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USGS2007

ASTER and USGS EROS emergency imaging for hurricane disasters

Satellite images have been extremely useful in a variety of emergency response activities, including hurricane disasters. This article discusses the collaborative efforts of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the Joint United States-Japan Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) Science Team, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in responding to crisis situations by tasking the ASTER instrument and rapidly providing information to initial responders. Insight is provided on the characteristics of the ASTER systems, and specific details are presented regarding Hurricane Katrina support.

Circular↗

USGS2007

Sea-floor character and sedimentary processes of Great Round Shoal Channel, offshore Massachusetts

The imagery, interpretive data layers, and data presented herein were derived from multibeam echo-sounder and sidescan-sonar data collected in the vicinity of Great Round Shoal Channel, the main passage through shoals located at the eastern entrance to Nantucket Sound, Massachusetts, and from the stations occupied to verify these acoustic data (fig. 1). Basic data layers show sea-floor topography, sun-illuminated shaded relief, and backscatter intensity; interpretive layers show the distributions of surficial sediment, sedimentary environments, and sea-floor features. Presented verification data include sediment grain-size analyses and a gallery of still photographs of the seabed. The multibeam and sidescan data, which together cover an approximately 39.9-km² area of sea floor, were collected during National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) hydrographic survey H11079 (fig. 1). Although originally collected for charting purposes, these data provide a fundamental framework for research and management activities along this part of the Massachusetts coastline (Noji and others, 2004), show the composition and terrain of the seabed, and provide information on sediment transport and benthic habitat. This publication is the third in a series of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) digital reports describing the sea-floor geology around Cape Cod. The first focused on the area off the eastern shore of the outer Cape (Poppe and others, 2006); the second on a passage through the Elizabeth Islands (Poppe and others, 2007).

Massachusetts↗

USGS2003

Trends in concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls in fish tissue from selected sites in the Delaware River basin in New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania, 1969-98

Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) concentrations in fish tissue collected during the 1990's from selected sites in the Delaware River Basin were compared with concentrations in fish tissue collected during 1969-88. Data collected by State and Federal agencies on concentrations in whole-body common carp ( Cyprinus carpio ) and white sucker ( Catostomus commersoni ), and edible portions of American eel ( Anguilla rostrata ), smallmouth bass ( Micropterus dolomieu ), and channel catfish ( Ictalurus punctatus ) during 1969-98 were compiled to define temporal trends in concentrations of PCBs in fish tissue from selected segments of the Delaware River, Lehigh River, Schuylkill River, and Brandywine Creek. The Delaware River in the vicinity of Trenton, New Jersey and Yardley, Pennsylvania (above the tidal influence) had the largest long-term data set among the sites considered for this study and was the only site with sufficient data for statistical analysis. A general pattern of decline in PCB concentrations during 1969-98 was apparent for this river segment. PCB concentrations in whole-body white sucker from this lower Delaware River segment declined during 1969-98 from a highest concentration of 7 micrograms per gram ( μ g/g, wet weight) in a sample collected during 1972 to 0.26 μ g/g (wet weight) in a sample collected during 1998. PCB concentration was negatively correlated with year (Spearman rank correlation -0.46, p < 0.08, n = 15); especially after removal of a sample from 1977 with an unusually low concentration (Spearman rank correlation -0.53, p = 0.05, n = 14). PCB concentrations in edible flesh of American eel declined during 1975-95, from a highest concentration of 3.8 μ g/g (wet weight) in a sample collected during 1976 to less than the reporting limit of 0.26 μ g/g (wet weight) in samples collected during 1993 and 1995. PCB concentrations in most samples (for species considered in this study) collected from the lower Delaware River exceeded the National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Engineering (NAS/NAE) wildlife guideline level of 0.5 μ g/g during the 1970's and 1980's, and decreased to below this level during the 1990's. No samples of edible portions of game fish exceeded the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) tolerance level by the mid 1980's. However, the PCB concentration in a smallmouth bass fillet sample that was collected during 1998 (0.37 μ g/g) exceeded the Pennsylvania fish-consumption advisory level of 0.06 μ g/g, and the concentrations in whole-body common carp and white sucker collected during 1998 (1.10 μ g/g and 0.26 μ g/g, respectively) exceeded the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation wildlife criterion concentration of 0.11 μ g/g. (The concentration in carp also exceeded the 1973 NAS/NAE wildlife guideline concentration of 0.5 μ g/g.) Graphical analysis of PCB concentrations in whole white sucker and (or) edible portions of American eel from the upper Delaware River, lower Delaware River, middle Schuylkill River, and Brandywine Creek indicate a decline from the 1970's and (or) 1980's to the middle to late 1990's. Temporal trends in PCB concentrations in white sucker samples from the lower Lehigh and Schuylkill Rivers during 1979-98 are less clear; the PCB concentration (wet-weight basis) from a sample collected in 1998 from the lower Lehigh River was similar to that from a sample collected in 1979, and concentrations actually increased during 1982-98. Similarly, PCB concentrations in samples of white sucker and American eel from the lower Schuylkill River were highly variable over time.

New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania↗

USGS2026

Mars sample return campaign: Biological risk and a proposed sample safety assessment protocol

Returning surface samples from Mars to Earth has been a major planetary science objective, with the potential for the detection of microbiological life and the possibility of improving our understanding of the origins of life. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the European Space Agency assembled a team to assess the level of risk that returned samples could contain potential biohazards. The team was chartered with optimizing previous sample safety assessment strategies, defining what constitutes a biological hazard, developing a protocol to test for biohazards, and establishing a statistical framework to determine if samples may be safe for release from a high-containment facility. This report presents the biological context for a proposed three-step protocol for testing returned samples, including how to determine if microorganisms are present, and if they could be (or were recently) alive.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology↗

USGS2011

An evaluation of the science needs to inform decisions on Outer Continental Shelf energy development in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, Alaska

The U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) was asked to conduct an initial, independent evaluation of the science needs that would inform the Administration's consideration of the right places and the right ways in which to develop oil and gas resources in the Arctic Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), particularly focused on the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas. Oil and gas potential is significant in Arctic Alaska. Beyond petroleum potential, this region supports unique fish and wildlife resources and ecosystems, and indigenous people who rely on these resources for subsistence. This report summarizes key existing scientific information and provides initial guidance of what new and (or) continued research could inform decision making. This report is presented in a series of topical chapters and various appendixes each written by a subset of the USGS OCS Team based on their areas of expertise. Three chapters (Chapters 2, 3, and 4) provide foundational information on geology; ecology and subsistence; and climate settings important to understanding the conditions pertinent to development in the Arctic OCS. These chapters are followed by three chapters that examine the scientific understanding, science gaps, and science sufficiency questions regarding oil-spill risk, response, and impact (Chapter 5), marine mammals and anthropogenic noise (Chapter 6), and cumulative impacts (Chapter 7). Lessons learned from the 1989 Exxon Valdez Oil Spill are included to identify valuable "pre-positioned" science and scientific approaches to improved response and reduced uncertainty in damage assessment and restoration efforts (appendix D). An appendix on Structured Decision Making (appendix C) is included to illustrate the value of such tools that go beyond, but incorporate, science in looking at what can/should be done about policy and implementation of Arctic development. The report provides a series of findings and recommendations for consideration developed during the independent examination of science gaps and sufficiency. These recommendations are important for understanding what the USGS discovered in the course of this study and to help inform and improve decision making.

Circular↗

USGS2018

Long Island South Shore Estuary Reserve Coordinated Water Resources Monitoring Strategy

Executive Summary The Long Island South Shore Estuary Reserve Coordinated Water Resources Monitoring Strategy (CWRMS) provides an overview of the water-quality and ecological monitoring within the Reserve and presents suggestions from stakeholders for future data collection, data management, and coordination among monitoring programs. The South Shore Estuary Reserve, hereafter referred to as the Reserve, is a 173-square-mile network of bays and tributaries shaped by the south shore of Long Island (New York) and the barrier islands that was formed as a result of the last ice age (roughly 18,000 years ago). This overview and coordination document is based on information assembled from a series of meetings, a workshop, and individual correspondences with the CWRMS Project Advisory Committee, which was formed in 2015 to help guide the creation of the document, which reflects the current (2017) status of the Reserve and the need for additional data to address its water-quality issues and ecological health and to respond to a changing climate. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the New York State Department of State Office of Planning, Development and Community Infrastructure and the South Shore Estuary Reserve Office, compiled information and recommendations to help stakeholders efficiently evaluate waters currently being monitored and address areas where necessary data are lacking. Water-quality monitoring in the Reserve is ongoing on the Federal, State, and local levels, and coordination among the various programs administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; USGS; Shinnecock Tribal Nation; New York State; Nassau and Suffolk Counties; the Towns of Hempstead, Oyster Bay, Babylon, Islip, Brookhaven, and Southampton; and local universities and nonprofit organizations is necessary to ensure cooperation and efficient use of limited resources. Proper collection and archival of data are critical to the usability of data and methods—a sample of available repositories for monitoring data are provided in this report. Equally important are quality assurances of data and proper techniques of archival such that water and ecological data are collected and analyzed in a consistent manner, regardless of their sources, and that differences in methodologies are identified that might result in discrepancies in the compiled data. Details on monitoring programs, data gaps that are perceived by stakeholders and researchers in the area, and Project Advisory Committee recommendations are provided in this report to promote discussion and coordination. In most cases, resources to fill data gaps are needed, and the use of citizen science volunteers has been shown to help extend programs and provide insight into previously unaddressed areas of concern. This document, in conjunction with the CWRMS website and interactive mapper, is intended to inform the latest iteration of the Comprehensive Management Plan for the Reserve. Moreover, resource managers can use the CWRMS and mapper to identify areas of potential overlap and initiate conversations with stakeholders about addressing needs for additional monitoring of water quality and ecological health in the bays and tributaries of the Reserve.

New York↗

USGS1970

Data on dye dispersion in a reach of the Sacramento River near Red Bluff, California

Late in October 1969, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the California Water Resources Control Board, obtained data on the dispersion of injected dye in a reach of the Sacramento River near Red Bluff, Calif. The study area was in the vicinity of the Red Bluff diversion dam, immediately downstream from the mouth of Red Bank Creek (fig. 1). The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is presently constructing the Tehama-Colusa Canal. The canal will receive water from the reservoir behind the diversion dam and the first 3.5 miles of the canal will be used as an artificial spawning channel. As many as 60 million king salmon fingerlings a year are expected to hatch in the spawning channel. Sewage and industrial effluents enter the Sacramento River upstream from the headgates to the canal. The poorly dispersed and diluted effluents discharged into the river may have damaging effects on eggs and fingerlings in the artificial spawning channel. According to a study made by David R. Minard of the Federal Water Pollution Control Administration (written commun., May 2, 1969), a 1 percent solution of the upstream industrial effluent from a low-grade papermill increased the growth of the bacterium Pseudomonas and caused 100-percent fatalities by suffocation among the salmon fingerlings.

California↗

USGS2017

Bridge scour countermeasure assessments at select bridges in the United States, 2014–16

In 2009, the Federal Highway Administration published Hydraulic Engineering Circular No. 23 (HEC-23) to provide specific design and implementation guidelines for bridge scour and stream instability countermeasures. However, the effectiveness of countermeasures implemented over the past decade following those guidelines has not been evaluated. Therefore, in 2013, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration, began a study to assess the current condition of bridge-scour countermeasures at selected sites to evaluate their effectiveness. Bridge-scour countermeasures were assessed during 2014-2016. Site assessments included reviewing countermeasure design plans, summarizing the peak and daily streamflow history, and assessments at each site. Each site survey included a photo log summary, field form, and topographic and bathymetric geospatial data and metadata. This report documents the study area and site-selection criteria, explains the survey methods used to evaluate the condition of countermeasures, and presents the complete documentation for each countermeasure assessment.

Florida, Illinois, Missouri, Montana↗

USGS1974

EROS: A space program for Earth resources

The EROS Program, administered by the U. S. Geological Survey, works with representatives of departmental bureaus and offices to coordinate research and application of remote-sensing technology to the day to-day operations of the department. Most of the research and applications have been made possible by the experimental data acquisition systems of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). In particular, the EROS Program uses data from the Earth Resources Technology Satellite (ERTS), from the Earth Resources Experiment Package (EREP) of Skylab, and from NASA's Aircraft Program.

General Information Product↗

USGS1999

Assessing biological effects from highway-runoff constituents

Increased emphasis on evaluation of nonpoint-source pollution has intensified the need for techniques that can be used to discern the toxicological effects of complex chemical mixtures. In response, the use of biological assessment techniques is receiving increased regulatory emphasis. When applied with documented habitat assessment and chemical analysis, these techniques can increase our understanding of the influence of environmental contaminants on the biological integrity and ecological function of aquatic communities. The contaminants of greatest potential concern in highway runoff are those that arise from highway construction, maintenance, and use. The major contaminants of interest are deicers; nutrients; metals; petroleum-related organic compounds, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (BTEX), and methyl tert -butyl ether (MTBE); sediment washed off the road surface; and agricultural chemicals used in highway maintenance. Hundreds, if not thousands, of biological endpoints (measurable responses of living organisms) may be either directly or associatively affected by contaminant exposure. Measurable effects can occur throughout ecosystem processes across the wide range of biological complexity, ranging from responses at the biochemical level to the community level. The challenge to the environmental scientist is to develop an understanding of the relationship of effects at various levels of biological organization in order to determine whether a causal relationship exists between chemical exposure and substantial ecological impairment. This report provides a brief history of the evolution of biological assessment techniques, a description of the major classes of contaminants that are of particular interest in highway runoff, an overview of representative biological assessment techniques, and a discussion of data-quality considerations. Published reports with a focus on the effects of highway runoff on the local ecosystem were reviewed to provide information on (1) the suitability of the existing data for a quantitative national synthesis, (2) the methods available to study the effects of highway runoff on local ecosystems, and (3) the potential for adverse effects on the roadside environment and receiving waters. Although many biological studies have been done, the use of different methods and a general lack of sufficient documentation precludes a quantitative national synthesis on the basis of the existing data. The Federal Highway Administration, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Geological Survey, the Intergovernmental Task Force on Monitoring Water Quality, and the National Resources Conservation Service all have developed and documented methods for assessing the effects of contaminants on ecosystems in receiving waters. These published methods can be used to formulate a set of protocols to provide consistent information from highway-runoff studies. Review of the literature indicates (qualitatively) that highway runoff (even from highways with high traffic volume) may not usually be acutely toxic. Tissue analysis and community assessments, however, indicate effects from highway- runoff sediments near discharge points (even from sites near highways with relatively low traffic volumes). At many sites, elevated concentrations of highway-runoff constituents were measured in tissues of species associated with aquatic sediments. Community assessments also indicate decreases in the diversity and productivity of aquatic ecosystems at some sites receiving highway runoff. These results are not definitive, however, and depend on many site-specific criteria that were not sufficiently documented in most of the studies reviewed.

Open-File Report↗

USGS2021

Galliform exclusion from the Migratory Bird Treaty Act has produced an alternate conservation path, but no evidence for differences in population status

The Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) is critical to avian conservation in the United States, both through its protection of migratory birds and as a catalyst for a century of coordinated avian conservation. While more than 1,000 species are protected by MBTA, of extant bird species native to the continental U.S., only 20 species belonging to the order Galliformes are explicitly excluded. Management of galliforms has occurred largely without direct federal oversight, placing this group on a fundamentally different conservation path during the century following MBTA passage. In this paper, we review the historical context and biological justification for exclusion of galliforms from MBTA and synthesize how their present-day conservation differs from that of migratory birds. We find the most prominent difference between the two groups involves the scope of coordination among stakeholders. The U.S. government, primarily via the Department of Interior, acts as de facto coordinating body for migratory bird conservation and plays the central role in oversight, funding, and administration of management in the United States. In contrast, galliform management falls primarily to individual state wildlife agencies, and coordinated conservation efforts have been more ad hoc and unevenly spread across species. Migratory birds benefit from an almost universally greater scope of research and monitoring, scale of habitat conservation, and sophistication of harvest management compared with galliforms. Galliform harvest management plans, in particular, are less likely to use measurable objectives, reporting of uncertainty in population parameters, and explanation of harvest management techniques. Based on a review of species status lists (e.g., the U.S. Endangered Species Act), we found no evidence that galliforms were more frequently listed than migratory species. Regional trend estimates from the North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) were more likely to be negative for galliforms over the period 1966–2015, but this was primarily driven by Northern Bobwhite ( Colinus virginianus ). Data to assess galliform population status are generally poor, which complicates assessment for roughly half of galliform species. Increased support for coordination among state agencies and other stakeholders, similar to that applied to migratory birds, could help to ensure that galliform conservation is poised to tackle forthcoming challenges associated with global change.

North America↗

USGS2010

Proceedings of the 25th Himalaya-Karakoram-Tibet Workshop

For a quarter of a century the Himalayan-Karakoram-Tibet (HKT) Workshop has provided scientists studying the India-Asia collision system a wonderful opportunity for workshop-style discussion with colleagues working in this region. In 2010, HKT returns to North America for the first time since 1996. The 25th international workshop is held from June 7 to10 at San Francisco State University, California. The international community was invited to contribute scientific papers to the workshop, on all aspects of geoscience research in the geographic area of the Tibetan Plateau and its bounding ranges and basins, from basic mapping to geochemical and isotopic analyses to large-scale geophysical imaging experiments. In recognition of the involvement of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists in a wide range of these activities, the USGS agreed to publish the extended abstracts of the numerous components of HKT-25 as an online Open-File Report, thereby ensuring the wide availability and distribution of these abstracts, particularly in the HKT countries from which many active workers are precluded by cost from attending international meetings. In addition to the workshop characterized by contributed presentations, participants were invited to attend a pre-meeting field trip from the Coast Ranges to the Sierra Nevada, to allow the international group to consider how the tectonic elements of the Pacific margin compare to those of the Himalayan belt. Following the workshop, the National Science Foundation (NSF) sponsored a workshop on the 'Future directions for NSF-sponsored geoscience research in the Himalaya/Tibet' intended to provide NSF Program Directors with a clear statement and vision of community goals for the future, including the scientific progress we can expect if NSF continues its support of projects in this geographic region, and to identify which key geoscience problems and processes are best addressed in the Himalaya and Tibet, what key datasets are needed, and how NSF can best support the evolving need for interdisciplinary investigations. This workshop also has clear societal relevance. Recent earthquakes have brought international attention to active tectonics and earthquake hazards in the HKT region. Prominent examples include the Mw 7.8 Kokoxili (Qinghai, China) earthquake of 2001, the Mw 7.6 Kashmir (Pakistan) earthquake of 2005, the Mw 7.9 Wenchuan (Sichuan, China) earthquake of 2008, and this year the Mw 6.9 Yushu (Qinghai, China) earthquake. Geological and geophysical field work conducted both before these earthquakes, as well as in response to them, has helped to define the active faults and regional tectonics in the HKT region. The research presented at this workshop provides the framework necessary for improved seismic hazard assessments in this region. The organizers gratefully acknowledge the support of NSF's Continental Dynamics Program and its Office of International Science and Engineering, through award EAR-0965796. We thank San Francisco State University's Sheldon Axler, Dean of the College of Science and Engineering, and Toby Garfield, Director of the Romberg Tiburon Center, for use of their conference facilities; and the Department of Geosciences, particularly Deb Shulman and Miriam Knof, for administrative support. The California Academy of Sciences generously hosted a reception for visiting delegates, and Brad Ritts (Chevron Exploration Technology Company), Todd Greene (California State University, Chico) and John Shervais (Utah State University) together co-led the pre-conference field trip. Technical editing of this volume was led by Roxanne Renedo (U.S. Geological Survey) with assistance from Margaret Milia (Stanford University). We are grateful to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Earthquake Hazards Program and the USGS Menlo Park (California) Publishing Service Center for making this online report possible.

Open-File Report↗

USGS2021

Coastal and marine science of the U.S. Geological Survey in St. Petersburg, Florida

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center (SPCMSC) in St. Petersburg, Florida, investigates processes that form and alter coastal and marine environments and the implications of these processes related to natural hazards, resource sustainability, and environmental change. The center is one of three facilities serving the mission of the USGS Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, an initiative authorized by Congress in 1962 that serves as the primary Federal program for marine geology and physical science research and is responsible for the Nation’s entire coastal and marine landscape. The center’s staff conducts scientific research around the globe to describe and deepen understanding of the processes that influence coastal and marine ecosystems, such as sandy beaches and barrier islands, salt marshes and estuaries, coral reefs, and the open ocean from the continental shelf to the deep sea. The center includes a diverse workforce of scientists, technicians, administrators, analysts, and technology and information specialists. This team works collaboratively to conduct and share robust scientific research. This document provides a glimpse into the center’s work to better understand the processes shaping coastal and marine environments across the Nation.

Florida↗

USGS2020

U.S. Geological Survey 2018 Kīlauea Volcano eruption response in Hawai'i—After-action review

The 2018 Kīlauea Volcano eruption lasted 107 days, and now ranks as the most destructive event at Kilauea since 1790, and as one of the most costly volcanic disasters in U.S. history. Multiple simultaneous hazard events unfolded, including sustained seismic activity leading to collapse at the summit of Halema'uma'u crater and severe damage to the HVO facility, with additional eruption of lava in the Kīlauea Lower East Rift Zone that progressively grew to a total of 24 fissure openings. In response to the complex and uncertain nature of the eruption, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) team activities tended to coalesce around several interrelated core functional areas: science operations, emergency management and administration, and external communications. Upon cessation of the eruption, the USGS Hazard Response Executive Committee charged the Alaska Regional Office to lead an After-Action Review team, which focused on two basic questions: (1) what went well, and why?; and (2) what can be improved, and how? The purpose of the After-Action Review is to identify priorities for programmatic or policy improvements that the USGS can feasibly implement to advance strategic preparation for future disasters, and thereby reduce public vulnerabilities. Specifically, the review is intended to help USGS respond even better to the next eruption in Hawai'i or elsewhere by advancing any of the following goals: Design better planning scenarios; Enhance response team effectiveness; Assist local decision makers; Promote new areas of strategic research; and Streamline administrative, finance, and Incident Management Team support functions during a crisis to secure continuity of operations and essential records management.

Hawaii↗

USGS1983

Land application of wastewater and its effect on ground-water quality in the Livermore-Amador Valley, Alameda County, California

Ground-water quality, ground-water level, and rainfall data collected during the 1975 water year through the 1980 water year were analyzed to determine the effects of land application of effluent from wastewater treatment plants on ground-water quality in the Livermore-Amador Valley. Annual rainfall varied markedly during the study: 1976 and 1977 water years had less than one half the normal rainfall; 1978 and 1980 water years had greater than normal rainfall; and 1975 and 1979 water years had nearly normal rainfall. The direction ground-water movement in the valley was found to be generally that of surface water. Dissolved nitrate concentrations were generally much less in areas not receiving wastewater applications than in areas that do. Specific conductance, dissolved solids, dissolved chloride, and dissolved nitrate were substantially less in the lower aquifers than in the upper aquifer in the Livermore wastewater application areas. In the Castlewood, Pleasanton, Veterans Administration Hospital, and Livermore wastewater applications areas ground-water quality was similar to the quality of effluent from wastewater treatment plants in the valley. Rainfall, soil, and geology appeared to be the main determinants of ground-water quality in the Castlewood and Dublin-San Ramon and Camp Parks Military Reservation areas. Wastewater application appeared to be the main determinant of ground-water quality in Pleasanton, Veterans Administration Hospital, and Livermore Municipal Airport areas. Comparison of ground-water quality in wastewater application areas with proposed State water-quality objectives for ground water in the Livermore-Amador Valley showed impaired water quality in all areas.

California↗

USGS2012

Sea-floor geology of Long Island Sound north of Duck Pond Point, New York

The U.S. Geological Survey, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection are mapping the sea floor in coastal areas of the northeastern United States. As part of the project, more than 100 square kilometers of multibeam-echosounder data, 23 sediment samples, bottom video, and 86 still photographs were obtained from an area in Long Island Sound north of Duck Pond Point, New York, in the study area of NOAA survey H11999. This report delineates the sediment types and sea-floor features found within this area in order to better understand the sea-floor processes occurring in this part of Long Island Sound. The sea floor in the study area is dominated by ubiquitous sand-wave fields and three northeast-southwest trending bathymetric depressions. Barchanoid and transverse sand waves, including sinusoidal, bifurcating, arced, and straight-crested morphologies, are variably present. Asymmetrical sand-wave profiles indicate a westward to southwestward direction of sediment transport in most of the study area; current ripples and megaripples on the stoss slopes of the sand waves indicate transport is ongoing. The majority of the sediment on the sea floor is sand, although bouldery, gravelly, and muddy sediments are also present. Gray, cohesive mud crops out on the walls of some of the scour depressions associated with the troughs of large sand waves. Clasts of the muddy sediment scattered on the sea floor around the depressions demonstrate the intensity of the scour and suggest erosion of the underlying distal deltaic sediments.

New York↗

USGS2024

Introduction to recommended capabilities and instrumentation for volcano monitoring in the United States

Introduction The National Volcano Early Warning System (NVEWS) was authorized and partially funded by the U.S. Government in 2019. In response, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Volcano Hazards Program asked its scientists to reflect on and summarize their views of best practices for volcano monitoring. The goal was to review and update the recommendations of a previous report (Moran and others, 2008) and to provide a more detailed analysis of capabilities and instrumentation for monitoring networks for U.S. volcanoes. This Scientific Investigations Report and its chapters reflect those USGS scientists’ views and summaries and will serve as a guide for future network upgrades funded through NVEWS. Given the well-documented hazards posed by volcanoes to population centers and aviation (for example, Blong, 1984; Scott, 1989; Neal and others, 1997, 2019; Guffanti and others, 2010; Shroder and Papale, 2014; Prata and Rose, 2015; Palmer, 2020), volcano monitoring is critical for ensuring public safety and for mitigating the impacts of volcanic activity. Accurate and timely forecasts are facilitated by well-designed monitoring networks that are in place long enough to allow for background behavior to be recognized and understood. Because precursory signals may be limited and unrest may progress rapidly to an eruption, our goal is to deploy monitoring systems that enable detection of the reactivation of dormant volcanoes as early as possible, allowing for public safety and risk mitigation. NVEWS planning is also informed by the results of Ewert and others (2005, 2018), whereby 161 U.S. volcanoes are currently categorized and ranked commensurate with their relative threat. In each chapter, author(s) considered the need for some redundancy of instrumentation and telemetry, given the likelihood of occasional equipment failure, particularly in extreme and remote environments. Establishing digital telemetry networks requires advanced planning, sighting, radio-shot testing, and, inevitably, troubleshooting in the field. This is harder to achieve rapidly during a crisis; thus, an important goal for monitoring U.S. volcanoes is to establish digital telemetry backbones with redundancy and extra capacity to absorb additional instruments should a volcano begin to exhibit signs of unrest (fig. A1). The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) imposed new regulations in the United States, eliminating the use of older analog radios for many purposes, which had been one previous means for redundant data delivery. However, the resulting conversion from analog to digital systems usefully enables stations to accommodate new and multivariate real-time data streams (for example, Global Navigation Satellite System [GNSS] receivers, infrasound arrays, gas spectrometers, visible and infrared cameras, and broadband seismometers). We note that other USGS and broader national and international hazard programs can leverage NVEWS instrumentation plans. Examples of this include the following: Improved seismic coverage of volcanoes will increase the capability of the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program to detect and locate earthquakes, estimate ground shaking, and provide timely early warnings through the ShakeAlert Earthquake Early Warning System (Given and others, 2018). The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Tsunami Program will benefit from additional seismic stations, particularly within the sparsely instrumented Aleutian Islands, Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa. Infrasound stations can detect signals from landslides, debris flows and lahars, floods, and weather events, providing benefits to the National Weather Service and the USGS Landslide Hazards Program.

Scientific Investigations Report↗

USGS2010

Land-cover change in the Ozark Highlands, 1973-2000

Led by the Geographic Analysis and Monitoring Program of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in collaboration with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Land-Cover Trends Project was initiated in 1999 and aims to document the types, geographic distributions, and rates of land-cover change on a region by region basis for the conterminous United States, and to determine some of the key drivers and consequences of the change (Loveland and others, 2002). For 1973, 1980, 1986, 1992, and 2000 land-cover maps derived from the Landsat series are classified by visual interpretation, inspection of historical aerial photography and ground survey, into 11 land-cover classes. The classes are defined to capture land cover that is discernable in Landsat data. A stratified probability-based sampling methodology undertaken within the 84 Omernik Level III Ecoregions (Omernik, 1987) was used to locate the blocks, with 9 to 48 blocks per ecoregion. The sampling was designed to enable a statistically robust 'scaling up' of the sample-classification data to estimate areal land-cover change within each ecoregion (Loveland and others, 2002; Stehman and others, 2005). At the time of writing, approximately 90 percent of the 84 conterminous United States ecoregions have been processed by the Land-Cover Trends Project. Results from these completed ecoregions illustrate that across the conterminous United States there is no single profile of land-cover/land-use change, rather, there are varying pulses affected by clusters of change agents (Loveland and others, 2002). Land-Cover Trends Project results for the conterminous United States to-date are being used for collaborative environmental change research with partners such as; the National Science Foundation, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The strategy has also been adapted for use in a NASA global deforestation initiative, and elements of the project design are being used in the North American Carbon Program's assessment of forest disturbance.

Open-File Report↗