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Search indexed USGS publications on groundwater, aquifers, geologic maps, mineral resources and earthquakes. Explore source records by subject and place.

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At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
USGS1996

Review of USGS Open-file Report 95-525 ("Cartographic and digital standard for geologic map information") and plans for development of Federal draft standards for geologic map information

This report summarizes a technical review of USGS Open-File Report 95-525, 'Cartographic and Digital Standard for Geologic Map Information' and OFR 95-526 (diskettes containing digital representations of the standard symbols). If you are considering the purchase or use of those documents, you should read this report first. For some purposes, OFR 95-525 (the printed document) will prove to be an excellent resource. However, technical review identified significant problems with the two documents that will be addressed by various Federal and State committees composed of geologists and cartographers, as noted below. Therefore, the 2-year review period noted in OFR 95-525 is no longer applicable. Until those problems are resolved and formal standards are issued, you may consult the following World-Wide Web (WWW) site which contains information about development of geologic map standards: URL: http://ncgmp.usgs.gov/ngmdbproject/home.html

Open-File Report↗
USGS1998

Point and line geologic structure information in "Structure, outcrop, and subcrop of the geologic structure information for the Arapahoe and Laramie-Fox Hills aquifers."

This digital geospatial data set consists of points and lines representing symbolization of geologic structure information for the Arapahoe and Laramie-Fox Hills aquifers. The symbols were developed as part of the report in "Structure, Outcrop, and Subcrop of the Bedrock Aquifers Along the Western Margin of the Denver Basin, Colorado" (Robson and others, 1998).

Colorado↗
USGS2007

The Marine Realms Information Bank family of digital libraries: access to free online information for coastal and marine science

Searching the World Wide Web for reliable information about specific topics or locations can be frustrating: too many hits, too little relevance. A well-designed digital library, offering a carefully selected collection of online resources, is an attractive alternative to web search engines. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) provides three digital libraries for coastal and marine science to serve the needs of a diverse audience--scientists, public servants, educators, and the public.

Fact Sheet↗
USGS1991

Computer software for converting ground-water and water-quality data from the National Water Information System for use in a geographic information system

A geographic information system (GIS) is computer software that provides the capabilities to rapidly display and analyze spatially referenced data. To use a GIS efficiently, software is needed that provides a link between existing spatially referenced data-base systems and the GIS. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) stores large amounts of spatially referenced hydrologic data in computerized data-base systems. Currently, these data-base systems are physically located on computers that are installed in many USGS offices nationwide. This report describes software that can be used quickly and easily to convert site-description and water-quality data from these data-base systems to the GIS that is used by the USGS. The software described in this report is designed to be used with the same hardware and software that is available to most USGS personnel.

Water-Resources Investigations Report↗
USGS2019

The Yellowstone River fish-kill: Fish health informs and is informed by vital signs monitoring

Trout are socioeconomically and ecologically important in the Greater Yellowstone Area (GYA); yet these fish face numerous threats. Disease may begin to play a larger role in reducing fish populations, partly because many existing threats may interact to exacerbate the frequency, extent, and severity of fish diseases (Lafferty 2009). For example, habitat loss and low summer flows might interact to stress fish, making them more susceptible to disease while also increasing fish densities in microhabitats, thereby creating conditions where infectious diseases are more easily spread. Conservation and management efforts to mitigate these threats often involve reactionary measures to unforeseen events. Long-term monitoring of aquatic vital signs and fish health, however, may provide important insights for predicting the spread of fish diseases and the extent and severity of outbreaks.

Idaho, Montana, Wyoming↗
USGS1996

The Government Information Locator Service (GILS)

In coordination with the Information Infrastructure Task Force (IITF), the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is promoting the establishment of an agency-based Government Information Locator Service (GILS) to help the public locate and access information throughout the Federal Government. This report presents a vision of how GILS will be implemented. Working primarily with OMB and the Locator Subgroup of the Interagency Working Group on Public Access, Eliot Christian of the US Geological Survey prepared this report under the auspices of the IITF Committee on Information Policy. This vision of GILS has also received extensive review by various Federal agencies and other interested parties, including some non-Federal organizations and by the general public through notices in both the Federal Register and the Commerce Business Daily and at a public meeting held in December, 1993. As part of the Federal role in the National Information Infrastructure, GILS will identify and describe information resources throughout the Federal government, and provide assistance in obtaining the information. It will be decentralized and will supplement other agency and commercial information dissemination mechanisms. The public will use GILS directly or through intermediaries, such as the Government Printing Office, the National Technical Information Service, the Federal depository libraries, other public libraries, and private sector information services. Direct users will have access to a GILS Core accessible on the Internet without charge. Intermediate access may include kiosks, "800 numbers", electronic mail, bulletin boards, fax, and off-line media such as floppy disks, CD-ROM, and printed works. GILS will use standard network technology and the American National Standards Institute Z39.50 standard for information search and retrieval so that information can be retrieved in a variety of ways. Direct users will eventually have access to many other Federal and non-Federal information resources, linkages to data systems, and electronic delivery of information products. Development of this report proceeded in tandem with a GILS Profile development project that produced an Implementors Agreement in the voluntary standards process. The National Institute of Standards and Technology is now establishing a Federal Information Processing Standard referencing the GILS Profile Implementors Agreement and making mandatory its application for Federal agencies establishing locators for government information. Existing law and policy, as articulated in OMB Circular A-130, the Records Disposal Act, and the Freedom of Information Act, require agencies to create and maintain an inventory of their information systems and information dissemination products. Although compliance with these requirements varies greatly, the incremental cost of making those inventories accessible through GILS is expected to be minimal. Accordingly, participation in establishing and maintaining GILS may be accomplished as a collective effort executed within existing funds and authorities. OMB will publish in 1994 a Bulletin following on Circular A-130 that will specify agency responsibilities in GILS and set implementation schedules. A process for ongoing evaluation will also be established to evaluate the degree to which GILS meets the information needs of the public.

Information Services and Use↗
USGS2014

How much is new information worth? Evaluating the financial benefit of resolving management uncertainty

Conservation decision-makers face a trade-off between spending limited funds on direct management action, or gaining new information in an attempt to improve management performance in the future. Value-of-information analysis can help to resolve this trade-off by evaluating how much management performance could improve if new information was gained. Value-of-information analysis has been used extensively in other disciplines, but there are only a few examples where it has informed conservation planning, none of which have used it to evaluate the financial value of gaining new information. We address this gap by applying value-of-information analysis to the management of a declining koala Phascolarctos cinereus population. Decision-makers responsible for managing this population face uncertainty about survival and fecundity rates, and how habitat cover affects mortality threats. The value of gaining new information about these uncertainties was calculated using a deterministic matrix model of the koala population to find the expected population growth rate if koala mortality threats were optimally managed under alternative model hypotheses, which represented the uncertainties faced by koala managers. Gaining new information about survival and fecundity rates and the effect of habitat cover on mortality threats will do little to improve koala management. Across a range of management budgets, no more than 1·7% of the budget should be spent on resolving these uncertainties. The value of information was low because optimal management decisions were not sensitive to the uncertainties we considered. Decisions were instead driven by a substantial difference in the cost efficiency of management actions. The value of information was up to forty times higher when the cost efficiencies of different koala management actions were similar. Synthesis and applications . This study evaluates the ecological and financial benefits of gaining new information to inform a conservation problem. We also theoretically demonstrate that the value of reducing uncertainty is highest when it is not clear which management action is the most cost efficient. This study will help expand the use of value-of-information analyses in conservation by providing a cost efficiency metric by which to evaluate research or monitoring.

Journal of Applied Ecology↗
USGS2006

USGS Information Technology Strategic Plan: Fiscal Years 2007-2011

Introduction: The acquisition, management, communication, and long-term stewardship of natural science data, information, and knowledge are fundamental mission responsibilities of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). USGS scientists collect, maintain, and exchange raw scientific data and interpret and analyze it to produce a wide variety of science-based products. Managers throughout the Bureau access, summarize, and analyze administrative or business-related information to budget, plan, evaluate, and report on programs and projects. Information professionals manage the extensive and growing stores of irreplaceable scientific information and knowledge in numerous databases, archives, libraries, and other digital and nondigital holdings. Information is the primary currency of the USGS, and it flows to scientists, managers, partners, and a wide base of customers, including local, State, and Federal agencies, private sector organizations, and individual citizens. Supporting these information flows is an infrastructure of computer systems, telecommunications equipment, software applications, digital and nondigital data stores and archives, technical expertise, and information policies and procedures. This infrastructure has evolved over many years and consists of tools and technologies acquired or built to address the specific requirements of particular projects or programs. Developed independently, the elements of this infrastructure were typically not designed to facilitate the exchange of data and information across programs or disciplines, to allow for sharing of information resources or expertise, or to be combined into a Bureauwide and broader information infrastructure. The challenge to the Bureau is to wisely and effectively use its information resources to create a more Integrated Information Environment that can reduce costs, enhance the discovery and delivery of scientific products, and improve support for science. This Information Technology Strategic Plan for the USGS outlines key information technology (IT) strategic goals and objectives that will support the Bureau's science mission, while also aligning with the Department of the Interior (DOI) IT Strategic Plan and the DOI Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) Strategic Plan.

Circular↗