U.S. Geological Survey development of a Landsat-based Fire Disturbance ECV
Susan Stitt, John D. Guthrie, Todd Hawbaker, Mary S. Dolhancey
2011, Conference Paper, 34th International Symposium on Remote Sensing of Environment: The GEOSS Era: Towards Operational Environmental Monitoring: April 10-15, 2011, Sydney, Australia: Proceedings
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) is the steward of the Landsat archive which includes satellite imagery dating back to 1972. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have specified requirements to systematically observe atmosphere, ocean, and land characteristics, or Essential Climate...
Chronology, sedimentology, and microfauna of groundwater discharge deposits in the central Mojave Desert, Valley Wells, California
Jeffrey S. Pigati, David M. Miller, Jordon E. Bright, Shannon Mahan, Jeffrey C. Nekola, James B. Paces
2011, Geological Society of America Bulletin (123) 2224-2239
During the late Pleistocene, emergent groundwater supported persistent and long-lived desert wetlands in many broad valleys and basins in the American Southwest. When active, these systems provided important food and water sources for local fauna, supported hydrophilic and phreatophytic vegetation, and acted as catchments for eolian and alluvial sediments. Desert...
SICS: the Southern Inland and Coastal System interdisciplinary project of the USGS South Florida Ecosystem Program
Water Resources Division, U.S. Geological Survey
2011, Report
State and Federal agencies are working jointly on structural modifications and improved water-delivery strategies to reestablish more natural surface-water flows through the Everglades wetlands and into Florida Bay. Changes in the magnitude, duration, timing, and distribution of inflows from the headwaters of the Taylor Slough and canal C-111 drainage basins...
Hurricane impacts on coastal wetlands: A half-century record of storm-generated features from southern Louisiana
Robert A. Morton, John A. Barras
2011, Journal of Coastal Research (27) 27-43
Temporally and spatially repeated patterns of wetland erosion, deformation, and deposition are observed on remotely sensed images and in the field after hurricanes cross the coast of Louisiana. The diagnostic morphological wetland features are products of the coupling of high-velocity wind and storm-surge water and their interaction with the underlying,...
Effect of rainbow trout size on response to rotenone and antimycin
Peter J. Brown, Alexander V. Zale, Heather E. Johnson
2011, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (31) 1146-1152
The piscicides rotenone and antimycin are commonly used to eradicate unwanted fish populations. However, the relationships (if present) between their toxicities and fish sizes are unknown and could be especially important when bioassay fish are used to detect piscicide presence and effectiveness. Size-mediated toxicity could lead to either excessive or...
Understanding the amplitudes of noise correlation measurements
Victor C. Tsai
2011, Journal of Geophysical Research (116)
Cross correlation of ambient seismic noise is known to result in time series from which station-station travel-time measurements can be made. Part of the reason that these cross-correlation travel-time measurements are reliable is that there exists a theoretical framework that quantifies how these travel times depend on the features of...
Characterization of the intragranular water regime within subsurface sediments: pore volume, surface area, and mass transfer limitations
Michael B. Hay, Deborah L. Stoliker, James A. Davis, John M. Zachara
2011, Water Resources Research (47)
Although "intragranular" pore space within grain aggregates, grain fractures, and mineral surface coatings may contain a relatively small fraction of the total porosity within a porous medium, it often contains a significant fraction of the reactive surface area, and can thus strongly affect the transport of sorbing solutes. In this...
Geomagnetic referencing in the arctic environment
Benny Podjono, Nathan Beck, Andrew Buchanan, Jason Brink, Joseph Longo, Carol A. Finn, E. William Worthington
2011, Conference Paper
Geomagnetic referencing is becoming an increasingly attractive alternative to north-seeking gyroscopic surveys to achieve the precise wellbore positioning essential for success in today's complex drilling programs. However, the greater magnitude of variations in the geomagnetic environment at higher latitudes makes the application of geomagnetic referencing in those areas more challenging....
Quarterly wildlife mortality report April 2011 to June 2011
Anne Ballmann, C. LeAnn White, Barb Bodenstein, Jennifer Bradsby
2011, Wildlife Disease Association Newsletter 9-10
No abstract available....
Rapid growth in the early marine period improves the marine survival of Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) in Puget Sound, Washington
Elisabeth J. Duffy, David A. Beauchamp
2011, Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (68) 232-240
We examined the effect of early marine entry timing and body size on the marine (smolt-to-adult) survival of Puget Sound Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha). We used data from coded wire tag release groups of hatchery Chinook salmon to test whether hatchery release date, release size, and size in offshore waters...
The winter diet of short-eared owls in subtropical Texas: Do southern diets provide evidence of opportunity?
Damon Williford, Marc C. Woodin, Mary Kay Skoruppa
2011, Journal of Raptor Research (45) 63-70
Winter diet of the Short-eared Owl (Asio flammeus) in Texas is little known. We investigated the diet of Short-eared Owls wintering in McMullen County, in subtropical Texas, by analyzing the contents of 129 pellets collected over two winters (28 November 2007 to 22 February 2008 and 11 December 2008 to...
Land use and habitat conditions across the southwestern Wyoming sagebrush steppe: development impacts, management effectiveness and the distribution of invasive plants
Daniel J. Manier, Cameron L. Aldridge, Patrick Anderson, Geneva Chong, Collin G. Homer, Michael S. O’Donnell, Spencer Schell
2011, Natural Resources and Environmental Issues (117)
For the past several years, USGS has taken a multi-faceted approach to investigating the condition and trends in sagebrush steppe ecosystems. This recent effort builds upon decades of work in semi-arid ecosystems providing a specific, applied focus on the cumulative impacts of expanding human activities across these landscapes. Here, we...
The use of historical imagery in the remediation of an urban hazardous waste site
E. Terrence Slonecker
2011, IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing (4) 281-291
The information derived from the interpretation of historical aerial photographs is perhaps the most basic multitemporal application of remote-sensing data. Aerial photographs dating back to the early 20th century can be extremely valuable sources of historical landscape activity. In this application, imagery from 1918 to 1927 provided a wealth of...
Sea-level rise science: informing and preparing Florida's coastal communities
Matthew J. Cimitile
2011, Florida Planning (Spring 2011) 1-5
As a low-lying peninsula surrounded by water, Florida faces tough decisions about long-range planning and development strategies to address impacts of climate change. In 2007, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) stated there is strong evidence that global average sea level will rise by ? to 2 feet in...
Quarterly wildlife mortality report July 2010 to September 2010
Anne Ballmann, C. LeAnn White, Jennifer Bradsby
2011, Wildlife Disease Association Newsletter 12-14
No abstract available....
Bats of Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado: Composition, reproduction, and roosting habits
Thomas J. O'Shea, Paul M. Cryan, E. Apple Snider, Ernest W. Valdez, Laura E. Ellison, Daniel J. Neubaum
2011, Monographs of the Western North American Naturalist (5) 1-19
We determined the bat fauna at Mesa Verde National Park (Mesa Verde) in 2006 and 2007, characterized bat elevational distribution and reproduction, and investigated roosting habits of selected species. We captured 1996 bats of 15 species in mist nets set over water during 120 nights of sampling and recorded echolocation...
A national plan for assisting states, federal agencies, and tribes in managing white-nose syndrome in bats
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, U.S. Forest Service, Department of the Army - Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Water Resources Division, U.S. Geological Survey, National Park Service, St. Regis Mohawk Tribe, Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, Missouri Department of Conservation, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Pennsylvania Game Commission, Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife, Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries
2011, Report
White-nose syndrome (WNS) is a disease responsible for unprecedented mortality in hibernating bats in the northeastern U.S. This previously unrecognized disease has spread very rapidly since its discovery in January 2007, and poses a considerable threat to hibernating bats throughout North America. As WNS spreads, the challenges for understanding and...
Use of cranial characters in taxonomy of the Minnesota wolf (Canis sp.)
L. David Mech, Ronald M. Nowak, Sanford Weisberg
2011, Canadian Journal of Zoology (89) 1188-1194
Minnesota wolves (Canis sp.) sometimes are reported to have affinity to a small, narrow-skulled eastern form (Canis lupus lycaon Schreber, 1775) and sometimes to a larger, broader western form (Canis lupus nubilus Say, 1823). We found that pre-1950 Minnesota wolf skulls were similar in size to those of wolves from...
Rapid Source Characterization of the 2011 Mw 9.0 off the Pacific coast of Tohoku Earthquake
Gavin P. Hayes
2011, Earth, Planets and Space (63) 529-534
On March 11th, 2011, a moment magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck off the coast of northeast Honshu, Japan, generating what may well turn out to be the most costly natural disaster ever. In the hours following the event, the U.S. Geological Survey National Earthquake Information Center led a rapid response to...
Coastal processes of the Elwha River delta: Chapter 5 in Coastal habitats of the Elwha River, Washington--biological and physical patterns and processes prior to dam removal
Jonathan A. Warrick, Andrew W. Stevens, Ian M. Miller, Guy Gelfenbaum
Jeffrey J. Duda, Jonathan A. Warrick, Christopher S. Magirl, editor(s)
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5120-5
To understand the effects of increased sediment supply from dam removal on marine habitats around the Elwha River delta, a basic understanding of the region’s coastal processes is necessary. This chapter provides a summary of the physical setting of the coast near the Elwha River delta, for the purpose of...
Decomposition of heterogeneous organic matterand its long-term stabilization in soils
Carlos A. Sierra, Mark E. Harmon, Steven S. Perakis
2011, Ecological Monographs (81) 619-634
Soil organic matter is a complex mixture of material with heterogeneous biological, physical, and chemical properties. Decomposition models represent this heterogeneity either as a set of discrete pools with different residence times or as a continuum of qualities. It is unclear though, whether these two different approaches yield comparable predictions...
Elk Monitoring Protocol for Lewis and Clark National Historical Park, Version 1.0
Kurt J. Jenkins, Paul C. Griffin, John R. Boetsch, Carla Cole
2011, Natural Resource Report NPS/NCCN/NRR—2011/455
Maintaining elk (Cervus elaphus roosevelti) herds that frequent Lewis and Clark National Historical Park (NHP) is central to the park’s purpose of preserving the historic, cultural, scenic, and natural resources. Elk were critical to sustaining the members of the Lewis and Clark expedition by providing food and clothing over the...
2009 Monitoring and tracking wet nitrogen deposition at Rocky Mountain National Park
Kristi Morris, Alisa Mast, Greg Wetherbee, Jill Baron, Curt Taipale, Tamara Blett, David Gay, Eric Richer
2011, Natural Resource Report NPS/NRSS/ARD/NRR-2011/442
Testing long-period ground-motion simulations of scenario earthquakes using the Mw 7.2 El Mayor-Cucapah mainshock: Evaluation of finite-fault rupture characterization and 3D seismic velocity models
Robert W. Graves, Brad T. Aagaard
2011, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (101) 895-907
Using a suite of five hypothetical finite-fault rupture models, we test the ability of long-period (T>2.0 s) ground-motion simulations of scenario earthquakes to produce waveforms throughout southern California consistent with those recorded during the 4 April 2010 Mw 7.2 El Mayor-Cucapah earthquake. The hypothetical ruptures are generated using the methodology proposed by <a...
Summary and anticipated responses to Elwha River dam removal: Chapter 9 in Coastal habitats of the Elwha River, Washington--biological and physical patterns and processes prior to dam removal
Guy Gelfenbaum, Jeffrey J. Duda, Jonathan A. Warrick
Jeffrey J. Duda, Jonathan A. Warrick, Christopher S. Magirl, editor(s)
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5120-9
Starting in September 2011, the removal of two large dams on the Elwha River will begin an unprecedented river restoration project because of the size of the dams, the volume of sediment released, the pristine watershed upstream of the dam sites, and the potential for renewing salmon populations. Ecosystem studies...
