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

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At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources
USGS2019

Growing pains of crowdsourced stream stage monitoring using mobile phones: The development of CrowdHydrology

Citizen science-based approaches to monitor the natural environment tend to be bimodal in maturity. Older and established programs such as the Audubon’s Christmas bird count and Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow Network (CoCoRaHS) have thousands of participants across decades of observations, while less mature citizen science projects have shorter lifespans often focused on local or regional observations with tens or hundreds of participants. For the latter, it can be difficult to transition into a more mature and sustainable citizen science-based research program. This paper focuses on this transition by evaluating CrowdHydrology (ca. 2010), a citizen science project that has transitioned from a regional to national network. It evaluates the data accuracy, citizen participation, and station popularity. The CrowdHydrology network asks citizens to send in text messages of water levels in streams and lakes, which has resulted in 16,294 observations submitted by over 8,000 unique participants at 120 unique locations. Using water level data and participation records from CrowdHydrology, we analyze the expansion and citizen participation from a regional to national citizen science network. We identify barriers to participation and evaluate why some citizen science observation stations are popular while others are not. We explore our chosen contributory program model for CrowdHydrology and the influence this model has had on long-term participation. Results demonstrate a highly variable rate of contributions of citizen scientists. This paper proposes hypotheses on why many of our observations are from one-time participants and why some monitoring stations are more popular than others. Finally, we address the future expansion of the CrowdHydrology network by evaluating successful monitoring locations and growing interest of watershed groups to expand the network of gauges.

Frontiers in Earth Science↗
USGS1997

Proceedings of the third biennial conference of research on the Colorado Plateau

The papers in this volume are contributions from federal, state, and private sector researchers, who have come together to share scientific information with land managers on the Colorado Plateau. This Proceedings is the third in a series of publications that focuses on providing information to land managers on baseline scientific information pertaining to physical, cultural and biological resources of the Colorado Plateau. Support for these studies came from a spectrum of federal, state, and private partners concerned about the well-being of the Plateau's resources. I applaud the effort of the contributors. With modest funding and a broad base of public and institutional support, these authors have pursued important lines of work in the four states that comprise the Colorado Plateau biogeographic region.

Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah↗
USGS2014

Improving groundwater predictions utilizing seasonal precipitation forecasts from general circulation models forced with sea surface temperature forecasts

Recent studies have found a significant association between climatic variability and basin hydroclimatology, particularly groundwater levels, over the southeast United States. The research reported in this paper evaluates the potential in developing 6-month-ahead groundwater-level forecasts based on the precipitation forecasts from ECHAM 4.5 General Circulation Model Forced with Sea Surface Temperature forecasts. Ten groundwater wells and nine streamgauges from the USGS Groundwater Climate Response Network and Hydro-Climatic Data Network were selected to represent groundwater and surface water flows, respectively, having minimal anthropogenic influences within the Flint River Basin in Georgia, United States. The writers employ two low-dimensional models [principle component regression (PCR) and canonical correlation analysis (CCA)] for predicting groundwater and streamflow at both seasonal and monthly timescales. Three modeling schemes are considered at the beginning of January to predict winter (January, February, and March) and spring (April, May, and June) streamflow and groundwater for the selected sites within the Flint River Basin. The first scheme (model 1) is a null model and is developed using PCR for every streamflow and groundwater site using previous 3-month observations (October, November, and December) available at that particular site as predictors. Modeling schemes 2 and 3 are developed using PCR and CCA, respectively, to evaluate the role of precipitation forecasts in improving monthly and seasonal groundwater predictions. Modeling scheme 3, which employs a CCA approach, is developed for each site by considering observed groundwater levels from nearby sites as predictands. The performance of these three schemes is evaluated using two metrics (correlation coefficient and relative RMS error) by developing groundwater-level forecasts based on leave-five-out cross-validation. Results from the research reported in this paper show that using precipitation forecasts in climate models improves the ability to predict the interannual variability of winter and spring streamflow and groundwater levels over the basin. However, significant conditional bias exists in all the three modeling schemes, which indicates the need to consider improved modeling schemes as well as the availability of longer time-series of observed hydroclimatic information over the basin.

Georgia↗
USGS1964

Geological Survey research 1964, Chapter B

This collection of 46 short papers is one of a series to be released as chapters of Geological Survey Research 1964. The papers report on scientific and economic results of current work by members of the Geologic and Water Resources Divisions of the U.S. Geological Survey. Some of the papers present results of completed parts of continuing investigations; others announce new discoveries or preliminary results of investigations that will be discussed in greater detail in reports to be published in the future. Still others are scientific notes of limited scope, and short papers on techniques and instrumentation. Chapter A of this series will be published later in the year, and will present a summary of results of work done during the present fiscal year.

Professional Paper↗
USGS1991

Federal research on the conservation of migratory nongame birds in the United States

In the United States, the term 'nongame birds' applies to all bird species that are neither hunted nor legalIy endangered or threatened. Although ultimate responsibility for protection of migratory nongame birds lies with the federal government, research and management efforts by the key federal landholding agencies have historically emphasized species of economic importance, game birds and endangered species. In response to various legislative actions between the late 1960s and early 1980s, however, there has been a gradual escalation of research directed towards conservation of migratory nongame birds in these agencies. These studies have focused on two broad objectives (a) development of population sampling and census methods, and (b) identifying habitat requirements of species and species groups and the impacts of habitat changes on populations. The bulk of this research has been conducted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Forest Service. In this paper, the missions and research structures of these agencies are described briefly, and selected research highlights are discussed at length. Specific examples are development of the Breeding Bird Survey and teasing apart the relative contributions of forest fragmentation on breeding and wintering grounds to declines in populations of Neotropical migrants. Nongame bird research activities in other agencies are also summarized. The cumulative research conducted to date is evaluated in the context of developing a national management strategy to meet future migratory nongame bird conservation needs. Important shortcomings in present federal programmes continue to be insufficient folIow-through from research results to direct management action and lack of coordination among agencies with a vested interest in nongame bird conservation. Pending legislation and recent maturation of a comprehensive migratory nongame bird policy in the Fish and Wildlife Service are indications that significant improvements in these areas can be expected.

Book chapter↗
USGS2008

Status and needs for seismic instrumentation of structures along the Hayward fault

The inventory of structures in heavily urbanized communities within the greater San Francisco (SF) Bay area that will experience strong ground motions from the rupture of the Hayward Fault includes a variety of types of recent and older structures built with a variety of materials and to different code standards. Those who remember the effects of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake on structures in the San Francisco Bay area also remember the collapse of one upper-deck segment of the Bay Bridge that halted transportation for approximately five weeks. In order to understand how these structures respond to earthquake motions and to improve building practices to resist these strong motions it is imperative that owners of these structures as well as governmental organizations acquire shaking response data from instrumented (or yet to be instrumented structures) during the forecast events. Within California, such data are acquired mainly by California Geological Survey and the United States Geological Survey. A small number of private owners contribute to this effort. The inventory of existing instrumented structures is much less than 0.1% of the total, and thus statistically it is not sufficient. For example, some of the existing important regular or lifeline structures are not instrumented(e.g. Bart Trans-Bay Tunnel, many segments of the Bart elevated structures in the proximity of the Hayward Fault, the yet to be completed eastern part of San Francisco Bay Bridge, Hetch-Hetchy pipeline system crossing the Hayward Fault)even though attempts and proposals have been developed to do so in the past. This paper presents a critical assessment of the status quo and the future needs for instrumentation of structures in the greater SF Bay area that includes the Hayward Fault. There are many new attempts and successes in instrumentation of structures in this region. Two successful examples are provided here, but more needs to be done. The paper does not present new research results; hence, it should be considered to be a “tutorial” paper.

California↗
USGS2012

Integrated science and interdisciplinary research for parks and protected areas

This paper summarizes presentations and discussion that focused on integrated science and the use of interdisciplinary research during a panel session held at the George Wright Society Meeting in New Orleans, March 14, 2011. The panel brought together nationally recognized members from the social and biological scientific communities, along with decision-makers and managers of parks and protected areas. The goal of the panel was to spark a discussion among panel members and the audience on the benefits and challenges of utilizing interdisciplinary research and integrated science to answer complex questions at the international, national, regional, and local park levels. The key focus points for the panel presentations and subsequent discussion revolved around the following five questions: How do we define interdisciplinary research and integrated science? What are the benefits, drawbacks, and challenges of interdisciplinary research and integrated science? When should this type of science be used? What are the barriers to employing interdisciplinary research and integrated science, and how can those perceived barriers be overcome? What are some examples of situations where this type of science has worked for you? We will break this paper down into seven sections, each summarizing the results of the panel presentations and subsequent audience discussion: 1. How do we define integrated science and interdisciplinary research? 2. The need for integrated science. 3. The challenges of integrated science and interdisciplinary research. 4. The benefits of integrated science and interdisciplinary research. 5. Integrated science in protected area management. 6. Communicating integrated science. 7. Key components to improve scientific outcomes.

Conference Paper↗
USGS1995

Coal geology of the Paleocene-Eocene Calvert Bluff Formation (Wilcox Group) and the Eocene Manning Formation (Jackson Group) in east-central Texas: Field trip guidebook for the Society for Organic Petrology, Twelfth Annual Meeting, The Woodlands, Texas, August 30, 1995

The Jackson and Wilcox Groups of eastern Texas (fig. 1) are the major lignite producing intervals in the Gulf Region. Within these groups, the major lignite-producing formations are the Paleocene-Eocene Calvert Bluff Formation (Wilcox) and the Eocene Manning Formation (Jackson). According to the Keystone Coal Industry Manual (Maclean Hunter Publishing Company, 1994), the Gulf Coast basin produces about 57 million short tons of lignite annually. The state of Texas ranks number 6 in coal production in the United States. Most of the lignite is used for electric power generation in mine-mouth power plant facilities. In recent years, particular interest has been given to lignite quality and the distribution and concentration of about a dozen trace elements that have been identified as potential hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) by the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments. As pointed out by Oman and Finkelman (1994), Gulf Coast lignite deposits have elevated concentrations of many of the HAPs elements (Be, Cd, Co, Cr, Hg, Mn, Se, U) on a as-received gm/mmBtu basis when compared to other United States coal deposits used for fuel in thermo-electric power plants. Although regulations have not yet been established for acceptable emissions of the HAPs elements during coal burning, considerable research effort has been given to the characterization of these elements in coal feed stocks. The general purpose of the present field trip and of the accompanying collection of papers is to investigate how various aspects of east Texas lignite geology might collectively influence the quality of the lignite fuel. We hope that this collection of papers will help future researchers understand the complex, multifaceted interrelations of coal geology, petrology, palynology and coal quality, and that this introduction to the geology of the lignite deposits of east Texas might serve as a stimulus for new ideas to be applied to other coal basins in the U.S. and abroad.

Texas↗
USGS2015

Biogeochemical aspects of uranium mineralization, mining, milling, and remediation

Natural uranium (U) occurs as a mixture of three radioactive isotopes: 238 U, 235 U, and 234 U. Only 235 U is fissionable and makes up about 0.7% of natural U, while 238 U is overwhelmingly the most abundant at greater than 99% of the total mass of U. Prior to the 1940s, U was predominantly used as a coloring agent, and U-bearing ores were mined mainly for their radium (Ra) and/or vanadium (V) content; the bulk of the U was discarded with the tailings (Finch et al., 1972). Once nuclear fission was discovered, the economic importance of U increased greatly. The mining and milling of U-bearing ores is the first step in the nuclear fuel cycle, and the contact of residual waste with natural water is a potential source of contamination of U and associated elements to the environment. Uranium is mined by three basic methods: surface (open pit), underground, and solution mining (in situ leaching or in situ recovery), depending on the deposit grade, size, location, geology and economic considerations (Abdelouas, 2006). Solid wastes at U mill tailings (UMT) sites can include both standard tailings (i.e., leached ore rock residues) and solids generated on site by waste treatment processes. The latter can include sludge or “mud” from neutralization of acidic mine/mill effluents, containing Fe and a range of coprecipitated constituents, or barium sulfate precipitates that selectively remove Ra (e.g., Carvalho et al., 2007). In this chapter, we review the hydrometallurgical processes by which U is extracted from ore, the biogeochemical processes that can affect the fate and transport of U and associated elements in the environment, and possible remediation strategies for site closure and aquifer restoration. This paper represents the fourth in a series of review papers from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) on geochemical aspects of UMT management that span more than three decades. The first paper (Landa, 1980) in this series is a primer on the nature of tailings and radionuclide mobilization from them. The second paper (Landa, 1999) includes coverage of research carried out under the U.S. Department of Energy’s Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action Program (UMTRA). The third paper (Landa, 2004) reflects the increased focus of researchers on biotic effects in UMT environs. This paper expands the focus to U mining, milling, and remedial actions, and includes extensive coverage of the increasingly important alkaline in situ recovery and groundwater restoration.

Applied Geochemistry↗
USGS2023

Stocking fish in inland waters: Opportunities and risks for sustainable food systems

Stocking is one of the foremost tools in the inland fisheries management toolbox, but it comes with both opportunities and risks. Stocking is often used as compensation for depleted wild populations, particularly where recruitment processes have been disrupted, but it can introduce disease, disrupt community structures, reduce genetic integrity, and cause conflicts between fishery stakeholders. Despite its widespread use, examples of effective stocking for food fisheries in inland waters are sparse in the peer-reviewed literature. Nevertheless, it is well established that stocking is frequently used to maintain fish yield, so there is a need to conduct the practice in a robust manner that minimises the potential risks. This paper serves as the front matter for a special section of Fisheries Management and Ecology focused on fresh waters feeding the world, which resulted from two panel sessions, one focused on aquaculture and one focused on stocking, hosted by the international InFish research network ( https://infish.org/ ). The paper highlights current practices of fish stock enhancement in inland waters for food, examines potential synergies and interactions of stock enhancement programmes with aquaculture, and provides an outline framework for responsible management of fish stock enhancement.

Fisheries Management and Ecology↗
USGS2023

Ten best practices for effective phenological research

The number and diversity of phenological studies has increased rapidly in recent years. Innovative experiments, field studies, citizen science projects, and analyses of newly available historical data are contributing insights that advance our understanding of ecological and evolutionary responses to the environment, particularly climate change. However, many phenological data sets have peculiarities that are not immediately obvious and can lead to mistakes in analyses and interpretation of results. This paper aims to help researchers, especially those new to the field of phenology, understand challenges and practices that are crucial for effective studies. For example, researchers may fail to account for sampling biases in phenological data, struggle to choose or design a volunteer data collection strategy that adequately fits their project’s needs, or combine data sets in inappropriate ways. We describe ten best practices for designing studies of plant and animal phenology, evaluating data quality, and analyzing data. Practices include accounting for common biases in data, using effective citizen or community science methods, and employing appropriate data when investigating phenological mismatches. We present these best practices to help researchers entering the field take full advantage of the wealth of available data and approaches to advance our understanding of phenology and its implications for ecology.

International Journal of Biometeorology↗
USGS2003

A strategy for mapping mid-scale existing vegetation in support of national fire fuel assessment

Geospatial distribution of natural vegetation is among the very important environmental parameters required for applications ranging from global climate change to monitoring of natural hazards, monitoring of ecosystem vitality, and fire management practices. Increasingly sophisticated applications require vegetation datasets to cover large areas at a suitable scale and provide sufficiently detailed information. In this paper, we describe a research effort to develop a remote sensing methodology capable of producing 30-meter resolution, wall-to-wall coverage of existing vegetation types and structure variables in support of a multi-agency fire fuels and fire risks assessment project. Success of this remote sensing research effort is dependent on improved sensor and data qualities, a thorough understanding of regional and local vegetation ecology, successful integration of remote sensing with a large amount of field plot data, and flexible mapping algorithms. Preliminary results produced in the Wasatch Range and Uinta Mountains of central Utah include 28 vegetation types with an overall accuracy of 60% (average by life forms), percent canopy density (sub-pixel density) of forest, shrub, and herbaceous cover (correlation coefficient of 89, 60, and 55% respectively), and average top canopy height of forest, shrub, and herbaceous cover (correlation coefficient of 73, 50, 20% respectively). Techniques to improve the first-round results are discussed, including refinements of mapping models and use of relevant environmental gradients and potential vegetation classification associated with actual vegetation types.

Conference Paper↗
USGS2004

Polar organic chemical integrative sampling and liquid chromatography- electrospray/ion-trap mass spectrometry for assessing selected prescription and illicit drugs in treated sewage effluents

The purpose of the research presented in this paper was twofold: (1) to demonstrate the coupling of two state-of-the-art techniques: a time-weighted polar organic chemical integrative sampler (POCIS) and microliquid chromatography–electrospray/ion-trap mass spectrometry and (2) to assess the ability of these methodologies to detect six drugs (azithromycin, fluoxetine, omeprazole, levothyroxine, methamphetamine, methylenedioxymethamphetamine [MDMA]) in a real-world environment, e.g., waste water effluent. In the effluent from three wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), azithromycin was detected at concentrations ranging from 15 to 66 ng/L, which is equivalent to a total annual release of 1 to 4 kg into receiving waters. Detected and confirmed in the effluent from two WWTPs were two illicit drugs, methamphetamine and MDMA, at 2 and 0.5 ng/L, respectively. Although the ecotoxicologic significance of drugs in environmental matrices, particularly water, has not been closely examined, it can only be surmised that these substances have the potential to adversely affect biota that are continuously exposed to them even at very low levels. The potential for chronic effects on human health is also unknown but of increasing concern because of the multiuse character of water, particularly in densely populated, arid areas.

Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxico↗
USGS2024

Long-term communication of aftershock forecasts: The Canterbury earthquake sequence in New Zealand

On 14 February 2016, a magnitude (M)5.7 earthquake struck in Christchurch New Zealand (Aotearoa in the Maori language). The shaking caused damage to historic facades, power outages, cliff collapses, rock falls, and liquefaction but no reported injuries or fatalities. This Valentine’s Day earthquake was an aftershock in the Canterbury earthquake sequence (CES), which began on 4 September 2010 with the M7.1 Darfield Earthquake and included the destructive and fatal M6.2 Christchurch aftershock on 22 February 2011. This study, eight months after the Valentine’s Day earthquake and six years after the initiation of the CES, is the first to explore long-term aftershock forecast information and communication needs. The exploratory study also aimed to gather feedback on aftershock scenarios, an alternative form for communicating the forecast. The qualitative study involved workshops with emergency managers, public health officials, and members of the public in Christchurch. Key findings for long-term communication throughout an earthquake sequence include: 1. divergent earthquake experiences affect aftershock communication response and information needs; 2. understanding aftershock sequence behavior is foundational to sense-making when large aftershocks occur; 3. strategic earthquake sequence updates from the trusted science agency and local agencies could serve as important reminders for earthquake preparedness; 4. communication of aftershock forecast uncertainty could aid with both the credibility of the information and living with uncertainty, and 5. inclusion of impact information and preparedness advice into aftershock forecast scenarios could provide links to actionable information. The paper derives implications for research and practice of long-term communications during an aftershock sequence.

Christchurch↗
USGS2010

Web-enabled Landsat Data (WELD): Landsat ETM+ composited mosaics of the conterminous United States

Since January 2008, the U.S. Department of Interior / U.S. Geological Survey have been providing free terrain-corrected (Level 1T) Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) data via the Internet, currently for acquisitions with less than 40% cloud cover. With this rich dataset, temporally composited, mosaics of the conterminous United States (CONUS) were generated on a monthly, seasonal, and annual basis using 6521 ETM+ acquisitions from December 2007 to November 2008. The composited mosaics are designed to provide consistent Landsat data that can be used to derive land cover and geo-physical and bio-physical products for detailed regional assessments of land-cover dynamics and to study Earth system functioning. The data layers in the composited mosaics are defined at 30 m and include top of atmosphere (TOA) reflectance, TOA brightness temperature, TOA normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), the date each composited pixel was acquired on, per-band radiometric saturation status, cloud mask values, and the number of acquisitions considered in the compositing period. Reduced spatial resolution browse imagery, and top of atmosphere 30 m reflectance time series extracted from the monthly composites, capture the expected land surface phenological change, and illustrate the potential of the composited mosaic data for terrestrial monitoring at high spatial resolution. The composited mosaics are available in 501 tiles of 5000 × 5000 30 m pixels in the Albers equal area projection and are downloadable at http://landsat.usgs.gov/WELD.php . The research described in this paper demonstrates the potential of Landsat data processing to provide a consistent, long-term, large-area, data record.

Remote Sensing of Environment↗
USGS2017

Salinity influences on aboveground and belowground net primary productivity in tidal wetlands

Tidal freshwater wetlands are one of the most vulnerable ecosystems to climate change and rising sea levels. However salinification within these systems is poorly understood, therefore, productivity (litterfall, woody biomass, and fine roots) were investigated on three forested tidal wetlands [(1) freshwater, (2) moderately saline, and (3) heavily salt-impacted] and a marsh along the Waccamaw and Turkey Creek in South Carolina. Mean aboveground (litterfall and woody biomass) production on the freshwater, moderately saline, heavily salt-impacted, and marsh, respectively, was 1,061, 492, 79, and 0     g   m − 2   year − 1 versus belowground (fine roots) 860, 490, 620, and 2,128     g   m − 2   year − 1 . Litterfall and woody biomass displayed an inverse relationship with salinity. Shifts in productivity across saline sites is of concern because sea level is predicted to continue rising. Results from the research reported in this paper provide baseline data upon which coupled hydrologic/wetland models can be created to quantify future changes in tidal forest functions.

South Carolina↗
USGS1998

Successful water quality monitoring: The right combination of intent, measurement, interpretation, and a cooperating ecosystem

Water quality monitoring is invaluable to ensure compliance with regulations, detect trends or patterns, and advance ecological understanding. However, monitoring typically measures only a few characteristics in a small fraction of a large and complex system, and thus the information contained in monitoring data depends upon which features of the ecosystem are actually captured by the measurements. Difficulties arise when these data contain something other than intended, but this can be minimized if the purpose of the sampling is clear, and the sampling design, measurements, and data interpretations are all compatible with this purpose. The monitoring program and data interpretation must also be properly matched to the structure and functioning of the system. Obtaining this match is sometimes an iterative process that demands a close link between research and monitoring. This paper focuses on water quality monitoring that is intended to track trends in aquatic resources and advance ecological understanding. It includes examples from three monitoring programs and a simulation exercise that illustrate problems that arise when the information content of monitoring data differs from expectation. The examples show (1) how inconsistencies among, or lack of information about, the basic elements of a monitoring program (intent, design, measurement, interpretation, and the monitored system) can produce a systematic difference (bias) between monitoring measurements and sampling intent or interpretation, and (2) that bias is not just a statistical consideration, but an insidious problem that can undermine the scientific integrity of a monitoring program. Some general suggestions are provided and hopefully these examples will help those engaged in water quality monitoring to enhance and protect the value of their monitoring investment.

Lake and Reservoir Management↗
USGS1994

Preliminary results of a binational research cruise in the Western Arctic Ocean

This paper is a condensed version of a report on the preliminary results of a research cruise under the direction of the U. S. Geological Survey, on board the United States Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star to Northwind Ridge and Canada Basin of the Western Arctic Ocean, during the period August 16‐September 15, 1993. Major objectives of the cruise were to: survey the geology of the North‐wind Ridge and Canada Basin; determine whether radionuclide contamination from disposal of solid and liquid nuclear wastes by the former Soviet Union in the Kara and Barents seas had penetrated the North American Arctic; acquire sediment cores in support of research on the history of glaciation in the region; and gain a better understanding of water structure and currents, sea‐ice physics, and sediment and nutrient transport.

Arctic Ocean, Canada Basin, Northwind Ridge↗