Geospatial datasets for watershed delineation and characterization used in the Hawaii StreamStats web application
Alan Rea, Kenneth D. Skinner
2012, Data Series 680
The U.S. Geological Survey Hawaii StreamStats application uses an integrated suite of raster and vector geospatial datasets to delineate and characterize watersheds. The geospatial datasets used to delineate and characterize watersheds on the StreamStats website, and the methods used to develop the datasets are described in this report. The datasets...
Sediment loads in the Red River of the North and selected tributaries near Fargo, North Dakota, 2010--2011
Joel M. Galloway, Rochelle A. Nustad
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5111
Natural-resource agencies are concerned about possible geomorphic effects of a proposed diversion project to reduce the flood risk in the Fargo-Moorhead metropolitan area. The U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers collected data in the spring of 2010 and 2011, and from June to November...
Multivariate statistical approach to estimate mixing proportions for unknown end members
Joshua F. Valder, Andrew J. Long, Arden D. Davis, Scott J. Kenner
2012, Journal of Hydrology (460-461) 65-76
A multivariate statistical method is presented, which includes principal components analysis (PCA) and an end-member mixing model to estimate unknown end-member hydrochemical compositions and the relative mixing proportions of those end members in mixed waters. PCA, together with the Hotelling T2 statistic and a conceptual model of groundwater flow and...
Practical estimates of field-saturated hydraulic conductivity of bedrock outcrops using a modified bottomless bucket method
Benjamin B. Mirus, Kim S. Perkins
2012, Water Resources Research (48)
The bottomless bucket (BB) approach (Nimmo et al., 2009a) is a cost-effective method for rapidly characterizing field-saturated hydraulic conductivity Kfs of soils and alluvial deposits. This practical approach is of particular value for quantifying infiltration rates in remote areas with limited accessibility. A similar approach for bedrock outcrops is also...
USGS Zebra Mussel Monitoring Program for north Texas
Christopher J. Churchill, Stanley Baldys
2012, Fact Sheet 2012-3077
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Zebra Mussel Monitoring Program for north Texas provides early detection and monitoring of zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) by using a holistic suite of detection methods. The program is designed to assess zebra mussel occurrence, distribution, and densities in north Texas waters by using four approaches:...
Modeling of depth to base of Last Glacial Maximum and seafloor sediment thickness for the California State Waters Map Series, eastern Santa Barbara Channel, California
Florence L. Wong, Eleyne L. Phillips, Samuel Y. Johnson, Ray W. Sliter
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1161
Models of the depth to the base of Last Glacial Maximum and sediment thickness over the base of Last Glacial Maximum for the eastern Santa Barbara Channel are a key part of the maps of shallow subsurface geology and structure for offshore Refugio to Hueneme Canyon, California, in the California...
Sea-floor geology in central Rhode Island Sound south of Sakonnet Point, Rhode Island
K. Y. McMullen, L. J. Poppe, S. D. Ackerman, C.R. Worley, M.A. Nadeau, M. V. Van Hoy
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1004
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are working together to study the sea floor along the northeastern coast of the United States. NOAA collected multibeam-echosounder data during hydrographic survey H11995 in a 63-square-kilometer area in central Rhode Island Sound, south of Sakonnet Point,...
Flood-inundation maps for Sweetwater Creek from above the confluence of Powder Springs Creek to the Interstate 20 bridge, Cobb and Douglas Counties, Georgia
Jonathan W. Musser
2012, Scientific Investigations Map 3220
Digital flood-inundation maps for a 10.5-mile reach of Sweetwater Creek, from about 1,800 feet above the confluence of Powder Springs Creek to about 160 feet below the Interstate 20 bridge, were developed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with Cobb County, Georgia. The inundation maps, which can be...
Seismic hazard of American Samoa and neighboring South Pacific Islands--methods, data, parameters, and results
Mark D. Petersen, Stephen C. Harmsen, Kenneth S. Rukstales, Charles S. Mueller, Daniel E. McNamara, Nicolas Luco, Melanie Walling
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1087
American Samoa and the neighboring islands of the South Pacific lie near active tectonic-plate boundaries that host many large earthquakes which can result in strong earthquake shaking and tsunamis. To mitigate earthquake risks from future ground shaking, the Federal Emergency Management Agency requested that the U.S. Geological Survey prepare seismic...
Sea-floor character and sedimentary processes of Block Island Sound, offshore Rhode Island
L. J. Poppe, W. W. Danforth, K. Y. McMullen, M.A. Blankenship, K.A. Glomb, D.B. Wright, S. M. Smith
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1005
Gridded multibeam bathymetry covers approximately 634 square kilometers of sea floor in Block Island Sound. Although originally collected for charting purposes during National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration hydrographic surveys H12009, H12010, H12011, H12015, H12033, H12137, and H12139, these combined acoustic data and the sea-floor sediment sampling and photography stations subsequently...
A multiple-point geostatistical method for characterizing uncertainty of subsurface alluvial units and its effects on flow and transport
C. Cronkite-Ratcliff, G. A. Phelps, A. Boucher
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1065
This report provides a proof-of-concept to demonstrate the potential application of multiple-point geostatistics for characterizing geologic heterogeneity and its effect on flow and transport simulation. The study presented in this report is the result of collaboration between the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and Stanford University. This collaboration focused on improving...
Estimates of tracer-based piston-flow ages of groundwater from selected sites: National Water-Quality Assessment Program, 2006-2010
Stephanie D. Shapiro, Niel Plummer, Eurybiades Busenberg, Peggy K. Widman, Gerolamo C. Casile, Julian E. Wayland, Donna L. Runkle
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5141
Piston-flow age dates were interpreted from measured concentrations of environmental tracers from 812 National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program groundwater sites from 27 Study Units across the United States. The tracers of interest include chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), and tritium/helium-3 (3H/3He). Tracer data compiled for this analysis were collected from...
Land-use and land-cover scenarios and spatial modeling at the regional scale
Terry L. Sohl, Benjamin M. Sleeter
2012, Fact Sheet 2012-3091
Land-use and land-cover (LULC) change has altered a large part of the earth's surface. Scenarios of potential future LULC change are required in order to better manage potential impacts on biodiversity, carbon fluxes, climate change, hydrology, and many other ecological processes. The U.S. Geological Survey is analyzing potential future LULC...
Simulation of climate change in San Francisco Bay Basins, California: Case studies in the Russian River Valley and Santa Cruz Mountains
Lorraine E. Flint, Alan L. Flint
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5132
As a result of ongoing changes in climate, hydrologic and ecologic effects are being seen across the western United States. A regional study of how climate change affects water resources and habitats in the San Francisco Bay area relied on historical climate data and future projections of climate, which were...
Selected historic agricultural data important to environmental quality in the United States
Katia M. Grey, Paul D. Capel, Nancy T. Baker, Gail P. Thelin
2012, Data Series 689
This report and the accompanying tables summarize some of the important changes in American agriculture in the form of a timeline and a compilation of selected annual time-series data that can be broadly related to environmental quality. Although these changes have been beneficial for increasing agricultural production, some of them...
Waterbird nest monitoring program in San Francisco Bay (2005-10)
Joshua T. Ackerman, Mark P. Herzog
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1145
Historically, Forster’s Terns (Sterna forsteri), American Avocets (Recurvirostra americana), and Black-necked Stilts (Himantopus mexicanus) were uncommon residents of San Francisco Bay, California (Grinnell and others, 1918; Grinnell and Wythe, 1927; Sibley, 1952). Presently, however, avocets and stilts are the two most abundant breeding shorebirds in San Francisco Bay (Stenzel and...
An at-grade stabilization structure impact on runoff and suspended sediment
Kyle R. Minks, Birl Lowery, Fred W. Madison, Matthew Ruark, Dennis R. Frame, Todd D. Stuntebeck, Matthew J. Komiskey
2012, Journal of Soil and Water Conservation (67) 237-248
In recent years, agricultural runoff has received more attention as a major contributor to surface water pollution. This is especially true for the unglaciated area of Wisconsin, given this area's steep topography, which makes it highly susceptible to runoff and soil loss. We evaluated the ability of an at-grade stabilization...
Archive eggs: a research and management tool for avian conservation breeding
Des Smith, Axel Moehrenschlager, Nancy Christensen, Dwight Knapik, Keith Gibson, Sarah J. Converse
2012, Wildlife Society Bulletin (36) 342-349
Worldwide, approximately 168 bird species are captive-bred for reintroduction into the wild. Programs tend to be initiated for species with a high level of endangerment. Depressed hatching success can be a problem for such programs and has been linked to artificial incubation. The need for artificial incubation is driven by...
Estimating abundance of mountain lions from unstructured spatial sampling
Robin E. Russell, J. Andrew Royle, Richard Desimone, Michael K. Schwartz, Victoria L. Edwards, Kristy P. Pilgrim, Kevin S. Mckelvey
2012, Journal of Wildlife Management (76) 1551-1561
Mountain lions (Puma concolor) are often difficult to monitor because of their low capture probabilities, extensive movements, and large territories. Methods for estimating the abundance of this species are needed to assess population status, determine harvest levels, evaluate the impacts of management actions on populations, and derive conservation and management...
Baseline for beached marine debris on Sand Island, Midway Atoll
Christine Ribic, Seba B. Sheavly, John Klavitter
2012, Marine Pollution Bulletin (64) 1726-1729
Baseline measurements were made of the amount and weight of beached marine debris on Sand Island, Midway Atoll, June 2008–July 2010. On 23 surveys, 32,696 total debris objects (identifiable items and pieces) were collected; total weight was 740.4 kg. Seventy-two percent of the total was pieces;...
The paradox of cooling streams in a warming world: Regional climate trends do not parallel variable local trends in stream temperature in the Pacific continental United States
Ivan Arismendi, Sherri Johnson, Jason B. Dunham, Roy Haggerty, David Hockman-Wert
2012, Geophysical Research Letters (39)
Temperature is a fundamentally important driver of ecosystem processes in streams. Recent warming of terrestrial climates around the globe has motivated concern about consequent increases in stream temperature. More specifically, observed trends of increasing air temperature and declining stream flow are widely believed to result in corresponding increases in stream...
Experimental investigation of false positive errors in auditory species occurrence surveys
David A.W. Miller, Linda A. Weir, Brett T. McClintock, Evan H. Campbell Grant, Larissa L. Bailey, Theodore R. Simons
2012, Ecological Applications (22) 1665-1674
False positive errors are a significant component of many ecological data sets, which in combination with false negative errors, can lead to severe biases in conclusions about ecological systems. We present results of a field experiment where observers recorded observations for known combinations of electronically broadcast calling anurans under conditions...
Evidence, models, conservation programs and limits to management
J.D. Nichols
2012, Animal Conservation (15) 331-333
Walsh et al. (2012) emphasized the importance of obtaining evidence to assess the effects of management actions on state variables relevant to objectives of conservation programs. They focused on malleefowl Leipoa ocellata, ground-dwelling Australian megapodes listed as vulnerable. They noted that although fox Vulpes vulpes baiting is the main management...
Assessment of environments for Mars Science Laboratory entry, descent, and surface operations
Ashwin R. Vasavada, Allen Chen, Jeffrey R. Barnes, P. Daniel Burkhart, Bruce A. Cantor, Alicia M. Dwyer-Cianciolo, Robini L. Fergason, David P. Hinson, Hilary L. Justh, David M. Kass, Stephen R. Lewis, Michael A. Mischna, James R. Murphy, Scot C.R. Rafkin, Daniel Tyler, Paul G. Withers
2012, Space Science Reviews (170) 793-835
The Mars Science Laboratory mission aims to land a car-sized rover on Mars' surface and operate it for at least one Mars year in order to assess whether its field area was ever capable of supporting microbial life. Here we describe the approach used to identify, characterize, and assess environmental...
The next Landsat satellite: The Landsat Data Continuity Mission
James R. Irons, John L. Dwyer, Julia A. Barsi
2012, Remote Sensing of Environment (122) 11-21
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Department of Interior United States Geological Survey (USGS) are developing the successor mission to Landsat 7 that is currently known as the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM). NASA is responsible for building and launching the LDCM satellite observatory. USGS is building...
