Select Elements of Concern in Surface Water of Three Hydrologic Basins (Delaware River, Illinois River, and Upper Colorado River)—Data Screening for the Development of Spatial and Temporal Models
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- Document: Report (5.83 MB pdf) , HTML , XML
- Data Releases:
- USGS data release - Concentration data for 12 elements of concern used in the development of surrogate models for estimating elemental concentrations in surface water of three hydrologic basins (Delaware River, Illinois River and Upper Colorado River)
- USGS data release - Select elements of concern in surface water of three hydrologic basins (Delaware River, Illinois River and Upper Colorado River)—Data screening for the development of spatial and temporal models
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Abstract
The report focuses on the screening of previously published concentration data associated with 12 elements of concern (aluminum, arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, iron, mercury, manganese, lead, selenium, uranium, and zinc) measured in stream surface waters of three hydrologic basins (Delaware River Basin, Illinois River Basin, and the Upper Colorado River Basin). The purpose of this analysis is to determine what subsets of the original dataset (containing more than 1,500,000 observations) may be most suitable for each of two types of modeling efforts. The first type of modeling envisions a machine learning approach to determine which geospatial attributes are most significant in describing the spatial distribution of elemental concentrations within a basin. The second type of modeling envisions a stepwise regression approach to develop multivariable models that can be used to determine high resolution time-series estimates of elemental concentrations or loads at discrete U.S. Geological Survey real-time stream surface water sites. These site-specific temporal models are based on continuous measurements of available discharge and (or) in situ sensor data (temperature, pH, turbidity, dissolved oxygen, specific conductance, and (or) fluorescent dissolved organic matter) as the explanatory variables. The data screening for both model types considered historical trends in analytical methods and detection quantitation limits, the extent of censored data, data density, and environmental relevance with respect to three U.S. Environmental Protection Agency water quality thresholds (drinking water guidelines, human health criteria, and aquatic life criteria). The result of this analysis was the production of a final list of potential models deemed suitable for further development based upon the data exclusion (or inclusion) scheme developed herein for each model type. In both cases, the final models included mostly the three crustal elements (iron, manganese, and aluminum) that are found at comparatively high concentrations in surface water, whereas most of the more pernicious elements were excluded from the final model lists owing to various data limitations. The one exception to this was arsenic, for which the existing data were sufficient at three U.S. Geological Survey real-time sites for potential further development of time-series models.
Suggested Citation
Marvin-DiPasquale, M.C., McCleskey, R.B., Sullivan, S.L., Root, J.C., Seawolf, S.M., Ransom, K.M., Wherry, S.A., Kakouros, E., and Baesman, S., 2025, Select elements of concern in surface water of three hydrologic basins (Delaware River, Illinois River, and Upper Colorado River)—Data screening for the development of spatial and temporal models: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2025–1033, 25 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20251033.
ISSN: 2331-1258 (online)
Study Area
Table of Contents
- Abstract
- Introduction
- Section I: Data Distribution by Element, Fraction and Hydrologic Basin
- Section II: Analytical Methods and Detection Quantitation Limits
- Section III. Analysis of Censored Data
- Section IV: Median EoC Concentrations by Catchment
- Section V: Decision Tree for Geospatial—Machine Learning Models
- Section VI: Analysis of EoC Concentration Data at USGS Real-Time Sites
- Section VII: Ongoing Modeling Efforts
- Summary
- Acknowledgments
- References Cited
| Publication type | Report |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | USGS Numbered Series |
| Title | Select elements of concern in surface water of three hydrologic basins (Delaware River, Illinois River, and Upper Colorado River)—Data screening for the development of spatial and temporal models |
| Series title | Open-File Report |
| Series number | 2025-1033 |
| DOI | 10.3133/ofr20251033 |
| Publication Date | June 23, 2025 |
| Year Published | 2025 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | U.S. Geological Survey |
| Publisher location | Reston, VA |
| Contributing office(s) | WMA - Earth System Processes Division |
| Description | Report: v, 25 p.; 2 Data Releases |
| Country | United States |
| State | Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin |
| Other Geospatial | Dellaware River basin, Illinois River basin, Upper Colorado River basin |
| Online Only (Y/N) | Y |
| Additional Online Files (Y/N) | N |