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At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
USGS2012

Building the United States National Vegetation Classification

The Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) Vegetation Subcommittee, the Ecological Society of America Panel on Vegetation Classification, and NatureServe have worked together to develop the United States National Vegetation Classification (USNVC). The current standard was accepted in 2008 and fosters consistency across Federal agencies and non-federal partners for the description of each vegetation concept and its hierarchical classification. The USNVC is structured as a dynamic standard, where changes to types at any level may be proposed at any time as new information comes in. But, because much information already exists from previous work, the NVC partners first established methods for screening existing types to determine their acceptability with respect to the 2008 standard. Current efforts include a screening process to assign confidence to Association and Group level descriptions, and a review of the upper three levels of the classification. For the upper levels especially, the expectation is that the review process includes international scientists. Immediate future efforts include the review of remaining levels and the development of a proposal review process.

Annali di Botanica - Coenology and Plant Ecology↗
USGS2011

National Geospatial Program

The National Geospatial Program (NGP; http://www.usgs.gov/ngpo/ ) satisfies the needs of customers by providing geospatial products and services that customers incorporate into their decisionmaking and operational activities. These products and services provide geospatial data that are organized and maintained in cost-effective ways and developed by working with partners and organizations whose activities align with those of the program. To accomplish its mission, the NGP— organizes, maintains, publishes, and disseminates the geospatial baseline of the Nation's topography, natural landscape, and manmade environment through The National Map fosters a general understanding of broad geographic patterns, trends, and conditions through The National Atlas of the United States of America increases the efficiency of the Nation's geospatial community by improving communications about geospatial data, products, services, projects, needs, standards, and best practices. The NGP comprises seven major components (described below), that are managed as a unified set. For example, The National Map establishes data standards and identifies geographic areas where specific types of geospatial data need to be incorporated into The National Map . Partnership Network Liaisons work with Federal, State, local, and tribal partners to help acquire the data. Geospatial technical operations ensure the quality control, integration, and availability to the public of the data acquired. The Emergency Operations Office provides the requirements to The National Map and, during emergencies and natural disasters, provides rapid dissemination of information and data targeted to the needs of emergency responders. The National Atlas uses data from The National Map and other sources to make small-scale maps and multimedia articles about the maps.

Fact Sheet↗
USGS1991

Computer software for converting ground-water and water-quality data from the National Water Information System for use in a geographic information system

A geographic information system (GIS) is computer software that provides the capabilities to rapidly display and analyze spatially referenced data. To use a GIS efficiently, software is needed that provides a link between existing spatially referenced data-base systems and the GIS. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) stores large amounts of spatially referenced hydrologic data in computerized data-base systems. Currently, these data-base systems are physically located on computers that are installed in many USGS offices nationwide. This report describes software that can be used quickly and easily to convert site-description and water-quality data from these data-base systems to the GIS that is used by the USGS. The software described in this report is designed to be used with the same hardware and software that is available to most USGS personnel.

Water-Resources Investigations Report↗
USGS2002

The use of geographic information for fire management planning in Yosemite National Park

Fire has played a critical role in the ecosystems of Yosemite National park for millennia. Before the advent of Euro-Americans, lightning fires and fires set by Native Americans burned freely across the landscape. These fires burned periodically, with the interval between fires dependent on the availability of ignition sources, adequate fuels, and weather conducive to burning. As a result, different vegetation types burned at different intervals.

The George Wright Forum↗
USGS2007

The NatCarb geoportal: Linking distributed data from the Carbon Sequestration Regional Partnerships

The Department of Energy (DOE) Carbon Sequestration Regional Partnerships are generating the data for a "carbon atlas" of key geospatial data (carbon sources, potential sinks, etc.) required for rapid implementation of carbon sequestration on a broad scale. The NATional CARBon Sequestration Database and Geographic Information System (NatCarb) provides Web-based, nation-wide data access. Distributed computing solutions link partnerships and other publicly accessible repositories of geological, geophysical, natural resource, infrastructure, and environmental data. Data are maintained and enhanced locally, but assembled and accessed through a single geoportal. NatCarb, as a first attempt at a national carbon cyberinfrastructure (NCCI), assembles the data required to address technical and policy challenges of carbon capture and storage. We present a path forward to design and implement a comprehensive and successful NCCI. ?? 2007 The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.

Journal of Map & Geography Libraries↗
USGS2007

The National Map - Orthoimagery Layer

Many Federal, State, and local agencies use a common set of framework geographic information databases as a tool for economic and community development, land and natural resource management, and health and safety services. Emergency management and homeland security applications rely on this information. Private industry, nongovernmental organizations, and individual citizens use the same geographic data. Geographic information underpins an increasingly large part of the Nation's economy. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is developing The National Map to be a seamless, continually maintained, and nationally consistent set of online, public domain, framework geographic information databases. The National Map will serve as a foundation for integrating, sharing, and using data easily and consistently. The data will be the source of revised paper topographic maps. The National Map includes digital orthorectified imagery; elevation data; vector data for hydrography, transportation, boundary, and structure features; geographic names; and land cover information.

Fact Sheet↗
USGS2012

Analyzing legacy U.S. Geological Survey geochemical databases using GIS: applications for a national mineral resource assessment

This report emphasizes geographic information system analysis and the display of data stored in the legacy U.S. Geological Survey National Geochemical Database for use in mineral resource investigations. Geochemical analyses of soils, stream sediments, and rocks that are archived in the National Geochemical Database provide an extensive data source for investigating geochemical anomalies. A study area in the Egan Range of east-central Nevada was used to develop a geographic information system analysis methodology for two different geochemical datasets involving detailed (Bureau of Land Management Wilderness) and reconnaissance-scale (National Uranium Resource Evaluation) investigations. ArcGIS was used to analyze and thematically map geochemical information at point locations. Watershed-boundary datasets served as a geographic reference to relate potentially anomalous sample sites with hydrologic unit codes at varying scales. The National Hydrography Dataset was analyzed with Hydrography Event Management and ArcGIS Utility Network Analyst tools to delineate potential sediment-sample provenance along a stream network. These tools can be used to track potential upstream-sediment-contributing areas to a sample site. This methodology identifies geochemically anomalous sample sites, watersheds, and streams that could help focus mineral resource investigations in the field.

Egan Range↗
USGS2002

Hydrocarbon geochemistry of cold seeps in the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary

Samples from four geographically and tectonically discrete cold seeps named Clam Flat, Clamfield, Horseshoe Scarp South, and Tubeworm City, within the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary were analyzed for their hydrocarbon content. The sediment contains gaseous hydrocarbons and CO2, as well as high molecular weight aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons with various combinations of thermogenic and biogenic contributions from petroleum, marine, and terrigenous sources. Of particular interest is the cold seep site at Clamfield which is characterized by the presence of thermogenic hydrocarbons including oil that can likely be correlated with oil-saturated strata at Majors Creek near Davenport, CA, USA. At Clam Flat, the evidence for thermogenic hydrocarbons is equivocal. At Horseshoe Scarp South and Tubeworm City, hydrocarbon gases, mainly methane, are likely microbial in origin. These varied sources of hydrocarbon gases highlight the diverse chemical systems that appear at cold seep communities. ?? 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Marine Geology↗
USGS1989

Cartography at the U.S. Geological Survey: the National Mapping Division's cartographic programs, products, design, and technology

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is the prime source of many kinds of topographic and special-purpose maps of the United States and its outlying areas. It is also a prime source of digital map data. One main goal of the USGS is to provide large-scale topographic map coverage of the entire United States. Most of the Nation is already covered. We expect that initial coverage will be completed by 1991. For many purposes, many public agencies, private organizations, and individuals need reliable cartographic and geographic knowledge about our Nation. To serve such needs, all USGS maps are compiled to exacting standards of accuracy and content.

General Information Product↗
USGS2019

Guidance for assessing interregional ecoystem service flows

Ecosystem services (ES) assessments commonly focus on a specific biophysical region or nation and take its geographic borders as the system boundary. Most geographical regions are, however, not closed systems but are open and telecoupled with other regions through ES imports and exports, which are mediated by fluxes of matter, energy and information. Interregional ES flows are often linked to national economies and may affect issues of national security and global equity. To date, however, methodologies for interregional ES flow assessments have been published in dispersed literature. This paper provides a three-step guidance for the assessment of four different types of interregional ES flows (traded goods, passive biophysical flows, species migration and dispersal and information flows), in order to complement national ecosystem assessments. The three steps are to (i) define the goal and scope of interregional ES flow assessments, (ii) quantify the interregional ES flows using a tiered approach and (iii) interpret results in terms of uncertainties, consequences and governance options. We compile different indicators for assessing interregional ES flows and evaluate their suitability for national ES assessments. Finally, in order to value the various outcomes of telecouplings, including their implications for human well-being, we relate the interregional ES flow indicators to the Sustainable Development Goals. We discuss how regional studies can assess a country‘s dependence and impact on "overseas" ES. This guidance towards systematic assessment of interregional ES flows provides a first step to measure and quantify externalised environmental costs and can contribute to the development of indicators to address interregional imbalances in trade, foreign policy and beyond.

Ecological Indicators↗
USGS2000

The land cover trends project: A strategy for monitoring land cover change at a national scale

Policy-makers and scientists often require comprehensive data on the types and rates of land use and land cover change at a variety of scales. However, there is generally a lack of local, regional, and national land use and land cover data of sufficient reliability and temporal and geographic detail for providing accurate estimates of landscape change. The U.S. Geological Survey's EROS Data Center and the Landscape Ecology Branch of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are collaborating on a four-year research project to document the types, distributions, rates, drivers, and consequences of land cover change for the conterminous United States over the past 30 years. The project is using an ecoregion framework as a geographic stratifier. Both regional and national characteristics of change are determined by sampling land cover change for each of 84 ecoregions using five selected epochs of data from the nearly 30-year record of Landsat 1-7 data. Three types of land cover variables are being mapped or derived: (1) general land cover type; (2) landscape biophysical properties; and (3) landscape pattern. Assessments of the drivers and consequences of change within each ecoregion are then prepared. A pilot phase focusing on the analysis of five selected ecoregions is well underway and will be completed by the end of 2000. Methodologies established during the pilot phase will then be applied to the remaining ecoregions.

Conference Paper↗
USGS2006

National Urbanization Monitoring Assessment (NUMA)

A core geographic science element of the U.S. Geological Survey's Geographic Analysis and Monitoring (GAM) Program is to monitor land-surface change for the Nation through time. The Nation's land surface is dynamically evolving and transitioning in response to natural and human processes. The need to understand the transformations and locations where changes are taking place, their underlying causes, and the rate at which the transitions are occurring is fundamental to the health and viability of the Nation's natural and developed environments.

Fact Sheet↗
USGS2011

Relative abundance and distribution of fishes and crayfish at Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, Nye County, Nevada, 2007-08

This study provides baseline data of native and non-native fish populations in Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge (NWR), Nye County, Nevada, that can serve as a gauge in native fish enhancement efforts. In support of Carson Slough restoration, comprehensive surveys of Ash Meadows NWR fishes were conducted seasonally from fall 2007 through summer 2008. A total of 853 sampling stations were created using Geographic Information Systems and National Agricultural Imagery Program. In four seasons of sampling, Amargosa pupfish (genus Cyprinodon) was captured at 388 of 659 stations. The number of captured Amargosa pupfish ranged from 5,815 (winter 2008) to 8,346 (summer 2008). The greatest success in capturing Amargosa pupfish was in warm water spring-pools with temperature greater than 25 degrees C, headwaters of warm water spring systems, and shallow (depths less than 10 centimeters) grassy marshes. In four seasons of sampling, Ash Meadows speckled dace (Rhinichthys osculus nevadesis) was captured at 96 of 659 stations. The number of captured Ash Meadows speckled dace ranged from 1,009 (summer 2008) to 1,552 (winter 2008). The greatest success in capturing Ash Meadows speckled dace was in cool water spring-pools with temperature less than 20 degrees C and in the high flowing water outflows. Among 659 sampling stations within the range of Amargosa pupfish, red swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkii) was collected at 458 stations, western mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis) at 374 stations, and sailfin molly (Poecilia latipinna) at 128 stations. School Springs was restored during the course of this study. Prior to restoration of School Springs, maximum Warm Springs Amargosa pupfish (Cyprinodon nevadensis pectoralis) captured from the six springs of the Warm Springs Complex was 765 (fall 2007). In four seasons of sampling, Warm Springs Amargosa pupfish were captured at 85 of 177 stations. The greatest success in capturing Warm Springs Amargosa pupfish when co-occurring with red swamp crayfish and western mosquitofish was in water with temperature greater than 26 degrees C near the springhead, and in shallow (depths less than 10 centimeters) grassy marshes. Among 177 sampling stations within the range of Warm Springs Amargosa pupfish, red swamp crayfish were collected at 96 stations and western mosquitofish were collected at 49 stations. Removal of convict cichlid (Amatitlania nigrofasciata) from Fairbanks Spring was followed by a substantial increase in Ash Meadows Amargosa pupfish (Cyprinodon nevadensis mionectes) captures from 910 pre-removal to 3,056 post-removal. Red swamp crayfish was continually removed from Bradford 1 Spring, which seemed to cause an increase in the speckled dace population. Restoration of Kings Pool and Jackrabbit Springs promoted the success of native fishes with the greatest densities in restored reaches. Ongoing restoration of Carson Slough and its tributaries, as well as control and elimination of invasive species, is expected to increase abundance and distribution of Ash Meadows' native fish populations. Further analysis of data from this study will help determine the habitat characteristic(s) that promote native species and curtail non-native species.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2007

Biomarker Benchmarks: Reproductive and Endocrine Biomarkers in Largemouth Bass and Common Carp from United States Waters

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has developed a national database and report on endocrine and reproductive condition in two species of fish collected in U.S. streams and rivers. This information provides scientists with a national basis for comparing results of endocrine measurements in fish from individual sites throughout the country, so that scientists can better ascertain normal levels of biomarkers. The database includes information on several measures of reproductive and endocrine condition for common carp and largemouth bass. Data summaries are provided by reproductive season and geographic region. A national-scale reconnaissance investigation was initiated in 1994 by the USGS that utilized a suite of biological assays (biomarkers) as indicators of reproductive health, and potentially, endocrine disruption in two widely distributed species of teleost (bony) fish, largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) and common carp (Cyrinus carpio). The suite of assays included plasma sex-steroid hormones, stage of gonadal development, and plasma vitellogenin, an egg protein that indicates exposure to estrogenic compounds when found in male fish. More than 2,200 common carp and 650 largemouth bass were collected at 119 rivers and streams (fig. 1).

Fact Sheet↗
USGS1987

Surface water-quality assessment of the lower Kansas River basin, Kansas and Nebraska; project description

In 1986 the U.S. Geological Survey began a National Water-Quality Assessment Program to: (1) provide nationally consistent descriptions of the current status of water quality for a large, diverse, and geographically distributed part of the Nation 's surface water resources; (2) where possible, define trends in water quality; and (3) identify and describe the relation between water quality and natural and land use factors. This report describes the pilot study of the lower Kansas River basin, which is one of four surface water pilot studies that will be used to test, and modify as necessary, assessment concepts and approaches in preparation for future full implementation of the national program. Water quality issues in the lower Kansas River basin are dominated by possible nonpoint sources of contamination from agricultural land, with issues including: (1) large sediment discharge in the streams and sediment deposition in the reservoirs caused by intensive cultivation of row crops and subsequent erosion; (2) occurrence of pesticides in streams and reservoirs that could impair the suitability of water for aquatic life and has the potential for impairing the water 's suitability for public supply; (3) bacterial contamination caused by runoff from pastureland and feedlot operations and municipal wastewater discharges; and (4) nutrient enrichment of reservoirs. Data from fixed stations will be used to determine frequency distributions of constituent concentrations and mass balances of constituents between stations. Subbasin or river reach studies will provide a better understanding of the origin, movement, and fate of potential contaminants. (Lantz-PTT)

Open-File Report↗
USGS1987

Surface-water-quality assessment of the upper Illinois River basin in Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin; project description

In 1986, the U.S. Geological Survey began a National Water-Quality Assessment program to (1) provide nationally consistent descriptions of the current status of water quality for a large, diverse, and geographically distributed part of the Nation's surface- and ground-water resources; (2) define, where possible, trends in water quality; and (3) identify and describe the relations of both status and trends in water quality to natural factors and the history of land use and land- and waste-management activities. The program is presently in a pilot phase that will test and modify, as necessary, concepts and approaches in preparation for possible full implementation of the program in the future. The upper Illinois River basin is one of four basins selected to test the concepts and approaches of the surface-water-quality element of the national program. The basin drains 10,949 square miles of Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin. Three principal tributaries are the Kankakee and Des Plaines Rivers that join to form the Illinois River and the Fox River. Land use is predominantly agricultural; about 75 percent of the basin is cultivated primarily for production of corn and soybeans. About 13 percent of the basin is urban area, most of which is located in the Chicago metropolitan area. The population of the basin is about 7 million. About 6 million people live in the Des Plaines River basin. Many water-quality issues in the upper Illinois River basin are related to sediment, nutrients, potentially toxic inorganic and organic constituents, and to water-management practices. Occurrence of sediment and the chemical constituents in the rivers and lakes within the basin has the potential to adversely affect the water's suitability for aquatic life, recreation, or, through the consumption of fish, human health. The upper Illinois River basin project consists of five major activities. The first activity--analysis of existing information and preparation of a report that describes recent water-quality conditions and trends--is currently underway. The second activity--fixed-station water-quality sampling at eight stations--began in April 1987 and will last at least 3 years. Water-quality data collected at these stations will be used to determine the frequency of occurrence of constituent concentrations, their annual and seasonal loads, and time trends in concentrations for a selected number of constituents. The third activity will be synoptic water-quality studies. Each study will involve sampling many sites at specific flow conditions and for selected water-quality constituents. Information gained from these studies will supplement informa tion gained from fixed-station sampling. A synoptic study of streambed sediments is tentatively planned for the summer of 1987 to describe the occurrence and distribution of trace elements in the basin. The fourth activity will consist of one or more topical subbasin or river-reach studies. The purpose of such studies is to better define certain water-quality conditions in specific areas and gain an understanding of the processes affecting the observed conditions. The fifth activity is the preparation of reports that will describe results from each of the first four activities. Quality assurance and coordination are being provided at both the national and pilot-project levels. A technical quality-assurance plan that addresses all aspects of sample collection, analysis, and reporting is being prepared at the national level. This plan will be appended as needed at the pilot-project level. A National Coordinating Work Group that functions under the auspices of the Interagency Advisory Committee on Water Data and the Advisory Committee on Water Data for Public Use has been established at the national level. A local liaison committee consisting of representatives from Federal, State, and local agencies has been established to enhance communication and to ensure that the scientific information produced by the

Open-File Report↗
USGS2008

EAARL coastal topography — Fire Island National Seashore 2007

These remotely sensed, geographically referenced elevation measurements of Lidar-derived first surface (FS) and bare earth (BE) topography were produced as a collaborative effort between the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Florida Integrated Science Center (FISC), St. Petersburg, FL; the National Park Service (NPS), Northeast Coastal and Barrier Network, Kingston, RI; and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Wallops Flight Facility, VA. This project provides highly detailed and accurate datasets of Fire Island National Seashore in New York, acquired on April 29-30 and May 15-16, 2007. The datasets are made available for use as a management tool to research scientists and natural resource managers. An innovative airborne Lidar instrument originally developed at the NASA Wallops Flight Facility, and known as the Experimental Advanced Airborne Research Lidar (EAARL) was used during data acquisition. The EAARL system is a raster-scanning, waveform-resolving, green-wavelength (532-nanometer) Lidar designed to map near-shore bathymetry, topography, and vegetation structure simultaneously. The EAARL sensor suite includes the raster-scanning, water-penetrating full-waveform adaptive Lidar, a down-looking red-green-blue (RGB) digital camera, a high-resolution multi-spectral color infrared (CIR) camera, two precision dual-frequency kinematic carrier-phase GPS receivers and an integrated miniature digital inertial measurement unit, which provide for submeter georeferencing of each laser sample. The nominal EAARL platform is a twin-engine Cessna 310 aircraft, but the instrument may be deployed on a range of light aircraft. A single pilot, a Lidar operator, and a data analyst constitute the crew for most survey operations. This sensor has the potential to make significant contributions in measuring sub-aerial and submarine coastal topography within cross-environmental surveys. Elevation measurements were collected over the survey area using the EAARL system, and the resulting data were then processed using the Airborne Lidar Processing System (ALPS), a custom-built processing system developed in a NASA-USGS collaboration. ALPS supports the exploration and processing of Lidar data in an interactive or batch mode. Modules for pre-survey flight line definition, flight path plotting, Lidar raster and waveform investigation, and digital camera image playback have been developed. Processing algorithms have been developed to extract the range to the first and last significant return within each waveform. ALPS is routinely used to create maps that represent submerged or first surface topography. Specialized filtering algorithms have been implemented to determine the 'bare earth' under vegetation from a point cloud of last return elevations.

New York↗