Estimating irrigation water use in the humid eastern United States
Sara B. Levin, Phillip J. Zarriello
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5066
Accurate accounting of irrigation water use is an important part of the U.S. Geological Survey National Water-Use Information Program and the WaterSMART initiative to help maintain sustainable water resources in the Nation. Irrigation water use in the humid eastern United States is not well characterized because of inadequate reporting and...
Evaluation of the potential for hysteresis in index-velocity ratings for the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal near Lemont, Illinois
P. Ryan Jackson, Sumit Sinha, Som Dutta, Kevin K. Johnson, James J. Duncker, Marcelo H. Garcia
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5095
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is responsible for monitoring flows in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal (CSSC) near Lemont, Illinois, as a part of the Lake Michigan Diversion Accounting overseen by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Chicago District. Lake Michigan Diversion Accounting is mandated by a U.S. Supreme...
Total dissolved gas and water temperature in the lower Columbia River, Oregon and Washington, water year 2012: Quality-assurance data and comparison to water-quality standards
Dwight Q. Tanner, Heather M. Bragg, Matthew W. Johnston
2013, Open-File Report 2012-1256
Significant Findings Air is entrained in water as it is flows through the spillways of dams, which causes an increase in the concentration of total dissolved gas in the water downstream from the dams. The elevated concentrations of total dissolved gas can adversely affect fish and other freshwater aquatic life. An...
Estimating instream constituent loads using replicate synoptic sampling, Peru Creek, Colorado
Robert L. Runkel, Katherine Walton-Day, Briant A. Kimball, Philip L. Verplanck, David A. Nimick
2013, Journal of Hydrology (489) 26-41
The synoptic mass balance approach is often used to evaluate constituent mass loading in streams affected by mine drainage. Spatial profiles of constituent mass load are used to identify sources of contamination and prioritize sites for remedial action. This paper presents a field scale study in which replicate synoptic...
Return period adjustment for runoff coefficients based on analysis in undeveloped Texas watersheds
Nirajan Dhakal, Xing Fang, William H. Asquith, Theodore G. Cleveland, David B. Thompson
2013, Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering (139) 476-482
The rational method for peak discharge (Qp) estimation was introduced in the 1880s. The runoff coefficient (C) is a key parameter for the rational method that has an implicit meaning of rate proportionality, and the C has been declared a function of the annual return period by various researchers. Rate-based...
Fat or lean: adjustment of endogenous energy stores to predictable and unpredictable changes in allostatic load
Jannik Schultner, Alexander S. Kitaysky, Jorg Welcker, Scott Hatch
2013, Functional Ecology (27) 45-55
1. The ability to store energy endogenously is an important ecological mechanism that allows animals to buffer predictable and unpredictable variation in allostatic load. The secretion of glucocorticoids, which reflects changes in allostatic load, is suggested to play a major role in the adjustment of endogenous stores to these varying...
Evaluation of a new model of aeolian transport in the presence of vegetation
Junran Li, Gregory S. Okin, Jeffrey E. Herrick, Jayne Belnap, Mark E. Miller, Kimberly Vest, Amy E. Draut
2013, Journal of Geophysical Research F: Earth Surface (118) 288-306
Aeolian transport is an important characteristic of many arid and semiarid regions worldwide that affects dust emission and ecosystem processes. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate a recent model of aeolian transport in the presence of vegetation. This approach differs from previous models by accounting for how vegetation...
Integrated synoptic surveys using an autonomous underwater vehicle and manned boats
P. Ryan Jackson
2013, Fact Sheet 2013-3018
Traditional surface-water surveys are being combined with autonomous technology to produce integrated surveys of bathymetry, water quality, and velocity in inland lakes and reservoirs. This new technology provides valuable, high-resolution, integrated data that allow a systems-based approach to understanding common environmental problems. This fact sheet presents several example applications of...
Evapotranspiration and water balance of an anthropogenic coastal desert wetland: responses to fire, inflows and salinities
Edward P. Glenn, Lourdes Mexicano, Jaqueline Garcia-Hernandez, Pamela L. Nagler, Martha M. Gomez-Sapiens, Dawei Tang, Marcelo A. Lomeli, Jorge Ramírez-Hernández, Francisco Zamora-Arroyo
2013, Ecological Engineering (59) 176-184
Evapotranspiration (ET) and other water balance components were estimated for Cienega de Santa Clara, an anthropogenic brackish wetland in the delta of the Colorado River in Mexico. The marsh is in the Biosphere Reserve of the Upper Gulf of California and Delta of the Colorado River, and supports a high...
Estimating economic losses from earthquakes using an empirical approach
Kishor Jaiswal, David J. Wald
2013, Earthquake Spectra (29) 309-324
We extended the U.S. Geological Survey's Prompt Assessment of Global Earthquakes for Response (PAGER) empirical fatality estimation methodology proposed by Jaiswal et al. (2009) to rapidly estimate economic losses after significant earthquakes worldwide. The requisite model inputs are shaking intensity estimates made by the ShakeMap system, the spatial distribution of...
Simulating mechanisms for dispersal, production and stranding of small forage fish in temporary wetland habitats
Simeon Yurek, Donald L. DeAngelis, Joel C. Trexler, Fred Jopp, Douglas D. Donalson
2013, Ecological Modelling (250) 391-401
Movement strategies of small forage fish (<8 cm total length) between temporary and permanent wetland habitats affect their overall population growth and biomass concentrations, i.e., availability to predators. These fish are often the key energy link between primary producers and top predators, such as wading birds, which require high concentrations...
Tidal wetlands of the Yaquina and Alsea River estuaries, Oregon: Geographic Information Systems layer development and recommendations for National Wetlands Inventory revisions
Laura S. Brophy, Deborah A. Reusser, Christopher N. Janousek
2013, Open-File Report 2012-1038
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) layers of current, and likely former, tidal wetlands in two Oregon estuaries were generated by enhancing the 2010 National Wetlands Inventory (NWI) data with expert local field knowledge, Light Detection and Ranging-derived elevations, and 2009 aerial orthophotographs. Data were generated for two purposes: First, to enhance...
Digital tabulation of stratigraphic data from oil and gas wells in Cuyama Valley and surrounding areas, central California
Donald S. Sweetkind, Shiera C. Bova, Victoria E. Langenheim, Lauren E. Shumaker, Daniel S. Scheirer
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1084
Stratigraphic information from 391 oil and gas exploration wells from Cuyama Valley, California, and surrounding areas are herein compiled in digital form from reports that were released originally in paper form. The Cuyama Basin is located within the southeasternmost part of the Coast Ranges and north of the western Transverse...
Remote sensing survey of Chinese tallow tree in the Toledo Bend Reservoir area, Louisiana and Texas
Elijah W. Ramsey III, Amina Rangoonwala, Terri Bannister, Yukihiro Suzuoki
2013, Open-File Report 2012-1215
We applied Hyperion sensor satellite data acquired by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite in conjunction with reconnaissance surveys to map the occurrences of the invasive Chinese tallow tree (Triadica sebifera) in the Toledo Bend Reservoir study area of northwestern Louisiana and northeastern Texas. The rationale...
Methods for estimating annual exceedance-probability discharges for streams in Iowa, based on data through water year 2010
David A. Eash, Kimberlee K. Barnes, Andrea G. Veilleux
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5086
A statewide study was performed to develop regional regression equations for estimating selected annual exceedance-probability statistics for ungaged stream sites in Iowa. The study area comprises streamgages located within Iowa and 50 miles beyond the State’s borders. Annual exceedance-probability estimates were computed for 518 streamgages by using the expected moments...
Practical guidance on characterizing availability in resource selection functions under a use-availability design
Joseph M. Northrup, Mevin Hooten, Charles R. Anderson Jr., George Wittemyer
2013, Ecology (94) 1456-1463
Habitat selection is a fundamental aspect of animal ecology, the understanding of which is critical to management and conservation. Global positioning system data from animals allow fine-scale assessments of habitat selection and typically are analyzed in a use-availability framework, whereby animal locations are contrasted with random locations (the availability sample)....
Simulations of groundwater flow, transport, and age in Albuquerque, New Mexico, for a study of transport of anthropogenic and natural contaminants (TANC) to public-supply wells
Charles E. Heywood
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5242
Vulnerability to contamination from manmade and natural sources can be characterized by the groundwater-age distribution measured in a supply well and the associated implications for the source depths of the withdrawn water. Coupled groundwater flow and transport models were developed to simulate the transport of the geochemical age-tracers carbon-14, tritium,...
Reconciling resource utilization and resource selection functions
Mevin Hooten, Ephraim M. Hanks, Devin S. Johnson, Mat W. Alldredge
2013, Journal of Animal Ecology (52) 1146-1154
Summary: 1. Analyses based on utilization distributions (UDs) have been ubiquitous in animal space use studies, largely because they are computationally straightforward and relatively easy to employ. Conventional applications of resource utilization functions (RUFs) suggest that estimates of UDs can be used as response variables in a regression involving spatial...
Analyzing the water budget and hydrological characteristics and responses to land use in a monsoonal climate river basin in South China
Yiping Wu, Ji Chen
2013, Environmental Management (51) 1174-1186
Hydrological models have been increasingly used by hydrologists and water resource managers to understand natural processes and human activities that affect watersheds. In this study, we use the physically based model, Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT), to investigate the hydrological processes in the East River Basin in South China,...
Continuous real-time water-quality monitoring and regression analysis to compute constituent concentrations and loads in the North Fork Ninnescah River upstream from Cheney Reservoir, south-central Kansas, 1999–2012
Mandy L. Stone, Jennifer L. Graham, Jackline W. Gatotho
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5071
Cheney Reservoir, located in south-central Kansas, is the primary water supply for the city of Wichita. The U.S. Geological Survey has operated a continuous real-time water-quality monitoring station since 1998 on the North Fork Ninnescah River, the main source of inflow to Cheney Reservoir. Continuously measured water-quality physical properties include...
Water-quality, bed-sediment, and biological data (October 2010 through September 2011) and statistical summaries of data for streams in the Clark Fork basin, Montana
Kent A. Dodge, Michelle I. Hornberger, Jessica Dyke
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1017
Water, bed sediment, and biota were sampled in streams from Butte to near Missoula, Montana, as part of a monitoring program in the upper Clark Fork basin of western Montana; additional water samples were collected from near Galen to near Missoula at select sites as part of a supplemental sampling...
Microhabitat use of the diamond darter
Stuart A. Welsh, Dustin M. Smith, Nate D. Taylor
2013, Ecology of Freshwater Fish (22) 587-595
The only known extant population of the diamond darter (Crystallaria cincotta) exists in the lower 37 km of Elk River, WV, USA. Our understanding of diamond darter habitat use was previously limited, because few individuals have been observed during sampling with conventional gears. We quantified microhabitat use of diamond darters based...
Mercury and water-quality data from Rink Creek, Salmon River, and Good River, Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, Alaska, November 2009-October 2011
Sonia A. Nagorski, Edward G. Neal, Timothy P. Brabets
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1097
Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve (GBNPP), Alaska, like many pristine high latitude areas, is exposed to atmospherically deposited contaminants such as mercury (Hg). Although the harmful effects of Hg are well established, information on this contaminant in southeast Alaska is scarce. Here, we assess the level of this contaminant...
Local-area-enhanced, 2.5-meter resolution natural-color and color-infrared satellite-image mosaics of the Herat mineral district in Afghanistan: Chapter T in Local-area-enhanced, high-resolution natural-color and color-infrared satellite-image mosaics of mineral districts in Afghanistan
Philip A. Davis, Scott A. Arko, Michelle L. Harbin
2013, Data Series 709-T
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Defense Task Force for Business and Stability Operations, prepared databases for mineral-resource target areas in Afghanistan. The purpose of the databases is to (1) provide useful data to ground-survey crews for use in performing detailed assessments of the...
Classifications for Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Act (CWPPRA) site-specific projects: 2010
William R. Jones, Adrienne Garber
2013, Data Series 745
The Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Act (CWPPRA) funds over 100 wetland restoration projects across Louisiana. Integral to the success of CWPPRA is its long-term monitoring program, which enables State and Federal agencies to determine the effectiveness of each restoration effort. One component of this monitoring program is the...
