Using visualization science to inform the design of environmental decision-support tools—A case study of the U.S. Geological Survey Waterwatch
Michael D. Gerst, Melissa A. Kenney, Emily Read
2025, Scientific Investigations Report 2025-5085
Environmental decision-support tools are increasingly being used to serve both expert and non-expert audiences. Many existing tools are primarily expert-focused, and redesigning them can be challenging because experts and non-experts interact with tools differently, existing users may be resistant to changes, and there is little guidance on how to prioritize...
U.S. Geological Survey—Department of the Interior, Region 11, Alaska—2023–24 biennial science report
Elizabeth M. Powers, Dee M. Williams, editor(s)
2025, Circular 1554
IntroductionU.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Mission—The USGS national mission is to monitor, analyze, and predict the current and evolving dynamics of complex human and natural Earth-system interactions and to deliver actionable information at scales and timeframes relevant to decision makers. Consistent with the national mission, the USGS in Alaska provides timely...
Assessing flood water infiltration and storage in a restored floodplain
Nicholas Corson-Dosch, Faith Fitzpatrick, Paul Juckem, James D. Blount, Wonsook S. Ha
2025, Hydological Processes (39)
In urban areas, floodplain restoration is gaining prominence as a strategy for restoring the natural functions of floodplain ecosystems and reducing flood risk. This has spurred research into potential interactions between floodwaters, the hyporheic zone, and the floodplain aquifer. An urban restored stream in Wisconsin, USA, was used as a...
Future forest conditions under alternative management and hydrological scenarios in the Upper Mississippi River floodplain
Matthew Lewis Trumper, Nathan R. De Jager, Molly Van Appledorn, Andrew R. Meier
2025, Landscape Ecology (40)
ContextFloodplain forests are being transformed by multiple pressures, prompting widespread management and restoration efforts. It is uncertain how disturbances, including hydrologic change, and management actions will interact to influence the ecology of these threatened forests.ObjectivesThis study examined the effects of alternative management and hydrologic regimes on...
Insights and strategic opportunities from the USGS 2024 Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) Interagency Workshop
Deborah D. Iwanowicz, Kimberly R. Beisner, Paul M. Bradley, Patricia R. Bright, Juliane B. Brown, Christopher J. Churchill, Stephanie E. Gordon, Natalie Karouna-Renier, Dana W. Kolpin, Rebecca B. Lambert, Erin L. Pulster, Rip S. Shively, Kelly Smalling, Jeffery A. Steevens, Andrea K. Tokranov
2025, Open-File Report 2025-1044
Introduction In 2021, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) published Circular 1490 titled, “Integrated Science for the Study of Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in the Environment: A Strategic Science Vision for the U.S. Geological Survey” (Tokranov and others, 2021). Circular 1490 was created to be a resource for USGS scientists prioritizing...
Dynamic feedbacks between river meandering and landsliding in northwestern Washington glacial terraces
Shelby Marie Ahrendt, Benjamin Mirus, Sean Richard LaHusen, Jonathan Patrick Perkins
2025, JGR Earth Surface (130)
Landsliding in river valleys poses unique risks for cascading hazards and can damage infrastructure and cause fatalities. In postglacial valleys, many landslides are posited to occur in relation to lateral river erosion, but the dynamics of fluvial-hillslope interactions are not well understood. Here, we investigate a section of the Nooksack...
Preliminary field report of landslide hazards following Hurricane Helene
Kate E. Allstadt, Sara K. McBride, Jonathan W. Godt, Stephen L. Slaughter, Kelli Wadsworth Baxstrom, Steven Sobieszczyk, Anna Stull
2025, Open-File Report 2025-1028
Executive SummaryThis report reflects our knowledge regarding the widespread landslide activity associated with Hurricane Helene observed during the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) mission assignment to North Carolina in October 2024. The material in this report was originally prepared for the Federal Emergency Management Agency under mission assignment DR-4827-NC. The data...
Peak streamflow trends in Montana and northern Wyoming and their relation to changes in climate, water years 1921–2020
Steven K. Sando, Nancy A. Barth, Roy Sando, Katherine J. Chase
2025, Scientific Investigations Report 2023-5064-G
Frequency analysis on annual peak streamflow (hereinafter, peak flow) is essential to water-resources management applications, including critical structure design (for example, bridges and culverts) and floodplain mapping. Nonstationarity is a statistical property of a peak-flow series such that the distributional properties (the mean, variance, or skew) change either gradually (monotonic...
The Long Island Sound and Watershed Metadata map application
Timothy J. Stagnitta, Gina N. Groseclose, Harper N. Wavra, Shawn C. Fisher
2025, Fact Sheet 2025-3019
The Long Island Sound and its watershed encompass an area of about 17,000 square miles and include the Connecticut, Housatonic, and Thames Rivers, which all drain to the sound. Dozens of organizations from government agencies, nonprofits, and Tribal Nations have developed projects and monitoring programs to analyze and protect the...
A framework for understanding the effects of subsurface agricultural drainage on downstream flows
Hannah Lee Podzorski, Karen R. Ryberg
2025, Scientific Investigations Report 2025-5023
Understanding controls on streamflow volume and magnitude is important to water resource management applications, such as critical water and transportation structure design and floodplain mapping. Changes in land use and agricultural practices, such as subsurface agricultural drainage, may be contributing to changes in streamflow characteristics. Subsurface agricultural drainage, also known...
Nanometer-scale relationships between sedimentary organic matter molecular composition, fluorescence, cathodoluminescence, and reflectance: The importance of oxygen content at low thermal maturities
Aaron M. Jubb, Paul C. Hackley, Ryan J. McAleer, Jing Qu
2025, Organic Geochemistry (204)
Molecular characterization of sedimentary organic matter (SOM), termed macerals, is a common goal when seeking to understand petroleum generation as well as other geologic processes in deep time. However, unambiguous measurement of discrete macerals is challenging due to the small size of organic particles in sedimentary rocks, the proximity of...
Mapping bedrock outcrops in the Sierra Nevada Mountains (California, USA) using machine learning
Apoorva Ramesh Shastry, Corina Cerovski-Darriau, Brian Coltin, Jonathan D. Stock
2025, Remote Sensing (17)
Accurate, high-resolution maps of bedrock outcrops can be valuable for applications such as models of land–atmosphere interactions, mineral assessments, ecosystem mapping, and hazard mapping. The increasing availability of high-resolution imagery can be coupled with machine learning techniques to improve regional bedrock outcrop maps. In the United States, the existing 30...
From subsidies to stressors: Shifting ecological baselines alter biological responses to nutrients in highly modified agricultural streams
Stephen Edward Devilbiss, Jason M. Taylor, Matthew B. Hicks
2025, Ecological Applications (35)
Subsidy–stress gradients offer a useful framework for understanding ecological responses to perturbation and may help inform ecological metrics in highly modified systems. Historic, region-wide shifts from bottomland hardwood forest to row crop agriculture can cause positively skewed impact gradients in alluvial plain ecoregions, resulting in tolerant organisms that typically exhibit...
State shifts in the deep Critical Zone drive landscape evolution in volcanic terrains
Leif Karlstrom, Nathaniel Klema, Gordon E. Grant, Carol A. Finn, Pamela L. Sullivan, Sarah Cooley, Alex Simpson, Becky Fasth, Katherine Cashman, Ken Ferrier, Lyndsay B. Ball, Daniele McKay
2025, PNAS (122)
Understanding the near-surface environment where atmospheric and solid earth processes interact, often termed the “Critical Zone,” is important for assessing resources and building resilient societies. Here, we examine a volcanic landscape in the Oregon Cascade Range, an understudied Critical Zone setting that is host to major regional water resources, pervasive...
The influence of pre-existing structures on geothermal springs: Inferences from potential field mapping in Surprise Valley, CA and other sites In the northwestern Great Basin
Jonathan M.G. Glen, Tait E. Earney
2025, Conference Paper, Using the Earth to save the Earth
Surprise Valley, located in the northwestern Great Basin, is an asymmetric extensional basin that marks a major tectonic transition between the relatively un-extended volcanic Modoc Plateau to the west, and the Basin and Range to the east that has undergone 10-15% extension. In addition, it sits just north of...
Ticks without borders: Microbiome of immature neotropical tick species parasitizing migratory songbirds along northern Gulf of Mexico
Shahid Karim, Theodore J. Zenzal Jr., Lorenza Beati, Raima Sen, Abdulsalam Adegoke, Deepak Kumar, Latoyia P. Downs, Mario Keko, Ashly Nussbaum, Daniel J. Becker, Frank R. Moore
2024, Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology (14)
Introduction: The long-distance, seasonal migrations of birds make them an effective ecological bridge for the movement of ticks. The introduction of exotic tick species to new geographical regions can cause the emergence of novel tick-borne pathogens. This study examined the prevalence of exotic tick species parasitizing migratory songbirds at stopover sites...
Penguin colony georegistration using camera pose estimation and phototourism
Haoyu Wu, Clare Flynn, Carole Hall, Christian Joseph Che-Castaldo, Dimitris Samaras, Mathew Schwaller, Heather J. Lynch
2024, PLoS ONE (19)
Satellite-based remote sensing and uncrewed aerial imagery play increasingly important roles in the mapping of wildlife populations and wildlife habitat, but the availability of imagery has been limited in remote areas. At the same time, ecotourism is a rapidly growing industry and can yield a vast catalog of photographs that...
Inventorying ponds through novel size-adaptive object mapping using Sentinel-1/2 time series
Denghong Liu, Xioalin Zhu, Meredith Holgerson, Sheel Bansal, Xiangtao Xu
2024, Remote Sensing of Environment (315)
Ponds are an important source of greenhouse gases (GHGs) to the atmosphere, yet evaluating their role in global biogeochemical cycling is currently hampered by limitations in quantifying their global distribution. Existing satellite-derived estimates of lake distributions have difficulty identifying small lakes (5–10 ha) and ponds (<5 ha) due to limitations in satellite...
Streams, springs, and volcanic lakes for volcano monitoring
Steven E. Ingebritsen, Shaul Hurwitz
2024, Scientific Investigations Report 2024-5062-F
IntroductionVolcanic unrest can trigger appreciable change to surface waters such as streams, springs, and volcanic lakes. Magma degassing produces gases and soluble salts that are absorbed into groundwater that feeds streams and lakes. As magma ascends, the amount of heat and degassing will increase, and so will any related geochemical...
Groundwater and surface-water interactions in the Lower Duwamish Waterway, Seattle, Washington
Jackson N. Mitchell, Kathleen E. Conn
2024, Scientific Investigations Report 2024-5046
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology), conducted a study to describe the current understanding of the regional groundwater system of the lower Duwamish River valley and groundwater and surface-water interactions in the lower Duwamish Waterway. The lower Duwamish Waterway is the...
Coastal Science Navigator companion guide—Discover the U.S. Geological Survey coastal science products you need
Mira Anderberg, Sara Ernst
2024, Circular 1523
The Coastal Science Navigator is an online gateway to a wide variety of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) coastal change hazards-related information, data, and tools relevant to stakeholders’ scientific and decision-making needs. The products within the Coastal Science Navigator provide data related to past, present, and future threats to our coastlines....
CoastSeg: An accessible and extendable hub for satellite-derived-shoreline (SDS) detection and mapping
Sharon Fitzpatrick, Daniel D. Buscombe, Jonathan A. Warrick, Mark A. Lundine, Kilian Vos
2024, Journal of Open Source Software (9)
CoastSeg is an interactive browser-based program that aims to broaden the adoption of satellite-derived shoreline (SDS) detection and coastal landcover mapping workflows among coastal scientists and coastal resource management practitioners. SDS is a sub-field of coastal sciences that aims to detect and post-process a time-series of shoreline locations from publicly...
The National Ocean Biodiversity Strategy
Gabrielle Canonico, J. Emmett Duffy, Masha Edmonson, Katie Fillingham, Abigail Benson, Kelsey Bisson, Amanda Demopoulos, Beth Hinchey, Katsumi Matsumoto, Chris Meyer, James Price, Elaine Shen, Woody Turner, Mike Weise, Andrea Vander Woude, Lauren Wenzel
2024, Report
President Biden has been clear that the ocean is central to life on Earth. As he has proclaimed, “the ocean powers millions of jobs; feeds and sustains us; and is a rejuvenating source of inspiration, exploration, and recreation.” The Biden-Harris Administration has worked hard to fulfill the President’s goal to...
Climate, food and humans predict communities of mammals in the United States
Roland Kays, Matthew H. Snider, George Hess, Michael V. Cove, Alex Jensen, Hila Shamon, William J. McShea, Brigit Rooney, Maximilian L. Allen, Charles E. Pekins, Christopher C. Wilmers, Mary E. Pendergast, Austin M. Green, Justin Suraci, Matthew S. Leslie, Sophie Nasrallah, Dan Farkas, Mark Jordan, Melissa Grigione, Michael LaScaleia, Miranda L. Davis, Chris Hansen, Josh Millspaugh, Jesse S. Lewis, Michael Havrda, Robert Long, Kathryn R. Remine, Kodi J. Jaspers, Diana J. R. Lafferty, Tru Hubbard, Colin E. Studds, Erika L. Barthelmess, Katherine Andy, Andrea Romero, Brian J. O’Neill, Melissa T.R. Hawkins, Jason V. Lombardi, Maksim Sergeyev, M. Caitlin Fisher-Reid, Michael S. Rentz, Christopher Nagy, Jon D Davenport, Christine C. Rega-Brodsky, Cara L. Appel, Damon B. Lesmeister, Sean T. Giery, Christopher A. Whittier, Jesse M. Alston, Chris Sutherland, Christopher Rota, Thomas Murphy, Thomas E. Lee Jr., Alessio Mortelliti, Dylan L. Bergman, Justin A. Compton, Brian D. Gerber, Jess Burr, Kylie Rezendes, Brett Alexander DeGregorio, Nathaniel H. Wehr, John F. Benson, M. Teague O’Mara, David S. Jachowski, Morgan Gray, Dean E. Beyer Jr., Jerrold L. Belant, Robert V. Horan III, Robert Charles Lonsinger, Kellie M. Kuhn, Steven C. M. Hasstedt, Marketa Zimova, Sophie M. Moore, Daniel J. Herrera, Sarah Fritts, Andrew J. Edelman, Elizabeth A. Flaherty, Tyler R. Petroelje, Sean A. Neiswenter, Derek R. Risch, Fabiola Iannarilli, Marius van der Merwe, Sean P. Maher, Zach J. Farris, Stephen L. Webb, David S. Mason, Marcus A. Lashley, Andrew M. Wilson, John P. Vanek, Samuel R. Wehr, L. Mike Conner, James C. Beasley, Helen L. Bontrager, Carolina Baruzzi, Susan N. Ellis-Felege, Mike D. Proctor, Jan Schipper, Katherine Weiss, Andrea K. Darracq, Evan G. Barr, Peter D. Alexander, Cagan H. Sekercioglu, Daniel A. Bogan, Christopher M. Schalk, Jean E. Fantle-Lepczyk, Christopher A. Lepczyk, Scott LaPoint, Laura S. Whipple, Helen Ivy Rowe, Kayleigh Mullen, Tori Bird, Adam Zorn, LaRoy Brandt, Richard G. Lathrop, Craig McCain, Anthony P. Crupi, James Clark, Arielle Parsons
2024, Diversity and Distributions (30)
AimThe assembly of species into communities and ecoregions is the result of interacting factors that affect plant and animal distribution and abundance at biogeographic scales. Here, we empirically derive ecoregions for mammals to test whether human disturbance has become more important than climate and habitat resources in...
An enhanced and expanded Toolbox for River Velocimetry using Images from Aircraft (TRiVIA)
Carl J. Legleiter, Paul J. Kinzel
2024, River Research and Applications (40) 1602-1616
Detailed, accurate information on flow patterns in river channels can improve understanding of habitat conditions, geomorphic processes, and potential hazards to help inform water management. Data describing flow patterns in river channels can be obtained efficiently via image-based techniques that have become more widely used in recent years as the...
