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The occurrence of infectious salmon anemia virus in Atlantic salmon populations in the Northeast may threaten interagency recovery efforts for this endangered species....

The Leetown Science Center’s S.O. Conte Anadromous Fish Research Laboratory conducts basic and applied scientific studies of fish passage and migration to define underlying principles and relationships of fish behavior and hydraulics, and to develop integrated, predictive research that can be applied to a wide range of fish passage problems....

Fish health research at Leetown had its origin in the 1930’s when the Leetown Fish Hatchery and Experiment Station was constructed. In 1978, the National Fish Health Research Laboratory, now a component of the Leetown Science Center, was established to solve emerging and known disease problems affecting fish and other...

The Department of the Interior protects sensitive habitats amounting to about 3,600,000 acres of coral reefs and other submerged lands. These reefs are important ecosystems in 13 National Wildlife Refuges, 10 National Parks and in certain territorial waters such as the Wake Atoll....

The maps and graphs appearing in this summary describe streamflow conditions for water-year 2007 (October 1, 2006 to September 30, 2007) in the context of the 78-year period 1930-2007, unless otherwise noted. The illustrations are based on observed data from the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) National Streamflow Information Program. The...

Viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV) is considered by many nations and international organizations to be one of the most important viral pathogens of finfish (Office International des Epizooties 2007). For several decades following its initial characterization in the 1950s, VHSV was thought to be limited to Europe where it was...

As one of the cornerstones of the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) National Geospatial Program (NGP), The National Map is a collaborative effort among the USGS and other Federal, state, and local partners to improve and deliver topographic information for the Nation. It has many uses ranging from recreation to scientific...

The borehole geophysical logging program at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)-Florida Integrated Science Center (FISC) provides subsurface information needed to resolve geologic, hydrologic, and environmental issues in Florida. The program includes the acquisition, processing, display, interpretation, and archiving of borehole geophysical logs. The borehole geophysical logging program is a critical...

Urban and suburban development is associated with elevated nutrients, sediment, and other pollutants in stormwater runoff, impacting the physical and environmental health of area streams and downstream water bodies such as the Chesapeake Bay. Stormwater management facilities, also known as Best Management Practices (BMPs), are increasingly being used in urban...

Limestone, as used by the minerals industry, is any rock composed mostly of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). Although limestone is common in many parts of the United States, it is critically absent from some. Limestone is used to produce Portland cement, as aggregate in concrete and asphalt, and in an enormous...

The unique native flora of the Hawaiian Islands, which evolved in the absence of ungulates (grazing animals), is highly vulnerable to damage by trampling and browsing. Wild ungulates introduced into Hawai'i in the past 150 years, including mouflon, axis deer, and mule deer, have severely harmed the native flora. Control...

Sussex County, Delaware, occupies a 938-square-mile area of low relief near sea level in the Atlantic Coastal Plain. The county is bounded on the east by the Delaware Bay and the Atlantic Ocean, including a barrier-island system, and inland bays that provide habitat for valuable living resources. Eastern Sussex County...

Human activities, especially the burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and gas, have caused a substantial increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere. This increase in atmospheric CO2 - from about 280 to more than 380 parts per million (ppm) over the last 250...

In 1991, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) began studies of 51 major river basins and aquifers across the United States as part of the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program to provide scientifically sound information for managing the Nation's water resources. The major goals of the NAWQA Program are to assess...

There is renewed interest in using long-range surveillance radar as a biological research tool due to substantial improvements in the network of radars within the United States. Technical improvements, the digital nature of the radar data, and the availability of computing power and geographic information systems, enable a broad range...

The U.S. Geologic Survey (USGS) Georgia Water Science Center (GaWSC) maintains a long-term hydrologic monitoring network of more than 260 real-time streamflow stations and more than 100 noncontinuous streamflow stations throughout Georgia. This network is operated by the USGS GaWSC in cooperation with more than 50 different partners at Federal,...

Water quality of streams in Johnson County, Kansas was evaluated from October 2002 through December 2007 in a cooperative study between the U.S. Geological Survey and the Johnson County Stormwater Management Program. Water quality at 42 stream sites, representing urban and rural basins, was characterized by evaluating benthic macroinvertebrates, water...

Initial findings from a national study by the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) characterize the occurrence of about 250 anthropogenic organic compounds in source water (defined as water collected at a surface-water intake prior to water treatment) at nine community water systems in nine...

Organic compounds studied in this U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) assessment generally are man-made, including, in part, pesticides, solvents, gasoline hydrocarbons, personal care and domestic-use products, and refrigerants and propellants. A total of 85 of 277 compounds were detected at least once among the 25 samples collected approximately monthly during 2003-05...

TerraLook is a joint project of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) with a goal of providing satellite images that anyone can use to see changes in the Earth's surface over time. Each TerraLook product is a user-specified collection...

Mountain ecosystems of the western United States provide irreplaceable goods and services such as water, timber, biodiversity, and recreational opportunities, but their responses to climatic changes are complex and not well understood. The Western Mountain Initiative (WMI), a collaboration between USGS and U.S. Forest Service scientists, catalyzes assessment and synthesis...

Scientists at the USGS National Wildlife Health Center (NWHC), in collaboration with colleagues at other federal agencies and the University of Wisconsin, are developing and testing vaccines that can be used to protect black-footed ferrets and prairie dogs against plague. The black-footed ferret is commonly regarded as the most endangered...

Using a geology-based assessment method, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated mean undiscovered volumes of 3.8 billion barrels of undiscovered oil, 3.7 trillion cubic feet of associated/dissolved natural gas, and 0.2 billion barrels of undiscovered natural gas liquids in the Williston Basin Province, North Dakota, Montana, and South Dakota. (See “Introduction”...

The USGS Landsat archive holds an unequaled 36-year record of the Earth's surface that is invaluable to climate change studies, forest and resource management activities, and emergency response operations. An aggressive effort is taking place to provide all Landsat imagery [scenes currently held in the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science...

Principal functions of the Mineral Resources Program are providing information to decision-makers related to mineral deposits on federal lands and predicting the environmental consequences of the mining or natural weathering of those deposits. Performing these functions requires that predictions be made of the likelihood of undiscovered deposits. The predictions are...