Search USGS⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search USGS

Results for “Engineering Analysis”

Search indexed USGS publications on groundwater, aquifers, geologic maps, mineral resources and earthquakes. Explore source records by subject and place.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 577 records · Page 32Linked to original sources
USGS2014

11.12 - Volatile hydrocarbons and fuel oxygenates

Petroleum hydrocarbons and fuel oxygenates are among the most commonly occurring and widely distributed contaminants in the environment. This chapter presents a summary of the sources, transport, fate, and remediation of volatile fuel hydrocarbons and fuel additives in the environment. Much research has focused on the transport and transformation processes of petroleum hydrocarbons and fuel oxygenates, such as benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes and methyl tert‐butyl ether, in groundwater following release from underground storage tanks. Natural attenuation from biodegradation limits the movement of these contaminants and has received considerable attention as an environmental restoration option. This chapter summarizes approaches to environmental restoration, including those that rely on natural attenuation, and also engineered or enhanced remediation. Researchers are increasingly combining several microbial and molecular-based methods to give a complete picture of biodegradation potential and occurrence at contaminated field sites. New insights into the fate of petroleum hydrocarbons and fuel additives have been gained by recent advances in analytical tools and approaches, including stable isotope fractionation, analysis of metabolic intermediates, and direct microbial evidence. However, development of long-term detailed monitoring programs is required to further develop conceptual models of natural attenuation and increase our understanding of the behavior of contaminant mixtures in the subsurface.

Book chapter↗
USGS2024

Joint Agency Commercial Imagery Evaluation (JACIE)

The Joint Agency Commercial Imagery Evaluation (JACIE) was formed to leverage resources from several Federal agencies for the characterization of remote sensing data and to share those results across the remote sensing community (U.S. Geological Survey, 2024). Remote sensing data and the quality of that data are vital to (1) understanding the physical world and (2) supporting the science and engineering applications that strive to advance that understanding. The growing number of remotely sensed data sources offers users more choices. Understanding the characteristics and capabilities of current and new data sources, along with the quality of data they provide, is an important function of the multi-agency JACIE team. By performing data-quality analysis of civil and commercial remote sensing data and information products, the JACIE team provides the remote sensing community with awareness and independent verification of image data quality.

Fact Sheet↗
USGS2023

Potentiometric surface map of the Southern High Plains aquifer in the Cannon Air Force Base area, Curry County, New Mexico, 2020

Declining water levels and the potential impact on water resources on and around Cannon Air Force Base (AFB), New Mexico, has necessitated an up-to-date review of the potentiometric surface to evaluate the availability of water resources for future use. Analysis of groundwater-flow directions and hydraulic gradients can provide an understanding of depletion by heavy groundwater pumping and recharge through playa lakes, as well as the relationship between the groundwater levels and underlying geology. The objectives of this study, conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the U.S. Air Force Civil Engineer Center, are to assist Cannon AFB in understanding and interpreting current and local hydrologic conditions and to evaluate groundwater-level change from 2015 to 2020 using new and historical data. A groundwater potentiometric surface contour map was constructed to better understand the Southern High Plains aquifer around Cannon AFB and to show the altitude of the water-table surface and groundwater-flow patterns. Four hydrographs were created from periodic measurements of groundwater levels in wells on and around Cannon AFB to provide information about historical groundwater-level changes and visualize trends from the water-level records. The long-term trend present in all four hydrographs is a steady decline in groundwater levels, with some areas declining faster than others. The groundwater-level change map presented in this study provides a visual representation of the change in groundwater level from the winter 2015 to winter 2020 measuring events. Results show that among corresponding wells measured in 2015 and 2020, 50.7 percent indicated a decline in water levels, 29.9 percent indicated neutral water levels, and 19.4 percent indicated a rise in water levels. The region to the north of the groundwater trough on Cannon AFB contained most of the groundwater-level rises, whereas the regions located near the trough and just west of Clovis, N. Mex., contained most of the declines. These results suggest that continued monitoring of declining groundwater levels in the area would provide valuable decision-support information for assessing the sustainability of this water resource.

New Mexico↗
USGS2005

Southern California — Wildfires and debris flows

Wildland fires are inevitable in the western United States. Expansion of man-made developments into fire-prone wildlands has created situations where wildfires can destroy lives and property, as can the flooding and debris flows that are common in the aftermath of the fires. Fast-moving, highly destructive debris flows triggered by intense rainfall are one of the most dangerous post-fire hazards. Such debris flows are particularly dangerous because they tend to occur with little warning. Their mass and speed make them particularly destructive: debris flows can strip vegetation, block drainages, damage structures, and endanger human life. The U.S. Geological Survey’s Landslide Hazards Program is participating in a multi-agency cooperative effort to investigate debris flows in burned areas of southern California and other parts of the western United States. Participating agencies are the USDA Forest Service, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the California, Colorado, and Montana Geological Surveys. The objective of this project is to develop methods needed to estimate the locations, probability of occurrence, and size of potentially destructive debris flows. Public officials can use this information to plan and execute emergency response and post-fire rehabilitation. Analysis of data collected from studies of debris flows following wildfires can answer many of the questions fundamental to post-fire hazard assessments— what and why, where, when, how big, and how often?

California↗
USGS2008

A Study of the Connection Among Basin-Fill Aquifers, Carbonate-Rock Aquifers, and Surface-Water Resources in Southern Snake Valley, Nevada

The Secretary of the Interior through the Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act approved funding for research to improve understanding of hydrologic systems that sustain numerous water-dependent ecosystems on Federal lands in Snake Valley, Nevada. Some of the streams and spring-discharge areas in and adjacent to Great Basin National Park have been identified as susceptible to ground-water withdrawals (Elliott and others, 2006) and research has shown a high potential for ground-water flow from southern Spring Valley into southern Snake Valley through carbonate rocks that outcrop along a low topographic divide known as the Limestone Hills (Welch and others, 2007). Comprehensive geologic, hydrologic, and chemical information will be collected and analyzed to assess the hydraulic connection between basin-fill aquifers and surface-water resources, water-dependent ecological features, and the regional carbonate-rock aquifer, the known source of many high-discharge springs. Understanding these connections is important because proposed projects to pump and export ground water from Spring and Snake Valleys in Nevada may result in unintended capture of water currently supplying springs, streams, wetlands, limestone caves, and other biologically sensitive areas (fig. 1). The methods that will be used in this study may be transferable to other areas in the Great Basin. The National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and U.S. Forest Service submitted the proposal for funding this research to facilitate science-based land management. Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Water Resources and Geologic Disciplines, and the University of Nevada, Reno, will accomplish four research elements through comprehensive data collection and analysis that are concentrated in two distinct areas on the eastern and southern flanks of the Snake Range (fig. 2). The projected time line for this research is from July 2008 through September 2011.

Fact Sheet↗
USGS1992

Forum on land use and land Cover: Summary report

This report includes the agenda and abstracts of presentations from the Forum on Land Use and Land Cover Data, cohosted by the U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), February 25-27,1992 at the USGS National Center in Reston, Virginia. The Forum was conducted under the auspices of the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) and was attended by Federal and State managers of programs that produce and use land use and land cover maps and data in support of environmental analysis, monitoring, and policy development. The goal was to improve opportunities for Federal and State coordination, information exchange, data sharing, and work sharing in land use and land cover mapping.

Book↗
USGS1988

Extracting topographic structure from digital elevation data for geographic information-system analysis

Software tools have been developed at the U.S. Geological Survey's EROS Data Center to extract topographic structure and to delineate watersheds and overland flow paths from digital elevation models. The tools are specialpurpose FORTRAN programs interfaced with general-purpose raster and vector spatial analysis and relational data base management packages. The first phase of analysis is a conditioning phase that generates three data sets: the original OEM with depressions filled, a data set indicating the flow direction for each cell, and a flow accumulation data set in which each cell receives a value equal to the total number of cells that drain to it. The original OEM and these three derivative data sets can then be processed in a variety of ways to optionally delineate drainage networks, overland paths, watersheds for userspecified locations, sub-watersheds for the major tributaries of a drainage network, or pour point linkages between watersheds. The computer-generated drainage lines and watershed polygons and the pour point linkage information can be transferred to vector-based geographic information systems for futher analysis. Comparisons between these computergenerated features and their manually delineated counterparts generally show close agreement, indicating that these software tools will save analyst time spent in manual interpretation and digitizing.

Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing↗
USGS2022

Violent groundwater eruption triggered by a distant earthquake

It is now well established that earthquakes cause various hydrogeological responses at distances thousands of kilometers from the epicenter. What remains unexplained is the large amplitude and intensity of some responses. Following the 2004 Mw 9.1 Sumatra earthquake, groundwater 3,200 km from the epicenter erupted violently from a well and formed a water fountain reaching a height exceeding 60 m. We model the relevant processes by combining tidal analysis of groundwater level with numerical simulations using a two-dimensional finite-element model. We suggest that the eruption resulted from a combination of factors, including a rapid increase of crustal permeability and runaway CO 2 exsolution and bubble nucleation induced by the passage of seismic waves. Our results may have implications for some engineering applications such as oil production and CO 2 sequestration, and the eruption of hydrothermal features such as geysers.

Geophysical Research Letters↗
USGS1997

Modified level II streambed-scour analysis for structure I-65-85-5527 crossing Sugar Creek in Johnson County, Indiana

Level II scour evaluations follow a process in which hydrologic, hydraulic, and sediment transport data are evaluated to calculate the depth of scour that may result when a given discharge is routed through a bridge opening. The results of the modified Level II analysis for structure 1-65-85-5527 on Interstate 65 crossing Sugar Creek in Johnson County, Indiana, are presented. The site is near the town of Amity in the southeastern part of Johnson County. Scour depths were computed with the Water Surface PROfile model, version V050196, which incorporates the scour-calculation procedures outlined in Hydraulic Engineering Circular No. 18. Total scour depths at the piers were approximately 26.8 feet for the modeled discharge of 26,000 cubic feet per second and approximately 30.8 feet for the modeled discharge of 34,100 cubic feet per second

Indiana↗
USGS1997

Modified level II streambed-scour analysis for structure I-70-104-5128 crossing Brandywine Creek in Hancock County, Indiana

Level II scour evaluations follow a process in which hydrologic, hydraulic, and sedient-transport data are evaluated to calculate the depth of scour that may result when given discharge is routed through a bridge opening. the results of the modified Levell II analysis for structure I-70-104-5128 on Interstate 70 crossing Brandywine Creek in Hancock County, Indiana, are presented. The site is near the town of Greenfield in the central part of Hancock County. Scour depths were computed with the Water Surface PROfile model, version V050196, which incorporates the scour-calculation procedures outlined in Hydraulic Engineering Circular No. 18. Total scour depths at the piers were approximately 6.5 feet for the modeled discharge of 6,900 cubic feet per second and approximately 8.0 feet for the modeled discharge of 9,140 cubic feet per second.

Indiana↗
USGS1997

Modified level II streambed-scour analysis for structure I-69-87-4781 crossing Wabash River in Huntington County, Indiana

Level II scour evaluations follow a process in which hydrologic, hydraulic, and sediment transport data are evaluated to calculate the depth of scour that may result when a given discharge is routed through a bridge opening. The results of the modified Level II analysis for structure 1-69-87-4781 on Interstate 69 crossing Wabash River in Huntington County, Indiana, are presented. The site is near the town of Markle in the eastern part of Huntington County. Scour depths were computed with the Water Surface PROfile model, version V050196, which incorporates the scour-calculation procedures outlined in Hydraulic Engineering Circular No. 18. Total scour depths at the piers were approximately 13.1 feet for the modeled discharge of 10,600 cubic feet per second and approximately 14.6 feet for the modeled discharge of 17,000 cubic feet per second.

Indiana↗
USGS1997

Modified level II streambed-scour analysis for structure I-74-70-4437 crossing Eagle Creek in Marion County, Indiana

Level II scour evaluations follow a process in which hydrologic, hydraulic, and sedimenttransport data are evaluated to calculate the depth of scour that may result when a given discharge is routed through a bridge opening. The results of the modified Level II analysis for structure 1-74-70-4437 on Interstate 74 crossing Eagle Creek in Marion County, Indiana, are presented. The site is near the town of Clermont in the northwestern part of Marion County. Scour depths were computed with the Water Surface PROfile model, version V050196, which incorporates the scour-calculation procedures outlined in Hydraulic Engineering Circular No. 18. Total scour depths at the piers were approximately 16.0 feet for the modeled discharge of 22,700 cubic feet per second and approximately 31.7 feet for the modeled discharge of 31,600 cubic feet per second.

Indiana↗
USGS1997

Modified level II streambed-scour analysis for structure I-70-35-5245 crossing Big Walnut Creek in Putnam County, Indiana

Level II scour evaluations follow a process in which hydrologic, hydraulic, and sedimenttransport data are evaluated to calculate the depth of scour that may result when a given discharge is routed through a bridge opening. The results of the modified Level II analysis for structure 1-70-35-5245 on Interstate 70 crossing Big Walnut Creek in Pumam.County, Indiana, are presented. The site is near the town of Manhattan in the southwestern part of Putnam County. Scour depths were computed with the Water Surface PROfile model, version V050196, which incorporates the scour-calculation procedures outlined in Hydraulic Engineering Circular No. 18. Total scour depths at the piers were approximately 17.0 feet for the modeled discharge of 29,200 cubic feet per second and approximately 30.9 feet for the modeled discharge of 49,600 cubic feet per second.

Indiana↗
USGS1997

Modified level II streambed-scour analysis for structure I-69-16-5324 crossing Fosters Branch in Madison County, Indiana

Level II scour evaluations follow a process in which hydrologic, hydraulic, and sediment transport data are evaluated to calculate the depth of scour that may result when a given discharge is routed through a bridge opening. The results of the modified Level II analysis for structure 1-69-16-5324 on Interstate 69 crossing Fosters Branch in Madison County, Indiana, are presented. The site is near the town of Ingalls in the southwestern part of Madison County. Scour depths were computed with the Water Surface PROfile model, version V050196, which incorporates the scour-calculation procedures outlined in Hydraulic Engineering Circular No. 18. Total scour depths at the piers were approximately 8.0 feet for the modeled discharge of 1,600 cubic feet per second and approximately 12.8 feet for the modeled discharge of 2,720 cubic feet per second.

Indianapolis↗
USGS1997

Modified level II streambed-scour analysis for structure I-65-118-4838 crossing Crooked Creek in Marion County, Indiana

Level II scour evaluations follow a process in which hydrologic, hydraulic, and sedimenttransport data are evaluated to calculate the depth of scour that may result when a given discharge is routed through a bridge opening. The results of the modified Level II analysis for structure 1-65-118-4838 on Interstate 65 crossing Crooked Creek in Marion County, Indiana, are presented. The site is in the city of Indianapolis in the central part of Marion County. Scour depths were computed with the Water Surface PROfile model, version V050196, which incorporates the scour-calculation procedures outlined in Hydraulic Engineering Circular No. 18. Total scour depths at the piers were approximately 8.3 feet for the modeled discharge of 7,000 cubic feet per second and approximately 9.2 feet for the modeled discharge of 9,870 cubic feet per second.

Indiana↗
USGS1997

Modified level II streambed-scour analysis for structure I-64-108-5658 crossing Indian Creek in Harrison County, Indiana

Level II scour evaluations follow a process in which hydrologic, hydraulic, and sedient-transport data are evaluated to calculate the depth of scour that may result when given discharge is routed through a bridge opening. the results of the modified Levell II analysis for structure I-64-108-5658 on Interstate 64 crossing Indian Creek in Harrison County, Indiana, are presented. The site is near the town of Corydon in the central part of Harrison County. Scour depths were computed with the Water Surface PROfile model, version V050196, which incorporates the scour-calculation procedures outlined in Hydraulic Engineering Circular No. 18. Total scour depths at the piers were approximately 6.6 feet for the modeled discharge of 26,000 cubic feet per second and approximately 8.0 feet for the modeled discharge of 34,000 cubic feet per second.

Indiana↗
USGS1997

Modified level II streambed-scour analysis for structure I-74-32-4946 crossing Sugar Creek in Montgomery County, Indiana

Level II scour evaluations follow a process in which hydrologic, hydraulic, and sedient-transport data are evaluated to calculate the depth of scour that may result when given discharge is routed through a bridge opening. The results of the modified Levell II analysis for structure I-74-32-4946 on Interstate 74 crossing Sugar Creek in Montgomery County, Indiana are presented. The site is near the town of Crawfordsville in the central part of Montgomery County. Scour depths were computed with the Water Surface PROfile model, version V050196, which incorporates the scour-calculation procedures outlined in Hydraulic Engineering Circular No. 18. Total scour depths at the piers were approximately 13.0 feet for the modeled discharge of 3,000 cubic feet per second and approximately 15.1 feet for the modeled discharge of 41,900 cubic feet per second.

Indiana↗
USGS1997

Modified level II streambed-scour analysis for structure I-164-7-6974 crossing Schlensker Ditch in Vanderburgh County, Indiana

Level II scour evaluations follow a process in which hydrologic, hydraulic, and sedient-transport data are evaluated to calculate the depth of scour that may result when given discharge is routed through a bridge opening. the results of the modified Levell II analysis for structure I-674-7-6974 on Interstate 164 crossing Schlensker Ditch in Vanderburgh County, Indiana, are presented. The site is near the town of Daylight in the northwestern part of Vanderburgh County. Scour depths were computed with the Water Surface PROfile model, version V050196, which incorporates the scour-calculation procedures outlined in Hydraulic Engineering Circular No. 18. Total scour depths at the piers were approximately 176 feet for the modeled discharge of 2,100 cubic feet per second and approximately 33.4 feet for the modeled discharge of 2,940 cubic feet per second.

Indiana↗