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The USGS Earth Resources Observation System (EROS) Data Center near Sioux Falls is the world’s largest nonmilitary repository of remotely sensed data. The EROS archives house worldwide imagery from satellite-borne sensors and more than 7 million aerial photographs of the Nation. Much research within the USGS is based on this ever-expanding collection of image data. Digital and photographic products are made available to government agencies, commercial users, and the public. The USGS also has developed partnerships with several agencies to provide unclassified imagery for hazard management and emergency-response needs.
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Figure 1. False-color image of South Dakota. |
The USGS is a partner in the South Dakota Space Grant Consortium, which is dedicated to improving research capabilities within the State, and also hosts university researchers who work in areas of mutual interest. The USGS also participates in an educational partnership with the Flandreau Indian School. This partnership provides the school with resources and improves the quality of math and science education.
The USGS Earth Science Information Centers (ESIC’s) provide information about programs, products, and tech-nical developments. In cooperation with the South Dakota Geological Survey (SDGS), the USGS operates ESIC’s in Sioux Falls and Vermillion. As part of the national ESIC network, information is provided on cartography, geography, digital data, remote sensing, geology, geophysics, geo-chemistry, hydrology, geohydrology, aerial photography, and land use.
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Figure 2. Landsat images of Day County showing normal conditions in May 1992 (left) and flooded conditions in April 1998 (right). |
A regional study of lake sediments may provide insights into long-term climatic conditions in northeastern South Dakota. Lake sediments can provide records of climatic change over time periods that range from years to millennia. Cores of lake sediments provide a time series for documenting the last 10,000 years of climatic and environmental changes through investigations of biology, sedimentation, and chemistry. Sediments from Pickerel Lake provide a continuous record of climatic and environmental change for the last 12,000 years. Preliminary data on carbon and oxygen isotopes from sediments, fossil assemblages, magnetic susceptibility, and organic carbon and carbonate, indicate that the climate and environment changed dramatically during this period.
Rapid City and other towns near the Black Hills are prone to flash flooding because of steep stream gradients and intense thunderstorms. An extreme flood in 1972 on Rapid Creek and in adjacent drainages caused 237 deaths. In response to needs for enhanced flood-warning capabilities, the USGS is cooperating in the operation of a network of 17 stream gages and 19 precipitation gages in the Black Hills area. All gages transmit real-time data to computer systems in USGS, National Weather Service, and Pennington County Emergency Management offices. Other cooperators include the Bureau of Reclamation, USACE, and local agencies.
The USGS recently initiated a study with the South Dakota Department of Transportation (DOT) to evaluate factors affecting ice forces at bridges in response to damage to a bridge across the Missouri River. The study will involve measuring ice thickness and crushing strength and developing methods to predict these factors. Two other studies with the DOT recently were completed—a determination of channel-scour characteristics at 31 bridge sites, and a statewide flood-frequency analysis that provides techniques for estimating peak-flow magnitudes and frequencies.
The USGS South Dakota Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit has developed maps showing the locations of 947,652 wetlands that cover about 10 percent of the total landscape in eastern South Dakota. These maps are used to plan developments such as highway construction and municipal expansions that will allow conservation of wetlands along with development. In cooperation with the DOT, USGS scientists also are studying wetlands created from highway construction borrow pits. This study began with an inventory of biological diversity in natural wetlands that was used to evaluate factors that could be incorporated into wetland designs. Several wetlands have been created by the DOT near Mitchell and the results are being evaluated.
USGS scientists at the South Dakota Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit have been surveying fish communities in South Dakota rivers and obtaining information on walleye and catfish. This information has been useful to anglers, and State agencies, such as the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks (GF&P) and the DENR. The data include habitat measurements intended to help management agencies plan conservation measures, such as improving in-stream habitat conditions or identifying areas to establish conservation easements.
Fifty species of fish live in the South Dakota part of the Missouri River. New information on their abundance, age, and growth help the USACE assess the quality of the riverine habitat. Emphasis is on the fish community and the commercial and recreational anglers that depend on a healthy fishery, while also considering other uses of the river such as electrical production, shipping, and flood control.
The status of reptilian and amphibian populations is uncertain in much of the northern Great Plains. Studies are underway in South Dakota by the USGS to determine the presence, numbers, and habitats of reptiles, frogs, toads, and salamanders at Wind Cave National Park and, in cooperation with the U.S. Forest Service, at Buffalo Gap National Grasslands. In addition, the USGS, the GF&P, and the Natural Heritage Program are preparing an "Atlas of South Dakota Herpetology" for the World Wide Web.
Several National Parks have management concerns regarding native hoofed animals. Efforts are being made to restore bighorn sheep populations in Badlands National Park. The USGS is providing census techniques, evaluating restoration practices, testing habitat models, and developing a model to guide restoration plans. A separate USGS and National Park Service (NPS) study in Wind Cave National Park is examining the effects of fire and elk grazing on the establishment and growth of declining shrub communities.
A new 1:100,000-scale geologic map of the central Black Hills is being completed in collaboration with SDGS, mining companies, and the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. This map will provide improvements to the knowledge of igneous rocks that host most of the economic mineral deposits in the area. Sedimentary rocks and their structures also are highlighted to show ground-water movement off the flanks of the Black Hills. Geophysical maps, including gravity and aeromagnetics, are incorporated to show the extent of subsurface units.
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Figure 3. Status of county and multicounty water-resources appraisals in South Dakota. |
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Figure 4. Status of hydrogeologic investigations of Indian Tribal lands in South Dakota. |
The Madison and Minnelusa aquifers are particularly important in the Black Hills area because of potentially large well yields and important interactions with surface water. The objectives of ongoing studies in cooperation with Rapid City and Spearfish include determination of aquifer characteristics, geochemical analyses, and modeling of ground-water flow and solute transport. Solute transport is of particular concern because of the fractured nature of many aquifers in this area. To address this issue, mapping of aquifer sensitivity to contamination in Lawrence County also was initiated. This study uses extensive hydrologic information and geologic maps.
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The office locations
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USGS State Representative |
