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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2007

Enhancing water cycle measurements for future hydrologic research

The Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Sciences, Inc., established the Hydrologic Measurement Facility to transform watershed-scale hydrologic research by facilitating access to advanced instrumentation and expertise that would not otherwise be available to individual investigators. We outline a committee-based process that determined which suites of instrumentation best fit the needs of the hydrological science community and a proposed mechanism for the governance and distribution of these sensors. Here, we also focus on how these proposed suites of instrumentation can be used to address key scientific challenges, including scaling water cycle science in time and space, broadening the scope of individual subdisciplines of water cycle science, and developing mechanistic linkages among these subdisciplines and spatio-temporal scales. ?? 2007 American Meteorological Society.

Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society↗
USGS1989

Results of hydrologic research at a low-level radioactive-waste disposal site near Sheffield, Illinois

Ten years of hydrologic research have been conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey at a commercial low-level radioactive-waste disposal site near Sheffield, Illinois. Research included studies of microclimate, evapotranspiration, and tritium release by plants; runoff and land modification; water movement through a trench cover; water and tritium movement in the unsaturated zone; gases in the unsaturated zone; water and tritium movement in the saturated zone; and water chemistry. Implications specific to each research topic and those based on overlapping research topics are summarized as to their potential effect on the selection, characterization, design, operation, and decommissioning processes of future low-level radioactive-waste disposal sites. Unconsolidated deposits at the site are diverse in lithologic character and are spatially and stratigraphically complex. Thickness of these Quaternary deposits ranges from 3 to 27 meters and averages 17 meters. The unconsolidated deposits overlay 140 meters of Pennsylvanian shale, mudstone, siltstone, and coal. Approximately 90,500 cubic meters of waste were buried from August 1967 through August 1978, in 21 trenches that were constructed in glacial materials by using a cut-and-fill process. Trenches generally were constructed below grade and ranged from 11 to 180 meters long, 2.4 to 21 meters wide, and 2.4 to about 7.9 meters deep. Research on microclimate and evapotranspiration at the site was conducted from July 1982 through June 1984. Continuous measurements were made of precipitation, incoming and reflected solar (shortwave) radiation, incoming and emitted terrestrial (longwave) radiation, horizontal windspeed and direction, wet- and dry-bulb air temperature, barometric pressure, soil-heat fluxes, and soil temperature. Soil-moisture content, for this research phase, was measured approximately biweekly. Evapotranspiration rates were estimated by using three techniques--energy budget, aerodynamic profile, and water budget. Although monthly totals for each method differed, estimated annual evapotranspiration averages ranged from 630 to 693 millimeters or about 70 percent of precipitation. Tritium concentrations in leaf water from on-site plants were determined for 125 vegetation samples collected during the summers of 1982 through 1986. Concentrations varied significantly among some locations and plant types. Tritium concentrations ranged from the detection limit of 0 .2 to 1,330 nanocuries per liter, with alfalfa (Medicago sativa) having the highest concentrations, followed by brome grass (Bromus inermis), and then red clover (Trifoleum pratense); these variations in concentration are most likely a result of root depth. Runoff and sediment transport were measured from July 1982 through December 1985 in four basins--three comprising almost two-thirds of the 8.1-hectare site and one comprising a 1.4-hectare undisturbed area. Volumes and equivalent weights of collapses were estimated from records of site surficial conditions from October 1978 through December 1985. Runoff showed a direct relation to degree of land modification; lowest mean yields were measured at the undisturbed area, and highest mean yields were measured from the basin composed wholly of trench and intertrench areas. Sediment yield measured onsite averaged 3.4 megagrams per hectare. A total of 315 collapse cavities, corresponding to a cumulative volume of about 500 cubic meters, were documented. Most collapses were recorded after periods of rainfall or snowmelt when soil moisture was near maximum. Almost two-thirds of the collapses, corresponding to 63 percent of the cumulative cavity volume, occurred during February through April. Data for the study of water movement through a trench cover were collected from July 1982 through June 1934. Pressure-head data were collected at four different clusters at depths ranging from 50 to 1,850 millimeters within a selected trench cover. Soil-moisture content for this research phase was measured weekly with a gamma-attenuation moisture probe. The amount of water stored within the trench cover fluctuated in an annual cycle. Moisture contents were greatest in late March or early April, decreased steadily from late spring through the summer, reached a minimum in late August or early September, and then increased gradually from midfall through the winter. Depths of wetting-front movements were a function of initial soil-moisture content and total storm precipitation. Seepage to the trench was estimated by use of four different methods: the Darcy method, the zero-flux phase method, the surface-based water-budget method, and the ground-water based water-budget method. Estimates by the different methods differed considerably. Investigation of the unsaturated zone at the site began in 1981 and is ongoing (1987). Water movement was measured along a generalized vertical section through four trenches. A 120-meter-long, 2-meter-diameter horizontal tunnel provided access below the trenches. The timing of water movement varied temporally and spatially. Vertical flow was inhibited at interfaces between lithologic units of contrasting hydraulic conductivities. Data also indicate that water movement through the sand of the Toulon Member of the Glasford Formation occurs along localized partially saturated to saturated flow paths. Average velocities of water movement through the extent of the unsaturated zone, as estimated by a saturation-tracking method, ranged from 0.04 to 0.34 meter per day. Tritium concentrations in the unsaturated zone varied spatially reflecting the heterogeneity of wastes in the overlying trenches and local hydrogeologic conditions. Tritium concentrations at all lysimeter locations increased with time; however, the increases usually were of small magnitude. Tritium concentrations increased abruptly, from five to nine times previous concentrations, at only 3 of 14 locations. Gas samples were collected from a network of soil-gas piezometers located in the undisturbed unsaturated zone near a waste trench at approximately 70-day intervals during 1984-86. Relative proportions of nitrogen, oxygen plus argon, carbon dioxide, methane, ethane, propane, butane, tritiated water vapor, carbon dioxide, and 222radon were converted to partial pressures, based on a mean atmospheric pressure of 98.6 kilopascals. Methane and 14 carbon dioxide were identified as originating in the waste and having mean partial pressures that generally decreased with horizontal distance from the trench and with vertical distance to the land surface. Partial-pressure gradients for other radioactive gases were not detected in the gas sampling network; definable gradients may occur much nearer to the waste source. Ground-water flow has been studied at the site since 1976. The spatial, stratigraphic, and lithologic complexity of the unconsolidated deposits that compose the shallow aquifer result in the free water surface intersecting nine different lithologic units at the site. Saturated hydraulic conductivities of these units range from about 4x10-12 to 8x10-6 centimeters per second. Three ground-water basins were defined within the shallow aquifer, with flow generally from west to east. Ground-water velocities are highly variable. A tracer test conducted in a pebbly-sand unit resulted in velocities in the range of 640 to 770 meters per year. Estimated velocities for the other units ranged from 2 to 490 meters per year. Tritium was detected in observation wells on-site in 1976 and off-site in 1982. Concentrations ranged from the analytical detection limit of 0.2 to over 300 nanocuries per liter. Seasonal variations in tritium concentrations were observed in most wells, and dilution caused by infiltrating rainfall was observed. Water-chemistry research included the collection and analysis of precipitation, geologic materials, and unsaturated- and saturated-zone water, both on-site and off-site, and in all geologic units, during 1978 to 1984. Precipitation was a calcium-zinc-sulfate type water. Calcium and bicarbonate were the most abundant cation and anion, respectively, in the geologic materials. Mean dissolved organic carbon and tritium concentrations (45 milligrams per liter and 290 nanocuries per liter, respectively) were greater in samples from six lysimeters located directly below waste trenches and one located within a trench, than in samples from all other lysimeters (8.4 milligrams per liter and 17 nanocuries per liter, respectively). Water in the saturated zone was generally a magnesium-bicarbonate type. Tritium was the only radionuclide detected in the saturated zone.

Illinois↗
USGS1964

Tritium-hydrologic research: Some results of the U.S. Geological Survey Research Program

In general tritium is of limited usefulness as a tool in hydrologic studies because the tritium content of ground water, as a result of radioactive decay, becomes too low to be detectable after about 50 years. Nevertheless, a unique study was made of the hydrologic cycle of small stream basins in Wisconsin and New Jersey on the basis of measurements relative to the peak of tritium fallout in the spring of 1958. The continental and the coastal basins received approximately the same tritium fallout. Approximately 30 percent went into ground-water storage, the remainder being exported as runoff and evapotranspiration. The mean residence time for ground-water recharge for the two basins was 45 and 30 days, respectively.

New Jersey, Wisconsin↗
USGS2008

Advancing process‐based watershed hydrological research using near‐surface geophysics: A vision for, and review of, electrical and magnetic geophysical methods

We want to develop a dialogue between geophysicists and hydrologists interested in synergistically advancing process based watershed research. We identify recent advances in geophysical instrumentation, and provide a vision for the use of electrical and magnetic geophysical instrumentation in watershed scale hydrology. The focus of the paper is to identify instrumentation that could significantly advance this vision for geophysics and hydrology during the next 3–5 years. We acknowledge that this is one of a number of possible ways forward and seek only to offer a relatively narrow and achievable vision. The vision focuses on the measurement of geological structure and identification of flow paths using electrical and magnetic methods. The paper identifies instruments, provides examples of their use, and describes how synergy between measurement and modelling could be achieved. Of specific interest are the airborne systems that can cover large areas and are appropriate for watershed studies. Although airborne geophysics has been around for some time, only in the last few years have systems designed exclusively for hydrological applications begun to emerge. These systems, such as airborne electromagnetic (EM) and transient electromagnetic (TEM), could revolutionize hydrogeological interpretations. Our vision centers on developing nested and cross scale electrical and magnetic measurements that can be used to construct a three‐dimensional (3D) electrical or magnetic model of the subsurface in watersheds. The methodological framework assumes a ‘top down’ approach using airborne methods to identify the large scale, dominant architecture of the subsurface. We recognize that the integration of geophysical measurement methods, and data, into watershed process characterization and modelling can only be achieved through dialogue. Especially, through the development of partnerships between geophysicists and hydrologists, partnerships that explore how the application of geophysics can answer critical hydrological science questions, and conversely provide an understanding of the limitations of geophysical measurements and interpretation.

Hydrological Processes↗
USGS2013

Hydrogeology, groundwater seepage, nitrate distribution, and flux at the Raleigh hydrologic research station, Wake County, North Carolina, 2005-2007

rom 2005 to 2007, the U.S. Geological Survey and the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Division of Water Quality, conducted a study to describe the geologic framework, measure groundwater quality, characterize the groundwater-flow system, and describe the groundwater/surface-water interaction at the 60-acre Raleigh hydrogeologic research station (RHRS) located at the Neuse River Waste Water Treatment Plant in eastern Wake County, North Carolina. Previous studies have shown that the local groundwater quality of the surficial and bedrock aquifers at the RHRS had been affected by high levels of nutrients. Geologic, hydrologic, and water-quality data were collected from 3 coreholes, 12 wells, and 4 piezometers at 3 well clusters, as well as from 2 surface-water sites, 2 multiport piezometers, and 80 discrete locations in the streambed of the Neuse River. Data collected were used to evaluate the three primary zones of the Piedmont aquifer (regolith, transition zone, and fractured bedrock) and characterize the interaction of groundwater and surface water as a mechanism of nutrient transport to the Neuse River. A conceptual hydrogeologic cross section across the RHRS was constructed using new and existing data. Two previously unmapped north striking, nearly vertical diabase dikes intrude the granite beneath the site. Groundwater within the diabase dike appeared to be hydraulically isolated from the surrounding granite bedrock and regolith. A correlation exists between foliation and fracture orientation, with most fractures striking parallel to foliation. Flowmeter logging in two of the bedrock wells indicated that not all of the water-bearing fractures labeled as water bearing were hydraulically active, even when stressed by pumping. Groundwater levels measured in wells at the RHRS displayed climatic and seasonal trends, with elevated groundwater levels occurring during the late spring and declining to a low in the late fall. Vertical gradients in the groundwater discharge area near the Neuse River were complex and were affected by fluctuations in river stage, with the exception of a well completed in a diabase dike. Water-quality data from the wells and surface-water sites at the RHRS were collected continuously as well as during periodic sampling events. Surface-water samples collected from a tributary were most similar in chemical composition to groundwater found in the regolith and transition zone. Nitrate (measured as nitrite plus nitrate, as nitrogen) concentrations in the sampled wells and tributary ranged from about 5 to more than 120 milligrams per liter as nitrogen. Waterborne continuous resistivity profiling conducted on the Neuse River in the area of the RHRS measured areas of low apparent resistivity that likely represent groundwater contaminated by high concentrations of nitrate. These areas were located on either side of a diabase dike and at the outfall of two unnamed tributaries. The diabase dike preferentially directed the discharge of groundwater to the Neuse River and may isolate groundwater movement laterally. Discrete temperature measurements made within the pore water beneath the Neuse River revealed seeps of colder groundwater discharging into warmer surface water near a diabase dike. Water-quality samples collected from the pore water beneath the Neuse River indicated that nitrate was present at concentrations as high as 80 milligrams per liter as nitrogen on the RHRS side of the river. The highest concentrations of nitrate were located within pore water collected from an area near a diabase dike that was identified as a suspected seepage area. Hydraulic head was measured and pore water samples were collected from two 140-centimeter-deep (55.1-inch-deep) multiport piezometers that were installed in bed sediments on opposite sides of a diabase dike. The concentration of nitrate in pore water at a suspected seepage area ranged from 42 to 82 milligrams per liter as nitrogen with a median concentration of 79 milligrams per liter as nitrogen. On the opposite side of the dike, concentrations of nitrate in pore water samples ranged from 3 to 91 milligrams per liter as nitrogen with a median concentration of 52 milligrams per liter. At one of the multiport piezometers the vertical gradient of hydraulic head between the Neuse River and the groundwater was too small to measure. At the multiport piezometer located in the suspected seepage area, an upward gradient of about 0.1 was present and explains the occurrence of higher concentrations of nitrate near the sediment/water interface. Horizontal seepage flux from the surficial aquifer to the edge of the Neuse River was estimated for 2006. Along a 130-foot flow path, the estimated seepage flux ranged from –0.52 to 0.2 foot per day with a median of 0.09 foot per day. The estimated advective horizontal mass flux of nitrate along a 300-foot reach of the Neuse River ranged from –10.9 to 5 pounds per day with a median of 2.2 pounds per day. The total horizontal mass flux of nitrate from the surficial aquifer to the Neuse River along the 130-foot flow path was estimated to be about 750 pounds for all of 2006. Seepage meters were deployed on the bed of the Neuse River in the areas of the multiport piezometers on either side of the diabase dike to estimate rates of vertical groundwater discharge and flux of nitrate. The average estimated daily seepage flux differed by two orders of magnitude between seepage areas. The potential vertical flux of nitrate from groundwater to the Neuse River was estimated at an average of 2.5 grams per day near one of the multiport piezometers and an average of 784 grams per day at the other. These approximations suggest that under some hydrologic conditions there is the potential for substantial quantities of nitrate to discharge from the groundwater to the Neuse River.

North Carolina↗
USGS2018

Findings and lessons learned from the assessment of the Mexico-United States transboundary San Pedro and Santa Cruz aquifers: The utility of social science in applied hydrologic research

Study Region This study region encompasses the Transboundary San Pedro and Santa Cruz aquifers which are shared between the states of Sonora (Mexico) and Arizona (US). Special regional considerations include a semi-arid climate, basin-fill aquifers with predominantly montane recharge areas, economic drivers in the mining, trade, and military sectors, groundwater-dependent cities with expanding cones of depression, interbasin groundwater transfers, ground- and surface-water contamination, and protected aquatic and riparian habitats that act as significant migration corridors for hundreds of species, including some that are threatened and endangered. Study Focus We focus on lessons learned from the hydrologic assessment of the Transboundary San Pedro and Santa Cruz aquifers. We conducted the work, in two phases: (1) laying the groundwork and (2) implementation. The “laying the groundwork” phase consisted of binational meetings with stakeholders and key actors (agencies and individuals), and the development of an understanding of the physical, institutional, historical, and socio-political context. This led to signing of the binational Transboundary Aquifer Assessment Program (TAAP) agreement in 2009 and detailed the process for cooperation and coordination in the assessment of shared aquifers. The implementation phase began with an agreement to proceed with the study of four “focus” aquifers (Santa Cruz, San Pedro, Mesilla (Conejos-Médanos in Mexico), and Hueco Bolson (Bolsón del Hueco in Mexico)) and development of associated technical teams. Though we do include a brief discussion of the lessons learned from the physical science portion of the study, the results have been described and published elsewhere. The bulk of the paper instead focuses on the findings and lessons learned from the integration of social-science perspectives into a largely physical-science based program, since there is a growing recognition of the need for this type of approach especially in the management and assessment of transboundary aquifers. New Hydrological Insights for the Region The Sonora-Arizona effort succeeded because both countries were adequately represented, and because of flexibility of skills and ability of teams comprising both university and government scientists. Teams included social and earth scientists. Including the social sciences was critical to research design and implementation, and to addressing the cultural, institutional, and socio-political contexts of transboundary aquifer assessment. Significant components of the continuing implementation phase include strategic planning, data compilation and analysis, cross-border integration of datasets, geophysical and geochemical surveys, and internal, peer, and stakeholder engagement.

Arizona, Sonora↗
USGS1992

Hydrologic research at the Princeton, Minnesota management systems evaluation area

The Management Systems Evaluation Area (MSEA) program is part of a multi-scale, inter-agency initiative to evaluate the effects of agricultural management systems on water quality. The program resulted from the integration of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Research Plan for Water Quality and the U.S Geological Survey (USGS) Mid-Continent Herbicide Initiative and is part of the President's Water Quality Initiative. The mid-continental corn belt was selected for study because it is an area where about 60% of the Nation's pesticides and nitrogen fertilizers are used.

Minnesota↗
USGS1970

Hydrologic research on instrumented watersheds

The successful research man is the one who asks himself the right question. Research must go on primarily in the mind and only secondarily in the physical and biological world. It is only too easy to confuse the choice of a proper tool and the choice of a proper question. Some tools are quite unsuited to certain questions and some questions cannot be answered without the appropriate tool. There has been in recent years a large amount of discussion about whether the high costs and the extensive time period required for experimental watershed* research is really worth the investment. Recent discussions of this matter have cited as major criticisms of the instrumented basin that they are expensive, they leak water, they are unrepresentative, they produce changes too small for detection, and it is difficult to transfer the results. (See Hewlett, Lull, and Reinhart, 1969.) These are all questions worth talking about, but in one sense they tend to obscure the main issue. The main issue is what do we want to learn? If we can decide what it is we want to know, then we can logically ask ourselves what is the best way of going about obtaining that knowledge. It is in this context that we are most likely to place the experimental watershed in a useful and logical position in a classification of research methods.

Conference Paper↗
USGS2014

Report of the Committee on Runoff, 1948–1949

Because of the widely scattered locations of the membership, no assembled meeting of the Committee was held during the year, all discussions being held by correspondence. Consideration was given to three subjects during the year: (1) standardization of terminology as related to runoff (continued from previous year), (2) deficiencies in hydrologic research, and (3) current programs of hydrologic research. With respect to terminology, the wide divergence of opinion among committee members with respect to the definition of terms fairly common in hydrologic literature emphasizes the need for more uniformity. Various authors use the same terms to describe slightly different runoff phenomena. The Committee, while unable to agree at this date on recommended definitions, urges writers to restrict their terminology so far as practicable to that previously used. Nothing is gained by inventing a new name for a phenomenon which has already been satisfactorily named by a previous writer. On the other hand, precise definitions are necessary to proper understanding, and loose usage of runoff terms only destroys their usefulness. Where any question as to the intended definition exists, it is preferable for the author to present his definition until better agreement as to the accepted definition has been reached.

Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union↗
USGS2014

Water's Way at Sleepers River watershed – revisiting flow generation in a post-glacial landscape, Vermont USA

The Sleepers River Research Watershed (SRRW) in Vermont, USA, has been the site of active hydrologic research since 1959 and was the setting where Dunne and Black demonstrated the importance and controls of saturation-excess overland flow (SOF) on streamflow generation. Here, we review the early studies from the SRRW and show how they guided our conceptual approach to hydrologic research at the SRRW during the most recent 25 years. In so doing, we chronicle a shift in the field from early studies that relied exclusively on hydrometric measurements to today's studies that include chemical and isotopic approaches to further elucidate streamflow generation mechanisms. Highlights of this evolution in hydrologic understanding include the following: (i) confirmation of the importance of SOF to streamflow generation, and at larger scales than first imagined; (ii) stored catchment water dominates stream response, except under unusual conditions such as deep frozen ground; (iii) hydrometric, chemical and isotopic approaches to hydrograph separation yield consistent and complementary results; (iv) nitrate and sulfate isotopic compositions specific to atmospheric inputs constrain new water contributions to streamflow; and (v) convergent areas, or ‘hillslope hollows’, contribute disproportionately to event hydrographs. We conclude by summarizing some remaining challenges that lead us to a vision for the future of research at the SRRW to address fundamental questions in the catchment sciences.

Vermont↗
USGS2000

Differences in topographic characteristics computed from 100- and 1000-m resolution digital elevation model data

Topographic characteristics computed from 100- and 1000-m resolution digital elevation model (DEM) data are compared for 50 locations representing varied terrain in the conterminous USA. The topographic characteristics are three parameters used extensively in hydrological research and modelling - slope (S), specific catchment area (A(s)) and a wetness index computed as the logarithm of the specific catchment area divided by slope [ln(A(s)/S)]. Slope values computed from 1000-m DEMs are smaller than those computed from 100-m DEMs; specific catchment area and the wetness index are larger for the 1000-m DEMs compared with the 100-m DEMs. Most of the differences between the 100- and 1000-m resolution DEMs can be attributed to terrain-discretization effects in the computation of the topographic characteristics and are not the result of smoothing or loss of terrain detail in the coarse data. In general, the terrain-discretization effects are greatest on flat terrain with long length-scale features, and the smoothing effects are greatest on steep terrain with short length-scale features. For the most part, the differences in the average values of the topographic characteristics computed from 100- and 1000-m resolution DEMs are predictable; that is, biases in the mean values for the characteristics computed from a 1000-m DEM can be corrected with simple linear equations. Copyright (C) 2000 John Wiley and Sons, Ltd.Topographic characteristics computed from 100- and 1000-m resolution digital elevation model (DEM) data are compared for 50 locations representing varied terrain in the conterminous USA. The topographic characteristics are three parameters used extensively in hydrological research and modelling - slope (S), specific catchment area (As) and a wetness index computed as the logarithm of the specific catchment area divided by slope [In(As/S)]. Slope values computed from 1000-m DEMs are smaller than those computed from 100-m DEMs; specific catchment area and the wetness index are larger for the 1000-m DEMs compared with the 100-m DEMs. Most of the differences between the 100- and 1000-m resolution DEMs can be attributed to terrain-discretization effects in the computation of the topographic characteristics and are not the result of smoothing or loss of terrain detail in the coarse data. In general, the terrain-discretization effects are greatest on flat terrain with long length-scale features, and the smoothing effects are greatest on steep terrain with short length-scale features. For the most part, the differences in the average values of the topographic characteristics computed from 100- and 1000-m resolution DEMs are predictable; that is, biases in the mean values for the characteristics computed from a 1000-m DEM can be corrected with simple linear equations.

Hydrological Processes↗
USGS2023

Detrending Great Basin elevation to identify structural patterns for identifying geothermal favorability

Topography provides information about the structural controls of the Great Basin and therefore information that may be used to identify favorable structural settings for geothermal systems. The Nevada Machine Learning Project (NVML) tested the use of a digital elevation map (DEM) of topography as an input feature to predict geothermal system favorability. A recent study re-examines the NVML data, identifying the DEM as the most important feature, showing a broad uniform pattern of high-favorability in the lower-elevation west and low-favorability in the higher elevation east of their study area in north-central Nevada. This regional elevation trend conflicts with the geologic notion that local relative topography should be used to identify geologic structures associated with favorable structural settings for hydrothermal upflow. Specifically, local relative topography gives information about position in the mountains, in the valleys, or at the transitions between, aiding in identification of faults and fault intersections. As part of U.S. Geological Survey efforts to engineer features that are useful for predicting geothermal resources, we construct a detrended elevation map that emphasizes local relative topography and highlights features that geologists use for identifying geothermal systems (i.e., providing machine learning algorithms with features that may improve predictive skill by emphasizing the information used by geologists). Herein, we describe the removal of the regional trend in elevation to emphasize the basin-and-range scale structural features, creating detrended elevation maps. Regional elevation trends were estimated using a local linear regression and subtracted from the actual elevation using a 30-m DEM. In an effort to optimize the detrended surface, alternate versions were produced with different rates of smoothness resulting in three detrended elevation maps. The resulting elevation trend surfaces (a proxy for crustal thickness) are compared with conductive heat flow maps, and a general pattern was observed of a negative correlation between heat flow and regional elevation in many areas, indicating that thinner crust may be causing elevated heat flow in some areas and thicker crust may cause the observed heat flow lows. Because these detrended elevation maps emphasize geologic structure and relative displacement, these products may also be useful for other geologic research including mineral exploration, hydrologic research, and defining geologic provinces.

Geothermal Resources Council Transactions↗
USGS1987

Water-resources activities of the U.S. Geological Survey in Kansas; fiscal years 1985 and 1986

The principal mission of the U.S. Geological Survey, Water Resources Division, in Kansas is to investigate the occurrence, quantity, quality, distribution, and movement of surface and groundwater throughout the State. Primary activities include the systematic collection, analysis and interpretation of hydrologic data, evaluation of water demands, and water resources research. Hydrologic investigations are conducted through: (1) data collection programs, (2) statewide or regional investigations, (3) local or areal investigations, and (4) research. These projects are funded through cooperative agreements with state and local agencies, transfer of funds from other federal agencies, and direct federal funds. Forty-three water related projects were ongoing during fiscal years 1985 and 1986 in Kansas. This report describes for each project the problem that initiated the study, the objectives of the project, the approach designed to achieve the objectives, and significant milestones or publications that resulted during fiscal years 1985 and 1986. Information on more than 2,150 data collection stations in Kansas is presented in maps and tables. A list of 47 project reports published or released by the U.S. Geological Survey, its cooperators, or technical and scientific organizations during 1985 and 1986 is provided. (Author 's abstract)

Open-File Report↗
USGS1989

Water-resources activities of the U.S. Geological Survey in Kansas; fiscal years 1987 and 1988

The principal mission of the U.S. Geological Survey, Water Resources Division, in Kansas is to investigate the occurrence, quantity, quality, distribution, and movement of surface and groundwater throughout the State. Primary activities include the systematic collection, analysis, and interpretation of hydrologic data, evaluation of water demands, and water resources research. Hydrologic investigations are conducted through four types of studies: (1) data collection programs; (2) statewide or regional investigations; (3) local or area investigations; and (4) research. These studies are funded through cooperative agreements with State and local agencies, transfer of funds from other agencies, and direct Federal funds. Thirty-six water related studies were ongoing during fiscal years 1987 and 1988 in Kansas. This report describes for each study the problem that initiated the study, the objectives of the study, the approach designed to achieve the objectives, and significant milestones and publications that resulted during fiscal years 1987 and 1988. Information on more than 2,100 data collection stations in Kansas is presented in maps and tables. A list of 46 reports and abstracts published or released by the U.S. Geological Survey, its cooperators, or technical and scientific organizations during 1987 and 1988 is provided. (USGS)

Open-File Report↗
USGS1983

Water-resources investigations of the U.S. Geological Survey in Kansas; fiscal years 1981 and 1982

One of the primary missions of the U.S. Geological Survey in Kansas is to investigate the occurrence, quantity, quality, distribution, and movement of surface and groundwater throughout the State. Primary activities include the systematic collection, analysis, and interpretation of hydrologic data, evaluation of water demands, and water-resources research. Hydrologic investigations are conducted through four basic types of projects: (1) data-collection programs, (2) local or areal investigations, (3) statewide or regional investigations, and (4) research projects. These projects are funded through cooperative agreements with State and local agencies, transfer of funds from other Federal agencies, and direct Federal funds. Forty-two water-related projects were funded during fiscal years 1981 and 1982 in Kansas. This report describes for each of these water-resources investigations the problem that initiated the study, the objectives of the project, and the approach designed to achieve this objective. Information on data-collection stations in Kansas is presented in maps and tables. A list of reports approved for publication by the U.S. Geological Survey, its cooperators, or technical and scientific organizations during fiscal years 1981 and 1982 is also provided. (USGS)

Open-File Report↗