Estimation of the groundwater resources of the bedrock aquifers at the Kettle Moraine Springs State Fish Hatchery, Sheboygan County, Wisconsin
Charles Dunning, Daniel T. Feinstein, Cheryl A. Buchwald, Randall J. Hunt, Megan J. Haserodt
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5074
Groundwater resources information was needed to understand regional aquifer systems and water available to wells and springs for rearing important Lake Michigan fish species at the Kettle Moraine Springs State Fish Hatchery in Sheboygan County, Wisconsin. As a basis for estimating the groundwater resources available, an existing groundwater-flow model was...
Watershed Data Management (WDM) database for West Branch DuPage River streamflow simulation, DuPage County, Illinois, January 1, 2007, through September 30, 2013
Maitreyee Bera
2017, Open-File Report 2017-1099
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the DuPage County Stormwater Management Department, maintains a database of hourly meteorological and hydrologic data for use in a near real-time streamflow simulation system. This system is used in the management and operation of reservoirs and other flood-control structures in the West...
Building capacity in biodiversity monitoring at the global scale
Dirk S. Schmeller, Monika Böhm, Christos Arvanitidis, Shannon Barber-Meyer, Neil Brummitt, Mark Chandler, Eva Chatzinikolaou, Mark John Costello, Hui Ding, Jaime Garcia-Moreno, Michael J. Gill, Peter Haase, Miranda Jones, Romain Juillard, William E. Magnusson, Corinne S. Martin, Melodie A. McGeoch, Jean-Baptiste Mihoub, Nathalie Pettorelli, Vânia Proença, Cui Peng, Eugenie Regan, Ute Schmiedel, John P. Simsika, Lauren Weatherdon, Carly Waterman, Haigen Xu, Jayne Belnap
2017, Biodiversity and Conservation (26) 2765-2790
Human-driven global change is causing ongoing declines in biodiversity worldwide. In order to address these declines, decision-makers need accurate assessments of the status of and pressures on biodiversity. However, these are heavily constrained by incomplete and uneven spatial, temporal and taxonomic coverage. For instance, data from regions such as Europe...
The evolution, approval and implementation of the U.S. Geological Survey Science Data Lifecycle Model
John Faundeen, Vivian B. Hutchison
2017, Journal of eScience Librarianship (6) 1-10
This paper details how the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Community for Data Integration (CDI) Data Management Working Group developed a Science Data Lifecycle Model, and the role the Model plays in shaping agency-wide policies. Starting with an extensive literature review of existing data Lifecycle models, representatives from various backgrounds...
Description of chronostratigraphic units preserved as channel deposits and geomorphic processes following a basin-scale disturbance by a wildfire in Colorado
John A. Moody, Deborah A. Martin
2017, Open-File Report 2017-1090
The consequence of a 1996 wildfire disturbance and a subsequent high-intensity summer convective rain storm (about 110 millimeters per hour) was the deposition of a sediment superslug in the Spring Creek basin (26.8 square kilometers) of the Front Range Mountains in Colorado. Spring Creek is a tributary to the South...
Assessment of adult pallid sturgeon fish condition, Lower Missouri River—Application of new information to the Missouri River Recovery Program
Michael T. Randall, Michael E. Colvin, Kirk D. Steffensen, Timothy L. Welker, Landon L. Pierce, Robert B. Jacobson
2017, Open-File Report 2017-1121
During spring 2015, Nebraska Game and Parks Commission (NGPC) biologists noted that pallid sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus albus) were in poor condition during sampling associated with the Pallid Sturgeon Population Assessment Project and NGPC’s annual pallid sturgeon broodstock collection effort. These observations prompted concerns that reduced fish condition could compromise reproductive health...
Compilation of streamflow statistics calculated from daily mean streamflow data collected during water years 1901–2015 for selected U.S. Geological Survey streamgages
Gregory E. Granato, Kernell G. Ries III, Peter A. Steeves
2017, Open-File Report 2017-1108
Streamflow statistics are needed by decision makers for many planning, management, and design activities. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) StreamStats Web application provides convenient access to streamflow statistics for many streamgages by accessing the underlying StreamStatsDB database. In 2016, non-interpretive streamflow statistics were compiled for streamgages located throughout the Nation...
Modeling summer month hydrological drought probabilities in the United States using antecedent flow conditions
Samuel H. Austin, David L. Nelms
2017, Journal of the American Water Resources Association (53) 1133-1146
Climate change raises concern that risks of hydrological drought may be increasing. We estimate hydrological drought probabilities for rivers and streams in the United States (U.S.) using maximum likelihood logistic regression (MLLR). Streamflow data from winter months are used to estimate the chance of hydrological drought during summer months. Daily...
Smartphone technologies and Bayesian networks to assess shorebird habitat selection
Sara L. Zeigler, E. Robert Thieler, Benjamin T. Gutierrez, Nathaniel G. Plant, Megan Hines, James D. Fraser, Daniel H. Catlin, Sarah M. Karpanty
2017, Wildlife Society Bulletin (41) 666-677
Understanding patterns of habitat selection across a species’ geographic distribution can be critical for adequately managing populations and planning for habitat loss and related threats. However, studies of habitat selection can be time consuming and expensive over broad spatial scales, and a lack of standardized monitoring targets or methods can...
Domestic well locations and populations served in the contiguous U.S.: 1990
Tyler Johnson, Kenneth Belitz
2017, Science of the Total Environment (607-608) 658-668
We estimate the location and population served by domestic wells in the contiguous United States in two ways: (1) the “Block Group Method” or BGM, uses data from the 1990 census, and (2) the “Road-Enhanced Method” or REM, refines the locations by using a buffer expansion and shrinkage...
Linear and nonlinear effects of temperature and precipitation on ecosystem properties in tidal saline wetlands
Laura C. Feher, Michael J. Osland, Kereen T. Griffith, James B. Grace, Rebecca J. Howard, Camille L. Stagg, Nicholas M. Enwright, Ken W. Krauss, Christopher A. Gabler, Richard H. Day, Kerrylee Rogers
2017, Ecosphere (8)
Climate greatly influences the structure and functioning of tidal saline wetland ecosystems. However, there is a need to better quantify the effects of climatic drivers on ecosystem properties, particularly near climate-sensitive ecological transition zones. Here, we used climate- and literature-derived ecological data from tidal saline wetlands to test hypotheses regarding...
Estimating daily lake evaporation from biweekly energy‐budget data
Mie Andreasen, Donald O. Rosenberry, David Stannard
2017, Hydrological Processes (31) 4530-4539
Estimates of daily lake evaporation based on energy‐budget data are poor because of large errors associated with quantifying change in lake heat storage over periods of less than about 10 days. Energy‐budget evaporation was determined during approximately biweekly periods at a northern Minnesota, USA, lake for 5 years. Various combinations of shortwave radiation,...
Groundwater-quality data from the National Water-Quality Assessment Project, January through December 2014 and select quality-control data from May 2012 through December 2014
Terri Arnold, Laura M. Bexfield, MaryLynn Musgrove, Bruce D. Lindsey, Paul E. Stackelberg, Jeannie R. B. Barlow, Leslie A. DeSimone, Justin T. Kulongoski, James A. Kingsbury, Joseph D. Ayotte, Brandon J. Fleming, Kenneth Belitz
2017, Data Series 1063
Groundwater-quality data were collected from 559 wells as part of the National Water-Quality Assessment Project of the U.S. Geological Survey National Water-Quality Program from January through December 2014. The data were collected from four types of well networks: principal aquifer study networks, which are used to assess the quality of...
Ice duration drives winter nitrate accumulation in north temperate lakes
Steven M Powers, Stephanie G. Labou, Helen M. Baulch, Randall J. Hunt, Noah R. Lottig, Stephanie E. Hampton, Emily H. Stanley
2017, Limnology and Oceanography Letters (2) 177-186
The duration of winter ice cover on lakes varies substantially with climate variability, and has decreased over the last several decades in many temperate lakes. However, little is known of how changes in seasonal ice cover may affect biogeochemical processes under ice. We examined winter nitrogen (N) dynamics under ice...
2016 National Park visitor spending effects: Economic contributions to local communities, states, and the Nation
Catherine Cullinane Thomas, Lynne Koontz
2017, Natural Resource Report NPS/NRSS/EQD/NRR—2017/1421
The National Park Service (NPS) manages the Nation’s most iconic destinations that attract millions of visitors from across the Nation and around the world. Trip-related spending by NPS visitors generates and supports a considerable amount of economic activity within park gateway communities. This economic effects analysis measures how NPS visitor...
User’s Manual for the National Water Information System of the U.S. Geological Survey: Aggregate Water-Use Data System, Version 3.2
John P. Nawyn, B. Pierre Sargent, Barbara Hoopes, Todd Augenstein, Kathleen M. Rowland, Nancy L. Barber
2017, Open-File Report 2017-1114
The Aggregate Water-Use Data System (AWUDS) is the database management system used to enter, store, and analyze state aggregate water-use data. It is part of the U.S. Geological Survey National Water Information System. AWUDS has a graphical user interface that facilitates data entry, revision, review, and approval. This document provides...
A comparison of three federal datasets for thermoelectric water withdrawals in the United States for 2010
Melissa A. Harris, Timothy H. Diehl
2017, Journal of the American Water Resources Association (53) 1062-1080
Historically, thermoelectric water withdrawal has been estimated by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) and the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) water-use compilations. Recently, the USGS developed models for estimating withdrawal at thermoelectric plants to provide estimates independent from plant operator-reported withdrawal data. This article compares three federal datasets of thermoelectric withdrawals...
Short-term and long-term evapotranspiration rates at ecological restoration sites along a large river receiving rare flow events
Margaret Shanafield, Hugo Gutierrez Jurado, Jesus Eliana Rodriguez Burgueno, Jorge Ramirez Hernandez, Christopher Jarchow, Pamela L. Nagler
2017, Hydrological Processes (31) 4328-4337
Many large rivers around the world no longer flow to their deltas, due to ever greater water withdrawals and diversions for human needs. However, the importance of riparian ecosystems is drawing increasing recognition, leading to the allocation of environmental flows to restore river processes. Accurate estimates of riparian plant evapotranspiration...
UAS-SfM for coastal research: Geomorphic feature extraction and land cover classification from high-resolution elevation and optical imagery
Emily J. Sturdivant, Erika E. Lentz, E. Robert Thieler, Amy S. Farris, Kathryn M. Weber, David P. Remsen, Simon Miner, Rachel E. Henderson
2017, Remote Sensing (9) 1-20
The vulnerability of coastal systems to hazards such as storms and sea-level rise is typically characterized using a combination of ground and manned airborne systems that have limited spatial or temporal scales. Structure-from-motion (SfM) photogrammetry applied to imagery acquired by unmanned aerial systems (UAS) offers a rapid and inexpensive means...
Program MAMO: Models for avian management optimization-user guide
Alban Guillaumet, Eben H. Paxton
2017, Technical Report TR-HCSU-077
The following chapters describe the structure and code of MAMO, and walk the reader through running the different components of the program with sample data. This manual should be used alongside a computer running R, so that the reader can copy and paste code into R, observe the output,...
Water-quality data from an earthen dam site in southern Westchester County, New York, 2015
Anthony Chu, Michael L. Noll
2017, Data Series 1057
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, sampled 37 sites in the reservoir area for nutrients, major ions, metals, pesticides and their degradates, volatile organic compounds, temperature, pH, and specific conductance during fall 2015. Data collection was done to characterize the local...
Influence of the megathrust earthquake cycle on upper-plate deformation in the Cascadia forearc of Washington State, USA
Jaime E. Delano, Colin B. Amos, John P. Loveless, Tammy M. Rittenour, Brian L. Sherrod, Lynch M. Emerson
2017, Geology (45) 1051-1054
The influence of subduction zone earthquake cycle processes on permanent forearc deformation is poorly understood. In the Cascadia subduction zone forearc of Washington State, USA, deformed and incised fluvial terraces serve as archives of longer-term (103–104 yr) strain manifest as both fluvial incision and...
The Conservation Efforts Database: Improving our knowledge of landscape conservation actions
Matthew M. Heller, Justin L. Welty, Lief A. Wiechman
2017, Report
The Conservation Efforts Database (CED) is a secure, cloud-based tool that can be used to document and track conservation actions across landscapes. A recently released factsheet describes this tool ahead of the rollout of CED version 2.0. The CED was developed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the USGS,...
Model parameters for representative wetland plant functional groups
Amber S. Williams, James R. Kiniry, David M. Mushet, Loren M. Smith, Scott T. McMurry, Kelly Attebury, Megan Lang, Gregory W. McCarty, Jill A. Shaffer, William R. Effland, Mari-Vaughn V. Johnson
2017, Ecosphere (8) 1-14
Wetlands provide a wide variety of ecosystem services including water quality remediation, biodiversity refugia, groundwater recharge, and floodwater storage. Realistic estimation of ecosystem service benefits associated with wetlands requires reasonable simulation of the hydrology of each site and realistic simulation of the upland and wetland plant growth cycles. Objectives of...
Detection and characterization of pulses in broadband seismometers
David C. Wilson, Adam T. Ringler, Charles R. Hutt
2017, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (107) 1173-1180
Pulsing - caused either by mechanical or electrical glitches, or by microtilt local to a seismometer - can significantly compromise the long‐period noise performance of broadband seismometers. High‐fidelity long‐period recordings are needed for accurate calculation of quantities such as moment tensors, fault‐slip models, and normal‐mode measurements. Such pulses have long...
