Using machine learning to develop a predictive understanding of the impacts of extreme water cycle perturbations on river water quality
Charuleka Varadharajan, Vipin Kumar, Jared Willard, Jacob Aaron Zwart, Jeffrey Michael Sadler, Helen Weierbach, Talita Perciano, Juliane Mueller, Valerie Hendrix, Danielle Christianson
2021, Report
This whitepaper addresses to two focal areas – (3) Insight gleaned from complex data using Artificial Intelligence (AI), and other advanced techniques (primary), and (2) Predictive modeling through the use of AI techniques and AI-derived model components (secondary). This topic is directly relevant to four DOE Earth and Environmental Systems...
Biological and anthropogenic influences on macrophage aggregates in white perch Morone americana from Chesapeake Bay, USA
Mark A Matsche, Vicki S. Blazer, Erin Pulster, Patricia M. Mazik
2021, Diseases of Aquatic Organisms (143) 79-100
The response of macrophage aggregates in fish to a variety of environmental stressors has been useful as a biomarker of exposure to habitat degradation. Total volume of macrophage aggregates (MAV) was estimated in the liver and spleen of white perch Morone americana from Chesapeake Bay using stereological approaches. Hepatic and splenic MAV...
Machine-learning predictions of redox conditions in groundwater in the Mississippi River Valley alluvial and Claiborne aquifers, south-central United States
Katherine J. Knierim, James A. Kingsbury, Connor J. Haugh
2021, Scientific Investigations Map 3468
Machine-learning models developed by the U.S. Geological Survey were used to predict iron concentrations and the probability of dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations exceeding a threshold of 1 milligram per liter (mg/L) in groundwater in aquifers of the Mississippi embayment physiographic region. DO and iron concentrations are driven by and reflect...
Evaluation of streamflow extent and hydraulic characteristics of a restored channel at Soldier Meadows, Black Rock Desert–High Rock Canyon Emigrant Trails National Conservation Area, Nevada
Christopher M. Morris
2021, Scientific Investigations Report 2020-5143
The Soldier Meadows spring complex provides habitat for the desert dace, an endemic and threatened fish. The spring complex has been altered with the construction of irrigation ditches that remove water from natural stream channels. Irrigation ditches generally provide lower quality habitat for the desert dace. Land and wildlife...
Modeling water temperature response to dam operations and water management in Green Peter and Foster Lakes and the South Santiam River, Oregon
Annett B. Sullivan, Stewart A. Rounds
2021, Scientific Investigations Report 2020-5145
Significant FindingsGreen Peter and Foster Dams have altered natural seasonal temperature patterns in the South and Middle Santiam Rivers of the Willamette River Basin in northwestern Oregon. Cold-water releases from Green Peter Dam, upstream of Foster Lake, contribute to the cool-water conditions at Foster Dam. In summer, unseasonably cold...
Dynamics of the seasonal migration of Round Goby (Neogobius melanostomus, Pallas 1814) and implications for the Lake Ontario food web
Chris Pennuto, Knut Mehler, Brian Weidel, Brian F. Lantry, Eric Bruestle
2021, Ecology of Freshwater Fish (30) 151-161
Seasonal migrations of fish populations can have large effects on lake nutrient budgets and food web dynamics, but the addition of a migrating non‐native species may alter these dynamics. The Round Goby (Neogobius melanostomus) arrived in Lake Ontario (USA/Canada) about 20 years ago with a documented history of annual offshore–inshore migrations...
Sequestration of microfibers and other microplastics by green algae, Cladophora, in the US Great Lakes
Julie R. Peller, Meredith B. Nevers, Muruleedhara Byappanahalli, Cassie Nelson, Bharath Ganesh Babu, Mary Anne Evans, Eddie Kostelnik, Morgan Keller, Jenna Johnston, Sarah Shidler
2021, Environmental Pollution (276)
Daunting amounts of microplastics are present in surface waters worldwide. A main category of microplastics is synthetic microfibers, which originate from textiles. These microplastics are generated and released in laundering and are discharged by wastewater treatment plants or enter surface waters from other sources. The polymers that constitute many common synthetic...
Microbial pathogens and contaminants of emerging concern in groundwater at an urban subsurface stormwater infiltration site
Jane R. de Lambert, James F. Walsh, Deanna P. Scher, Aaron D. Firnstahl, Mark A. Borchardt
2021, Science of the Total Environment (775)
Urban stormwater may contain a variety of pollutants, including viruses and other pathogens, and contaminants of emerging concern (pharmaceuticals, artificial sweeteners, and personal care products). In vulnerable geologic settings, the potential exists for these contaminants to reach underlying aquifers and contaminate drinking water wells. Viruses and other pathogens, as well...
Computational methodology to analyze the effect of mass transfer rate on attenuation of leaked carbon dioxide in shallow aquifers
Radek Fucik, Jakub Solovsky, Michelle R. Plampin, Hao Wu, Jiri Mikyska, Tissa H. Illangasekare
2021, Acta Polytechnica (61)
Exsolution and re-dissolution of CO2 gas within heterogeneous porous media are investigated using experimental data and mathematical modeling. In a set of bench-scale experiments, water saturated with CO2 under a given pressure is injected into a 2-D water-saturated porous media system, causing CO2 gas to exsolve and migrate upwards. A layer of fine...
Multi-taxa database data dictionary
Elise Watson, Carlton J. Rochester, Chris W. Brown, Donn A. Holmes, Stacie A. Hathaway, Robert N. Fisher
2021, Techniques and Methods 16-B1
The conservation of biological resources relies on the successful management of ecological and physiological research data. The Western Ecological Research Center of the U.S. Geological Survey is working with researchers, land managers, and decision makers from non-government organizations and city, county, state, and federal resource agencies to develop data...
Environmental and anthropogenic drivers of contaminants in agricultural watersheds with implications for land management
Kelly L. Smalling, Olivia Devereux, Stephanie E. Gordon, Patrick J. Phillips, Vicki S. Blazer, Michelle L. Hladik, Dana W. Kolpin, Michael T. Meyer, Adam Sperry, Tyler Wagner
2021, Science of the Total Environment (774)
If not managed properly, modern agricultural practices can alter surface and groundwater quality and drinking water resources resulting in potential negative effects on aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Exposure to agriculturally derived contaminant mixtures has the potential to alter habitat quality and negatively affect fish and other aquatic organisms. Implementation of...
Using high resolution satellite and telemetry data to track flooded habitats, their use by waterfowl, and evaluate effects of drought on waterfowl and shorebird bioenergetics in California
Elliott Matchett, Matthew Reiter, Cory T. Overton, Dennis Jongsomjit, Michael L. Casazza
2021, Open-File Report 2020-1102
Wetland managers in the Central Valley of California, a dynamic hydrological landscape, require information regarding the amount and location of existing wetland habitat to make decisions on how to best use water resources to support multiple wildlife objectives, particularly during drought. Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey Western Ecological...
Export of photolabile and photoprimable dissolved organic carbon from the Connecticut River
B. Yoon, Jacob D. Hosen, Ethan Kyzivat, Jennifer H Fair, Lisa C. Weber, Kelly S. Aho, Rachel Lowenthal, Serena Matt, W. V. Sobczak, James B. Shanley, Jonathan Morrison, James E. Saiers, Aron Stubbins, Peter A. Raymond
2021, Aquatic Sciences (83)
Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) impacts water quality, the carbon cycle, and the ecology of aquatic systems. Understanding what controls DOC is therefore critical for improving large-scale models and best management practices for aquatic ecosystems. The two main processes of DOC transformation and removal, photochemical and microbial DOC degradation, work in...
Enhancing the application of Earth observations for improved environmental decision-making using the Early Warning eXplorer (EWX)
Shraddhanand Shukla, Martin Landsfeld, Michelle Anthony, Michael Budde, Greg Husak, James Rowland, Chris Funk
2021, Frontiers in Climate (2)
The mitigation of losses due to extreme climate events and long-term climate adaptation requires climate informed decision-making. In the past few decades, several remote sensing and modeled-based Earth observations (EOs) have been developed to provide an unprecedented global overview and routine monitoring of climate and its impacts on vegetation and...
Seasonal impoundment alters patterns of tidal wetland plant diversity across spatial scales
Scott Jones, Christopher N. Janousek, Michael L. Casazza, John Y. Takekawa, Karen M. Thorne
2021, Ecosphere (12)
Understanding patterns of biodiversity is a key goal of ecology and is especially pressing in the current human‐caused biodiversity crisis. In wetland ecosystems, human impacts are centered around hydrologic manipulation including the common practice of wetland diking and impoundment. Constraining how wetland management influences plant biodiversity patterns across spatial scales...
Microbial and viral indicators of pathogens and human health risks from recreational exposure to waters impaired by fecal contamination
Anna M. McKee, Marcella A. Cruz
2021, Journal of Sustainable Water in the Built Environment (7)
Fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) (e.g., fecal coliforms, Escherichia coli, and enterococci) have been used for decades to monitor for and protect the public from waterborne pathogens from fecal contamination. However, FIB may not perform well at predicting the presence of waterborne pathogens or human health outcomes from recreational exposure...
Improving remotely sensed river bathymetry by image-averaging
Carl J. Legleiter, Paul J. Kinzel
2021, Water Resources Research (57)
Basic data on river bathymetry is critical for numerous applications in river research and management and is increasingly obtained via remote sensing, but the noisy, pixelated appearance of image‐derived depth maps can compromise subsequent analyses. We hypothesized that this noise originates from reflectance from an irregular...
Winter roost selection of Lasiurine tree bats in a pyric landscape
Marcelo H. Jorge, W. Mark Ford, Sara E. Sweeten, Samuel R. Freeze, Michael C. TRUE, Michael J. St. Germain, Hila Taylor, Katherine M. Gorman, Michael J. Cherry, Elina P. Garrison
2021, PLoS ONE (16)
Day-roost selection by Lasiurine tree bats during winter and their response to dormant season fires is unknown in the southeastern United States where dormant season burning is widely applied. Although fires historically were predominantly growing season, they now occur in the dormant season in this part...
Estimation of suspended sediment at a discontinued streamgage on the lower Minnesota River at Fort Snelling State Park, Minnesota
Joel T. Groten, Jon S. Hendrickson, Linda R. Loomis
2021, Open-File Report 2021-1005
In the spring of 2019, ice sheets transported down-stream during a large streamflow rise event in the lower Minnesota River destroyed an index-velocity streamgage at the Minnesota River at Fort Snelling State Park, Minnesota (U.S. Geological Survey station 05330920; hereafter referred to as “Ft. Snelling”). The streamgage previously used an...
Availability of subsurface water-ice resources in the northern mid-latitudes of Mars
Gareth A Morgan, Nathaniel E Putzig, Matthew R Perry, Hanna G Sizemore, Ali M Bramson, Eric I Petersen, Zach M Bain, David M H Baker, Marco Mastrogiuseppe, Rachel H Hoover, Isaac B. Smith, Asmin V Pathare, Colin M. Dundas, Bruce A Campbell
2021, Nature Astronomy (5) 230-236
Multiple nations and private entities are pushing to make landing humans on Mars a reality. The majority of proposed mission architectures envision ‘living off the land’ by leveraging Martian water-ice deposits for fuel production and other purposes. Fortunately for mission designers, water ice exists on Mars...
Forecasting the frequency and magnitude of postfire debris flows across southern California
Jason W. Kean, Dennis M. Staley
2021, Earth's Future (9)
Southern California has a long history of damaging debris flows after wildfire. Despite recurrent loss, forecasts of the frequency and magnitude of postfire debris flows are not available for the region like they are for earthquakes. Instead, debris flow hazards are typically assessed in a reactive manner after wildfires. Such...
Water-level conditions in the confined aquifers of the New Jersey Coastal Plain, 2013
Alison D. Gordon, Glen B. Carleton, Robert Rosman
2021, Scientific Investigations Report 2019-5146
The Coastal Plain aquifers of New Jersey provide an important source of water for more than 3.5 million people. In 2013, groundwater withdrawals from 10 confined aquifers of the New Jersey Coastal Plain totaled about 190 million gallons per day. Steadily increasing withdrawals from the late 1800s to the early...
Ground‐penetrating radar, electromagnetic induction, terrain, and vegetation observations coupled with machine learning to map permafrost distribution at Twelvemile Lake, Alaska
S. Campbell, Martin A. Briggs, S.P. Roy, T. A. Douglas, S. Saari
2021, Permafrost and Periglacial Processes (32) 407-426
We collected ground‐penetrating radar (GPR) and frequency‐domain electromagnetic induction (FDEM) profiles in 2011 and 2012 to identify the extent of permafrost relative to surface biomass and solar insolation around Twelvemile Lake near Fort Yukon, Alaska. We compared a Landsat‐derived biomass estimate and modeled solar insolation from...
Identifying geomorphic process domains in the synthetic landscapes of West Virginia, USA
Kristin L. Jaeger, Matthew V Ross
2021, Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface (126)
Human activities such as mining, agriculture, and urbanization have resulted in severe, large‐scale alteration to landform organization and associated geomorphic processes. The mountaintop mining (MTM) region of West Virginia, USA has experienced dramatic topographic alteration, by removing steep slopes and introducing plateau‐like areas at ridgelines and benches...
Effects of surveying for the federally endangered Spruce-fir Moss Spider (Microhexura montivaga Crosby & Bishop) on its bryophyte habitat
Corinne A. Diggins, W. Mark Ford
2021, Southeastern Naturalist (20) 77-91
Microhexura montivaga (Spruce-fir Moss Spider) is a federally endangered arachnid endemic to high-elevation montane conifer forests of the southern Appalachian Mountains. The spider is cryptic and difficult to monitor because this species lives in the interface between the bryophyte mat and the rock surface. Since temporary...
