A non-intrusive approach for efficient stochastic emulation and optimization of model-based nitrate-loading management decision support
Jeremy T. White, Matthew J. Knowling, Michael N. Fienen, Daniel T. Feinstein, Garry W. McDonald, Catherine R. Moore
2020, Environmental Modeling and Software (126)
Use of physically-motivated numerical models like groundwater flow-and-transport models for probabilistic impact assessments and optimization under uncertainty (OUU) typically incurs such a computational burdensome that these tools cannot be used during decision making. The computational challenges associated with these models can be addressed through emulation. In the land-use/water-quality context, the...
Regional ocean models indicate changing limits to biological invasions in the Bering Sea
Amanda Droghini, Anthony S. Fischbach, Jordan Watson, Jesika Reimer
2020, ICES Journal of Marine Science
Minimal vessel traffic and cold water temperatures are believed to limit non-indigenous species (NIS) in high-latitude ecosystems. We evaluated whether suitable conditions exist in the Bering Sea for the introduction, survival, and reproduction of NIS. We compiled temperature and salinity thresholds of known NIS and compared these to ocean conditions...
Hydrologic and hydraulic analyses of selected streams in Stark County, Ohio
Chad J. Ostheimer, Matthew T. Whitehead
2020, Scientific Investigations Report 2020-5011
To update and expand a part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency Flood Insurance Study, the U.S. Geological Survey, the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District, and the Stark County Commissioners began a cooperative study. The study consisted of hydrologic and hydraulic analyses for selected reaches of 14 streams in Stark County,...
Modeling a 2- and 4-foot drawdown in the Link River to Keno Dam reach of the upper Klamath River, south-central Oregon
Annett B. Sullivan, Stewart A. Rounds
2020, Scientific Investigations Report 2020-5001
Executive SummaryThe most upstream, pooled reach of the Klamath River in south-central Oregon, from Link River mouth to Keno Dam (Link-Keno), has a water-surface elevation that remains relatively constant throughout the year. Two model scenarios, using an existing two-dimensional hydrodynamic and water-quality model (CE-QUAL-W2), were constructed to examine the...
Runoff sensitivity to snow depletion curve representation within a continental scale hydrologic model
Graham A. Sexstone, Jessica M. Driscoll, Lauren Hay, John C. Hammond, Theodore B. Barnhart
2020, Hydrological Processes (34) 2365-2380
The spatial variability of snow water equivalent (SWE) can exert a strong influence on the timing and magnitude of snowmelt delivery to a watershed. Therefore, the representation of subgrid or subwatershed snow variability in hydrologic models is important for accurately simulating snowmelt dynamics and runoff response. The U.S. Geological Survey...
A machine learning approach to developing ground motion models from simulated ground motions
Kyle Withers, Morgan P. Moschetti, Eric M. Thompson
2020, Geophysical Research Letters (47)
We use a machine learning approach to build a ground motion model (GMM) from a synthetic database of ground motions extracted from the Southern California CyberShake study. An artificial neural network is used to find the optimal weights that best fit the target data (without overfitting), with...
An experimental study of longitudinal incisional grooves in a mixed bedrock-alluvial channel
Takuya Inoue, Jonathan M. Nelson
2020, Water Resources Research (56)
Natural bedrock rivers have various bedforms created by erosion. Flow‐parallel incisional grooves formed longitudinally in bedrock are one common example of such bedforms. Although several studies have been conducted regarding these grooves, their formation processes are not well understood. In this study, we conducted a flume experiment to investigate the...
Long term persistence of aspen in snowdrift-dependent ecosystems
Alec M Kretchun, Robert M Scheller, Douglas J. Shinneman, B Soderquist, Kaitlin C. Maguire, Timothy E Link, Eva K. Strand
2020, Forest Ecology and Management (462)
Quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) forests throughout the western United States have experienced significant mortality in recent decades, much of which has been influenced by climate variability, especially drought. In the western portion of its range, where most precipitation arrives during winter as snowfall and summers are dry, snowdrifts that persist into the growing season...
Evolving infrasound detections from Bogoslof volcano, Alaska: Insights from atmospheric propagation modeling
Hans Schwaiger, John J. Lyons, Alexandra M. Iezzi, David Fee, Matthew M. Haney
2020, Bulletin of Volcanology (82)
Bogoslof volcano, a back-arc volcano in Alaska’s Aleutian arc, began an eruptive sequence in mid-December 2016 that ended in late August 2017, with 70 individual eruptive episodes. Because there were no local seismic or infrasound stations on the island, the Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) relied on distant geophysical networks and...
Characterizing land surface phenology and exotic annual grasses in dryland ecosystems using Landsat and Sentinel-2 data in harmony
Neal Pastick, Devendra Dahal, Bruce K. Wylie, Sujan Parajuli, Stephen P. Boyte, Zhuoting Wu
2020, Remote Sensing (12)
Invasive annual grasses, such as cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum L.), have proliferated in dryland ecosystems of the western United States, promoting increased fire activity and reduced biodiversity that can be detrimental to socio-environmental systems. Monitoring exotic annual grass cover and dynamics over large areas requires the use of remote sensing that...
The NASA hydrological forecast system for food and water security applications
Kristi Arsenault, Shraddhanand Shukla, Abheera Hazra, Agusto Getirana, Amy McNally, Sujay Kumar, Randal Koster, Christa Peters-Lidard, Ben Zaitchik, Hamada Badr, Hahn Chul Jung, Bala Narapusetty, Navari, Shugong Wang, David M. Mocko, Chris Funk, Laura Harrison, Gregory J. Husak, Alkhalil Adoum, Gideon Galu, Tamuka Magadzire, Jeanne Roningen, Michael J. Shaw, John Eylander, Karim Bergaoui, Rachael A. McDonnell, James Verdin
2020, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society (101) E1007-E1025
Many regions in Africa and the Middle East are vulnerable to drought and to water and food insecurity, motivating agency efforts such as the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS NET) to provide early warning of drought events in the region. Each year these...
Evaluating the mineral commodity supply risk of the U.S. manufacturing sector
Nedal T. Nassar, Jamie Brainard, Andrew L. Gulley, Ross Manley, Grecia R. Matos, Graham W. Lederer, Laurence Bird, David G. Pineault, Elisa Alonso, Joseph Gambogi, Steven M. Fortier
2020, Science Advances (6)
Trade tensions, resource nationalism, and various other factors are increasing concerns regarding the supply reliability of nonfuel mineral commodities. This is especially the case for commodities required for new and emerging technologies ranging from electric vehicles to wind turbines. In this analysis, we utilize a conventional risk-modeling framework to develop...
Seasonal subsurface thaw dynamics of an aufeis feature inferred from geophysical methods
Neil Terry, Elliot Grunewald, Martin A. Briggs, Michael Gooseff, Alexander D. Huryn, M. Andy Kass, Ken Tape, Patrick Hendrickson, John W. Lane Jr.
2020, Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface (125)
Aufeis are sheets of ice unique to cold regions that originate from repeated flooding and freezing events during the winter. They have hydrological importance associated with summer flows and possibly winter insulation, but little is known about the seasonal dynamics of the unfrozen sediment layer beneath them. This layer...
Assessment of soil and water resources in the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument, New Mexico
Johanna M. Blake, Aurelia C. Mitchell, Zachary M. Shephard, Grady Ball, Shaleene Chavarria, Kyle R. Douglas-Mankin
2020, Scientific Investigations Report 2019-5142
The Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument (Monument) in southern New Mexico was established in 2014. Given anticipated future demands in the Monument for recreation, livestock grazing, and maintenance of rights-of-way (for example, pipelines and powerlines), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) needs a better understanding of the current soil and...
Broad-scale impacts of an invasive native predator on a sensitive native prey species within the shifting avian community of the North American Great Basin
Peter S. Coates, Shawn O'Neil, Brianne E. Brussee, Mark A. Ricca, Pat J. Jackson, Jonathan B. Dinkins, Kristy B. Howe, Ann M. Moser, Lee J. Foster, David J Delahunty
2020, Biological Conservation (243)
Human enterprise has modified ecosystem processes through direct and indirect alteration of native predators’ distribution and abundance. For example, human activities subsidize food, water, and shelter availability to generalist predators whose subsequent increased abundance impacts lower trophic-level prey species. The common raven (Corvus corax; hereafter, raven) is an avian predator,...
Stormwater quality of infrastructure elements in Rapid City, South Dakota, 2016–18
Galen K. Hoogestraat
2020, Scientific Investigations Report 2020-5004
As runoff flows over the land or impervious surfaces (paved streets, parking lots, and building roofs), it accumulates debris, chemicals, sediment, and other contaminants that can adversely affect water quality if the runoff discharge remains untreated. Pathogens, commonly measured using fecal indicator bacteria such as Escherichia coli, enterococci, or fecal...
Hydrogeology and interactions of groundwater and surface water near Mill Creek and the Herring River, Wellfleet, Massachusetts, 2017–18
John R. Mullaney, Janet R. Barclay, Kaitlin L. Laabs, Katherine D. Lavallee
2020, Scientific Investigations Report 2019-5145
Groundwater levels and stream stage were monitored by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Friends of Herring River, at 19 sites in the Mill Creek Basin, a tributary of the Herring River in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, on outer Cape Cod, to provide baseline data prior to a proposed restoration...
Training data selection for annual land cover classification for the LCMAP initiative
Qiang Zhou, Heather J. Tollerud, Christopher P. Barber, Kelcy Smith, Daniel J. Zelenak
2020, Remote Sensing (12)
The U.S. Geological Survey’s Land Change Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection (LCMAP) initiative characterizes changes in land cover, use, and condition with the goal of producing land change information that improves understanding of the earth system and provides insight into the impacts of land change on society. For LCMAP, all available...
Monitoring chemical contaminants in the Gulf of Maine, using sediments and mussels (Mytilus edulis): An evaluation
Adria Elskus, Lawrence A LeBlanc, James S Latimer, David Page, Gareth Harding, Peter G Wells
2020, Marine Pollution Bulletin (153)
The objective of this paper is to determine whether contaminant data on mussels and sediments can be used interchangeably, or not, when assessing the degree of anthropogenic contamination of a water body. To obtain adequate coverage of the entire Gulf of Maine, Bay of Fundy sediment samples were collected, analyzed...
Black oystercatcher (Haematopus bachmani) population size, use of marine reserve complexes, and spatial distribution in Oregon
Joe Liebezeit, Amelia O’Connor, James E. Lyons, Courtney Shannon, Shawn Stephensen, Elise Elliott-Smith
2020, Northwestern Naturalist (101) 14-26
The Black Oystercatcher is a large shorebird found along the west coast of North America. Because of their small global population size, low reproductive rate, and dependence on rocky intertidal habitats, they are considered a “species of high conservation concern” and may act as an indicator of intertidal ecosystem health....
An important biogeochemical link between organic and inorganic carbon cycling: Effects of organic alkalinity on carbonate chemistry in coastal waters influenced by intertidal salt marshes
Shuzhen Song, Zhaohui Aleck Wang, Meagan Gonneea Eagle, Kevin D. Kroeger, Sophie N. Chu, Daoji Li, Haorui Liang
2020, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta (275) 123-139
Organic acid charge groups in dissolved organic carbon (DOC) contribute to total alkalinity (TA), i.e. organic alkalinity (OrgAlk). Its effect is often ignored or treated as a calculation uncertainty in many aquatic CO2 studies. This study evaluated the variability, sources, and characteristics of OrgAlk in estuarine waters exchanged tidally with...
Local earthquake Vp and Vs tomography in the Mount St. Helens region with the iMUSH broadband array
Carl W Ulberg, Kenneth C Creager, Seth C. Moran, Geoffrey A Abers, Weston Thelen, Alan Levander, Eric Kiser, Brandon Schmandt, Steven M. Hansen, Robert S. Crosson
2020, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems (21)
We present new 3-D P wave and S wave velocity models of the upper 20 km of the Mount St. Helens (MSH) region. These were obtained using local-source arrival time tomography from earthquakes and explosions recorded at 70 broadband stations deployed as part of the imaging Magma Under St. Helens (iMUSH)...
Phase equilibrium of a high-SiO2, andesite at fO2 = RRO: Implications for Augustine volcano and other high-fO2 arc andesites
Sarah H. De Angelis, Jessica F. Larsen, Michelle L. Coombs, James E. P. Utley, Andrew P. Dunn
2020, Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology (175)
Understanding the impact of magmatic plumbing systems on explosive volcanic activity is important for hazard management. This study describes phase equilibria experiments using a high-silica andesite (HSA; SiO2 = 62.5 wt%) from the 2006 eruption of Augustine Volcano, Alaska. Experiments were conducted under H2O saturated conditions, f0<mrow...
Structural control on megathrust rupture and slip behavior: Insights from the 2016 Mw 7.8 Pedernales Ecuador earthquake
Lillian Soto-Cordero, Anne Meltzer, Eric A. Bergman, Mariah Hoskins, Joshua C. Stachnik, Hans Agurto-Detzel, Alexandra Alvarado, Susan L. Beck, Philippe Charvis, Yvonne Font, Gavin P. Hayes, Stephen Hernandez, Sergio Leon-Rios, Colton Lynner, Jean-Mathieu Nocquet, Marc Regnier, Andreas Rietbrock, Frederique Rolandone, Mario Ruiz
2020, Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface (125)
The heterogeneous seafloor topography of the Nazca Plate as it enters the Ecuador subduction zone provides an opportunity to document the influence of seafloor roughness on slip behavior and megathrust rupture. The 2016 Mw 7.8 Pedernales Ecuador earthquake was followed by a rich and active postseismic sequence. An internationally coordinated...
Noose carpets: A novel method to capture rails
Eamon J. Harrity, Courtney J. Conway
2020, Wildlife Society Bulletin (44) 15-22
Avian research may require investigators to capture birds for many reasons, including to collect measurements and attach leg bands or transmitters. The effectiveness and efficiency of capture techniques varies by species, habitat, and time of year. Rails are particularly challenging to capture because of their secretive...
