation and the value of coordination across all proposed missions. The CEOS members collect, maintain, apply, and make available data from space missions that encompass the atmospheric, terrestrial, and oceanographic fields. Collectively, these members possess petabytes of Earth observation data critical to understanding the Earth environment. Uses include monitoring oil slicks, evaluating human-induced changes to the atmosphere, determining mineral exploration areas, assessing the environmental effects of volcanic eruptions, measuring the growth of urban areas, determining where landscapes have changed because of urban growth trends, improving the efficiency of fishing as a world food stock, monitoring pest infestation, managing crop production, predicting climate and weather, and numerous other applications vital to industry, national infrastructures, and the world as a whole. The vast amount of satellite obtained, environmental data the CEOS members possess represents a fertile resource for researchers worldwide to exploit.

Conference Paper↗
USGS2003

Hydrogeology Journal in 2002

Hydrogeology Journal appeared in six issues containing a total of 674 pages and 47 major articles, including 22 Papers and 24 Reports, as well as Technical Notes and Book Reviews. The final issue of 2002 also contained the annual volume index. Hydrogeology Journal (HJ) is an international forum for hydrogeology and related disciplines. Authors in 2002 were from about 30 countries. Articles advanced hydrogeologic science and described hydrogeologic systems in many regions worldwide. These articles focused on 22 countries: Afghanistan, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, India, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Mexico, New Zealand, Nigeria, Portugal, Qatar, Switzerland, Syria, Turkey, UK, and the USA. The Guest Editors of the 2002 HJ theme issue on "Groundwater Recharge", Bridget R. Scanlon and Peter G. Cook, assembled a highly relevant and sought-after collection of papers from eminent authors on wide-ranging aspects of the subject.

Hydrogeology Journal↗
USGS2021

Discharge and dissolved-solids characteristics of Blacks Fork above Smiths Fork, Wyoming, April 2018 through September 2019

The Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Forum was formed in 1973 to coordinate salinity control efforts among the States in the Colorado River Basin, including Wyoming. The Colorado River Salinity Control Act of 1974 (Public Law 93–320) authorized “the construction, operation, and maintenance of certain works in the Colorado River Basin to control the salinity of water delivered to users in the United States and Mexico.” Water-quality standards for salinity in the lower Colorado River Basin were adopted in 1975. To help meet these standards, the Bureau of Reclamation, Natural Resource Conservation Service, and States within the Colorado River Basin have implemented salinity control projects that focus on reducing salt loading associated with irrigated agriculture by improving water delivery systems and water management practices. The term salinity is synonymous with dissolved solids in this report. The Bureau of Reclamation, in conjunction with the Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Forum, was interested in determining the contribution of dissolved solids from Blacks Fork above Smiths Fork to the Colorado River and initiated a study of Blacks Fork above Smiths Fork in 2018. In early 2018, the U.S. Geological Survey installed a streamgage at the most downstream location on the Blacks Fork, upstream from the convergence with Smiths Fork, to characterize the stream. The Blacks Fork above Smiths Fork, near Lyman, Wyoming, streamgage (U.S. Geological Survey identifier 09219200) was operated from April 4, 2018, through September 30, 2019, collecting continuous stream stage and specific-conductance data, from which continuous discharge, dissolved-solids concentrations, and dissolved-solids loads were calculated. Seven sites were selected on Blacks Fork and a tributary to describe a snapshot of the discharge and dissolved-solids characteristics. These sites were sampled during July, August, and September 2018 and June, July, August, and September 2019 report. Discharge at the Blacks Fork above Smiths Fork, near Lyman, Wyo., streamgage (09219200) from April through September in 2018 was lower and less variable than during the same period in 2019. The mean daily (mean of the daily means) discharge during those 6 months in 2018 (15.1 cubic feet per second [ft 3 /s]) was about one-tenth of the discharge during the same period in 2019 (152 ft 3 /s). The cumulative monthly discharge during April through September in 2018 was 5,360 acre-feet, about one-tenth of the discharge during the same period in 2019 which was 54,700 acre-feet. Similar differences in discharge between the 2018 and 2019 periods also are noted at other Blacks Fork streamgages in the area. Continuous specific conductance data and the statistical relation between specific conductance and dissolved-solids concentrations were used to calculate the daily mean dissolved-solids concentrations. Dissolved solids often have an inverse relation with discharge because higher discharges typically have a diluting effect that lowers the dissolved-solids concentrations. In general, when discharges at the Blacks Fork above Smiths Fork streamgage (09219200) are higher, dissolved-solids concentrations are generally lower. However, the high dissolved-solids concentrations that are measured during high discharges indicate that the system has natural variability and the dissolved-solids concentrations are determined by more factors than just discharge. The mean daily dissolved-solids concentration during April through September 2018 was 1,630 milligrams per liter and during the same period in 2019 was 1,100 milligrams per liter. Dissolved-solids loads were calculated as the product of the discharge and dissolved-solids concentration. The daily mean dissolved-solids loads during 2018 were typically lower than during 2019. This result is primarily because the discharge was much lower in 2018 than in 2019. Therefore, although the daily mean dissolved-solids concentrations tended to be higher in 2018, the substantially higher discharges in 2019 had more of an effect on the dissolved-solids loads than the dissolved-solids concentrations. The cumulative dissolved-solids load at the Blacks Fork above Smiths Fork, near Lyman, Wyo., streamgage (09219200) during the 18-month study was 81,200 tons, with a mean daily load of 149 tons per day. During the 6-month period from April through September 2018, the cumulative dissolved-solids load at the streamgage was estimated to be 8,740 tons and, during the same 6 months in 2019, the cumulative dissolved-solids load was estimated to be 60,900 tons. During the fall and winter between the two periods, the cumulative dissolved-solids load was 11,600 tons. Discharge and dissolved-solids concentrations from samples collected during the synoptic sampling events were highly variable among most sites during most synoptic sampling events and also highly variable at most sites among different sampling events. The two sites upstream from the tributary input from Threemile Creek had lower dissolved-solids concentrations than sites including and downstream from the tributary. Sites including and downstream from the tributary had similar values and variability of dissolved-solids loads, with the exception of the farthest downstream site at the Blacks Fork above Smiths Fork, near Lyman, Wyo., streamgage (09219200) that tended to have larger dissolved-solids loads and higher variability among synoptic sampling events.

Scientific Investigations Report↗
USGS2004

Editors' message: Hydrogeology Journal in 2003

Hydrogeology Journal appeared in six issues containing a total of 710 pages and 48 major articles, including 31 Papers and 14 Reports, as well as some Technical Notes and Book Reviews. The number of submitted manuscripts continues to increase. The final issue of 2003 also contained the annual volume index. Hydrogeology Journal ( HJ ) is an international forum for hydrogeology and related disciplines and authors in 2003 were from about 28 countries. Articles advanced hydrogeologic science and described hydrogeologic systems in many regions worldwide. These articles focused on a variety of general topics and on studies of hydrogeology in 24 countries: Afghanistan, Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Canada, Chile, China, Denmark, France, India, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Portugal, Russia, South Africa, Switzerland, Turkey, and U.S.A. The Guest Editor of the 2003 HJ theme issue on “Hydromechanics in Geology and Geotechnics”, Ove Stephansson, assembled a valuable collection of technical reviews and research papers from eminent authors on important aspects of the subject area.

Hydrogeology Journal↗
USGS1977

National Cartographic Information Center Newsletter No. 6

As a rule we don't carry personnel information additions, subtractions, etc., in the newsletter. This is a technical publication, not a forum for office baseball league scores. Now, having got that disclaimer out of the way, we wanted to note that Dick Swinnerton, Chief of NCIC since the Center's inception in 1974, has left us. Dick was recently chosen as Chief of the Topographic Divisions's Western Mapping Center (a move up and, geographically at least, to the left). When Dick arrived NCIC consisted of 4 briefing books and an interesting concept. 3 years later we have 10 books and a thriving organization. We shall miss him. This issue contains what we hope is an interesting collection of cartographic news, including articles about recent Federal mapping agreements, new publication announcements, notes on the second NCIC coordinating conference, and a cumulative index for the spring 1975 to summer 1977 issues.

Newsletter↗
USGS2016

Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative—A case study in partnership development

The Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI) is a successful example of collaboration between science and natural resource management at the landscape scale. In southwestern Wyoming, expanding energy and mineral development, urban growth, and other changes in land use over recent decades, combined with landscape-scale drivers such as climate change and invasive species, have presented compelling challenges to resource managers and a diverse group of Federal, State, industry, and non-governmental organizations, as well as citizen stakeholders. To address these challenges, the WLCI was established as a collaborative forum and interagency partnership to develop and implement science-based conservation actions. About a decade after being established, this report documents the establishment and history of the WLCI, focusing on the path to success of the initiative and providing insights and details that may be useful in developing similar partnerships in other locations. Not merely retrospective, the elements of the WLCI that are presented herein are still in play, still evolving, and still contributing to the resolution of compelling conservation challenges in the Western United States. The U.S. Geological Survey has developed many successful longstanding partnerships, of which the WLCI is one example. “As the Nation’s largest water, earth, and biological science and civilian mapping agency, the U.S. Geological Survey collects, monitors, analyzes, and provides scientific understanding about natural resource conditions, issues, and problems. The diversity of our scientific expertise enables us to carry out large-scale, multi-disciplinary investigations and provide impartial scientific information to resource managers, planners, and other customers” (U.S. Geological Survey, 2016).

Wyoming↗
USGS2020

Blind testing of shoreline evolution models

Beaches around the world continuously adjust to daily and seasonal changes in wave and tide conditions, which are themselves changing over longer time-scales. Different approaches to predict multi-year shoreline evolution have been implemented; however, robust and reliable predictions of shoreline evolution are still problematic even in short-term scenarios (shorter than decadal). Here we show results of a modelling competition, where 19 numerical models (a mix of established shoreline models and machine learning techniques) were tested using data collected for Tairua beach, New Zealand with 18 years of daily averaged alongshore shoreline position and beach rotation (orientation) data obtained from a camera system. In general, traditional shoreline models and machine learning techniques were able to reproduce shoreline changes during the calibration period (1999–2014) for normal conditions but some of the model struggled to predict extreme and fast oscillations. During the forecast period (unseen data, 2014–2017), both approaches showed a decrease in models’ capability to predict the shoreline position. This was more evident for some of the machine learning algorithms. A model ensemble performed better than individual models and enables assessment of uncertainties in model architecture. Research-coordinated approaches (e.g., modelling competitions) can fuel advances in predictive capabilities and provide a forum for the discussion about the advantages/disadvantages of available models.

Scientific Reports↗
USGS2007

Antarctica: A Keystone in a Changing World--Online Proceedings for the Tenth International Symposium on Antarctic Earth Sciences. Santa Barbara, California, U.S.A.--August 26 to September 1, 2007

Overview: The International Symposium on Antarctic Earth Sciences (ISAES) is held once every four years to provide an international forum for presenting research results and new ideas and for planning future Antarctic geoscience research projects. This Tenth ISAES coincides with the International Polar Year (IPY; 50th Anniversary of the International Geophysical Year) and has been structured to showcase the great breadth of geoscience research being done in Antarctic regions by more than more than 100 institutions located in over 30 countries. The science program of the Symposium encompasses six broad themes that cover key topics on evolution and interactions of the geosphere, cryosphere and biosphere and their cross-linkages with past and historic paleoclimates. Emphasis is also on deciphering the climate records in ice cores, geologic cores, rock outcrops and those inferred from climate models. New technologies for the coming decades of geoscience data collection are also highlighted. Ten keynote presentations at the symposium outline the foundation for the research sessions of the symposium and the structure of the Online Proceedings and Proceedings Book for the Tenth ISAES. The ISAES is traditionally a cornerstone meeting for the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR). In recognition of the Tenth ISAES being held in the U.S. for the first time in 30 years and during IPY, the publication of the symposium proceedings is being handled as a special collaborative effort of the U.S. National Science Foundation, the U.S. Geological Survey, The National Academies Polar Research Board and The National Academies Press. The National Academies Polar Research Board oversees the activities of SCAR in the U.S. Special attention has been directed at publication formats for the symposium, to expedite the open and wide sharing of mature and preliminary research results presented in talks and posters at the Tenth ISAES. All symposium presentations are documented by a short Summary printed in the Symposium Program Booklet and either a short research paper or an extended abstract. The research papers and extended abstracts are compiled in this Online Proceedings and are replicated on a DVD-ROM that is placed in the back of the Tenth ISAES Proceedings Book. The Proceedings Book has printed versions of the keynote talks and an overview paper of the symposium. The short research papers and extended abstracts have been handled differently. Research papers present mature research results and syntheses. They have been peer-reviewed using standard journal procedures. Following revisions and acceptances by co-editors, the papers have been formatted for publication and proofread by authors. Each paper has been assigned a Digital Object Identification (DOI) number and separate html link, and posted online (as part of this USGS Open-File Report series) to ensure open and wide access to the research results. Extended abstracts focus on preliminary research results and have not been peer reviewed. They have had only minimal editorial review and revision. Authors have formatted and proofread their papers. Extended abstracts were not given DOI numbers and are included together in a separate chapter of this online Proceedings. USGS publications staff and Stanford-student editorial assistants indexed and compiled the PDF versions of the short research papers and extended abstracts for inclusion in this online Proceedings. USGS staff created the master DVD-ROM that contains a replica of the Online Proceedings for the Tenth ISAES, and provided the DVD-ROM copies that are included in the Tenth ISAES Proceedings Book published by The National Academies Press in the U.S. A team of more than 25 co-editors coordinated with the numerous authors and peer reviewers in handling the many research papers and extended abstracts that are included herein. Handling the large volume of short papers and extended abstracts, getting most of them onli

Open-File Report↗
USGS2012

The Mekong Fish Network: expanding the capacity of the people and institutions of the Mekong River Basin to share information and conduct standardized fisheries monitoring

The Mekong River is one of the most biologically diverse rivers in the world, and it supports the most productive freshwater fisheries in the world. Millions of people in the Lower Mekong River Basin (LMB) countries of the Union of Myanmar (Burma), Lao People’s Democratic Republic, the Kingdom of Thailand, the Kingdom of Cambodia, and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam rely on the fisheries of the basin to provide a source of protein. The Mekong Fish Network Workshop was convened in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, in February 2012 to discuss the potential for coordinating fisheries monitoring among nations and the utility of establishing standard methods for short- and long-term monitoring and data sharing throughout the LMB. The concept for this network developed out of a frequently cited need for fisheries researchers in the LMB to share their knowledge with other scientists and decisionmakers. A fish monitoring network could be a valuable forum for researchers to exchange ideas, store data, or access general information regarding fisheries studies in the LMB region. At the workshop, representatives from governments, nongovernmental organizations, and universities, as well as participating foreign technical experts, cited a great need for more international cooperation and technical support among them. Given the limited staff and resources of many institutions in the LMB, the success of the proposed network would depend on whether it could offer tools that would provide benefits to network participants. A potential tool discussed at the workshop was a user-friendly, Web-accessible portal and database that could help streamline data entry and storage at the institutional level, as well as facilitate communication and data sharing among institutions. The workshop provided a consensus to establish pilot standardized data collection and database efforts that will be further reviewed by the workshop participants. Overall, workshop participants agreed that this is the type of support that is greatly needed to answer their most pressing questions and to enable local researchers and resource managers to monitor and sustain the valuable and diverse aquatic life of the Mekong River.

Mekong River↗
USGS2015

Characterization of streamflow, salinity, and selenium loading and land-use change in Montrose Arroyo, western Colorado, from 1992 to 2013

Salinity and dissolved selenium are known water-quality impairments in the lower Gunnison River watershed of western Colorado. Salinity is a concern because of its adverse effects on agricultural land and equipment, and on municipal and industrial users. The Montrose Arroyo watershed in Montrose, Colorado, contains agricultural and residential areas as well as undeveloped land and has undergone substantial land-use change since the early 1990s. Previous sampling efforts indicated salinity concentrations and loads have remained constant since land-use change began in the early 1990s; however, recent sampling also indicated that dissolved-selenium concentrations and loads have begun to increase. In response to the potential increasing dissolved-selenium concentrations and loads, the U.S. Geological Survey—in cooperation with the Bureau of Reclamation; Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Forum; and Colorado River Water Conservation District—continued to monitor salinity and dissolved-selenium concentrations and loads in the Montrose Arroyo watershed. This report characterizes salinity and dissolved-selenium loads in Montrose Arroyo from 1992 to 2013 at three sites: Montrose Arroyo at East Niagara Street (MA2, U.S. Geological Survey site identification number 382802107513301), Montrose Arroyo at 6700 Road (MA3, U.S. Geological Survey site identification number 382711107500501), and Montrose Arroyo at 6750 and Ogden Roads (MA4, U.S. Geological Survey site identification number 382702107493701). A detailed land-use change analysis was also characterized in the MA3 subwatershed. The three sites were used to monitor salinity and dissolved-selenium concentrations and loads in Montrose Arroyo. Over a period from December 2011 through September 2013, 46 water-quality samples and streamflow measurements were collected at sites MA2, MA3, and MA4. Streamflow, salinity concentrations and loads, and selenium concentrations and loads were characterized and compared between the pre-lateral (before April 1999) and post-growth periods (March 2008 through September 2013) and between post-lateral (April 1999 through October 2000) and post-growth periods. Results from a previous USGS study on the characterization of salinity and selenium loading and land-use change in Montrose Arroyo from 1992 to 2010 indicated that there was no change in salinity load at site MA2 and a significant increase in dissolved-selenium load from the pre-lateral period to the post-growth period. Data associated with this report indicate the selenium loads at site MA2 show no significant change from the pre-lateral period to the post-growth period. In addition, both salinity load and dissolved-selenium load at site MA3 show significant decreases in salinity and dissolved-selenium load for both periods that are potentially associated with land-use change. Land use was characterized for 1992, 2002, and 2009 for site MA3. The common land-use change in the MA3 subwatershed was a conversion from previously irrigated agricultural land to urban land use. The MA3 subwatershed had 124 acres of irrigated land use converted to urban land use and 27.1 acres of unirrigated desert converted to urban land use from 1992 to 2009. Consistent with findings in previous land-use change reports, salinity and dissolved-selenium loading at site MA3 showed significant decreases as irrigated land was converted to urban land use.

Colorado↗
USGS2006

The World Coal Quality Inventory: South America

Executive Summary-Introduction: The concepts of a global environment and economy are strongly and irrevocably linked to global energy issues. Worldwide coal production and international coal trade are projected to increase during the next several decades in an international energy mix that is still strongly dependent on fossil fuels. Therefore, worldwide coal use will play an increasingly visible role in global environmental, economic, and energy forums. Policy makers require information on coal, including coal quality data, to make informed decisions regarding domestic coal resource allocation, import needs and export opportunities, foreign policy objectives, technology transfer policies, foreign investment prospects, environmental and health assessments, and byproduct use and disposal issues. The development of a worldwide, reliable, coal quality database would help ensure the most economically and environmentally efficient global use of coal. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with many agencies and scientists from the world's coal producing countries, originally undertook a project to obtain representative samples of coal from most of the world's producing coal provinces during a limited period of time (roughly 1998-2005), which is called the World Coal Quality Inventory (WoCQI). The multitude of producing coal mines, coal occurrences, or limited accessibility to sites in some countries can preclude collecting more than a single sample from a mine. In some areas, a single sample may represent an entire coal mining region or basin. Despite these limitations in sampling and uneven distribution of sample collection, the analytical results can still provide a general overview of world coal quality. The USGS intends to present the WoCQI data in reports and, when possible, in Geographic Information System (GIS) products that cover important coal bearing and producing regions.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2011

Characterization of salinity and selenium loading and land-use change in Montrose Arroyo, western Colorado, from 1992 to 2010

Salinity and selenium are naturally occurring and perva-sive in the lower Gunnison River Basin of Colorado, includ-ing the watershed of Montrose Arroyo. Although some of the salinity and selenium loading in the Montrose Arroyo study area is from natural sources, additional loading has resulted from the introduction of intensive irrigation in the water-shed. With increasing land-use change and the conversion from irrigated agricultural to urban land, land managers and stakeholders need information about the long-term effects of land-use change on salinity and selenium loading. In response to the need to advance salinity and selenium science, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Bureau of Reclamation, Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Forum, and Colorado River Water Conservation District, developed a study to characterize salinity and selenium loading and how salinity and selenium sources may relate to land-use change in Montrose Arroyo. This report characterizes changes in salinity and selenium loading to Montrose Arroyo from March 1992 to February 2010 and the magnitude of land-use change between unirrigated desert, irrigated agricultural, and urban land-use/land-cover types, and discusses how the respective loads may relate to land-use change. Montrose Arroyo is an approximately 8-square-mile watershed in Montrose County in western Colorado. Salinity and selenium were studied in Montrose Arroyo in a 2001 study as part of a salinity- and selenium-control lateral project. The robust nature of the historical dataset indicated that Montrose Arroyo was a prime watershed for a follow-up study. Two sites from the 2001 study were used to monitor salinity and selenium loads in Montrose Arroyo in the follow-up study. Over the period of 2 water years and respective irrigation seasons (2008-2010), 27 water-quality samples were collected and streamflow measurements were made at the historical sites MA2 and MA4. Salinity and selenium concen-trations, loads, and streamflow were compared between the pre-lateral-project and post-growth periods and between the post-lateral-project and post-growth periods. No significant differences in streamflow, salinity (concen-tration and load), or selenium (concentration and load) were found at MA4 between the pre-lateral project and post-growth periods or between the post-lateral-project and post-growth periods. The statistical analysis indicated no significant dif-ferences in streamflow or salinity (both concentration and load) between the pre-lateral-project and post-growth periods or between the post-lateral-project and post-growth periods at MA2; however, selenium concentrations and loads were significantly greater between the pre-lateral-project and post-growth periods and between the post-lateral-project and post-growth periods at MA2. Land-use change between MA4 and MA2 may have contributed to the determined differences in selenium values, but the specific mechanisms causing the increases between periods are unknown. The size of the urbanized area in Montrose Arroyo was quantified for 1993, 2002, and 2009 by using a geographic information system (GIS) with imagery from the specified years. The greatest change in land use from 1993 to 2009 was the increase of urban land due to conversion from irrigated agricultural land. The conversion of previously unirrigated desert to urban land or irrigated agriculture could become more common if urbanization and development expands into the eastern part of the watershed because a majority of the un-urbanized land in eastern Montrose Arroyo is unirrigated desert. By applying GIS to the City of Montrose 2008 com-prehensive growth plan, it was estimated that approximately 786 acres of previously irrigated agricultural land will be converted to urban land and 689 acres of unirrigated desert will be converted to urban land under the plan scenario. New development on previously unirrigated land in shale areas would likely increase the potential for mobilization of sele-nium and salinity from new sources to Montrose Arroyo and the Lower Gunnison River Basin.

Scientific Investigations Report↗