The optical river bathymetry toolkit
Carl J. Legleiter
2021, River Research and Applications (4) 555-568
Spatially distributed information on water depth is essential for many applications in river research and management and, under certain circumstances, can be inferred from remotely sensed data. Although fluvial remote sensing has emerged as a rapidly developing subdiscipline of the riverine sciences, more widespread adoption of these techniques has been...
Improving Landsat predictions of rangeland fractional cover with multitask learning and uncertainty
Brady W. Allred, Brandon T. Bestelmeyer, Chad S. Boyd, Christopher Brown, Kirk W. Davies, Michael C. Duniway, Lisa M. Ellsworth, Tyler A. Erickson, Samuel D. Fuhlendorf, Timothy V. Griffiths, Vincent Jansen, Matthew O. Jones, Jason W. Karl, Anna C. Knight, Jeremy D. Maestas, Jonathan J. Maynard, Sarah E. McCord, David E. Naugle, Heath D. Starns, Dirac Twidwell, Daniel R. Uden
2021, Methods in Ecology and Evolution (12) 841-849
Operational satellite remote sensing products are transforming rangeland management and science. Advancements in computation, data storage and processing have removed barriers that previously blocked or hindered the development and use of remote sensing products. When combined with local data and knowledge, remote sensing products can inform decision‐making at multiple...
Channel response to a dam‐removal sediment pulse captured at high‐temporal resolution using routine gage data
Matthew J. Cashman, Allen C. Gellis, Eric L. Boyd, Matthias J. Collins, Scott W. Anderson, Brett Dare Mcfarland, Ashley Mattie Ryan
2021, Earth Surfaces Processes and Landforms (46) 1145-1159
In this study, we captured how a river channel responds to a sediment pulse originating from a dam removal using multiple lines of evidence derived from streamflow gages along the Patapsco River, Maryland, USA. Gages captured characteristics of the sediment pulse, including travel times of its leading edge (~7.8 km yr−1)...
Spring types and contributing aquifers from water-chemistry and multivariate statistical analyses for seeps and springs in Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota, 2018
Colton J. Medler, William G. Eldridge
2021, Scientific Investigations Report 2020-5121
Water resources in Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota, support wildlife, visitors, and staff, and play a vital role in supporting the native ecology of the park. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the National Park Service, completed field work in 2018 for a study to address concerns about...
Groundwater flow conceptualization of the Pahute Mesa–Oasis Valley Groundwater Basin, Nevada—A synthesis of geologic, hydrologic, hydraulic-property, and tritium data
Tracie R. Jackson, Joseph M. Fenelon, Randall L. Paylor
2021, Scientific Investigations Report 2020-5134
This report provides a groundwater-flow conceptualization that integrates geologic, hydrologic, hydraulic-property, and radionuclide data in the Pahute Mesa–Oasis Valley (PMOV) groundwater basin, southern Nevada. Groundwater flow in the PMOV basin is of interest because 82 underground nuclear tests were detonated, most near or below the water table. A potentiometric...
Estimating detection and occupancy coefficients for the Pacific Islands coral reef fish species
Bobbie Suarez, Timothy B. Grabowski
2021, Hawaii Cooperative Studies Unit Technical Report HCFRU-001
The data-limited stock assessment models used to monitor the status of coral reef fish species in the Western Pacific region are dependent upon accurate estimates of standing stock biomass generated from underwater visual surveys of reefs. However, the imperfect detection of and variable occupancy of habitat by reef fishes are...
Forecasting community reassembly using climate-linked spatio-temporal ecosystem models
James Thorson, Mayumi L. Arimitsu, Lewis Barnett, Wei Cheng, Lisa Eisner, Alan Haynie, Albert Hermann, Kirsten Holsman, David Kimmel, Michael Lomas, Jon Richar, Elizabeth Siddon
2021, Ecography (44) 612-625
Ecosystems are increasingly impacted by human activities, altering linkages among physical and biological components. Spatial community reassembly occurs when these human impacts modify the spatial overlap between system components, and there is need for practical tools to forecast spatial community reassembly at landscape scales using monitoring data. To illustrate a...
An inventory and typology of permanent floodplain lakes in the Mississippi alluvial valley: A first step to conservation planning
Leandro E. Miranda, M.C. Rhodes, Y. Allen, K.J. Killgore
2021, Aquatic Sciences (83)
The alluvial valley of the Mississippi River is an extensive area harboring hundreds of lakes created by fluvial dynamics. These floodplain lakes are scattered throughout the valley and carved over thousands of years by shifting river courses and other hydro-fluvial processes associated with contemporary and prehistoric rivers. These lakes have...
Stream restoration is influenced by details of engineered habitats at a headwater mine site
Robert S. Arkle, David S. Pilliod
2021, Diversity (13)
A lack of information regarding which ecological factors influence restoration success or failure has hindered scientifically based restoration decision-making. We focus on one headwater site to examine factors influencing divergent ecological outcomes of two post-mining stream restoration projects designed to improve instream conditions following 70 years of mining impacts. One...
Great expectations: Deconstructing the process pathways underlying beaver-related restoration
Caroline Nash, Gordon E. Grant, Susan Charnley, Jason B. Dunham, Hannah Gosnell, Mark B. Hausner, David S. Pilliod, Jimmy D. Taylor
2021, BioScience (71) 249-267
Beaver-related restoration is a process-based strategy that seeks to address wide-ranging ecological objectives by reestablishing dam building in degraded stream systems. Although the beaver-related restoration has broad appeal, especially in water-limited systems, its effectiveness is not yet well documented. In this article, we present a process-expectation framework that links...
Assessment of flood forecast products for a coupled tributary-Coastal model
Robert Cifelli, Lynn E. Johnson, Jungho Kim, Tim Coleman, Greg Pratt, Liv M. Herdman, Rosanne C. Martyr-Koller, Juliette Finzi-Hart, Li H. Erikson, Patrick L. Barnard, Michael Anderson
2021, Water (3)
Compound flooding, resulting from a combination of riverine and coastal processes, is a complex but important hazard to resolve along urbanized shorelines in the vicinity of river mouths. However, inland flooding models rarely consider oceanographic conditions, and vice versa for coastal flood models. Here, we describe the...
Variability of lipids and fatty acids in Pacific walrus blubber
Chadwick V. Jay, Sara J. Iverson, Anthony S. Fischbach
2021, Frontiers in Marine Science (8)
The variability of lipid content and fatty acid (FA) composition across blubber depth and body sites are important considerations for condition and diet studies of marine mammals. We investigated lipid and FA variability among inner and outer blubber layers, three body sites, four study years, and lactation status...
Exploring the exceptional performance of a deep learning stream temperature model and the value of streamflow data
Farshid Rahmani, Kathryn Lawson, Wenyu Ouyang, Alison P. Appling, Samantha K. Oliver, Chaopeng Shen
2021, Environmental Research Letters (16)
Stream water temperature (Ts) is a variable of critical importance for aquatic ecosystem health. Ts is strongly affected by groundwater-surface water interactions which can be learned from streamflow records, but previously such information was challenging to effectively absorb with process-based models due to parameter equifinality. Based on the long...
Simulating hydrologic effects of wildfire on a small sub-alpine watershed in New Mexico, U.S.
C. David Moeser, Kyle R. Douglas-Mankin
2021, Transactions of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (64) 137-150
Streamflow records available before and after wildfire in a small, mixed conifer, sub-alpine monsoonal dominated watershed in New Mexico provided a unique opportunity to calibrate a watershed model (PRMS) for pre- and postfire conditions. The calibrated model was then used to simulate the hydrologic effects of fire. Simulated postfire surface...
Changing climate drives future streamflow declines and challenges in meeting water demand across the southwestern United States
Olivia L. Miller, Annie L. Putman, Jay R. Alder, Matthew P. Miller, Daniel K. Jones, Daniel Wise
2021, Journal of Hydrology X (11)
Society and the environment in the arid southwestern United States depend on reliable water availability, yet current water use outpaces supply. Water demand is projected to grow in the future and climate change is expected to reduce supply. To adapt, water...
Field evaluation of a compact, polarizing topo‐bathymetric lidar across a range of river conditions
Paul J. Kinzel, Carl J. Legleiter, Paul E. Grams
2021, River Research and Applications (37) 531-534
This paper summarizes field trials to evaluate the performance of a prototype compact topo‐bathymetric lidar sensor for surveying rivers. The sensor uses a novel polarization technique to distinguish between laser returns from the water surface and streambed and its size and weight...
Field response and surface rupture characteristics of the 2020 M6.5 Monte Cristo Range earthquake, central Walker Lane, Nevada
Richard D Koehler, Seth Dee, Austin John Elliott, Alexandra Elise Hatem, Alexandra Pickering, Ian Pierce, Gordon G. Seitz
2021, Seismological Research Letters (92) 823-829
The M 6.5 Monte Cristo Range earthquake that occurred in the central Walker Lane on 15 May 2020 was the largest earthquake in Nevada in 66 yr and resulted in a multidisciplinary scientific field response. The earthquake was the...
Connectivity between lentic and lotic freshwater habitats identified as a conservation priority for coho salmon
Suresh Sethi, Joshua Ashline, Bradley P. Harris, Jonathon Gerken, Felipe Restrepo
2021, Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems (31) 1791-1801
Juvenile Pacific salmon exhibit diverse habitat use and migration strategies to navigate high environmental variability and predation risk during freshwater residency. Increasingly, urbanization and climate-driven hydrological alterations are affecting the availability and quality of aquatic habitats in salmon catchments. Thus, conservation of freshwater habitat integrity has emerged as an...
Modeling Least Bell’s Vireo habitat suitability in current and historic ranges in California
Kristine L. Preston, Barbara E. Kus, Emily Perkins
2021, Open-File Report 2020-1151
We developed a habitat suitability model for the federally endangered Least Bell’s Vireo (Vireo bellii pusillus) across its current and historic range in California. The vireo disappeared from most of its range by the 1980s, remaining only in southern California and northern Baja California, Mexico. This decline was due to...
Sediment mobility and river corridor assessment for a 140-kilometer segment of the main-stem Klamath River below Iron Gate Dam, California
Jennifer Curtis, Travis Poitras, Sandra Bond, Kristin Byrd
2021, Open-File Report 2020-1141
This river corridor assessment documents sediment mobility and river response to flood disturbance along a 140-kilometer segment of the main-stem Klamath River below Iron Gate Dam, California. Field and remote sensing methods were used to assess fundamental indicators of active sediment transport and river response to a combination of natural...
Native American fire management at an ancient wildland–urban interface in the Southwest United States
Christopher Roos, Thomas W. Swetnam, T. J. Ferguson, Matthew J. Liebmann, Rachel A. Loehman, John Welch, Ellis Margolis, Christopher H. Guiterman, William Hockaday, Michael Aiuvalasit, Jenna Battillo, Joshua Farella, Christopher Kiahtipes
2021, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (4)
The intersection of expanding human development and wildland landscapes—the “wildland–urban interface” or WUI—is one of the most vexing contexts for fire management because it involves complex interacting systems of people and nature. Here, we document the dynamism and stability of an ancient WUI that was apparently sustainable for more than...
Widespread exposures of extensive clean shallow ice in the mid-latitudes of Mars
Colin M. Dundas, Michael T. Mellon, Susan J. Conway, Ingrid J. Daubar, Kaj E. Williams, Lujendra Ojha, James J. Wray, Ali Bramson, Shane Byrne, Alfred S. McEwen, Liliya Posiolova, Gunnar Speth, Donna Viola, Margaret E. Landis, Gareth A Morgan, Asmin V Pathare
2021, Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets (126)
Although ice in the Martian midlatitudes is typically covered by a layer of dust or regolith, it is exposed in some locations by fresh impact craters or in erosional scarps. In both cases, the exposed ice is massive or excess ice with a low lithic content. We...
Nutrient trends and drivers in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
Kenneth Hyer, Scott W. Phillips, Scott W. Ator, Douglas L. Moyer, James S. Webber, Rachel Felver, Jennifer L. Keisman, Lee A. McDonnell, Rebecca Murphy, Emily M. Trentacoste, Qian Zhang, William C. Dennison, Sky Swanson, Brianne Walsh, Jane Hawkey, Dylan Taillie
2021, Fact Sheet 2020-3069
The Chesapeake Bay Program maintains an extensive nontidal monitoring network, measuring nitrogen and phosphorus (nutrients) at more than 100 locations on rivers and streams in the watershed. Data from these locations are used by United States Geological Survey to assess the ecosystem’s response to nutrient-reduction efforts. This fact sheet summarizes...
Laboratory maintenance and culture of Pseudogymnoascus destructans, the fungus that causes bat white-nose syndrome
David S. Blehert, Jeffrey M. Lorch
2021, Current Protocols (1)
Pseudogymnoascus destructans is a fungal pathogen that causes white‐nose syndrome, an emerging and fatal disease of North American bats that has led to unprecedented population declines. As a psychrophile, P. destructans is adapted to infect bats during winter hibernation, when host metabolic activity and core body temperature are greatly reduced. The ability to...
Vegetation monitoring optimization with normalized difference vegetation index and evapotranspiration using remote sensing measurements and land surface models over East Africa
Shahriar Pervez, Amy McNally, Kristi Arsenault, Michael Budde, James Rowland
2021, Frontiers in Climate (3)
The majority of people in East Africa rely on the agro-pastoral system for their livelihood, which is highly vulnerable to droughts and flooding. Agro-pastoral droughts are endemic to the region and are considered the main natural hazard that contributes to food insecurity. Drought begins with rainfall deficit, gradually leading...
