Landslide hazards in the Seattle, Washington, area
Rex Baum, Ed Harp, Lynn Highland
2007, Fact Sheet 2007-3005
The Seattle, Washington, area is known for its livability and its magnificent natural setting. The city and nearby communities are surrounded by an abundance of rivers and lakes and by the bays of Puget Sound. Two majestic mountain ranges, the Olympics and the Cascades, rim the region. These dramatic natural...
Natural Hazards - A National Threat
U.S. Geological Survey
2007, Fact Sheet 2007-3009
The USGS Role in Reducing Disaster Losses -- In the United States each year, natural hazards cause hundreds of deaths and cost billions of dollars in disaster aid, disruption of commerce, and destruction of homes and critical infrastructure. Although the number of lives lost to natural hazards each year generally has...
Investigating the Environmental Effects of Agriculture Practices on Natural Resources: Scientific Contributions of the U.S. Geological Survey to Enhance the Management of Agricultural Landscapes
Water Resources Division, U.S. Geological Survey
2007, Fact Sheet 2007-3001
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) enhances and protects the quality of life in the United States by advancing scientific knowledge to facilitate effective management of hydrologic, biologic, and geologic resources. Results of selected USGS research and monitoring projects in agricultural landscapes are presented in this Fact Sheet. Significant environmental and...
Regional Water-Resources Studies in Nevada
Eva M. Bauer, Shannon C. Watermolen
2007, Fact Sheet 2007-3006
Introduction: Water-resources information for the State of Nevada should be readily accessible to community planners and the general public in a user-friendly web environment and should be actively managed and maintained with accurate historic and current hydrologic data. The USGS, in cooperation with State of Nevada and local government agencies,...
Harmful algal blooms
Jennifer L. Graham
2007, Fact Sheet 2006-3147
What are Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs)? Freshwater and marine harmful algal blooms (HABs) can occur anytime water use is impaired due to excessive accumulations of algae. HAB occurrence is affected by a complex set of physical, chemical, biological, hydrological, and meteorological conditions making it difficult to isolate specific causative environmental factors....
Earthquake hazard in the heart of the homeland
Joan Gomberg, Eugene Schweig
2007, Fact Sheet 2006-3125
Evidence that earthquakes threaten the Mississippi, Ohio, and Wabash River valleys of the Central United States abounds. In fact, several of the largest historical earthquakes to strike the continental United States occurred in the winter of 1811-1812 along the New Madrid seismic zone, which stretches from just west of Memphis,...
U.S. Geological Survey Assessment of Undiscovered Petroleum Resources of the Hamra Basin, Libya, 2006
Water Resources Division, U.S. Geological Survey
2007, Fact Sheet 2006-3140
The Hamra Basin Province encompasses approximately 244,100 square kilometers (94,250 square miles) and is entirely within Libya. One composite total petroleum system (TPS) was defined for this assessment; it extends from Libya westward into adjacent parts of Algeria and southern Tunisia. The Hamra Basin part of the TPS was subdivided...
Welcome to the National Wetlands Research Center Library: Successful Research Begins @ Your Library
Linda Broussard
2007, Fact Sheet 2007-3033
The National Wetlands Research Center (NWRC) library is part of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and is the only USGS library dedicated to wetland science. The mission of the NWRC library is to support the research and information needs of scientists, managers, and support personnel by providing a specialized, scientific...
Chronic Wasting Disease Positive Tissue Bank
Scott D. Wright
2007, Fact Sheet 2007-3059
In 2005, the USGS National Wildlife Health Center entered into an agreement with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department and the Department of Veterinary Sciences at the University of Wyoming to produce a collection of positive tissues from cervids intentionally infected with chronic wasting disease. This agreement was facilitated through...
Chronic Wasting Disease
Bryan Richards
2007, Fact Sheet 2007-3070
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is an always-fatal, neurological illness occurring in North American cervids (members of the deer family), including white-tailed deer, mule deer, elk and moose. Since its discovery in 1967, CWD has spread geographically and increased in prevalence locally. CWD is contagious; it can be transmitted freely within...
Welcome to the National Wetlands Research Center Library: Not Just Another Library-A Special Library
Linda Broussard
2007, Fact Sheet 2007-3028
Libraries are grouped into four major types: public, school, academic, and special. The U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) National Wetlands Research Center (NWRC) library is classified as a special library because it is sponsored by the Federal government, and the collections focus on a specific subject. The NWRC library is the...
Studies on Disinfection By-Products and Drinking Water
Colleen E. Rostad
2007, Fact Sheet 2004-3032
Drinking water is disinfected with chemicals to remove pathogens, such as Giardia and Cryptosproridium, and prevent waterborne diseases such as cholera and typhoid. During disinfection, by-products are formed at trace concentrations. Because some of these by-products are suspected carcinogens, drinking water utilities must maintain the effectiveness of the disinfection process...
USGS Fire Science: Fire Danger Monitoring and Forecasting
Jeff Eidenshink
2007, Fact Sheet 2005-3066
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has advanced the use of moderate-resolution satellite data in a decision support system for assessing national fire potential. Weekly updated digital images of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), based on data acquired at 1-kilometer (km) resolution (about 0.6 mi), have been used for the...
Wildfire hazards—A national threat
Water Resources Division, U.S. Geological Survey
2006, Fact Sheet 2006-3015
Wildfires are a growing natural hazard in most regions of the United States, posing a threat to life and property, particularly where native ecosystems meet developed areas.However, because fire is a natural (and often beneficial) process, fire suppression can lead to more severe fires due to the buildup of vegetation,...
Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Early Detection Data System (HEDDS)
Robert Worrest, F. Joshua Dein
2006, Report
HEDDS offers a unique opportunity for multiagency cooperation for data sharing and visualization....
Streamstats: U.S. Geological Survey web application for streamflow statistics for Connecticut
Elizabeth A. Ahearn, Kernell G. Ries III, Peter A. Steeves
2006, Fact Sheet 2006-3129
Introduction An important mission of the U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) is to provide information on streamflow in the Nation's rivers. Streamflow statistics are used by water managers, engineers, scientists, and others to protect people and property during floods and droughts, and to manage land, water, and biological resources. Common uses...
USGS reports latest land-water changes for southeastern Louisiana
John A. Barras, James B. Johnston
2006, Fact Sheet 2006-3030
The USGS National Wetlands Research Center is reporting that a total of 118 square miles of land has been transformed to new water areas in a 9,742 square mile area from the Chandeleur Islands to the Atchafalaya River. This area encompasses the basins of Breton Sound, Mississippi River, Pearl River,...
Integrated Science: Providing a More Complete Understanding of Complex Problems
Water Resources Division, U.S. Geological Survey
2006, Fact Sheet 2006-3056
Integration among sciences is critical in order to address some of our most pressing problems. Because of the inherent complexity of natural systems, and the increasing complexity of human demands on them, narrowly-focused approaches are no longer sufficient. USGS Workshop on Enhancing Integrated Science, November 1998. The Mid-Continent Geographic Science Center is...
Understanding Amphibian Declines Through Geographic Approaches
Alisa Gallant
2006, Fact Sheet 2006-3021
Growing concern over worldwide amphibian declines warrants serious examination. Amphibians are important to the proper functioning of ecosystems and provide many direct benefits to humans in the form of pest and disease control, pharmaceutical compounds, and even food. Amphibians have permeable skin and rely on both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems...
The USGS Land Cover Institute
Christopher Barnes
2006, Fact Sheet 2005-3115
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Land Cover Institute (LCI) is located at the Center for Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. It provides a focal point for advancing USGS land cover studies and applications. Satellite images and other remotely sensed data play an important role...
Land Cover Trends Project
William Acevedo
2006, Fact Sheet 2006-3020
The Land Cover Trends Project is designed to document the types, rates, causes, and consequences of land cover change from 1973 to 2000 within each of the 84 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Level III ecoregions that span the conterminous United States. The project's objectives are to: * Develop a comprehensive...
LANDFIRE: Collaboration for National Fire Fuel Assessment
Zhi-Liang Zhu
2006, Fact Sheet 2006-3019
The implementation of national fire management policies, such as the National Fire Plan and the Healthy Forest Restoration Act, requires geospatial data of vegetation types and structure, wildland fuels, fire risks, and ecosystem fire regime conditions. Presently, no such data sets are available that can meet these requirements. As a...
Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS NET)
James P. Verdin
2006, Fact Sheet 2006-3022
The FEWS NET mission is to identify potentially food-insecure conditions early through the provision of timely and analytical hazard and vulnerability information. U.S. Government decision-makers act on this information to authorize mitigation and response activities. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) FEWS NET provides tools and data for monitoring and forecasting...
USGS EROS Interdisciplinary Science Collaboration with BRD, GD, GIO, and WRD
Water Resources Division, U.S. Geological Survey
2006, Fact Sheet 2006-3073
Genetics/Genomics Research in the Central Region
Water Resources Division, U.S. Geological Survey
2006, Fact Sheet 2006-3053
Genetics-based research within the Biological Resources Discipline (BRD) Science Centers in the Central Region incorporates many aspects of the field of genetics. Research activities range from documenting patterns of genetic variation in order to investigate relationships among species, populations and individuals to investigating the structure, function and expression of genes...
