Near-field remote sensing of surface velocity and river discharge using radars and the probability concept at 10 USGS streamgages
John W, Fulton, Christopher A. Mason, Jack R. Eggleston, Matthew J. Nicotra, C.-L. Chiu, Mark F. Henneberg, Heather Best, Jay Cederberg, Stephen R. Holnbeck, R. Russell Lotspeich, Christopher Laveau, Tommaso Moramarco, Mark E. Jones, Jonathan J Gourley, Danny Wasielewski
2020, Remote Sensing (12)
Near-field remote sensing of surface velocity and river discharge (discharge) were measured using coherent, continuous wave Doppler and pulsed radars. Traditional streamgaging requires sensors be deployed in the water column; however, near-field remote sensing has the potential to transform streamgaging operations through non-contact methods in the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)...
Biofilms provide new insight into pesticide occurrence in streams and links to aquatic ecological communities
Barbara Mahler, Travis S. Schmidt, Lisa H. Nowell, Sharon L. Qi, Peter C. Van Metre, Michelle L. Hladik, Daren M. Carlisle, Mark D. Munn, Jason May
2020, Environmental Science & Technology (54) 5509-5519
Streambed sediment is commonly analyzed to assess occurrence of hydrophobic pesticides and risks to aquatic communities. However, stream biofilms also have the potential to accumulate pesticides and may be consumed by aquatic organisms. To better characterize risks to aquatic life, the U.S. Geological Survey Regional Stream Quality Assessment measured 93...
Subduction megathrust heterogeneity characterized from 3D seismic data
James D. Kirkpatrick, Joel H. Edwards, Alessandro Verdecchia, Jared W. Kluesner, Rebecca M. Harrington, Eli Silver
2020, Nature Geoscience (13) 369-374
Megathrust roughness and structural complexity are thought to be controls on earthquake slip at subduction zones because they result in heterogeneity in shear strength and resolved stress. However, because active megathrust faults are difficult to observe, the causes and scales of complexity are largely unknown. Here we measured the in...
The Landsat Burned Area algorithm and products for the conterminous United States
Todd Hawbaker, Melanie K. Vanderhoof, Gail L. Schmidt, Yen-Ju G. Beal, Joshua J. Picotte, Joshua Takacs, Jeff T. Falgout, John L. Dwyer
2020, Remote Sensing of Environment (244)
Complete and accurate burned area map data are needed to document spatial and temporal patterns of fires, to quantify their drivers, and to assess the impacts on human and natural systems. In this study, we developed the Landsat Burned Area (BA) algorithm, an update from the Landsat Burned Area Essential...
Localized outbreaks of coral disease on Arabian reefs are linked to extreme temperatures and environmental stressors
Greta S. Aeby, Emily Howells, Thierry M. Work, David Abrego, Gareth J. Williams, Lisa M. Wedding, Jamie M. Caldwell, Monica M Moritsch, John Burt
2020, Coral Reefs (39) 829-846
The Arabian Peninsula borders the hottest reefs in the world, and corals living in these extreme environments can provide insight into the effects of warming on coral health and disease. Here, we examined coral reef health at 17 sites across three regions along the northeastern Arabian Peninsula (Persian Gulf, Strait...
Acoustic Sediment Estimation Toolbox (ASET): A software package for calibrating and processing TRDI ADCP data to compute suspended-sediment transport in sandy rivers
Lucas Gerardo Dominguez Ruben, Ricardo Szupiany, Francisco Latosinski, Cecilia Lopez Weibel, Molly S. Wood, Justin A. Boldt
2020, Computers & Geosciences (140) Article 104499
Quantifying suspended-sediment transport is critical for a variety of disciplines related to the management of water resources. However, the number of gauging stations and monitoring networks in most rivers around the world is insufficient to improve understanding of river dynamics and support water resource management decisions. This is mainly due...
Identifying candidate reference reaches to assess the physical and biological integrity of wadeable streams in different ecoregions and among stream sizes
Craig P. Paukert, Ethan R. Kleeklamp, Ralph William Tingley
2020, Ecological Indicators (111)
Efforts to quantify disturbances to aquatic systems often use landscape-level metrics, presumably linked to ecological integrity, but fewer studies have directly linked ecological integrity to instream habitat, and applied these results to unsampled stream reaches throughout a landscape. We developed a flexible, quantitative approach that characterizes stream impairment across a...
Hydrologically induced deformation in Long Valley Caldera and adjacent Sierra Nevada
Francesca Silverii, Emily K. Montgomery-Brown, Adrian Borsa, Andrew J. Barbour
2020, Journal of Geophysical Research (125)
Vertical and horizontal components of GNSS displacements in the Long Valley Caldera and adjacent Sierra Nevada range show a clear correlation with hydrological trends at both multiyear and seasonal time scales. We observe a clear vertical and horizontal seasonal deformation pattern primarily attributable to the solid earth...
Emerging diseases of avian wildlife
Susan J Tyson-Pello, Glenn H. Olsen
2020, Veterinary Clinics of North America: Exotic Animal Practice (23) 383-395
Climate change and the interaction with humans and domestic species influences disease in avian wildlife. This article provides updated information on emerging disease conditions such as the spread of an Asian tick, Haemaphysalis longicornis, and its associated diseases among migratory birds in the eastern United States; lymphoproliferative disease virus in...
A critical assessment of human-impact indices based on anthropogenic pollen indicators
Mara Deza-Araujo, Cesar Morales-Molino, Willy Tinner, Paul D. Henne, Caroline Heitz, Gianni B Pezzatti, Albert Hafner, Marco Conedera
2020, Quaternary Science Reviews (236)
Anthropogenic pollen indicators in pollen records are an established tool for reconstructing the history of human impacts on vegetation and landscapes. They are also used to disentangle the influence of human activities and climatic variability on ecosystems. The comprehensive anthropogenic pollen-indicator approach developed by Behre (1981) has been widely used,...
Inferring surface flow velocities in sediment-laden Alaskan rivers from optical image sequences acquired from a helicopter
Carl J. Legleiter, Paul J. Kinzel
2020, Remote Sensing (12)
The remote, inaccessible location of many rivers in Alaska creates a compelling need for remote sensing approaches to streamflow monitoring. Motivated by this objective, we evaluated the potential to infer flow velocities from optical image sequences acquired from a helicopter deployed above two large, sediment-laden rivers. Rather than artificial seeding,...
Distribution and abundance of Westslope Cutthroat Trout in relation to habitat characteristics at multiple spatial scales
John W Heckel, Michael Quist, Carson J. Watkins, Andrew M. Dux
2020, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (40) 893-909
The distribution and relative abundance of Westslope Cutthroat Trout (WCT) Oncorhynchus clarkii lewisi in relation to habitat characteristics remain unknown across large portions of the species’ range. The goals of this research were to provide a foundational understanding of WCT distribution and relative abundance related to habitat characteristics in tributaries of the...
Using value of information to prioritize research needs for migratory bird management under climate change: A case study using federal land acquisition in the United States
Clark S Rushing, Madeleine A. Rubenstein, James E. Lyons, Michael C. Runge
2020, Biological Reviews (95) 1109-1130
In response to global habitat loss, many governmental and non‐governmental organizations have implemented land acquisition programs to protect critical habitats permanently for priority species. The ability of these protected areas to meet future management objectives may be compromised if the effects of climate change are not considered in acquisition decisions....
Bedrock geologic map of the Mount Ascutney 7.5- x 15-minute quadrangle, Windsor County, Vermont, and Sullivan County, New Hampshire
Gregory J. Walsh, Peter M. Valley, Peter J. Thompson, Nicholas M. Ratcliffe, Brooks P. Proctor, Karri R. Sicard
2020, Scientific Investigations Map 3440
The bedrock geology of the Mount Ascutney 7.5- x 15-minute quadrangle consists of highly deformed and metamorphosed Mesoproterozoic through Devonian metasedimentary and meta-igneous rocks intruded by rocks of the Mesozoic White Mountain Igneous Suite. In the west, Mesoproterozoic gneisses of the Mount Holly Complex are the oldest rocks and form...
Preliminary investigation of the critically imperiled Caney Mountain cave crayfish Orconectes stygocaneyi Hobbs III, 2001 (Decapoda: Cambaridae) in Missouri, USA
Robert J. DiStefano, D.C. Ashley, Shannon K. Brewer, J.B. Mouser, M. Neimiller
2020, Freshwater Crayfish (25) 47-57
The Caney Mountain cave crayfish (Orconectes stygocaneyi) is one of North America's rarest crayfish, endemic to one cave in southern Missouri, USA. The species is listed as 'critically imperiled' by Missouri, and 'threatened' by the American Fisheries Society. Previously, only 15 crayfish have been observed in Mud Cave, and only...
Millennial-scale climate and human drivers of environmental change and fire activity in a dry, mixed-conifer forest of northwestern Montana
David B. McWethy, Mio Alt, Elana Argiriadis, Dario Battistel, Richard G. Everett, Gregory T. Pederson
2020, Frontiers in Forests and Global Change (3)
Warm summer temperatures and longer fire seasons are promoting larger, and in some cases, more fires that are severe in low- and mid-elevation, dry mixed-conifer forests of the Northern Rocky Mountains (NRM). Long-term historical fire conditions and human influence on past fire activity are not well understood for these topographically...
Seasonal manganese transport in the hyporheic zone of a snowmelt-dominated river (East River, Colorado)
S. Bryant, A. Sawyer, Martin A. Briggs, C. Saup, A. R Nelson, M. J. Wilkins, J. R. Christensen, K. H. Williams
2020, Hydrogeology Journal (28) 1323-1341
Manganese (Mn) plays a critical role in river-water quality because Mn-oxides serve as sorption sites for contaminant metals. The aim of this study is to understand the seasonal cycling of Mn in an alpine streambed that experiences large spring snowmelt events and the potential responses to changes in snowmelt timing...
Geologic map of the Homestake Reservoir 7.5′ quadrangle, Lake, Pitkin, and Eagle Counties, Colorado
Chester A. Ruleman, Michael G. Frothingham, Theodore R. Brandt, Colin A. Shaw, Marc W. Caffee, Brent M. Goehring, Keith A. Brugger
2020, Scientific Investigations Map 3451
The Homestake Reservoir 7.5' quadrangle lies at the northwestern end of the Upper Arkansas Valley, and headwaters of the Arkansas River, and the Roaring Fork, Fryingpan, and Eagle Rivers of the Colorado River system. The quadrangle lies within tectonic provinces of the 1.4 giga-annum (Ga) Picuris orogeny and includes the...
Indonesia and the United States team up to reduce impacts from dangerous volcanoes
Jacob B. Lowenstern, Kasbani, John S. Pallister, David W. Ramsey
2020, Fact Sheet 2019-3074
With 75 historically active volcanoes, Indonesia is the world’s most volcanically active nation. Its volcanoes are legendary throughout the world, with the notorious 19th-century eruptions at Mount Tambora (1815) and Krakatau (1883), and the eruption that created the giant Toba Caldera in Sumatra (75,000 years ago)—the Earth’s largest volcanic eruption...
HESS opinions: Beyond the long-term water balance: Evolving Budyko's supply–demand framework for the Anthropocene towards a global synthesis of land-surface fluxes under natural and human-altered watersheds
A. Sankarasubramanian, Dingbao Wang, Stacey A. Archfield, Meredith Reitz, Richard M Vogel, Amirhossein Mazrooei, Sudarshana Mukhopadhyaya
2020, Hydrology and Earth System Sciences (24) 1975-1984
Global hydroclimatic conditions have been substantially altered over the past century by anthropogenic influences that arise from the warming global climate and from local/regional anthropogenic disturbances. Traditionally, studies have used coupling of multiple models to understand how land-surface water fluxes vary due to changes in global climatic patterns and local...
A graphical causal model for resolving species identity effects and biodiversity–ecosystem function correlations
Donald R. Schoolmaster Jr., Chad R Zirbel, James P. Cronin
2020, Ecology (101)
Identifying and clearly communicating the drivers of ecosystem function is a crucially important goal for both basic and applied ecology. This has proven difficult because the putative causes (e.g., environment, species identity, biodiversity, and functional traits) are numerous and correlated. The problem is exacerbated by a lack of a formal...
PFAS in the environment
U.S. Geological Survey
2020, General Information Product 197
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is working with Federal, State, and local partners to monitor and evaluate perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the State’s groundwater and surface waters. PFAS are synthetic chemicals with widespread commercial and industrial use that can take a very long time to break down in...
Microplastics
U.S. Geological Survey
2020, General Information Product 196
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is working with Federal, State, and local partners to monitor and evaluate microplastics in our lakes, rivers, and coastal waters. Microplastics are very small pieces of plastic, some-times so small that they cannot be seen with the naked eye. The USGS is taking an active...
Temporal magnetotellurics reveals mechanics of the 2012 Mount Tongariro, NZ eruption
Graham J. Hill, Hugh M. Bibby, Jared R. Peacock, Erin L. Wallin, Yasuo Ogawa, Luca Caricchi, Harry Keys, Stewart L. Bennie, Yann Avram
2020, Geophysical Research Letters (47)
Monitoring dynamics of volcanic eruptions with geophysics is challenging. In August and November 2012, two small eruptions from Mount Tongariro provided a unique opportunity to image subsurface changes caused by the eruptions. A detailed magnetotelluric survey of the Tongariro volcanic complex completed prior to the eruption (2008–2010)...
Modeling the supporting ecosystem services of depressional wetlands
David M. Mushet, Cali L. Roth
2020, Wetlands (40) 1061-1069
We explored how a geographic information system modeling approach could be used to quantify supporting ecosystem services related to the type, abundance, and distribution of landscape components. Specifically, we use the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs model to quantify habitats that support amphibians and birds, floral resources that...
