Potentiometric surface and hydrologic conditions of the South Coast aquifer, Santa Isabel area, Puerto Rico, March–April, 2014
Felix A. Ramos, Alex A. Santiago
2020, Scientific Investigations Map 3455
A potentiometric surface map of the South Coast aquifer near Santa Isabel, Puerto Rico, was created from data collected during a synoptic survey of groundwater levels at 55 wells from March 31 to April 17, 2014. Measured groundwater level values ranged from −22.8 to 185.4 feet above mean sea level....
Nature’s Notebook-A tool for recording the timing of seasonal activity of plants and animals
Erin E. Posthumus, Mark P. Miller, Theresa Crimmins
2020, Fact Sheet 2020-3022
Nature's Notebook is a customizable program used by individual observers and Federal Government partners to document patterns in phenology—the timing of seasonal activity of plants and animals over the course of the calendar year. The USA National Phenology Network (USA-NPN) established Nature's Notebook in 2009 to create a standard approach...
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)...
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...
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...
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,...
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...
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...
Updated study reporting levels (SRLs) for trace-element data collected for the California Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Program Priority Basin Project, October 2009–October 2018
George L. Bennett V
2020, Scientific Investigations Report 2020-5034
Groundwater samples have been collected in California as part of statewide investigations of groundwater quality conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey for the Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Priority Basin Project (PBP) since 2004. The GAMA-PBP is being conducted in cooperation with the California State Water Resources Control Board...
Science plan for improving three-dimensional seismic velocity models in the San Francisco Bay region, 2019–24
Brad T. Aagaard, Russell W. Graymer, Clifford H. Thurber, Arthur J. Rodgers, Taka’aki Taira, Rufus D. Catchings, Christine A. Goulet, Andreas Plesch
2020, Open-File Report 2020-1019
This five-year science plan outlines short-term and long-term goals for improving three-dimensional seismic velocity models in the greater San Francisco Bay region as well as how to foster a community effort in reaching those goals. The short-term goals focus on improving the current U.S. Geological Survey San Francisco Bay region...
AMMonitor: Remote monitoring of biodiversity in an adaptive framework with R
Cathleen Balantic, Therese M. Donovan
2020, Methods in Ecology and Evolution (11) 869-877
Ecological research and management programs are increasingly using autonomous monitoring units (AMUs) to collect large volumes of acoustic and/or photo data to address pressing management objectives or research goals. The data management requirements of an AMU-based monitoring effort are often overwhelming, with a considerable amount of processing to translate raw...
AMMonitor 2: Remote monitoring of biodiversity in an adaptive framework in R
Cathleen Balantic, Therese M. Donovan
2020, Methods in Ecology and Evolution (11) 869-877
Ecological research and management programs are increasingly using autonomous monitoring units (AMUs) to collect large volumes of acoustic and/or photo data to address pressing management objectives or research goals. The data management requirements of an AMU-based monitoring effort are often overwhelming, with a considerable amount of processing to translate...
Land change monitoring, assessment, and projection
Jennifer Rover, Jesslyn F. Brown, Roger F. Auch, Kristi L. Sayler, Terry L. Sohl, Heather J. Tollerud, George Z. Xian
2020, Fact Sheet 2020-3024
There is a pressing need to monitor and understand the rapid land change happening around the world. The U.S. Geological Survey is developing a new capability, called Land Change Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection (LCMAP), to innovate the understanding of land change. This capability is the Earth Resources Observation and Science Center's...
Passive sampling of groundwater wells for determination of water chemistry
Thomas E. Imbrigiotta, Philip T. Harte
2020, Techniques and Methods 1-D8-
IntroductionPassive groundwater sampling is defined as the collection of a water sample from a well without the use of purging by a pump or retrieval by a bailer (Interstate Technology and Regulatory Council [ITRC], 2006; American Society for Testing and Materials [ASTM], 2014). No purging means that advection of water...
Benthic vertical hydraulic gradients in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon, 2017
Nicholas Corson-Dosch
2020, Scientific Investigations Report 2020-5029
Groundwater piezometers and lake stilling wells were deployed as paired sets at 10 locations in Upper Klamath Lake in south-central Oregon from May to October 2017 to measure hydraulic heads in and beneath the lake. Continuous water-level data from piezometers and stilling wells were then used to calculate the...
Tree-ring evidence of forest management moderating drought responses: Implications for dry, coniferous forests in the southwestern United States
Phillip J. van Mantgem, Lucy P Kerhoulas, Rosemary L. Sherriff, Zachary James Wenderott
2020, Frontiers in Forests and Global Change (3)
Drought, coupled with rising temperatures, is an emerging threat to many forest types across the globe. At least to a degree, we expect management actions that reduce competition (e.g., thinning, prescribed fire, or both) to improve growth of residual trees during drought. The influences of management actions and drought on...
Methods for rapidly estimating velocity precision from GNSS time series in the presence of temporal correlation: A new method and comparison of existing methods
John Langbein
2020, Journal of Geophysical Research (125) 1-16
Time series of position estimates from Global Navigational Satellite System (GNSS) are used to measure the velocities of points on the surface of the Earth. Along with the velocity estimates, a measure of the precision is needed to assess the quality of the velocity measurement. Here,...
Bathymetric and velocimetric surveys at highway bridges crossing the Missouri River between Kansas City and St. Louis, Missouri, May 22–31, 2017
Richard J. Huizinga
2020, Scientific Investigations Report 2020-5018
Bathymetric and velocimetric data were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Missouri Department of Transportation, near 10 bridges at 9 highway crossings of the Missouri River between Kansas City and St. Louis, Missouri, from May 22 to 31, 2017. A multibeam echosounder mapping system was used...
Dietary patterns in black abalone (Haliotis cracherodii Leach, 1814) as indicated by observation of drift algal and seagrass capture at San Nicolas Island, California USA, 1982‒2019
Michael C. Kenner, Glenn Van Blaricom
2020, Journal of Shellfish Research (39) 113-124
Black abalone Haliotis cracherodii Leach, 1814 are known to feed on drift plant macrodetritus moved about in the intertidal zone by waves and currents. Drift capture is a trait shared by at least several other abalone species. Drift materials are entrapped beneath the anterior foot and held...
Characterization of surface-water and groundwater quality on the Fort Berthold Reservation, North Dakota, 2014–17
Robert F. Lundgren, Mary J. Iorio
2020, Scientific Investigations Report 2020-5020
The Fort Berthold Reservation is in west-central North Dakota and home to the Three Affiliated Tribes. The primary water-resources concerns on the Fort Berthold Reservation are associated with the different types of land uses from agricultural activities and the rapid development of oil and gas resources in western North Dakota....
Zero or not? Causes and consequences of zero-flow stream gage readings
Margaret Zimmer, Kendra E. Kaiser, Joanna Blaszczak, Samuel Zipper, John C. Hammond, Ken M. Fritz, Katie H. Costigan, Jacob D. Hosen, Sarah E Godsey, George H. Allen, Stephanie K. Kampf, Ryan Burrow, Corey Krabbenhoft, Walter Dodds, Rebecca Hale, Julian D. Olden, Margaret Shanafield, Amanda DelVecchia, Adam S Ward, Meryl C. Mims, Thibault Datry, Michael A. Bogan, Kate Boersma, Michelle Busch, Nathan M. Jones, Amy Burgin, Daniel C. Allen
2020, WIREs Water (7)
Streamflow observations can be used to understand, predict, and contextualize hydrologic, ecological, and biogeochemical processes and conditions in streams. Stream gages are point measurements along rivers where streamflow is measured, and are often used to infer upstream watershed‐scale processes. When stream gages read zero, this may indicate that the stream...
Viral, bacterial, and protozoan pathogens and fecal markers in wells supplying groundwater to public water systems in Minnesota, USA
Joel P. Stokdyk, Aaron D. Firnstahl, James F. Walsh, Susan K. Spencer, Jane R. de Lambert, Anita C. Anderson, Lih-in W. Rezania, Burney A Kieke, Mark A. Borchardt
2020, Water Research (178)
Drinking water supply wells can be contaminated by a broad range of waterborne pathogens. However, groundwater assessments frequently measure microbial indicators or a single pathogen type, which provides a limited characterization of potential health risk. This study assessed contamination of wells by testing for viral, bacterial, and protozoan pathogens and...
