U.S. Geological Survey archived data recovery in Texas, 2008-11
Loren L. Wehmeyer, Brian D. Reece
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3152
The 2008–11 data rescue and recovery efforts by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Texas Water Science Center resulted in an efficient workflow process, database, and Web user interface for scientists and citizens to access archived environmental information with practical applications. Much of this information is unique and has never been...
Evaluation of fecal contamination by human and ruminant sources in upper Fountain Creek, Colorado, 2007-2008, by using multiple lines of evidence:
Donald Stoeckel
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3095
Fountain Creek is a high-gradient stream on the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. The headwaters of Fountain Creek drain Pikes Peak, a major destination for tourism. Fountain Creek is a drinking-water source for the City of Colorado Springs, Colorado, and is used for irrigation, recreation, and other...
U.S. Geological Survey Community for Data Integration-NWIS Web Services Snapshot Tool for ArcGIS
Sally Holl
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3141
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) data resources are so vast that many scientists are unaware of data holdings that may be directly relevant to their research. Data are also difficult to access and large corporate databases, such as the National Water Information System (NWIS) that houses hydrologic data for the Nation,...
A new tool to assess groundwater resources in the Mississippi embayment
Brian R. Clark, David A. Freiwald
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3115
What is the Mississippi Embayment? The Mississippi embayment study area encompasses approximately 78,000 square miles in eight States and includes large parts of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee, and smaller areas of Alabama, Illinois, Kentucky, and Missouri (fig. 1). The Mississippi embayment is essentially a basin that slopes toward the...
USGS St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3148
Extreme storms, sea-level rise, and the health of marine communities are some of the major societal and environmental issues impacting our Nation's marine and coastal realm. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in St. Petersburg, Fla., investigates processes related to these ecosystems and the societal implications of natural hazards and resource...
Popular myths about flooding in Western Washington
Joseph L. Jones
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3146
Floods are the most destructive natural hazard in the Nation, causing more deaths and financial loss in the 20th century than any other natural disaster. The most significant 20 riverine floods of the 20th century for which data are available have killed more than 1,843 people and caused more than...
National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center project accomplishments: highlights
Sally Holl
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3135
The National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center (NCCWSC) has invested more than $20M since 2008 to put cutting-edge climate science research in the hands of resource managers across the Nation. With NCCWSC support, more than 25 cooperative research initiatives led by U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) researchers and technical staff...
Science Goals of the U.S. Department of the Interior Southeast Climate Science Center
Melinda S. Dalton
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3138
In 2011, the U.S. Department of the Interior Southeast Climate Science Center (CSC) finalized the first draft of its goals for research needed to address the needs of natural and cultural partners for climate science in the Southeastern United States. The science themes described in this draft plan were established...
Vegetation recovery after fire in the Klamath-Siskiyou region, southern Oregon
David Hibbs, Ruth Jacobs
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3140
In July 2002, lightning strikes started five forest fires that merged into one massive wildfire in the Klamath-Siskiyou Ecoregion of southern Oregon. Aided by drought, severe weather conditions, dry fuels, and steep topography, the fire grew to more than 200,000 hectares of mostly public forest land. Known as the Biscuit...
Organic compounds assessed in Chattahoochee River water used for public supply near Atlanta, Georgia, 2004-05
W. Brian Hughes, Cristal L. Younker
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3062
An investigation by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program characterized the occurrence of 266 organic compounds in source water and finished water from the Chattahoochee River, which is the main water-supply source for the Atlanta metropolitan area. Source water is stream water collected at a surface-water...
BioData: a national aquatic bioassessment database
Dorene MacCoy
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3112
BioData is a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) web-enabled database that for the first time provides for the capture, curation, integration, and delivery of bioassessment data collected by local, regional, and national USGS projects. BioData offers field biologists advanced capabilities for entering, editing, and reviewing the macroinvertebrate, algae, fish, and supporting...
Methods for processing and imaging marsh foraminifera
Chandra A. Dreher, James G. Flocks
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3098
This study is part of a larger U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) project to characterize the physical conditions of wetlands in southwestern Louisiana. Within these wetlands, groups of benthic foraminifera-shelled amoeboid protists living near or on the sea floor-can be used as agents to measure land subsidence, relative sea-level rise, and...
Microbial ecology of deep-water mid-Atlantic canyons
Christina A. Kellogg
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3102
The research described in this fact sheet will be conducted from 2012 to 2014 as part of the U.S. Geological Survey's DISCOVRE (DIversity, Systematics, and COnnectivity of Vulnerable Reef Ecosystems) Program. This integrated, multidisciplinary effort will be investigating a variety of topics related to unique and fragile deep-sea ecosystems from...
Regional assessments of the Nation's water quality—Improved understanding of stream nutrient sources through enhanced modeling capabilities
Stephen D. Preston, Richard B. Alexander, Michael D. Woodside
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3114
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) recently completed assessments of stream nutrients in six major regions extending over much of the conterminous United States. SPARROW (SPAtially Referenced Regressions On Watershed attributes) models were developed for each region to explain spatial patterns in monitored stream nutrient loads in relation to human activities...
Wind energy and wildlife research at the Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center
Susan L. Phillips
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3134
The United States has embarked on a goal to increase electricity generation from clean, renewable sources by 2012. Towards this end, wind energy is emerging as a widely distributed form of renewable energy throughout the country. The national goal is for energy from wind to supply 20 percent of the...
Assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources of the Sud Province, north-central Africa
Michael E. Brownfield, T. R. Klett, Christopher J. Schenk, Ronald R. Charpentier, T. A. Cook, R. M. Pollastro, Marilyn E. Tennyson
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3029
The Sud Province located in north-central Africa recently was assessed for undiscovered, technically recoverable oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids resources as part of the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) World Oil and Gas Assessment. Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the USGS estimated mean volumes of 7.31 billion barrels of...
Land-use planning for nearshore ecosystem services—the Puget Sound Ecosystem Portfolio Model
Kristin Byrd
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3067
The 2,500 miles of shoreline and nearshore areas of Puget Sound, Washington, provide multiple benefits to people—"ecosystem services"—including important fishing, shellfishing, and recreation industries. To help resource managers plan for expected growth in coming decades, the U.S. Geological Survey Western Geographic Science Center has developed the Puget Sound Ecosystem Portfolio...
A dryland river transformed—the Little Colorado, 1936–2010
Debra L. Block, Margaret Hiza Redsteer
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3099
The Little Colorado River, in northeastern Arizona, is a major tributary of the Colorado River. Over a span of 74 years, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has mapped substantial migration of the river channel between the City of Winslow and the Navajo Nation community of Leupp (Tólchíí kooh). In a...
Water resources of Webster Parish
Lawrence B. Prakken, Jason M. Griffith
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3088
In 2005, about 9.52 million gallons per day (Mgal/d) of water were withdrawn in Webster Parish, Louisiana (fig. 1), including about 9.33 Mgal/d from groundwater sources and 0.19 Mgal/d from surface-water sources1 (table 1). Publicsupply use accounted for about 70 percent of the total water withdrawn. Other categories of use...
Water resources of Bossier Parish
Lawrence B. Prakken, Jason M. Griffith
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3087
In 2005, about 15.8 million gallons per day (Mgal/d) of water were withdrawn in Bossier Parish, Louisiana, including 4.12 Mgal/d from groundwater sources and about 11.7 Mgal/d from surface-water sources. Public-supply use accounted for about 78 percent (12.4 Mgal/d) of the total water withdrawn. Other categories of use included industry,...
A promising tool for subsurface permafrost mapping-An application of airborne geophysics from the Yukon River Basin, Alaska
Jared E. Abraham
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3133
Permafrost is a predominant physical feature of the Earth's Arctic and Subarctic clines and a major consideration encompassing ecosystem structure to infrastructure engineering and placement. Perennially frozen ground is estimated to cover about 85 percent of the state of Alaska where northern reaches are underlain with continuous permafrost and parts...
Department of the Interior Climate Science Centers
Sonya A. Jones
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3025
What is a Climate Science Center? On September 14, 2009, the Secretary of the Interior signed a Secretarial Order (No. 3289) entitled, "Addressing the Impacts of Climate Change on America's Water, Land, and Other Natural and Cultural Resources." The Order effectively established the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) Climate...
Assessment of groundwater pathways and contaminant transport in Florida and Georgia using multiple chemical and microbiological indicators
Gary L. Mahon
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3070
The hydrogeology of Florida, especially in the northern part of the state, and southwestern Georgia is characterized by a predominance of limestone aquifers overlain by varying amounts of sands, silts, and clays. This karstic system of aquifers and their associated springs is particularly vulnerable to contamination from various anthropogenic activities...
Invasive crayfish in the Pacific Northwest
Christopher A. Pearl, Brome McCreary, Michael Adams
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3132
Invasive species directly threaten freshwater biodiversity, particularly in regions of high aquatic richness like the Pacific Northwest (PNW). Crayfish are among the most impactful of aquatic invasive species. Invasive crayfish are considered ecosystem engineers due to their ability to alter basic wetland properties, such as reducing vegetation and bank integrity...
Monitoring and analysis of sand dune movement and growth on the Navajo Nation, southwestern United States
Margaret Hiza Redsteer, Rian Bogle, John M. Vogel
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3085
Recurring drought and rising temperatures have caused reactivation and renewed growth of sand dunes on the lands of the Navajo Nation on the Colorado Plateau. Migrating dunes threaten health, housing, and transportation pathways. U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists are conducting research to better understand the processes of dune growth and...
