W phase source inversion for moderate to large earthquakes (1990-2010)
Zacharie Duputel, Luis Rivera, Hiroo Kanamori, Gavin P. Hayes
2012, Geophysical Journal International (189) 1125-1147
Rapid characterization of the earthquake source and of its effects is a growing field of interest. Until recently, it still took several hours to determine the first-order attributes of a great earthquake (e.g. Mw≥ 7.5), even in a well-instrumented region. The main limiting factors were data saturation, the interference of...
Stable isotopes to detect food-conditioned bears and to evaluate human-bear management
John B. Hopkins III, Paul L. Koch, Charles C. Schwartz, Jake M. Ferguson, Schuyler S. Greenleaf, Steven T. Kalinowski
2012, Journal of Wildlife Management (76) 703-713
We used genetic and stable isotope analysis of hair from free-ranging black bears (Ursus americanus) in Yosemite National Park, California, USA to: 1) identify bears that consume human food, 2) estimate the diets of these bears, and 3) evaluate the Yosemite human–bear management program. Specifically, we analyzed the isotopic composition...
Logs and data from trenches across and near the Green Valley Fault at the Mason Road site, Fairfield, Solano County, California, 2006-2009
James J. Lienkaemper, Robert R. Sickler, Shannon Mahan, Johnathan Brown, Liam M. Reidy, Mindy A. Kimball
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1011
The primary purpose of this report is to provide drafted field logs of exploratory trenches excavated across the Green Valley Fault in 2007 and 2009 that show evidence for four surface rupturing earthquakes in the past one thousand years. The site location and site detail are shown on sheet 1....
National wildlife refuge visitor survey results: 2010/2011
Natalie R. Sexton, Alia M. Dietsch, Andrew W. Don Carolos, Holly M. Miller, Lynne M. Koontz, Adam N. Solomon
2012, Data Series 685
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) collaborated with the U.S. Geological Survey to conduct a national survey of visitors regarding their experiences on national wildlife refuges. The survey was conducted to better understand visitor needs and experiences and to design programs and facilities that respond to those needs. The...
Evaluation of geophysical techniques for the detection of paleochannels in the Oakland area of eastern Nebraska as part of the Eastern Nebraska Water Resource Assessment
Jared D. Abraham, Paul A. Bedrosian, Theodore H. Asch, Lyndsay B. Ball, James C. Cannia, Jeffery D. Phillips, Susan Lackey
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5228
Over the winter and spring of 2009, the U.S. Geological Survey conducted a general assessment of the capabilities of several geophysical tools to delineate buried paleochannel aquifers in the glacial terrain of eastern Nebraska. Mapping these paleochannels is an important objective for the Eastern Nebraska Water Resources Assessment group. Previous...
National assessment of hurricane-induced coastal erosion hazards--Gulf of Mexico
Hilary F. Stockdon, Kara S. Doran, David M. Thompson, Kristin L. Sopkin, Nathaniel G. Plant, Asbury H. Sallenger Jr.
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1084
Sandy beaches provide a natural barrier between the ocean and inland communities, ecosystems, and resources. However, these dynamic environments move and change in response to winds, waves, and currents. During a hurricane, these changes can be large and sometimes catastrophic. High waves and storm surge act together to erode beaches...
Archive of digital boomer seismic reflection data collected offshore east-central Florida during USGS cruises 96FGS01 and 97FGS01 in November of 1996 and May of 1997
Janice A. Subino, Arnell S. Forde, Shawn V. Dadisman, Dana S. Wiese, Karynna Calderon
2012, Data Series 652
This Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) publication was prepared by an agency of the United States Government. Although these data have been processed successfully on a computer system at the U.S. Geological Survey, no warranty expressed or implied is made regarding the display or utility of the data on any other...
Limitations and potential of satellite imagery to monitor environmental response to coastal flooding
Elijah W. Ramsey III, Dirk Werle, Yukihiro Suzuoki, Amina Rangoonwala, Zhong Lu
2012, Journal of Coastal Research (28) 457-476
Storm-surge flooding and marsh response throughout the coastal wetlands of Louisiana were mapped using several types of remote sensing data collected before and after Hurricanes Gustav and Ike in 2008. These included synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data obtained from the (1) C-band advance SAR (ASAR) aboard the Environmental Satellite, (2)...
Water-quality assessment of the Cambrian-Ordovician aquifer system in the northern Midwest, United States
John T. Wilson
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5229
This report provides a regional assessment of groundwater quality of the Cambrian-Ordovician aquifer system, based primarily on raw water samples collected by the NAWQA Program during 1995 through 2007. The NAWQA Program has published findings in local study-unit reports encompassing parts of the Cambrian-Ordovician aquifer system. Data collected from the...
Archive of digital boomer seismic reflection data collected offshore northeast Florida during USGS cruise 02FGS01, October 2002
Janice A. Subino, Arnell S. Forde, Shawn V. Dadisman, Dana S. Wiese, Karynna Calderon
2012, Data Series 653
This Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) publication was prepared by an agency of the United States Government. Although these data have been processed successfully on a computer system at the U.S. Geological Survey, no warranty expressed or implied is made regarding the display or utility of the data on any other...
Applications of fluorescence spectroscopy for predicting percent wastewater in an urban stream
Jami H. Goldman, Stewart A. Rounds, Joseph A. Needoba
2012, Environmental Science & Technology (46) 4374-4381
Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) is a significant organic carbon reservoir in many ecosystems, and its characteristics and sources determine many aspects of ecosystem health and water quality. Fluorescence spectroscopy methods can quantify and characterize the subset of the DOC pool that can absorb and re-emit electromagnetic energy as fluorescence and...
Mapping surface disturbance of energy-related infrastructure in southwest Wyoming--An assessment of methods
Stephen S. Germaine, Michael S. O’Donnell, Cameron L. Aldridge, Lori Baer, Tammy S. Fancher, Jamie McBeth, Robert R. McDougal, Robert Waltermire, Zachary H. Bowen, James Diffendorfer, Steven Garman, Leanne Hanson
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5025
We evaluated how well three leading information-extraction software programs (eCognition, Feature Analyst, Feature Extraction) and manual hand digitization interpreted information from remotely sensed imagery of a visually complex gas field in Wyoming. Specifically, we compared how each mapped the area of and classified the disturbance features present on each of...
Sediment characteristics of the Yellowstone River in the vicinity of a proposed bypass chute near Glendive, Montana, 2011
Brent R. Hanson
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1042
In 2011, sediment data were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on the Yellowstone River at the location of a proposed bypass chute. The sediment data were collected to provide an understanding of the sediment dynamics of the given reach of...
A global earthquake discrimination scheme to optimize ground-motion prediction equation selection
Daniel Garcia, David J. Wald, Michael Hearne
2012, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (102) 185-203
We present a new automatic earthquake discrimination procedure to determine in near-real time the tectonic regime and seismotectonic domain of an earthquake, its most likely source type, and the corresponding ground-motion prediction equation (GMPE) class to be used in the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Global ShakeMap system. This method makes...
Evidence for population bottlenecks and subtle genetic structure in the yellow rail
Kenneth J. Popper, Leonard F. Miller, Michael Green, Susan M. Haig, Thomas D. Mullins
2012, The Condor (114) 100-112
The Yellow Rail (Coturnicops noveboracencis) is among the most enigmatic and least studied North American birds. Nesting exclusively in marshes and wetlands, it breeds largely east of the Rocky Mountains in the northern United States and Canada, but there is an isolated population in southern Oregon once believed extirpated. The...
Evidence for mid-Holocene shift in depositional style in Mobile Bay, Alabama
David Twichell, Kyle Kelso, Elizabeth A. Pendleton
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1081
The Holocene stratigraphy of Mobile Bay, Alabama, was mapped using a combination of high-resolution seismic data and sediment cores to refine changes in the bay's evolution during this time. The base of the Holocene-era stratigraphy is an erosional surface formed during the last glacial maximum. Overlying Holocene deposits are primarily...
Fecal-indicator bacteria concentrations in the Illinois River between Hennepin and Peoria, Illinois: 2007-08
David H. Dupre, Jon Hortness, Paul J. Terrio, Jennifer B. Sharpe
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1075
The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency has designated portions of the Illinois River in Peoria, Woodford, and Tazewell Counties, Illinois, as impaired owing to the presence of fecal coliform bacteria. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Tri-County Regional Planning Commission, examined the water quality in the Illinois River and...
Energy map of southwestern Wyoming, Part A - Coal and wind
Laura Biewick, Nicholas R. Jones
2012, Data Series 683
To further advance the objectives of the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI) the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the Wyoming State Geological Survey (WSGS) have compiled Part A of the Energy Map of Southwestern Wyoming. Focusing primarily on electrical power sources, Part A of the energy map is a compilation...
Winter ecology and habitat use of lesser prairie-chickens in west Texas, 2008-11
Clint W. Boal, Nicholas E. Pirius
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1073
The lesser prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) has experienced declines in population and occupied range by more than 90 percent since the late 1800s. The lesser prairie-chicken has been listed as a candidate species for protection under the Endangered Species Act and is undergoing review for actual listing. Populations and distribution of...
Development and implementation of a regression model for predicting recreational water quality in the Cuyahoga River, Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Ohio 2009-11
Amie M. G. Brady, Meg B. Plona
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5074
The Cuyahoga River within Cuyahoga Valley National Park (CVNP) is at times impaired for recreational use due to elevated concentrations of Escherichia coli (E. coli), a fecal-indicator bacterium. During the recreational seasons of mid-May through September during 2009–11, samples were collected 4 days per week and analyzed for E. coli...
Continuous resistivity profiling data from Northport Harbor and Manhasset Bay, Long Island, New York
V.A. Cross, J.F. Bratton, John Crusius, K.D. Kroeger, C.R. Worley
2012, Open-File Report 2011-1041
An investigation of coastal groundwater systems was performed along the North Shore of Long Island, New York, during May 2008 to constrain nutrient delivery to Northport Harbor and Manhasset Bay by delineating locations of likely groundwater discharge. The embayments are bounded by steep moraines and are underlain by thick, fine-grained...
Landsat's international partners
Raymond A. Byrnes
2012, Fact Sheet 2012-3055
Since the launch of the first Landsat satellite 40 years ago, International Cooperators (ICs) have formed a key strategic alliance with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to not only engage in Landsat data downlink services but also to enable a foundation for scientific and technical collaboration. The map below shows the...
Spectroscopic remote sensing for material identification, vegetation characterization, and mapping
Raymond F. Kokaly
Paul E. Lewis, Sylvia S. Shen, editor(s)
2012, Conference Paper, Algorithms and technologies for multispectral, hyperspectral, and ultraspectral imagery XVIII: 23-27 April 2012, Baltimore, Maryland, United States
Identifying materials by measuring and analyzing their reflectance spectra has been an important procedure in analytical chemistry for decades. Airborne and space-based imaging spectrometers allow materials to be mapped across the landscape. With many existing airborne sensors and new satellite-borne sensors planned for the future, robust methods are needed to...
Trace-element analyses of core samples from the 1967-1988 drillings of Kilauea Iki lava lake, Hawaii
Rosalind Tuthill Helz
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1050
This report presents previously unpublished analyses of trace elements in drill core samples from Kilauea Iki lava lake and from the 1959 eruption that fed the lava lake. The two types of data presented were obtained by instrumental neutron-activation analysis (INAA) and energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence analysis (EDXRF). The analyses were...
Bathymetric and underwater video survey of Lower Granite Reservoir and vicinity, Washington and Idaho, 2009-10
Marshall L. Williams, Ryan L. Fosness, Rhonda J. Weakland
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5089
The U.S. Geological Survey conducted a bathymetric survey of the Lower Granite Reservoir, Washington, using a multibeam echosounder, and an underwater video mapping survey during autumn 2009 and winter 2010. The surveys were conducted as part of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer's study on sediment deposition and control in...
