Biological data for water in Lake Powell and from Glen Canyon Dam releases, Utah and Arizona, 1990–2009
William S. Vernieu
2015, Data Series 959
Biological samples from various locations on Lake Powell and in the Colorado River in the tail water downstream of Glen Canyon Dam were collected by the Bureau of Reclamation and U.S. Geological Survey from December 1990 through December 2009 as part of a long-term water-quality monitoring program that began in...
Water availability and subsidence in California's Central Valley
Claudia C. Faunt, Michelle Sneed, Jonathan A. Traum, Justin T. Brandt
2015, San Francisco Estuary and Watershed Science (13)
The Central Valley in California (USA) covers about 52,000 km2 and is one of the most productive agricultural regions in the world. This agriculture relies heavily on surface-water diversions and groundwater pumpage to meet irrigation water demand. Because the valley is semi-arid and surface-water availability varies substantially, agriculture relies heavily on local groundwater. In the southern...
Classification of rocky headlands in California with relevance to littoral cell boundary delineation
Douglas A. George, John L. Largier, Curt D. Storlazzi, Patrick L. Barnard
2015, Marine Geology (369) 137-152
Despite extensive studies of hydrodynamics and sediment flux along beaches, there is little information on the processes, pathways and timing of water and sediment transport around rocky headlands. In this study, headlands along the California coast are classified to advance understanding of headland dynamics and littoral cell boundaries in support...
Many atolls may be uninhabitable within decades due to climate change
Curt D. Storlazzi, Edwin P.L. Elias, Paul Berkowitz
2015, Scientific Reports (5) 1-9
Observations show global sea level is rising due to climate change, with the highest rates in the tropical Pacific Ocean where many of the world’s low-lying atolls are located. Sea-level rise is particularly critical for low-lying carbonate reef-lined atoll islands; these islands have limited land and water available for human...
Effectiveness of a refuge for Lake Trout in Western Lake Superior II: Simulation of future performance
Andrea L Akins, Michael J. Hansen, Michael J. Seider
2015, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (35) 1003-1018
Historically, Lake Superior supported one of the largest and most diverse Lake Trout Salvelinus namaycush fisheries in the Laurentian Great Lakes, but Lake Trout stocks collapsed due to excessive fishery exploitation and predation by Sea Lampreys Petromyzon marinus. Lake Trout stocking, Sea Lamprey control, and fishery regulations, including a refuge...
Preliminary estimates of annual agricultural pesticide use for counties of the conterminous United States, 2013
Nancy T. Baker
2015, Open-File Report 2015-1176
Summary This report provides preliminary estimates of annual agricultural use of 387 pesticide compounds in counties of the conterminous United States in 2013, compiled by means of methods described in Thelin and Stone (2013) and Baker and Stone (2015). U.S. Department of Agriculture county-level data for harvested-crop acreage were used in...
Structural classification of marshes with Polarimetric SAR highlighting the temporal mapping of marshes exposed to oil
Elijah W. Ramsey III, Amina Rangoonwala, Cathleen E. Jones
2015, Remote Sensing (7) 11295-11321
Empirical relationships between field-derived Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Leaf Angle Distribution (LAD) and polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (PolSAR) based biophysical indicators were created and applied to map S. alterniflora marsh canopy structure. PolSAR and field data were collected near concurrently in the summers of 2010, 2011, and 2012 in...
Fish assemblages in the Upper Esopus Creek, NY: Current status, variability, and controlling factors
Barry P. Baldigo, Scott D. George, Walter T Keller
2015, Northeastern Naturalist (22) 345-371
The Upper Esopus Creek receives water diversions from a neighboring basin through the Shandaken Tunnel (the portal) from the Schoharie Reservoir. Although the portal is closed during floods, mean flows and turbidity of portal waters are generally greater than in Esopus Creek above their confluence. These conditions could potentially affect...
The influence of coral reefs and climate change on wave-driven flooding of tropical coastlines
Ellen Quataert, Curt D. Storlazzi, Arnold van Rooijen, Ap van Dongeren, Olivia Cheriton
2015, Geophysical Research Letters (42) 6407-6415
A numerical model, XBeach, calibrated and validated on field data collected at Roi-Namur Island on Kwajalein Atoll in the Republic of Marshall Islands, was used to examine the effects of different coral reef characteristics on potential coastal hazards caused by wave-driven flooding and how these effects may be altered by...
Status and trends of adult Lost River (Deltistes luxatus) and shortnose (Chasmistes brevirostris) sucker populations in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon, 2014
David A. Hewitt, Eric C. Janney, Brian S. Hayes, Alta C. Harris
2015, Open-File Report 2015-1189
Executive Summary Data from a long-term capture-recapture program were used to assess the status and dynamics of populations of two long-lived, federally endangered catostomids in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon. Lost River suckers (Deltistes luxatus) and shortnose suckers (Chasmistes brevirostris) have been captured and tagged with passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags during...
Aeromagnetic survey map of Sacramento Valley, California
Victoria E. Langenheim
2015, Open-File Report 2015-1186
Three aeromagnetic surveys were flown to improve understanding of the geology and structure in the Sacramento Valley. The resulting data serve as a basis for geophysical interpretations, and support geological mapping, water and mineral resource investigations, and other topical studies. Local spatial variations in the Earth's magnetic field (evident...
Documentation of a restart option for the U.S. Geological Survey coupled Groundwater and Surface-Water Flow (GSFLOW) model
R. Steve Regan, Richard G. Niswonger, Steven L. Markstrom, Paul M. Barlow
2015, Techniques and Methods 6-D3
A new option to write and read antecedent conditions (also referred to as initial conditions) has been developed for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Groundwater and Surface-Water Flow (GSFLOW) numerical, hydrologic simulation code. GSFLOW is an integration of the USGS Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System (PRMS) and USGS Modular Groundwater-Flow Model (MODFLOW),...
Water productivity studies from earth observation data: characterization, modeling and mapping water use and water productivity
Antonio de C. Teixeira, Fernando B. T. Hernandez, Morris Scherer-Warren, Ricardo G. Andrade, Janice F. Leivas, Daniel C. Victoria, Edson L. Bolfe, Prasad S. Thenkabail, Renato A. M. Franco
2015, Book chapter, Remote sensing of water resources, disasters, and urban studies
Inland valley wetland cultivation and preservation for africa’s green and blue revolution using multi-sensor remote sensing
Prasad S. Thenkabail, Pardhasaradhi G. Teluguntla
2015, Book chapter, Remote Sensing of Water Resources, Disasters, and Urban Studies
Remote sensing of water resources, disasters, and urban area: monitoring, modeling, and mapping advances over last 50 years and a vision for the future
Prasad S. Thenkabail
2015, Book chapter, Remote Sensing of Water Resources, Disasters, and Urban Studies
Summer of Applied Geophysical Experience (SAGE): Training for our future geoscientists
W.S. Baldridge, Paul A. Bedrosian, Shawn Biehler, L.W. Braile, John Ferguson, Matthew Folsom, G.R. Jiracek, Shari A. Kelley, Darcy McPhee, Louise Pellerin, Catherine M. Snelson
2015, Leading Edge (Tulsa, OK) (34) 1214-1219
Energy and natural resources are crucial to the sustainability of worldwide economies, security, and overall well-being. However, the future workforce in the energy and natural-resources sector is at risk, and meeting the challenges of this dwindling workforce requires well-educated geoscientists in exploration and applied geophysics and related geoscience and technology...
Landfill leachate as a mirror of today's disposable society: Pharmaceuticals and other contaminants of emerging concern in final leachate from landfills in the conterminous United States
Jason R. Masoner, Dana W. Kolpin, Edward T. Furlong, Isabelle M. Cozzarelli, James L. Gray
2015, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (35) 906-918
Final leachates (leachate after storage or treatment processes) from 22 landfills in 12 states were analyzed for 190 pharmaceuticals and other contaminants of emerging concern (CECs), which were detected in every sample, with the number of CECs ranging from 1 to 58 (median = 22). In total, 101 different CECs were detected...
Groundwater recharge assessment at local and episodic scale in a soil mantled perched karst aquifer in southern Italy
V. Allocca, P. De Vita, F. Manna, John R. Nimmo
2015, Journal of Hydrology (529) 843-853
Groundwater recharge assessment of karst aquifers, at various spatial and temporal scales, is a major scientific topic of current importance, since these aquifers play an essential role for both socio-economic development and fluvial ecosystems. In this study, groundwater recharge was estimated at local and episodic scales in a representative...
Groundwater-level and storage-volume changes in the Equus Beds aquifer near Wichita, Kansas, predevelopment through January 2015
Joshua A. Whisnant, Cristi V. Hansen, Patrick J. Eslick
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5121
Development of the Wichita well field began in the 1940s in the Equus Beds aquifer to provide the city of Wichita, Kansas, a new water-supply source. After development of the Wichita well field began, groundwater levels began to decline. Extensive development of irrigation wells that began in the 1970s also...
Evidence that dorsally mounted satellite transmitters affect migration chronology of Northern Pintails
Jerry W. Hupp, Sergei Kharitonov, Noriyuki M. Yamaguchi, K. Ozaki, Paul L. Flint, John M. Pearce, Ken-ichi Tokita, Tetsuo Shimada, Hiroyoshi Higuchi
2015, Journal of Ornithology (156) 977-989
We compared migration movements and chronology between Northern Pintails (Anas acuta) marked with dorsally mounted satellite transmitters and pintails marked only with tarsus rings. During weekly intervals of spring and autumn migration between their wintering area in Japan and nesting areas in Russia, the mean distance that ringed pintails had...
Remote sensing of actual evapotranspiration from croplands
Trent W. Biggs, George P. Petropoulos, Naga Manohar Velpuri, Michael Marshall, Edward P. Glenn, Pamela L. Nagler, Alex Messina
Prasad S. Thenkabail, editor(s)
2015, Book chapter, Remote sensing of water resources, disasters, and urban studies
Agriculture accounted for the majority of human water use and for more than 90% of global freshwater consumption during the twentieth century (Hoekstra and Mekonnen, 2012; Shiklomanov, 2000). Streamflow depletion due to enhanced evapotranspiration (ET) from irrigated crops impacts freshwater ecosystems globally (Foley et al., 2005). Water scarcity limits crop...
Riders on the storm: selective tidal movements facilitate the spawning migration of threatened delta smelt in the San Francisco Estuary
W.A. Bennett, Jon R. Burau
2015, Estuaries and Coasts (38) 826-835
Migration strategies in estuarine fishes typically include behavioral adaptations for reducing energetic costs and mortality during travel to optimize reproductive success. The influence of tidal currents and water turbidity on individual movement behavior were investigated during the spawning migration of the threatened delta smelt, Hypomesus transpacificus, in the northern...
Geochemical legacies and the future health of cities: A tale of two neurotoxins in urban soils
Gabriel M. Fillipelli, Martin R. Risch, Mark A. S. Laidlaw, Deborah E. Nichols, Julie Crewe
2015, Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene
The past and future of cities are inextricably linked, a linkage that can be seen clearly in the long-term impacts of urban geochemical legacies. As loci of population as well as the means of employment and industry to support these populations, cities have a long history of co-locating contaminating practices...
Comparative analysis of riverscape genetic structure in rare, threatened and common freshwater mussels
Heather S. Galbraith, David T. Zanatta, Chris C. Wilson
2015, Conservation Genetics (16) 845-857
Freshwater mussels (Bivalvia: Unionoida) are highly imperiled with many species on the verge of local extirpation or global extinction. This study investigates patterns of genetic structure and diversity in six species of freshwater mussels in the central Great Lakes region of Ontario, Canada. These species vary in their...
Suburban watershed nitrogen retention: Estimating the effectiveness of stormwater management structures
Benjamin J. Koch, Catherine M. Febria, Roger M. Cooke, Jacob D. Hosen, Matthew E. Baker, Abigail R. Colson, Solange Filoso, Katharine Hayhoe, J. V. Loperfido, Anne M.K. Stoner, Margaret A. Palmer
2015, Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene
Excess nitrogen (N) is a primary driver of freshwater and coastal eutrophication globally, and urban stormwater is a rapidly growing source of N pollution. Stormwater best management practices (BMPs) are used widely to remove excess N from runoff in urban and suburban areas, and are expected to perform under a...
