Influence of multi-source and multi-temporal remotely sensed and ancillary data on the accuracy of random forest classification of wetlands in northern Minnesota
Jennifer M. Corcoran, Joseph F. Knight, Alisa L. Gallant
2013, Remote Sensing (5) 3212-3238
Wetland mapping at the landscape scale using remotely sensed data requires both affordable data and an efficient accurate classification method. Random forest classification offers several advantages over traditional land cover classification techniques, including a bootstrapping technique to generate robust estimations of outliers in the training data, as well as the...
Archive of Digital boomer subbottom data collected during USGS cruises 99FGS01 and 99FGS02 offshore southeast and southwest Florida, July and November, 1999
Arnell S. Forde, Shawn V. Dadisman, Dana S. Wiese, Daniel C. Phelps
2013, Data Series 773
In July (19 - 26) and November (17 - 18) of 1999, the USGS, in cooperation with the Florida Geological Survey (FGS), conducted two geophysical surveys in: (1) the Atlantic Ocean offshore of Florida's east coast from Orchid to Jupiter, FL, and (2) the Gulf of Mexico offshore of Venice,...
Archive of digital chirp subbottom profile data collected during USGS cruise 11BIM01 Offshore of the Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana, June 2011
Arnell S. Forde, Shawn V. Dadisman, Jennifer L. Miselis, James G. Flocks, Dana S. Wiese
2013, Data Series 772
From June 3 to 13, 2011, the U.S. Geological Survey conducted a geophysical survey to investigate the geologic controls on barrier island framework and long-term sediment transport along the oil spill mitigation sand berm constructed at the north end and just offshore of the Chandeleur Islands, LA. This effort is...
Review of revised Klamath River Total Maximum Daily Load models from Link River Dam to Keno Dam, Oregon
Stewart A. Rounds, Annett B. Sullivan
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1136
Flow and water-quality models are being used to support the development of Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) plans for the Klamath River downstream of Upper Klamath Lake (UKL) in south-central Oregon. For riverine reaches, the RMA-2 and RMA-11 models were used, whereas the CE-QUAL-W2 model was used to simulate pooled...
Streamflow characterization and summary of water-quality data collection during the Mississippi River flood, April through July 2011
Heather L. Welch, Kimberlee K. Barnes
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1106
From April through July 2011, the U.S. Geological Survey collected surface-water samples from 69 water-quality stations and 3 flood-control structures in 4 major subbasins of the Mississippi River Basin to characterize the water quality during the 2011 Mississippi River flood. Most stations were sampled at least monthly for field parameters...
Topographic and hydrographic GIS datasets for the Afghan Geological Survey and U.S. Geological Survey 2013 mineral areas of interest
Brittany N. Casey, Peter G. Chirico
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1124
Afghanistan is endowed with a vast amount of mineral resources, and it is believed that the current economic state of the country could be greatly improved through investment in the extraction and production of these resources. In 2007, the “Preliminary Non-Fuel Resource Assessment of Afghanistan 2007” was completed by members...
Forest cutting and impacts on carbon in the eastern United States
Decheng Zhou, Shuguang Liu, Jennifer Oeding, Shuqing Zhao
2013, Scientific Reports (3)
Forest cutting is a major anthropogenic disturbance that affects forest carbon (C) storage and fluxes. Yet its characteristics and impacts on C cycling are poorly understood over large areas. Using recent annualized forest inventory data, we estimated cutting-related loss of live biomass in the eastern United States was 168 Tg C...
Nutrient enrichment and fish nutrient tolerance: Assessing biologically relevant nutrient criteria
Michael R. Meador
2013, Journal of the American Water Resources Association (49) 253-263
Relationships between nutrient concentrations and fish nutrient tolerance were assessed relative to established nutrient criteria. Fish community, nitrate plus nitrite (nitrate), and total phosphorus (TP) data were collected during summer low-flow periods in 2003 and 2004 at stream sites along a nutrient-enrichment gradient in an agricultural basin in Indiana and...
New thermochronometric constraints on the Tertiary landscape evolution of the central and eastern Grand Canyon, Arizona
John P. Lee, Daniel F. Stockli, S.A. Kelley, J. Pederson, K. E. Karlstrom, T.A. Ehlers
2013, Geosphere (9) 216-228
Thermal histories are modeled from new apatite (U-Th)/He and apatite fission-track data in order to quantitatively constrain the landscape evolution of the Grand Canyon region. Fifty new samples and their associated thermochronometric ages are presented here. Samples span from Lee’s Ferry in the east to Quartermaster Canyon in the west...
U.S. Geological Survey water-resource monitoring activities in support of the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative
Suzanna Soileau, Kirk Miller
2013, WLCI Fact Sheet 4
The quality of the Nation’s water resources are vital to the health and well-being of both our communities and the natural landscapes we value. The U.S. Geological Survey investigates the occurrence, quantity, quality, distribution, and movement of surface water and groundwater and provides this information to engineers, scientists, managers, educators,...
Hysteresis in suspended sediment to turbidity relations due to changing particle size distributions
Mark N. Landers, Terry W. Sturm
2013, Water Resources Research (49) 5487-5500
Turbidity (T) is the most ubiquitous of surrogate technologies used to estimate suspended-sediment concentration (SSC). The effects of sediment size on turbidity are well documented; however, effects from changes in particle size distributions (PSD) are rarely evaluated. Hysteresis in relations of SSC-to-turbidity (SSC~T) for single stormflow events was observed and...
Development of a geodatabase for springs within and surrounding outcrops of the Trinity aquifer in northern Bexar County, Texas, 2010-11
Allan K. Clark, Diane E. Pedraza
2013, Fact Sheet 2013-3044
The Trinity aquifer is an important source of groundwater in central Texas, including Bexar County, where population growth has resulted in an increased demand for water (Ashworth, 1983; Mace and others, 2000). Numerous springs issue from rock outcrops within and surrounding the Trinity aquifer in northern Bexar County (fig. 1)....
Software for analysis of chemical mixtures--composition, occurrence, distribution, and possible toxicity
Jonathon C. Scott, Kenneth A. Skach, Patricia L. Toccalino
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5030
The composition, occurrence, distribution, and possible toxicity of chemical mixtures in the environment are research concerns of the U.S. Geological Survey and others. The presence of specific chemical mixtures may serve as indicators of natural phenomena or human-caused events. Chemical mixtures may also have ecological, industrial, geochemical, or toxicological effects....
The National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program planned monitoring and modeling activities for Texas, 2013–23
Patricia Ging
2013, Fact Sheet 2013-3038
The U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program was established by Congress in 1992 to answer the following question: What is the status of the Nation’s water quality and is it getting better or worse? Since 1992, NAWQA has been a primary source of nationally consistent data and...
Linear extension rates of massive corals from the Dry Tortugas National Park (DRTO), Florida
Adis Muslic, Jennifer A. Flannery, Christopher D. Reich, Daniel K. Umberger, Joseph M. Smoak, Richard Z. Poore
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1121
Colonies of three coral species, Montastraea faveolata, Diploria strigosa, and Siderastrea siderea, located in the Dry Tortugas National Park (DRTO), Florida, were sampled and analyzed to evaluate annual linear extension rates. Montastraea faveolata had the highest average linear extension and variability in (DRTO: C2 = 0.67 centimeters/year (cm yr-1) ± 0.04, B3 = 0.85 cm...
Phylogeography and population genetic structure of double-crested cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus)
Dacey Mercer, Susan M. Haig, Daniel D. Roby
2013, Conservation Genetics (14) 823-836
We examined the genetic structure of doublecrested cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus) across their range in the United States and Canada. Sequences of the mitochondrial control region were analyzed for 248 cormorants from 23 breeding sites. Variation was also examined at eight microsatellite loci for 409 cormorants from the same sites. The mitochondrial...
The role of viscous magma mush spreading in volcanic flank motion at Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai‘i
C. Plattner, F. Amelung, S. Baker, R. Govers, Michael P. Poland
2013, Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth (118) 2474-2487
Multiple mechanisms have been suggested to explain seaward motion of the south flank of Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai‘i. The consistency of flank motion during both waxing and waning magmatic activity at Kīlauea suggests that a continuously acting force, like gravity body force, plays a substantial role. Using finite element models, we...
Historical and contemporary geographic data reveal complex spatial and temporal responses of vegetation to climate and land stewardship
Miguel L. Villarreal, Laura M. Norman, Robert H. Webb, Raymond M. Turner
2013, Land (2) 194-224
Vegetation and land-cover changes are not always directional but follow complex trajectories over space and time, driven by changing anthropogenic and abiotic conditions. We present a multi-observational approach to land-change analysis that addresses the complex geographic and temporal variability of vegetation changes related to climate and land use. Using land-ownership...
Habitat and co-occurrence of native and invasive crayfish in the Pacific Northwest, USA
Christopher A. Pearl, M. J. Adams, Brome McCreary
2013, Aquatic Invasions (8) 171-184
Biological invasions can have dramatic effects on freshwater ecosystems and introduced crayfish can be particularly impacting. We document crayfish distribution in three large hydrographic basins (Rogue, Umpqua, Willamette/Columbia) in the Pacific Northwest USA. We used occupancy analyses to investigate habitat relationships and evidence for displacement of native Pacifastacus leniusculus (Dana,...
Culvert Analysis Program Graphical User Interface 1.0--A preprocessing and postprocessing tool for estimating flow through culvert
D. Nathan Bradley
2013, Fact Sheet 2013-3045
The peak discharge of a flood can be estimated from the elevation of high-water marks near the inlet and outlet of a culvert after the flood has occurred. This type of discharge estimate is called an “indirect measurement” because it relies on evidence left behind by the flood, such as...
Fire regimes of quaking aspen in the Mountain West
Douglas J. Shinneman, William L. Baker, Paul C. Rogers, Dominik Kulakowski
2013, Forest Ecology and Management (299) 22-34
Quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) is the most widespread tree species in North America, and it is found throughout much of the Mountain West (MW) across a broad range of bioclimatic regions. Aspen typically regenerates asexually and prolifically after fire, and due to its seral status in many western conifer...
Water resources of Claiborne Parish, Louisiana
Robert B. Fendick Jr., Lawrence B. Prakken, Jason M. Griffith
2013, Fact Sheet 2013-3029
This fact sheet summarizes basic information on the water resources of Claiborne Parish. Information on groundwater and surface-water availability, quality, development, use, and trends is based on previously published reports listed in the Cited References section. In 2010, about 2.60 million gallons per day (Mgal/d) of water were withdrawn in...
Evolution of dike opening during the March 2011 Kamoamoa fissure eruption, Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai`i
Paul Lundgren, Michael P. Poland, Asta Miklius, Tim R. Orr, Sang-Ho Yun, Eric Fielding, Zhen Liu, Akiko Tanaka, Walter Szeliga, Scott Hensley, Susan Owen
2013, Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth (118) 897-914
The 5–9 March 2011 Kamoamoa fissure eruption along the east rift zone of Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai`i, followed months of pronounced inflation at Kīlauea summit. We examine dike opening during and after the eruption using a comprehensive interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) data set in combination with continuous GPS data. We...
Estimating raptor nesting success: old and new approaches
Jessi L. Brown, Karen Steenhof, Michael N. Kochert, Laura Bond
2013, Journal of Wildlife Management (77) 1067-1074
Studies of nesting success can be valuable in assessing the status of raptor populations, but differing monitoring protocols can present unique challenges when comparing populations of different species across time or geographic areas. We used large datasets from long-term studies of 3 raptor species to compare estimates of apparent nest...
Spatially explicit models for inference about density in unmarked or partially marked populations
Richard B. Chandler, J. Andrew Royle
2013, Annals of Applied Statistics (7) 936-954
Recently developed spatial capture–recapture (SCR) models represent a major advance over traditional capture–recapture (CR) models because they yield explicit estimates of animal density instead of population size within an unknown area. Furthermore, unlike nonspatial CR methods, SCR models account for heterogeneity in capture probability arising from the juxtaposition of animal...
