Geometric targets for UAS Lidar
B. Wilkinson, H.A. Lassiter, A. Abd-Elrahman, Raymond Carthy, P. Ifju, E. Broadbent, N. Grimes
2019, Remote Sensing (11)
Lidar from small unoccupied aerial systems (UAS) is a viable method for collecting geospatial data associated with a wide variety of applications. Point clouds from UAS lidar require a means for accuracy assessment, calibration, and adjustment. In order to carry out these procedures, specific locations within the point cloud must...
Characterization of immunoglobulin light chain utilization and variable family diversity in rainbow trout
Katherine Rego, Eva Bengten, Melanie Wilson, John D. Hansen, Erin S Bromage
2019, Developmental and Comparative Immunology (104)
This study characterizes immunoglobulin light chain (IgL) expression and variable family usage in rainbow trout. IgL transcripts were generated by 5’ RACE from both immune and TNP-KLH immunized fish. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the IgL variable regions clustered into seven different families: three kappa families (two newly described in this...
Validating a landsat time-series of fractional component cover across western U.S. Rangelands
Matthew B. Rigge, Collin G. Homer, Hua Shi, Debra K. Meyer
2019, Remote Sensing (11)
Western U.S. rangelands have been quantified as six fractional cover (0%–100%) components over the Landsat archive (1985–2018) at a 30 m resolution, termed the “Back-in-Time” (BIT) dataset. Robust validation through space and time is needed to quantify product accuracy. Here, we used field data collected concurrently with high-resolution satellite (HRS) images...
Isolation of methylmercury using distillation and anion-exchange chromatography for isotopic analyses in natural matrices
Tylor Rosera, Sarah E. Janssen, Michael T. Tate, Ryan F. Lepak, Jacob M. Ogorek, John F. DeWild, Christopher L. Babiarz, David P. Krabbenhoft, James P. Hurley
2019, Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry (412) 681-690
The development of mercury (Hg) stable isotope measurements has enhanced the study of Hg sources and transformations in the environment. As a result of the mixing of inorganic Hg (iHg) and methylmercury (MeHg) species within organisms of the aquatic food web, understanding species-specific Hg stable isotopic compositions is of significant...
Exposure and potential effects of pesticides and pharmaceuticals in protected streams of the US National Park Service southeast Region
Paul M. Bradley, Kristin M. Romanok, Jeffrey R. Duncan, William Battaglin, Jimmy Clark, Michelle L. Hladik, Bradley Huffman, Luke Iwanowicz, Celeste A. Journey, Kelly Smalling
2019, Science of the Total Environment (704)
Globally protected areas offer refugia for a broad range of taxa including threatened and endangered species. The United States National Park Service (NPS) manages public lands to preserve biodiversity, but increasing park visitation and development of surrounding landscapes increase exposure to and effects from bioactive contaminants. The risk (exposure and...
Depth to bedrock based on modeling of gravity data of the eastern part of Edwards Air Force Base, California
Victoria Langenheim, Andrew Morita, Allen H. Christensen, Geoffrey Cromwell, Christopher P. Ely
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1128
We describe a gravity survey acquired to determine the thickness of basin-fill deposits (depth to bedrock) and to delineate geologic structures that might influence groundwater flow beneath the eastern part of Edwards Air Force Base, California. Inversion of these gravity data combined with geologic map and well information provides an...
Response of tidal marsh vegetation to pulsed increases in flooding and nitrogen
Meagan M McCoy, Taylor M Sloey, Rebecca J. Howard, Mark W. Hester
2019, Wetlands Ecology and Management (28) 119-135
Worldwide, human activities have modified hydrology and nutrient loading regimes in coastal wetlands. Understanding the interplay between these drivers and subsequent response of wetland plant communities is essential to informing wetland management and restoration efforts. Recent restoration strategies in Louisiana proposes to use sediment diversions from the Mississippi River to...
Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta Berry Outlook: Final Report
Nicole M. Herman-Mercer, Rachel A. Loehman
2019, Report
No abstract available. ...
Developing and optimizing shrub parameters representing sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) ecosystems in the Northern Great Basin using the Ecosystem Demography (EDv2.2) model
Karun Pandit, Hamid Dasthi, Nancy Glenn, Alejandro Flores, Kaitlin C. Maguire, Douglas J. Shinneman, Gerald Flerchinger, Aaron Fellow
2019, Geoscientific Model Development (12) 4585-4601
Ecosystem dynamic models are useful for understanding ecosystem characteristics over time and space because of their efficiency over direct field measurements and applicability to broad spatial extents. Their application, however, is challenging due to internal model uncertainties and complexities arising from distinct qualities of the ecosystems being analyzed. The sagebrush-steppe...
Generation of lamprey monoclonal antibodies (Lampribodies) using the phage display system
Khan M A Hassan, John D. Hansen, Brantley R Herrin, Chris T Amemiya
2019, Biomolecules (9)
The variable lymphocyte receptors (VLRs) consist of leucine rich repeats (LRRs) and comprise the humoral antibodies produced by lampreys and hagfishes. The diversity of the molecules is generated by stepwise genomic rearrangements of LRR cassettes dispersed throughout the VLRB locus. Previously, target-specific monovalent VLRB antibodies were isolated from sea lamprey...
Improved genetic identification of acipenseriform embryos with application to the endangered pallid sturgeon Scaphirhynchus albus
Tom Kashiwagi, Aaron J. Delonay, Patrick Braaten, Kimberly Chojnacki, Rachel M. Gocker, Edward J. Heist
2019, Journal of Fish Biology (96) 486-495
We produced pallid sturgeon Scaphirhynchus albus embryos at five pre‐hatch developmental stages and isolated and quantified genomic DNA from four of the stages using four commercial DNA isolation kits. Genomic DNA prepared using the kit that produced the largest yields and concentrations were used for microsatellite DNA analyses of 10–20...
High-resolution and accurate topography reconstruction of Mount Etna from Pleiades satellite data
Monica Palaseanu-Lovejoy, Marina Bisson, Claudia Spinetti, Maria Fabrizia Buongiorno, Oleg Alexandrov, Thomas Cecere
2019, Remote Sensing (11)
The areas characterized by dynamic and rapid morphological changes need accurate topography information with frequent updates, especially if these are populated and involve infrastructures. This is particularly true in active volcanic areas such as Mount (Mt.) Etna, located in the northeastern portion of Sicily, Italy. The Mt. Etna volcano is...
Earthquakes, ShakeMap
David J. Wald, Charles Worden, Eric M. Thompson, Mike Hearne
2019, Book chapter, Encyclopedia of Solid Earth Geophysics
ShakeMap® is an open-source software program employed to automatically produce a suite of maps and products that portray the geographical extent and severity of potentially damaging shaking following an earthquake. ShakeMap’s primary purpose is to provide post-earthquake situational awareness for emergency management and response as well...
A pragmatic approach for comparing species distribution models to increasing confidence in managing piping plover habitat
Brooke Maslo, Sara Zeigler, Evan Drake, Todd Pover, Nathaniel G. Plant
2019, Conservation Science and Practice (2)
Conservation management often requires decision-making without perfect knowledge of the at-risk species or ecosystem. Species distribution models (SDMs) are useful but largely under-utilized due to model uncertainty. We provide a case study that utilizes an ensemble modeling approach of two independently derived SDMs to explicitly address common modeling impediments and...
Recent sandy deposits at five northern California coastal wetlands — Stratigraphy, diatoms, and implications for storm and tsunami hazards
Eileen Hemphill-Haley, Harvey M. Kelsey, Nicholas Graehl, Michael Casso, Dylan Caldwell, Casey Loofbourrow, Michelle Robinson, Jessica Vermeer, Edward Southwick
2019, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5111
A recent geological record of inundation by tsunamis or storm surges is evidenced by deposits found within the first few meters of the modern surface at five wetlands on the northern California coast. The study sites include three locations in the Crescent City area (Marhoffer Creek marsh, Elk Creek wetland,...
Evaluating legacy effects of hyperabundant white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in forested stands of Harriman and Bear Mountain State Parks, New York
Chellby R. Kilheffer, H. Brian Underwood, Donald J. Leopold, Rachel Guerrieri
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1116
Executive SummaryWhite-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) are among the most impactful herbivores in the eastern United States. Legacy forest effects, those accrued from intense herbivory over time, manifest as low seedling regeneration, high cover of plant species that are infrequently browsed by deer, presence or expansion of nonnative or invasive plant...
Multiorder hydrologic position in the conterminous United States: A set of metrics in support of groundwater mapping at regional and national scales
Kenneth Belitz, Richard B. Moore, Terri Arnold, Jennifer B. Sharpe, J. Jeffrey Starn
2019, Water Resources Research (55) 11188-11207
The location of a point on the landscape within a stream network (hydrologic position) can be an important predictive measure in hydrology. Hydrologic position is defined here by two metrics: lateral position and distance from stream to divide, both measured horizontally. Lateral position (dimensionless) is the relative...
Machine learning classifiers for attributing tephra to source volcanoes: An evaluation of methods for Alaska tephras
Matthew Bolton, Britta Jensen, Kristi L. Wallace, Nore Praet, David Fortin, Darrell Kaufman, Marc De Batist
2019, Journal of Quaternary Science (35) 81-92
Glass composition-based correlations of volcanic ash (tephra) traditionally rely on extensive manual plotting. Many previous statistical methods for testing correlations are limited by using geochemical means, masking diagnostic variability. We suggest that machine learning classifiers can expedite correlation, quickly narrowing the list of likely candidates...
Overall methodology design for the United States National Land Cover Database 2016 products
Suming Jin, Collin Homer, Limin Yang, Patrick Danielson, Jon Dewitz, Congcong Li, Zhe Zhu, George Z. Xian, Danny Howard
2019, Remote Sensing (11)
The National Land Cover Database (NLCD) 2016 provides a suite of data products, including land cover and land cover change of the conterminous United States from 2001 to 2016, at two- to three-year intervals. The development of this product is part of an effort to meet the growing demand...
Morphodynamic modelling of the wilderness breach, Fire Island, New York. Part I: Model set-up and validation
Maarten van Ormondt, Timothy Nelson, Cheryl Hapke, Dano Roelvink
2019, Coastal Engineering (157)
On October 29, 2012, storm surge and large waves produced by Hurricane 13 Sandy resulted in the formation of a breach in eastern Fire Island, NY. The goals of this study 14 are to gain a better understanding of the physical processes that govern breach behavior and 15 to assess...
Species recovery and recolonization of past habitats: Lessons for science and conservation from sea otters in estuaries
Brent B. Hughes, Kerstin Wasson, M. Tim Tinker, Susan L Williams, Lilian P. Carswell, Katharyn E. Boyer, Michael W. Beck, Ron Eby, Robert Scoles, Michelle M. Staedler, Sarah Espinosa, Margot Hessing-Lewis, Erin U. Foster, Kathryn Beheshti, Tracy M Grimes, Benjamin H. Becker, Lisa Needles, Joseph A. Tomoleoni, Jane Rudebusch, Ellen Marie Hines, Brian R Silliman
2019, PeerJ (7)
Recovering species are often limited to much smaller areas than they historically occupied. Conservation planning for the recovering species is often based on this limited range, which may simply be an artifact of where the surviving population persisted. Southern sea otters (Enhydra lutris nereis) were hunted nearly to extinction but...
Is the timing, pace and success of the monarch migration associated with sun angle?
Orley R. Taylor, James P Lovett, David L Gibo, Emily L. Weiser, Wayne E. Thogmartin, Darius J. Semmens, James E. Diffendorfer, John M. Pleasants, Samuel Pecoraro, Ralph Grundel
2019, Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution (7)
A basic question concerning the monarch butterfly’s fall migration is which monarchs succeed in reaching overwintering sites in Mexico, which fail—and why. We document the timing and pace of the fall migration, ask whether the sun’s position in the sky is associated with the pace of the migration, and whether...
Trends in streamflow and concentrations and flux of nutrients and total suspended solids in the Upper White River at Muncie, near Nora, and near Centerton, Indiana
G. F. Koltun
2019, Scientific Investigations Report 2019-5119
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with The Nature Conservancy, completed a study to estimate and assess trends in streamflow and annual mean concentrations and flux of nutrients (nitrate plus nitrite, total Kjeldahl nitrogen, and total phosphorus) and total suspended solids at three USGS streamgages (hereafter referred to as “study...
The emissions of CO2 and other volatiles from the world’s subaerial volcanoes
Tobias P. Fischer, Santiago Arellano, Simon Carn, Alessandro Aiuppa, Bo Galle, Patrick Allard, Taryn Lopez, Hiroshi Shinohara, Peter J. Kelly, Cynthia Werner, Carlo Cardelini, Giovanni Chiodini
2019, Scientific Reports (9)
Volcanoes are the main pathway to the surface for volatiles that are stored within the Earth. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is of particular interest because of its potential for climate forcing. Understanding the balance of CO2 that is transferred from the Earth’s surface to the Earth’s interior, hinges on accurate quantification of...
Multi-resource analysis: A proof of concept study of natural resource tradeoffs in the Piceance Basin, Colorado, using the net resources assessment (NetRA) decision support tool
Richard Bernknopf, Craig Broadbent, Dadhi Adhikari, Saleh Mamun, Vince Tidwell, Christopher Babis, Emily Pindilli
2019, Scientific Investigations Report 2019-5086
Executive SummaryThe U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is developing a multi-resource analysis (MRA) line of products to inform land-use decision makers. Specifically, MRA products will integrate scientific information, include considerations for natural resource interrelations, and quantify the effects of resource management decisions in biophysical, economic, and societal terms. As part of...
