Nitrate Trends in Minnesota Rivers
Dave Wall, Dave Christopherson, Dave Lorenz, Gary Martin
2013, Book chapter, Nitrogen in Minnesota surface waters:
The objective of this study was to assess long-term trends (30 to 35 years) of flow-adjusted concentrations of nitrite+nitrate-N (hereinafter referred to as nitrate) in a way that would allow us to discern changing trends. Recognizing that these trends are commonly different from one river to another river and from...
Creating potentiometric surfaces from combined water well and oil well data in the midcontinent of the United States
Nicholas J. Gianoutsos, Philip H. Nelson
2013, Book, 125th Anniversary Annual Meeting & Expo: The Geological Society of America
For years, hydrologists have defined potentiometric surfaces using measured hydraulic-head values in water wells from aquifers. Down-dip, the oil and gas industry is also interested in the formation pressures of many of the same geologic formations for the purpose of hydrocarbon recovery. In oil and gas exploration, drillstem tests (DSTs)...
Characterization of cyanophyte biomass in a Bureau of Reclamation reservoir
Nancy S. Simon, Ahmad Abdul Ali, Kyle Michael Samperton, Charles S. Korson, Kris Fischer, Michael L. Hughes
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1156
The purpose of this study was to characterize the cyanophyte Aphanizomenon flos-aquae (AFA) from Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon, (UKL) and, based on this description, explore uses for AFA, which would have commercial value. AFA collected from UKL in 2010 from eight sites during a period of approximately 2 weeks were...
Improving regression-model-based streamwater constituent load estimates derived from serially correlated data
Brent T. Aulenbach
2013, Journal of Hydrology (503) 55-66
A regression-model based approach is a commonly used, efficient method for estimating streamwater constituent load when there is a relationship between streamwater constituent concentration and continuous variables such as streamwater discharge, season and time. A subsetting experiment using a 30-year dataset of daily suspended sediment observations from the Mississippi River...
Crustal structure and fault geometry of the 2010 Haiti earthquake from temporary seismometer deployments
Roby Douilly, Jennifer S. Haase, William L. Ellsworth, Marie-Paule Bouin, Eric Calais, Steeve J. Symithe, John G. Armbruster, Bernard Mercier de Lepinay, Anne Deschamps, Saint‐Louis Mildor, Mark E. Meremonte, Susan E. Hough
2013, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (103) 2305-2325
Haiti has been the locus of a number of large and damaging historical earthquakes. The recent 12 January 2010 Mw 7.0 earthquake affected cities that were largely unprepared, which resulted in tremendous losses. It was initially assumed that the earthquake ruptured the Enriquillo Plantain Garden fault (EPGF), a major active...
Linking movement and reproductive history of brook trout to assess habitat connectivity in a heterogeneous stream network
Yoichiro Kanno, Benjamin H. Letcher, Jason A. Coombs, Keith H. Nislow, Andrew R. Whiteley
2013, Freshwater Biology (59) 142-154
1. Defining functional connectivity between habitats in spatially heterogeneous landscapes is a particular challenge for small-bodied aquatic species. Traditional approaches (e.g. mark–recapture studies) preclude an assessment of animal movement over the life cycle (birth to reproduction), and movement of individuals may not represent the degree of gene movement for fecund...
Genetic structure, diversity and subspecies status of Gull-billed Terns (Gelochelidon nilotica) from the United States
Mark P. Miller, Thomas D. Mullins, Susan M. Haig
2013, Waterbirds (36) 310-318
Gull-billed Terns (Gelochelidon nilotica) are among the most widespread, yet scarce, Charadriiformes in the world. Two subspecies are recognized in the United States: G. n. aranea breeds along the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf coasts and G. n. vanrossemi breeds in the Salton Sea and San Diego Bay of California. Conservation...
Has the time come for big science in wildlife health?
Jonathan M. Sleeman
2013, EcoHealth (10) 335-338
The consequences of wildlife emerging diseases are global and profound with increased burden on the public health system, negative impacts on the global economy, declines and extinctions of wildlife species, and subsequent loss of ecological integrity. Examples of health threats to wildlife include Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, which causes a cutaneous fungal...
Geochemical and mineralogical data for soils of the conterminous United States
David B. Smith, William F. Cannon, Laurel G. Woodruff, Federico Solano, James E. Kilburn, David L. Fey
2013, Data Series 801
In 2007, the U.S. Geological Survey initiated a low-density (1 site per 1,600 square kilometers, 4,857 sites) geochemical and mineralogical survey of soils of the conterminous United States as part of the North American Soil Geochemical Landscapes Project. Sampling and analytical protocols were developed at a workshop in 2003, and...
US Topo: topographic maps for the nation
William J. Carswell Jr.
2013, Fact Sheet 2013-3093
US Topo is the next generation of topographic maps from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Arranged in the familiar 7.5-minute quadrangle format, digital US Topo maps are designed to look and feel (and perform) like the traditional paper topographic maps for which the USGS is so well known. In contrast...
Postwildfire debris-flow hazard assessment of the area burned by the 2013 West Fork Fire Complex, southwestern Colorado
Kristine L. Verdin, Jean A. Dupree, Michael R. Stevens
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1259
This report presents a preliminary emergency assessment of the debris-flow hazards from drainage basins burned by the 2013 West Fork Fire Complex near South Fork in southwestern Colorado. Empirical models derived from statistical evaluation of data collected from recently burned basins throughout the intermountain western United States were used to...
Hurricane Sandy science plan: coastal topographic and bathymetric data to support hurricane impact assessment and response
Jakob M. Stronko
2013, Fact Sheet 2013-3099
Hurricane Sandy devastated some of the most heavily populated eastern coastal areas of the Nation. With a storm surge peaking at more than 19 feet, the powerful landscape-altering destruction of Hurricane Sandy is a stark reminder of why the Nation must become more resilient to coastal hazards. In response to...
Hurricane Sandy science plan: impacts of environmental quality and persisting contaminant exposure
Sarah A. Caskie
2013, Fact Sheet 2013-3091
Hurricane Sandy devastated some of the most heavily populated eastern coastal areas of the Nation. With a storm surge peaking at more than 19 feet, the powerful landscape-altering destruction of Hurricane Sandy is a stark reminder of why the Nation must become more resilient to coastal hazards. In response to...
Hurricane Sandy science plan: impacts to coastal ecosystems, habitats, and fish and wildlife
Warren H. Campbell
2013, Fact Sheet 2013-3096
Hurricane Sandy devastated some of the most heavily populated eastern coastal areas of the Nation. With a storm surge peaking at more than 19 feet, the powerful landscape-altering destruction of Hurricane Sandy is a stark reminder of why the Nation must become more resilient to coastal hazards. In response to...
Hurricane Sandy science plan: coastal impact assessments
Jakob M. Stronko
2013, Fact Sheet 2013-3090
Hurricane Sandy devastated some of the most heavily populated eastern coastal areas of the Nation. With a storm surge peaking at more than 19 feet, the powerful landscape-altering destruction of Hurricane Sandy is a stark reminder of why the Nation must become more resilient to coastal hazards. In response to...
Hurricane Sandy science plan: impacts of storm surge, including disturbed estuarine and bay hydrology
Sarah A. Caskie
2013, Fact Sheet 2013-3092
Hurricane Sandy devastated some of the most heavily populated eastern coastal areas of the Nation. With a storm surge peaking at more than 19 feet, the powerful landscape-altering destruction of Hurricane Sandy is a stark reminder of why the Nation must become more resilient to coastal hazards. In response to...
Revised shallow and deep water-level and storage-volume changes in the Equus Beds Aquifer near Wichita, Kansas, predevelopment to 1993
Cristi V. Hansen, Jennifer L. Lanning-Rush, Andrew C. Ziegler
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5170
Beginning in the 1940s, the Wichita well field was developed in the Equus Beds aquifer in southwestern Harvey County and northwestern Sedgwick County to supply water to the city of Wichita. The decline of water levels in the aquifer was noted soon after the development of the Wichita well field...
Influence of monsoon-related riparian phenology on yellow-billed cuckoo habitat selection in Arizona
Cynthia S.A. Wallace, Miguel L. Villarreal, Charles van Riper III
2013, Journal of Biogeography (40) 2094-2107
Aim: The western yellow-billed cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus occidentalis), a Neotropical migrant bird, is facing steep population declines in its western breeding grounds owing primarily to loss of native habitat. The favoured esting habitat for the cuckoo in the south-western United States is low-elevation riparian forests and woodlands. Our aim...
Influence of management and precipitation on carbon fluxes in greatplains grasslands
Matthew B. Rigge, Bruce K. Wylie, Li Zhang, Stephen P. Boyte
2013, Ecological Indicators (34) 590-599
Suitable management and sufficient precipitation on grasslands can provide carbon sinks. The net carbon accumulation of a site from the atmosphere, modeled as the Net Ecosystem Productivity (NEP), is a useful means to gauge carbon balance. Previous research has developed methods to integrate flux tower data with satellite biophysical datasets...
Estimating riparian and agricultural evapotranspiration by reference crop evapotranspiration and MODIS Enhanced Vegetation Index
Pamela L. Nagler, Edward P. Glenn, Uyen Nguyen, Russell Scott, Tania Doody
2013, Remote Sensing (5) 3849-3871
Dryland river basins frequently support both irrigated agriculture and riparian vegetation and remote sensing methods are needed to monitor water use by both crops and natural vegetation in irrigation districts. We developed an algorithm for estimating actual evapotranspiration (ETa) based on the Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) from the Moderate Resolution...
InSAR Evidence for an active shallow thrust fault beneath the city of Spokane Washington, USA
Charles W. Wicks Jr., Craig S. Weaver, Paul Bodin, Brian L. Sherrod
2013, Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth (118) 1268-1276
In 2001, a nearly five month long sequence of shallow, mostly small magnitude earthquakes occurred beneath the city of Spokane, a city with a population of about 200,000, in the state of Washington. During most of the sequence, the earthquakes were not well located because seismic instrumentation was sparse. Despite...
Low copper and high manganese levels in prion protein plaques
Christopher J. Johnson, P.U.P.A. Gilbert, Mike Abrecth, Katherine L. Baldwin, Robin E. Russell, Joel A. Pedersen, Debbie McKenzie
2013, Viruses (5) 654-662
Accumulation of aggregates rich in an abnormally folded form of the prion protein characterize the neurodegeneration caused by transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs). The molecular triggers of plaque formation and neurodegeneration remain unknown, but analyses of TSE-infected brain homogenates and preparations enriched for abnormal prion protein suggest that reduced levels of...
Chuckwalla Valley multiple-well monitoring site, Chuckwalla Valley, Riverside County
Rhett R. Everett
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1221
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Bureau of Land Management, is evaluating the geohydrology and water availability of the Chuckwalla Valley, California. As part of this evaluation, the USGS installed the Chuckwalla Valley multiple-well monitoring site (CWV1) in the southeastern portion of the Chuckwalla Basin. Data collected...
A computational- And storage-cloud for integration of biodiversity collections
A. Matsunaga, A. Thompson, R. J. Figueiredo, C.C Germain-Aubrey, M. Collins, R.S Beeman, B.J. Macfadden, G. Riccardi, P.S Soltis, L. M. Page, J.A.B Fortes
2013, Conference Paper, Proceedings - IEEE 9th International Conference on e-Science, e-Science 2013
A core mission of the Integrated Digitized Biocollections (iDigBio) project is the building and deployment of a cloud computing environment customized to support the digitization workflow and integration of data from all U.S. nonfederal biocollections. iDigBio chose to use cloud computing technologies to deliver a cyberinfrastructure that is flexible, agile,...
Comparison of a karst groundwater model with and without discrete conduit flow
Stephen P. Saller, Michael J. Ronayne, Andrew J. Long
2013, Hydrogeology Journal (21) 1555-1566
Karst aquifers exhibit a dual flow system characterized by interacting conduit and matrix domains. This study evaluated the coupled continuum pipe-flow framework for modeling karst groundwater flow in the Madison aquifer of western South Dakota (USA). Coupled conduit and matrix flow was simulated within a regional finite-difference model over a...
