Natural climate variability and teleconnections to precipitation over the Pacific-North American region in CMIP3 and CMIP5 models
Suraj D. Polade, Alexander Gershunov, Daniel R. Cayan, Michael D. Dettinger, David W. Pierce
2013, Geophysical Research Letters (40) 2296-2301
Natural climate variability will continue to be an important aspect of future regional climate even in the midst of long-term secular changes. Consequently, the ability of climate models to simulate major natural modes of variability and their teleconnections provides important context for the interpretation and use of climate change projections....
National assessment of hurricane-induced coastal erosion hazards: Mid-Atlantic Coast
Kara S. Doran, Hilary F. Stockdon, Kristin L. Sopkin, David M. Thompson, Nathaniel G. Plant
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1131
Beaches serve as a natural buffer between the ocean and inland communities, ecosystems, and natural resources. However, these dynamic environments move and change in response to winds, waves, and currents. During extreme storms, changes to beaches can be large, and the results are sometimes catastrophic. Lives may be lost, communities...
Native and nonnative fish populations of the Colorado River are food limited--evidence from new food web analyses
Theodore A. Kennedy, Wyatt F. Cross, Robert O. Hall Jr., Colden V. Baxter, Emma J. Rosi-Marshall
2013, Fact Sheet 2013-3039
Fish populations in the Colorado River downstream from Glen Canyon Dam appear to be limited by the availability of high-quality invertebrate prey. Midge and blackfly production is low and nonnative rainbow trout in Glen Canyon and native fishes in Grand Canyon consume virtually all of the midge and blackfly biomass...
Water use, availability, and net demand in the Tennessee River watershed within Alabama, 2005
Amy C. Gill, Michael J. Harper, Thomas M. Littlepage
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5067
The U.S. Geological Survey worked in cooperation with the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs—Office of Water Resources to estimate water use and water availability for 2005 for the portion of the Tennessee River watershed contained within the borders of the State of Alabama. Estimates of water use and...
Meeting the Science Needs of the Nation in the Wake of Hurricane Sandy-- A U.S. Geological Survey Science Plan for Support of Restoration and Recovery
Herbert T. Buxton, Matthew E. Andersen, Michael J. Focazio, John W. Haines, Robert A. Hainly, Daniel J. Hippe, Larry J. Sugarbaker
2013, Circular 1390
n late October 2012, Hurricane Sandy came ashore during a spring high tide on the New Jersey coastline, delivering hurricane-force winds, storm tides exceeding 19 feet, driving rain, and plummeting temperatures. Hurricane Sandy resulted in 72 direct fatalities in the mid-Atlantic and northeastern United States, and widespread and substantial physical,...
National assessment of hurricane-induced coastal erosion hazards: Southeast Atlantic Coast
Hilary F. Stockdon, Kara S. Doran, David M. Thompson, Kristin L. Sopkin, Nathaniel G. Plant
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1130
Beaches serve as a natural barrier between the ocean and inland communities, ecosystems, and natural resources. However, these dynamic environments move and change in response to winds, waves, and currents. During extreme storms, changes to beaches can be large, and the results are sometimes catastrophic. Lives may be lost, communities...
Application of a hydrodynamic and sediment transport model for guidance of response efforts related to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Northern Gulf of Mexico along the coast of Alabama and Florida
Nathaniel G. Plant, Joseph W. Long, P. Soupy Dalyander, David M. Thompson, Ellen A. Raabe
2013, Open-File Report 2012-1234
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists have provided a model-based assessment of transport and deposition of residual Deepwater Horizon oil along the shoreline within the northern Gulf of Mexico in the form of mixtures of sand and weathered oil, known as surface residual balls (SRBs). The results of this USGS research,...
Metrically preserving the USGS aerial film archive
Donald Moe, Ryan Longhenry
2013, Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing (79) 225-228
Since 1972, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, has provided fi lm-based products to the public. EROS is home to an archive of 12 million frames of analog photography ranging from 1937 to the present. The archive contains collections...
Modeled distribution and abundance of a pelagic seabird reveal trends in relation to fisheries
Martin Renner, Julia K. Parrish, John F. Piatt, Kathy J. Kuletz, Ann E. Edwards, George L. Hunt Jr.
2013, Marine Ecology Progress Series (484) 259-277
The northern fulmar Fulmarus glacialis is one of the most visible and widespread seabirds in the eastern Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands. However, relatively little is known about its abundance, trends, or the factors that shape its distribution. We used a long-term pelagic dataset to model changes in fulmar at-sea...
Modeling transport of nutrients & sediment loads into Lake Tahoe under climate change
John Riverson, Robert Coats, Mariza Costa-Cabral, Mike Dettinger, John Reuter, Goloka Sahoo, Geoffrey Schladow
2013, Climatic Change (116) 35-50
The outputs from two General Circulation Models (GCMs) with two emissions scenarios were downscaled and bias-corrected to develop regional climate change projections for the Tahoe Basin. For one model—the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory or GFDL model—the daily model results were used to drive a distributed hydrologic model. The watershed model...
Assessment of the NASA-USGS Global Land Survey (GLS) Datasets
Garik Gutman, Chengquan Huang, Gyanesh Chander, Praveen Noojipady, Jeffery G. Masek
2013, Remote Sensing of Environment (134) 249-265
The Global Land Survey (GLS) datasets are a collection of orthorectified, cloud-minimized Landsat-type satellite images, providing near complete coverage of the global land area decadally since the early 1970s. The global mosaics are centered on 1975, 1990, 2000, 2005, and 2010, and consist of data acquired from four sensors: Enhanced...
Beaver dams maintain fish biodiversity by increasing habitat heterogeneity throughout a low-gradient stream network
Joseph M. Smith, Martha E. Mather
2013, Freshwater Biology (58) 1523-1538
Understanding the relationship between heterogeneity and biodiversity is an active focus of ecological research. Although habitat heterogeneity is conceptually linked to biodiversity, the amount and configuration of heterogeneity that maintains biodiversity within ecosystems is not well understood, especially for an entire stream network. Here, we tested alternative outcomes about...
Fall survival of American woodcock in the western Great Lakes Region
John G. Bruggink, Eileen J. Oppelt, Kevin Doherty, David E. Andersen, Jed Meunier, R. Scott Lutz
2013, Journal of Wildlife Management (77) 1021-1030
We estimated fall (10 Sep–8 Nov) survival rates, cause-specific mortality rates, and determined the magnitude and sources of mortality of 1,035 radio-marked American woodcock (Scolopax minor) in Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin during 2001–2004. In all 3 states, we radio-marked woodcock on paired study areas; 1 of which was open to...
Pathways of coupled arsenic and iron cycling in high arsenic groundwater of the Hetao basin, Inner Mongolia, China: an iron isotope approach
Huaming Guo, Chen Liu, Hai Lu, Richard B. Wanty, Jun Wang, Yinzhu Zhou
2013, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta (112) 130-145
High As groundwater is widely distributed all over the world, which has posed a significant health impact on millions of people. Iron isotopes have recently been used to characterize Fe cycling in aqueous environments, but there is no information on Fe isotope characteristics in the groundwater. Since groundwater As behavior...
Covariation of climate and long-term erosion rates acrossa steep rainfall gradient on the Hawaiian island of Kaua'i
Ken Ferrier, J. Taylor Perron, Sujoy Mukhopadhyay, Matt Rosener, Jonathan D. Stock, Michelle Slosberg, Kimberly L. Huppert
2013, Geological Society of America Bulletin (125) 1146-1163
Erosion of volcanic ocean islands creates dramatic landscapes, modulates Earth’s carbon cycle, and delivers sediment to coasts and reefs. Because many volcanic islands have large climate gradients and minimal variations in lithology and tectonic history, they are excellent natural laboratories for studying climatic effects on the evolution of topography. Despite...
Merapi 2010 eruption—Chronology and extrusion rates monitored with satellite radar and used in eruption forecasting
John S. Pallister, David J. Schneider, Julia P. Griswold, Ronald H. Keeler, William C. Burton, Christopher Noyles, Christopher G. Newhall, Antonius Ratdomopurbo
2013, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research (261) 144-152
Despite dense cloud cover, satellite-borne commercial Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) enabled frequent monitoring of Merapi volcano's 2010 eruption. Near-real-time interpretation of images derived from the amplitude of the SAR signals and timely delivery of these interpretations to those responsible for warnings, allowed satellite remote sensing for the first time to...
Integrating satellite observations and modern climate measurements with the recent sedimentary record: An example from Southeast Alaska
Jason A. Addison, Bruce P. Finney, John M. Jaeger, Joseph S. Stoner, Richard D. Norris, Alexandra Hangsterfer
2013, Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans (118) 3444-3461
Assessments of climate change over time scales that exceed the last 100 years require robust integration of high-quality instrument records with high-resolution paleoclimate proxy data. In this study, we show that the recent biogenic sediments accumulating in two temperate ice-free fjords in Southeast Alaska preserve evidence of North Pacific Ocean...
Carcass analog addition enhances juvenile Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) growth and condition
Margaret Q. Guyette, Cynthia S. Loftin, Joseph D. Zydlewski
2013, Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (70) 860-870
Our study used historic marine-derived nutrient (MDN) delivery timing to simulate potential effects of restored connectivity on juvenile Atlantic salmon (ATS; Salmo salar) growth and condition. Four headwater streams were stocked with ATS young of the year (YOY) and received carcass analog additions (0.10 kg·m–2 wetted area) in treatment reaches to match...
Protocol for analysis of volcanic ash samples for assessment of hazards from leachable elements
C. Stewart, C. Horwell, Geoffrey S. Plumlee, Shane Cronin, P. Delmelle, P. Baxter, J. Calkins, David Damby, Suzette A. Morman, Clive Oppenheimer
2013, Report
Volcanic eruptions can produce a wide range of hazards. Although phenomena such as pyroclastic density currents and surges, sector collapses, lahars and ballistic blocks are the most destructive and dangerous, volcanic ash is by far the most widely distributed eruption product1 and the most likely to be encountered by the...
Framing scenarios of binational water policy with a tool to visualize, quantify and valuate changes in ecosystem services
Laura M. Norman, Miguel L. Villarreal, Rewati Niraula, Thomas Meixner, George Frisvold, William Labiosa
2013, Water (5) 852-874
In the Santa Cruz Watershed, located on the Arizona-Sonora portion of the U.S.-Mexico border, an international wastewater treatment plant treats wastewater from cities on both sides of the border, before discharging it into the river in Arizona. These artificial flows often subsidize important perennial surface water ecosystems in the region....
The Regional Salmon Outmigration Study--survival and migration routing of juvenile Chinook salmon in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta during the winter of 2008-09
Jason G. Romine, Russell W. Perry, Scott J. Brewer, Noah S. Adams, Theresa L. Liedtke, Aaron R. Blake, Jon R. Burau
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1142
Juvenile Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) emigrating from natal tributaries of the Sacramento River may use a number of migration routes to navigate the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta (hereafter called “the Delta”), each of which may influence their probability of surviving. We applied a mark-recapture model to data from acoustically tagged...
Conceptual and numerical models of groundwater flow in the Ogallala aquifer in Gregory and Tripp Counties, South Dakota, water years 1985--2009
Kyle W. Davis, Larry D. Putnam
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5069
The Ogallala aquifer is an important water resource for the Rosebud Sioux Tribe in Gregory and Tripp Counties in south-central South Dakota and is used for irrigation, public supply, domestic, and stock water supplies. To better understand groundwater flow in the Ogallala aquifer, conceptual and numerical models of groundwater flow...
Landscape influences on climate-related lake shrinkage at high latitudes
Jennifer K. Roach, Brad Griffith, David Verbyla
2013, Global Change Biology (19) 2276-2284
Climate-related declines in lake area have been identified across circumpolar regions and have been characterized by substantial spatial heterogeneity. An improved understanding of the mechanisms underlying lake area trends is necessary to predict where change is most likely to occur and to identify implications for high latitude reservoirs of carbon....
Monitoring restoration impacts to endemic plant communities in soil inclusions of arid environments
Mounir Louhaichi, David A. Pyke, Scott E. Shaff, Douglas E. Johnson
2013, International Journal of Agriculture & Biology (15) 767-771
Soil inclusions are small patches of soil with different properties than the surrounding, dominant soil. In arid areas of western North America, soil inclusions called slickspot soils are saltier than adjacent soil and support different types of native vegetation. Traditional sagebrush restoration efforts, such as using drills to plant seeds...
ARRA-funded VS30 measurements using multi-technique approach at strong-motion stations in California and central-eastern United States
Alan Yong, Antony Martin, Kenneth Stokoe, John Diehl
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1102
Funded by the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), we conducted geophysical site characterizations at 191 strong-motion stations: 187 in California and 4 in the Central-Eastern United States (CEUS). The geophysical methods used at each site included passive and active surface-wave and body-wave techniques. Multiple techniques were used at...
