Effects of streamflows on stream-channel morphology in the eastern Niobrara National Scenic River, Nebraska, 1988–2010
Nathaniel J. Schaepe, Jason S. Alexander, Kiernan Folz-Donahue
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5004
The Niobrara River is an important and valuable economic and ecological resource in northern Nebraska that supports ecotourism, recreational boating, wildlife, fisheries, agriculture, and hydroelectric power. Because of its uniquely rich resources, a 122-kilometer reach of the Niobrara River was designated as a National Scenic River in 1991, which has...
The effect of suspended sediment and color on ultraviolet spectrophotometric nitrate sensors
Teri T. Snazelle
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1014
Four commercially available ultraviolet nitrate spectrophotometric sensors were evaluated by the U.S. Geological Survey Hydrologic Instrumentation Facility (HIF) to determine the effects of suspended sediment concentration (SSC) and colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) on sensor accuracy. The evaluated sensors were: the Hach NITRATAX plus sc (5-millimeters (mm) path length), Hach...
Spatially explicit rangeland erosion monitoring using high-resolution digital aerial imagery
Jeffrey K. Gillan, Jason W. Karl, Nichole N. Barger, Ahmed Elaksher, Michael C. Duniway
2016, Rangeland Ecology and Management (69) 95-107
Nearly all of the ecosystem services supported by rangelands, including production of livestock forage, carbon sequestration, and provisioning of clean water, are negatively impacted by soil erosion. Accordingly, monitoring the severity, spatial extent, and rate of soil erosion is essential for long-term sustainable management. Traditional field-based methods of monitoring erosion...
Hydrologic conditions, recharge, and baseline water quality of the surficial aquifer system at Jekyll Island, Georgia, 2012-13
Debbie W. Gordon, Lynn J. Torak
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1017
An increase of groundwater withdrawals from the surficial aquifer system on Jekyll Island, Georgia, prompted an investigation of hydrologic conditions and water quality by the U.S. Geological Survey during October 2012 through December 2013. The study demonstrated the importance of rainfall as the island’s main source of recharge to maintain...
Predictability of horizontal water vapor transport relative to precipitation: Enhancing situational awareness for forecasting western U.S. extreme precipitation and flooding
David A. Lavers, Duane E. Waliser, F. Martin Ralph, Michael D. Dettinger
2016, Geophysical Research Letters (43) 2275-2282
The western United States is vulnerable to socioeconomic disruption due to extreme winter precipitation and floods. Traditionally, forecasts of precipitation and river discharge provide the basis for preparations. Herein we show that earlier event awareness may be possible through use of horizontal water vapor transport (integrated vapor transport (IVT)) forecasts....
Network global navigation satellite system surveys to harmonize American and Canadian datum for the Lake Champlain Basin
Robert H. Flynn, Paul H. Rydlund Jr., Daniel J. Martin
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5009
Historically high flood levels were observed during flooding in Lake Champlain and the Richelieu River from late April through May 2011. Flooding was caused by record spring precipitation and snowmelt from the third highest cumulative snowfall year on record, which included a warm, saturated late spring snowpack. Flood stage was...
Identifying and preserving high-water mark data
Todd A. Koenig, Jennifer L. Bruce, Jim O’Connor, Benton D. McGee, Robert R. Holmes Jr., Ryan Hollins, Brandon T. Forbes, Michael S. Kohn, Mathew Schellekens, Zachary W. Martin, Marie C. Peppler
2016, Techniques and Methods 3-A24
High-water marks provide valuable data for understanding recent and historical flood events. The proper collection and recording of high-water mark data from perishable and preserved evidence informs flood assessments, research, and water resource management. Given the high cost of flooding in developed areas, experienced hydrographers, using the best available techniques,...
Variation of energy and carbon fluxes from a restored temperate freshwater wetland and implications for carbon market verification protocols
Frank Anderson, Brian A. Bergamaschi, Cove Sturtevant, Sarah Knox, Lauren Hastings, Lisamarie Windham-Myers, Matteo Detto, Erin L. Hestir, Judith Z. Drexler, Robin L. Miller, Jaclyn Matthes, Joseph Verfaillie, Dennis Baldocchi, Richard L. Snyder, Roger Fujii
2016, Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences (121) 777-795
Temperate freshwater wetlands are among the most productive terrestrial ecosystems, stimulating interest in using restored wetlands as biological carbon sequestration projects for greenhouse gas reduction programs. In this study, we used the eddy covariance technique to measure surface energy carbon fluxes from a constructed, impounded freshwater wetland during two annual...
Biomass offsets little or none of permafrost carbon release from soils, streams, and wildfire: an expert assessment
Benjamin W. Abbott, Jeremy B. Jones, Edward A.G. Schuur, F.S. Chapin, William B. Bowden, M. Syndonia Bret-Harte, Howard E. Epstein, Michael D. Flannigan, Tamara K. Harms, Teresa N. Hollingsworth, Michelle C. Mack, A. David McGuire, Susan M. Natali, Adrian V. Rocha, Suzanne E. Tank, Merrit R. Turetsky, Jorien E. Vonk, Kimberly P. Wickland, George R. Aiken
2016, Environmental Research Letters (11) 1-13
As the permafrost region warms, its large organic carbon pool will be increasingly vulnerable to decomposition, combustion, and hydrologic export. Models predict that some portion of this release will be offset by increased production of Arctic and boreal biomass; however, the lack of robust estimates of net carbon balance increases...
Limited evidence of intercontinental dispersal of avian paramyxovirus serotype 4 by migratory birds
Andrew B. Reeves, Rebecca L. Poulson, Denys Muzyka, Haruko Ogawa, Kunitoshi Imai, Vuong Nghia Bui, Jeffrey S. Hall, Mary Pantin-Jackwood, David E. Stallknecht, Andrew M. Ramey
2016, Infection, Genetics and Evolution (40) 104-108
Avian paramyxovirus serotype 4 (APMV-4) is a single stranded RNA virus that has most often been isolated from waterfowl. Limited information has been reported regarding the prevalence, pathogenicity, and genetic diversity of AMPV-4. To assess the intercontinental dispersal of this viral agent, we sequenced the fusion gene of...
Increased body mass of ducks wintering in California's Central Valley
Joseph P. Fleskes, Julie L. Yee, Gregory S. Yarris, Daniel L. Loughman
2016, Journal of Wildlife Management (80) 679-690
Waterfowl managers lack the information needed to fully evaluate the biological effects of their habitat conservation programs. We studied body condition of dabbling ducks shot by hunters at public hunting areas throughout the Central Valley of California during 2006–2008 compared with condition of ducks from 1979 to 1993. These time...
Assessing spring direct mortality to avifauna from wind energy facilities in the Dakotas
Brianna J. Graff, Jonathan A. Jenks, Joshua D. Stafford, Kent C. Jensen, Troy W. Grovenburg
2016, Journal of Wildlife Management (80) 736-745
The Northern Great Plains (NGP) contains much of the remaining temperate grasslands, an ecosystem that is one of the most converted and least protected in the world. Within the NGP, the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) provides important habitat for >50% of North America's breeding waterfowl and many species of shorebirds,...
Supporting diverse data providers in the open water data initiative: Communicating water data quality and fitness of use
Sara Larsen, Stuart Hamilton, Jessica M. Lucido, Bradley D. Garner, Dwane Young
2016, Journal of the American Water Resources Association (52) 859-872
Shared, trusted, timely data are essential elements for the cooperation needed to optimize economic, ecologic, and public safety concerns related to water. The Open Water Data Initiative (OWDI) will provide a fully scalable platform that can support a wide variety of data from many diverse providers. Many of these will...
Uncertainty analysis of the Operational Simplified Surface Energy Balance (SSEBop) model at multiple flux tower sites
Mingshi Chen, Gabriel B. Senay, Ramesh K. Singh, James P. Verdin
2016, Journal of Hydrology (536) 384-399
Evapotranspiration (ET) is an important component of the water cycle – ET from the land surface returns approximately 60% of the global precipitation back to the atmosphere. ET also plays an important role in energy transport among the biosphere, atmosphere, and hydrosphere. Current regional to global and daily to annual...
The physiology of mangrove trees with changing climate
Catherine E. Lovelock, Ken W. Krauss, Michael J. Osland, Ruth Reef, Marilyn C. Ball
Frederick C. Meinzer, Ulo Niinemets, editor(s)
2016, Book chapter, Tree physiology: Adaptations and responses in a changing environment
Mangrove forests grow on saline, periodically flooded soils of the tropical and subtropical coasts. The tree species that comprise the mangrove are halophytes that have suites of traits that confer differing levels of tolerance of salinity, aridity, inundation and extremes of temperature. Here we review how climate change and elevated...
Groundwater quality, age, and susceptibility and vulnerability to nitrate contamination with linkages to land use and groundwater flow, Upper Black Squirrel Creek Basin, Colorado, 2013
Tristan P. Wellman, Michael G. Rupert
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5020
The Upper Black Squirrel Creek Basin is located about 25 kilometers east of Colorado Springs, Colorado. The primary aquifer is a productive section of unconsolidated deposits that overlies bedrock units of the Denver Basin and is a critical resource for local water needs, including irrigation, domestic, and commercial use. The...
Geologic map of the Sauvie Island quadrangle, Multnomah and Columbia Counties, Oregon, and Clark County, Washington
Russell C. Evarts, Jim O’Connor, Charles M. Cannon
2016, Scientific Investigations Map 3349
Introduction The Sauvie Island 7.5' quadrangle is situated in the Puget-Willamette Lowland northwest of downtown Portland, Oreg. This lowland, which extends from Puget Sound to west-central Oregon, is a complex structural and topographic trough between the Coast Range and the Cascade Range. Since late Eocene time, the Cascade Range has been...
Quantitative framework for preferential flow initiation and partitioning
John R. Nimmo
2016, Vadose Zone Journal (15)
A model for preferential flow in macropores is based on the short-range spatial distribution of soil matrix infiltrability. It uses elementary areas at two different scales. One is the traditional representative elementary area (REA), which includes a sufficient heterogeneity to typify larger areas, as for measuring field-scale infiltrability. The other,...
A hierarchical model of daily stream temperature using air-water temperature synchronization, autocorrelation, and time lags
Benjamin H. Letcher, Daniel Hocking, Kyle O'Neil, Andrew R. Whiteley, Keith H. Nislow, Matthew O’Donnell
2016, PeerJ (4)
Water temperature is a primary driver of stream ecosystems and commonly forms the basis of stream classifications. Robust models of stream temperature are critical as the climate changes, but estimating daily stream temperature poses several important challenges. We developed a statistical model that accounts for many challenges that can make...
Groundwater, surface-water, and water-chemistry data, Black Mesa area, northeastern Arizona—2012–2013
Jamie P. Macy, Margot Truini
2016, Open-File Report 2015-1221
The Navajo (N) aquifer is an extensive aquifer and the primary source of groundwater in the 5,400-square-mile Black Mesa area in northeastern Arizona. Availability of water is an important issue in northeastern Arizona because of continued water requirements for industrial and municipal use by a growing population and because of...
Comparative evaluation of statistical and mechanistic models of Escherichia coli at beaches in southern Lake Michigan
Ammar Safaie, Aaron Wendzel, Zhongfu Ge, Meredith Nevers, Richard L. Whitman, Steven R. Corsi, Mantha S. Phanikumar
2016, Environmental Science & Technology (50) 2442-2449
Statistical and mechanistic models are popular tools for predicting the levels of indicator bacteria at recreational beaches. Researchers tend to use one class of model or the other, and it is difficult to generalize statements about their relative performance due to differences in how the models are developed, tested, and...
The geologic history of Margaritifer basin, Mars
M. R. Salvatore, M. D. Kraft, Christopher Edwards, P. R. Christensen
2016, Journal of Geophysical Research E: Planets (121) 273-295
In this study, we investigate the fluvial, sedimentary, and volcanic history of Margaritifer basin and the Uzboi-Ladon-Morava (ULM) outflow channel system. This network of valleys and basins spans more than 8000 km in length, linking the fluvially dissected southern highlands and Argyre Basin with the northern lowlands via Ares Vallis....
Effect of wastewater treatment facility closure on endocrine disrupting chemicals in a Coastal Plain stream
Paul M. Bradley, Celeste A. Journey, Jimmy M. Clark
2016, Remediation Journal (26) 9-24
Wastewater treatment facility (WWTF) closures are rare environmental remediation events; offering unique insight into contaminant persistence, long-term wastewater impacts, and ecosystem recovery processes. The U.S. Geological Survey assessed the fate of select endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDC) in surface water and streambed sediment one year before and one year after closure...
Application of hydrogeology and groundwater-age estimates to assess the travel time of groundwater at the site of a landfill to the Mahomet Aquifer, near Clinton, Illinois
Robert T. Kay, Paul M. Buszka
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5159
The U.S. Geological Survey used interpretations of hydrogeologic conditions and tritium-based groundwater age estimates to assess the travel time of groundwater at a landfill site near Clinton, Illinois (the “Clinton site”) where a chemical waste unit (CWU) was proposed to be within the Clinton landfill unit #3 (CLU#3). Glacial deposits...
High-resolution gravity and seismic-refraction surveys of the Smoke Tree Wash area, Joshua Tree National Park, California
Victoria E. Langenheim, Michael J. Rymer, Rufus D. Catchings, Mark R. Goldman, Janet Watt, Robert E. Powell, Jonathan C. Matti
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1027
We describe high-resolution gravity and seismic refraction surveys acquired to determine the thickness of valley-fill deposits and to delineate geologic structures that might influence groundwater flow beneath the Smoke Tree Wash area in Joshua Tree National Park. These surveys identified a sedimentary basin that is fault-controlled. A profile across the...
