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At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources

Land-based lidar mapping: a new surveying technique to shed light on rapid topographic change

The rate of natural change in such dynamic environments as rivers and coastlines can sometimes overwhelm the monitoring capacity of conventional surveying methods. In response to this limitation, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists are pioneering new applications of light detection and ranging (lidar), a laser-based scanning technology that promises to greatly increase our ability to track rapid topographic changes and manage their impact on affected communities.

Fact Sheet

Maps for America: cartographic products of the U.S. Geological Survey and others

"Maps for America" was originally published in 1979 as a Centennial Volume commemorating the Geological Survey's hundred years of service (1879-1979) in the earth sciences. It was an eminently fitting Centennial Year publication, for, since its establishment, the Geological Survey has continuously carried on an extensive program of mapping to provide knowledge of the topography, geology, hydrology, and natural resources of our Nation. This volume contains an organized presentation of information about the maps produced by the Geological Survey and other American organizations, public and private. Such maps are important tools for those in government and in private endeavors who are working to assure the wisest choices in managing the Nation's resources. They are particularly supportive of the Department of the Interior's role as the Nation's principal conservation agency. The second edition of "Maps for America" is intended primarily to replenish the dwindling supply of copies of the book, but it also contains a number of changes to correct or update the text and to provide more suitable illustrations in certain instances.

Report

Maps for America: cartographic products of the U.S. Geological Survey and others

"Maps for America" was originally published in 1979 as a Centennial Volume commemorating the Geological Survey's hundred years of service (1879 - 1979) in the earth sciences. It was an eminently fitting Centennial Year publication, for, since its establishment, the Geological Survey has continuously carried on an extensive program of mapping to provide knowledge of the topography, geology, hydrology, and natural resources of our nation. This volume contains an organized presentation of information about the map produced by the Geological Survey and other American organizations, public and private. Such maps are important tools for those in government and in private endeavors who are working to assure the wisest choices in managing the Nation's resources. They are particularly supportive of the Department of the Interior's role as the Nation's principal conservation agency. The third edition of "Maps for America," like the second edition, is intended primarily to replenish the supply of copies of the book, but it also contains a number of changes to correct or update the text.

Report

Practical field survey operations for flood insurance rate maps

The U.S. Geological Survey assists the Federal Emergency Management Agency in its mission to identify flood hazards and zones for risk premiums for communities nationwide, by creating flood insurance rate maps through updating hydraulic models that use river geometry data. The data collected consist of elevations of river channels, banks, and structures, such as bridges, dams, and weirs that can affect flow. To account for the model complexity of river structure hydraulics and the fidelity between river channel and structure geometry, two distinct standards for collecting geometry data are presented, both using global navigation satellite system real-time network surveying. This method is adapted from U.S. Geological Survey manuals and is foundational in hydraulic surveying for flood insurance rate maps.

Open-File Report

Mineral resources of proposed additions to the Salmon-Trinity Alps Primitive Area, California

A mineral survey of four areas totalling 80 square miles, not included during the 1968-70 examination of the proposed Salmon-Trinity Alps Wilderness, was made by the U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Bureau of Mines in 1973. Geological Survey personnel mapped the geology and collected stream-sediment and rock samples for spectrographic and chemical analysis; Bureau of Mines personnel examined the known placer and lode claims. The areas examined include: (1) the upper drainage of Red Cap Creek in Humboldt County, adjoining the northwest part of the Salmon-Trinity Alps Primitive Area; (2) an area in Trinity County south of the Primitive Area including the drainage of Big French Creek and the canyon of North Fork Trinity River from Hobo Gulch Forest Camp to the junction with East Fork of North Fork; (3) an area, also south of the Primitive Area and in Trinity County, including East Fork of North Fork from Manzanita Flat to Squaw Gulch, and the drainages of Indian Creek, Squaw Gulch, lower East Branch, and lower Yellow Jacket Creek; (4) the drainage of St. Clair Creek in Siskiyou County north of the Primitive Area; and (5) a small area on New River from the junction of Slide and Virgin Creeks downstream to the mouth of Barron Creek that was previously mapped by the Geological Survey (Hotz and others, 1972) but had not been studied by the Bureau of Mines.

California

Preliminary grid data and maps for an aeromagnetic survey of the Taylor mountains quadrangle and a portion of the Bethel quadrangle, Alaska

A preliminary data grid and maps are presented for an aeromagnetic survey of the Taylor Mountains and a portion of the Bethel quadrangles, Alaska. The aeromagnetic survey was flown by McPhar Geosurveys Ltd. for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). A flight-line spacing of 1,600 meters (1 mile) and nominal flight height of 305 meters (1,000 feet) above topography (draped) was used for the survey. The preliminary data grid has a grid cell size of 350 meters (1150 feet). Final data processing and quality control have not been applied to these data. The purpose of this preliminary data release is to allow prompt public access to these data, which are of interest for active mineral exploration in the region. A more complete data release and description will be published later once the final data processing is complete.

Open-File Report

U.S. Geological Survey STATEMAP Program—Geologic mapping for the public good

As of 2020, STATEMAP has invested more than $150 million in 48 State geological surveys, matched dollar for dollar, to complete geologic mapping projects crucial to the health and security of State natural resources and residents. For more information about STATEMAP and other geologic mapping efforts supported by the National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program, visit https://ncgmp.usgs.gov .

Fact Sheet

A review and evaluation of alternatives for updating U.S. Geological Survey land use and land cover maps

Since 1974, the U.S. Geological Survey has been engaged in a nationwide program of baseline mapping of land use and land cover and associated data at a scale of 1:250,000. As l:100,000-scale bases have become available, they have been used for mapping certain areas and for special applications. These two scales are appropriate for mapping land use and land cover data on a nationwide basis within a practical time frame, and with an acceptable degree of standardization, accuracy, and level of detail. An essential requisite to better use of the land is current information on land use and land cover conditions and on the rates and trends of changes with time. Thus, plans are underway to update these maps and data. The major considerations in planning a nationwide program for updating U.S. Geological Survey land use and land cover maps are as follows: (1) How often should maps be updated? (2) What remotely sensed source materials should be used for detecting and compiling changes in land use and land cover? (3) What base maps should be used for presenting data on land use and land cover changes? (4) What maps or portions of a map should be updated? (5) What methods should be used for identifying and mapping changes? (6) What procedures should be followed for updating maps and what formats should be used? These factors must be considered in developing a map update program that portrays an appropriate level of information, relates to and builds upon the existing U.S. Geological Survey land use and land cover digital and statistical data base, is timely, cost-effective and standardized, and meets the varying needs of land use and land cover data users.

Circular

Water utilization in the White River Basin

This report presents briefly the results of an investigation of the water and power resources of the White river made in 1943 primarily for the purpose of classification of lands adjacent to the stream that have been withdrawn for power purposes. About three days were spent by the writer in field examination of the river basin during August and September. A survey of the river from its confluence with the Deschutes River to the Mt. Hood Loop Highway is published by the Survey. Nearly all of this map was surveyed in 1932. The entire basin is shown on quadrangle sheets. A record of discharge is available for the period 1917-43 at a station near the mouth of the river, and several short records are available at points upstream and on tributary streams.

Oregon

Isostatic gravity map of Yukon Flats, east-central Alaska

The gravity data used to make this map were collected between 1959 and 1984. The data were collected by automobile, aircraft, and watercraft. Most of the data were collected as part of a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) regional gravity data collection project. Some of the data were collected as part of other USGS local projects. One data set was collected by the NGS (National Geodetic Survey). This map ranges from 65° to 68° N latitude and 141° to 152° W longitude. The names of the 12 1:250,000-scale U.S. Geological Survey quadrangle maps that make up this map are labeled on the map. The western edge of the map is 1 degree of longitude east of the edge of the three most western quadrangles.

Alaska

Surficial geology of the northern San Luis Valley, Saguache, Fremont, Custer, Alamosa, Rio Grande, Conejos, and Costilla Counties, Colorado

The San Luis Valley and associated underlying basin of south-central Colorado and north-central New Mexico is the largest structural and hydrologic basin of the Rio Grande Rift and fluvial system. The surrounding San Juan and Sangre de Cristo Mountains reveal evidence of widespread volcanism and transtensional tectonism beginning in the Oligocene and continuing to the present, as seen in fault displacement of Pleistocene to Holocene deposits along the eastern basin-bounding Sangre de Cristo fault system and fault zones along the western margin of the basin. The San Luis basin can generally be subdivided into northern and southern basins at the structural and physiographic high terrain of the San Luis Hills in the center of the basin, proximal to the Colorado-New Mexico stateline. The northern San Luis Valley can be subdivided into two subbasins at approximately the latitude of the Great Sand Dunes and San Luis Lakes, where the endorheic northern subbasin surface and subsurface flow currently accumulate in a series of playa lakes. To the south of this playa region, the Rio Grande has captured basin hydrology into a through-going fluvial system cutting through the San Luis Hills, carving the Rio Grande gorge, and ultimately flowing into the Gulf of Mexico. This surficial geologic map of the northern San Luis Valley, paired with the Alamosa, CO 1:100,000-scale geologic map (U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Map 3342) provides new and compiled geologic mapping that characterizes basin deposits and locates the traces of active faults, with the goal to provide geospatial data for future investigations related to western North American neotectonics, Pleistocene paleoclimate, and related geomorphic processes. In addition, present natural and anthropogenic water bodies have been located and updated for hydrologic modeling and water-usage investigations.

Colorado

Twelfth Annual Report of the United States Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories: Maps and panoramas

LIST OF SHEETS 1. Economic map of portions of Wyoming, Idaho, and Utah. 2. Geologic map of portions of Wyoming, Idaho, and Utah. 3. Geologic map of part of Central Wyoming. 4. Geologic map of parts of Western Wyoming and Southeastern Idaho. 5. Geologic map of Western Wyoming Southeastern Idaho, and Northeastern Utah. 6. Geologic map of the Yellowstone National Park. 7. Panoraramic views in the Wind River and Teton Mountains.

Wyoming, Idaho, Utah