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USGS2024

Diet of Myotis ciliolabrum from six sites in the southwestern United States

With bat populations declining in many parts of the world, detailed life history information will be critical for assessing vulnerabilities of bat populations and associated trophic effects. Myotis ciliolabrum (western small-footed bat) is a species of insectivorous bat distributed from the Great Plains to the Pacific Coast and from British Columbia to Central Mexico. The species is spottily distributed within this wider range but is locally abundant in areas containing appropriate rocky habitat. Despite M. ciliolabrum being relatively common, little information is available about its feeding ecology. Earlier studies have suggested that skull morphology can be used to determine whether insectivorous bats select for soft- or hard-bodied prey, but we hypothesized that M. ciliolabrum may feed opportunistically on a variety of insect types. To test this hypothesis, we examined the feeding habits of western small-footed bats captured during 2000–2022 at 6 national parks and 1 national conservation area across the Southwest. Visual analysis of prey remains in guano revealed that western small-footed bats within our study area consumed insects belonging to 7 orders (Lepidoptera, Coleoptera, Hymenoptera, Hemiptera, Neuroptera, Diptera, and Odonata) and 20 families. Diet varied over time and across geographic space, though we observed a general trend in which the orders Lepidoptera, Coleoptera, and Hymenoptera were consumed at the highest volumes. This varied diet indicates opportunistic feeding in which M. ciliolabrum makes use of locally abundant resources.

Colorado, New Mexico, Texas↗

USGS2020

Flood-inundation maps for Dardenne Creek in St. Charles County, Missouri, 2019

Digital flood-inundation maps for a 9.9-mile reach of Dardenne Creek, St. Charles County, Missouri, were created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Missouri Department of Transportation, St. Charles County, and the Cities of O’Fallon and St. Peters, Mo. The flood-inundation maps, which can be accessed through the USGS Flood Inundation Mapping Program website at https://www.usgs.gov/mission-areas/water-resources/science/flood-inundation-mapping-fim-program , depict estimates of the areal extent and depth of flooding corresponding to selected water levels (stages) at the USGS streamgages 05514860 Dardenne Creek at Old Town St. Peters, Mo., and 05587450 Mississippi River at Grafton, Illinois. Near-real-time stages at these streamgages may be obtained from the USGS National Water Information System at https://doi.org/10.5066/F7P55KJN or the National Weather Service Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service at https://water.weather.gov/ ahps2/ hydrograph.php? wfo= lsx&gage= drcm7 and https://water.weather.gov/ ahps2/ hydrograph.php? wfo= lsx&gage= grfi2 , which also forecasts flood hydrographs at these sites (sites DRCM7 and GRFI2). Flood profiles were computed for the Dardenne Creek stream reach by means of a one-dimensional model for simulating water-surface profiles with steady-state flow computations. The model was calibrated by using the current stage-streamflow relation at the USGS streamgages 05514840 Dardenne Creek at O’Fallon, Mo., and 05514860 Dardenne Creek at Old Town St. Peters, Mo., and the documented high-water marks from the flood of December 2015. The hydraulic model was then used to compute 17 water-surface profiles for flood stages at 1-foot (ft) intervals referenced to the streamgage datum and ranging from 16 ft, or near bankfull, to 32 ft at the reference streamgage 05514860. Stages in the lower Dardenne Creek can be affected by backwater from the Mississippi River; therefore, several sets of water-surface profiles were developed representing the extent of varying levels of backwater as referenced to the USGS streamgage 05587450 on the Mississippi River at Grafton, Ill. The upper stage for each map library exceeds the stage corresponding to the estimated 0.2-percent annual exceedance probability flood (500-year recurrence interval flood) at the streamgage location. The simulated water-surface profiles were then combined with a geographic information system digital elevation model (derived from light detection and ranging data having a 0.26-ft vertical accuracy and 0.71-ft horizontal resolution) to delineate the area flooded at each water level. The availability of these maps, along with real-time information regarding current stage from the USGS streamgage and forecasted high-flow stages from the National Weather Service, will provide emergency management personnel and residents with information that is critical for flood mitigation, preparedness and planning, flood-response activities such as evacuations and road closures, and postflood recovery efforts.

Missouri↗

USGS2015

Archive of bathymetry data collected at Cape Canaveral, Florida, 2014

Remotely sensed, geographically referenced elevation measurements of the sea floor, acquired by boat- and aircraft-based survey systems, were produced by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, St. Petersburg, Florida, for the area at Cape Canaveral. The work was conducted as part of a study to describe an updated bathymetric dataset collected in 2014 and compare it to previous data sets. The updated data focus on the bathymetric features and sediment transport pathways that connect the offshore regions to the shoreline and, therefore, are related to the protection of other portions of the coastal environment, such as dunes, that support infrastructure and ecosystems. Cape Canaveral Coastal System (CCCS) is a prominent feature along the Southeast U.S. coastline and is the only large cape south of Cape Fear, North Carolina. Most of the CCCS lies within the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and included within its boundaries are the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS), NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC), and a large portion of Canaveral National Seashore. The actual promontory of the modern cape falls within the jurisdictional boundaries of the CCAFS. Hydrographic survey data were collected August 18-20, 2014 ( USGS Field Activity Number 2014-324-FA ). The study covered a 20 kilometer (km) section of shoreline extending from Port Canaveral, Fla., to the northern end of the KSC property, and from the shoreline to about 2.5 km offshore. Data were acquired using both sound navigation and ranging (sonar) and light detection and ranging (lidar) systems. Two jet skis and a 17-foot (ft) outboard motor boat equipped with the USGS SANDS (System for Accurate Nearshore Depth Surveying) hydrographic system collected precision sonar data. The USGS airborne EAARL-B mapping system flown in a twin engine airplane was used to collect lidar data. The missions were synchronized so that there was temporal and spatial overlap between the sonar and lidar operations. Additional data were collected to evaluate water clarity to verify the ability of lidar to receive bathymetric returns. Both systems used differential Global Positioning System GPS and utilized the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/National Geodetic Survey (NOAA/NGS) Continuously Operating Reference Station (CORS) station located at CCAFS was used as the reference station. This data series serves as an archive of processed single-beam sonar and lidar bathymetry data. Graphical Information System (GIS) data products include XYZ point bathymetry data files, a color coded bathymetry map, and interpolated bathymetry grid surface. Additional information includes an error analysis and formal Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) metadata. For more information about similar projects, please visit the Barrier Island Evolution Web site.

Florida↗

USGS2010

Analysis of California Condor (Gymnogyps californianus) use of six management units using location data from global positioning system transmitters, southern California, 2004-09-Initial report

This report provides an analysis of California Condor (Gymnogyps californianus) space use of six management units in southern California (Hopper Mountain and Bitter Creek National Wildlife Refuges, Wildlands Conservancy-Wind Wolves Preserve, Tejon Mountain Village Specific Plan, California Condor Study Area, and the Tejon Ranch excluding Tejon Mountain Village Specific Plan and California Condor Study Area). Space use was analyzed to address urgent management needs using location data from Global Positioning System transmitters. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service provided the U.S. Geological Survey with location data (2004-09) for California Condors from Global Positioning System transmitters and Geographic Information System data for the six management units in southern California. We calculated relative concentration of use estimates for each management unit for each California Condor (n = 21) on an annual basis (n = 39 annual home ranges) and evaluated resource selection for the population each year using the individual as our sampling unit. The most striking result from our analysis was the recolonization of the Tejon Mountain Village Specific Plan, California Condor Study Area, and Tejon Ranch management units during 2008. During 2004-07, the home range estimate for two (25 percent) California Condors overlapped the Tejon Mountain Village Specific Plan, California Condor Study Area, and Tejon Ranch management units (n = 8), and use within the annual home range generally was bimodal and was concentrated on the Bitter Creek and Hopper Mountain National Wildlife Refuges. However, 10 (77 percent) California Condor home ranges overlapped the Tejon Mountain Village Specific Plan, California Condor Study Area, and Tejon Ranch management units during 2008 (n = 13), and by 2009, the home range of every condor carrying a Global Positioning System transmitter (n = 14) overlapped these management units. Space use was multimodal within the home range during 2008-09 and was concentrated on Hopper Mountain Refuge in the south, Bittercreek Refuge and the Wind Wolves Preserve in the northwest, and the Tejon Mountain Village Specific Plan, California Condor Study Area, and Tejon Ranch management units in the northeast. Recolonization of the Tejon Mountain Village Specific Plan, California Condor Study Area, and Tejon Ranch management units reestablished traditional condor movement and foraging patterns in southern California and provides the travel corridor (approximately 20 kilometers wide) for recolonization of the northeastern part of the species historical range.

Open-File Report↗

USGS2017

An open source high-performance solution to extract surface water drainage networks from diverse terrain conditions

This paper describes a workflow for automating the extraction of elevation-derived stream lines using open source tools with parallel computing support and testing the effectiveness of procedures in various terrain conditions within the conterminous United States. Drainage networks are extracted from the US Geological Survey 1/3 arc-second 3D Elevation Program elevation data having a nominal cell size of 10 m. This research demonstrates the utility of open source tools with parallel computing support for extracting connected drainage network patterns and handling depressions in 30 subbasins distributed across humid, dry, and transitional climate regions and in terrain conditions exhibiting a range of slopes. Special attention is given to low-slope terrain, where network connectivity is preserved by generating synthetic stream channels through lake and waterbody polygons. Conflation analysis compares the extracted streams with a 1:24,000-scale National Hydrography Dataset flowline network and shows that similarities are greatest for second- and higher-order tributaries.

Cartography and Geographic Information Science↗

USGS2009

Oil and gas development in southwestern Wyoming— Energy data and services for the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI)

The purpose of this report is to explore current oil and gas energy development in the area encompassing the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative. The Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative is a long-term science-based effort to ensure southwestern Wyoming's wildlife and habitat remain viable in areas facing development pressure. Wyoming encompasses some of the highest quality wildlife habitats in the Intermountain West. At the same time, this region is an important source of natural gas. Using Geographic Information System technology, energy data pertinent to the conservation decision-making process have been assembled to show historical oil and gas exploration and production in southwestern Wyoming. In addition to historical data, estimates of undiscovered oil and gas are included from the 2002 U.S. Geological Survey National Assessment of Oil and Gas in the Southwestern Wyoming Province. This report is meant to facilitate the integration of existing data with new knowledge and technologies to analyze energy resources development and to assist in habitat conservation planning. The well and assessment data can be accessed and shared among many different clients including, but not limited to, an online web-service for scientists and resource managers engaged in the Initiative.

Wyoming↗

USGS2007

Environmental Assessment of the Muscatatuck Urban Training Center near Butlerville, Indiana, October and November 2005

An environmental assessment of the Muscatatuck Urban Training Center near Butlerville in Jennings County, Indiana, was completed during October and November 2005. As part of the Department of Defense Earth Science Program, the U.S. Geological Survey collected information about environmental conditions at the 825-acre former State of Indiana mental health facility prior to its conversion by the Indiana National Guard into an urban training center. The assessment was designed to investigate the type and extent of potential contamination associated with historical activities in selected areas of the facility. Samples of surface water, ground water, surface soil, and buried sediment were collected for the assessment in seven geographic study areas. Surface-water samples were collected from flowing and pooled surface water, as well as seeps and springs where ground water discharged at the land surface. Ground-water samples were collected from temporary wells installed in boreholes drilled to bedrock. Surface-soil samples were collected near sites of possible contamination. Buried-sediment samples were taken from core material collected near the top of bedrock at depths of 6.4 to 26 feet. For the assessment, 59 environmental, 22 quality-assurance, and 46 laboratory-blank samples were analyzed for as many as 65 volatile organic compounds, 62 semivolatile organic compounds, 20 trace elements, 10 inorganic cations and anions, 3 nutrients, and 4 water-quality characteristics. Concentrations of constituents detected in these samples were compared with regulatory standards (the Indiana Surface-Water-Quality Standards and Indiana Ground-Water-Quality Standards) and guidance criteria from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management's Risk Integrated System of Closures for contaminated soil and ground water. Standards or criteria were exceeded by 17 constituent concentrations in 11 environmental samples from 5 of the 7 geographic study areas. Standards or criteria were exceeded for 10 constituents: ammonia, arsenic, benzo(a)pyrene, beryllium, chloride, chloroform, copper, lead, sulfate, and zinc.

Indiana↗

USGS2004

Incorporating uncertainty into mercury-offset decisions with a probabilistic network for National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit holders: An interim report

This interim report describes an alternative approach for evaluating the efficacy of using mercury (Hg) offsets to improve water quality. Hg-offset programs may allow dischargers facing higher-pollution control costs to meet their regulatory obligations by making more cost effective pollutant-reduction decisions. Efficient Hg management requires methods to translate that science and economics into a regulatory decision framework. This report documents the work in progress by the U.S. Geological Survey’s Western Geographic Science Center in collaboration with Stanford University toward developing this decision framework to help managers, regulators, and other stakeholders decide whether offsets can cost effectively meet the Hg total maximum daily load (TMDL) requirements in the Sacramento River watershed. Two key approaches being considered are: (1) a probabilistic approach that explicitly incorporates scientific uncertainty, cost information, and value judgments; and (2) a quantitative approach that captures uncertainty in testing the feasibility of Hg offsets. Current fate and transport-process models commonly attempt to predict chemical transformations and transport pathways deterministically. However, the physical, chemical, and biologic processes controlling the fate and transport of Hg in aquatic environments are complex and poorly understood. Deterministic models of Hg environmental behavior contain large uncertainties, reflecting this lack of understanding. The uncertainty in these underlying physical processes may produce similarly large uncertainties in the decisionmaking process. However, decisions about control strategies are still being made despite the large uncertainties in current Hg loadings, the relations between total Hg (HgT) loading and methylmercury (MeHg) formation, and the relations between control efforts and Hg content in fish. The research presented here focuses on an alternative analytical approach to the current use of safety factors and deterministic methods for Hg TMDL decision support, one that is fully compatible with an adaptive management approach. This alternative approach uses empirical data and informed judgment to provide a scientific and technical basis for helping National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit holders make management decisions. An Hg-offset system would be an option if a wastewater-treatment plant could not achieve NPDES permit requirements for HgT reduction. We develop a probabilistic decision-analytical model consisting of three submodels for HgT loading, MeHg, and cost mitigation within a Bayesian network that integrates information of varying rigor and detail into a simple model of a complex system. Hg processes are identified and quantified by using a combination of historical data, statistical models, and expert judgment. Such an integrated approach to uncertainty analysis allows easy updating of prediction and inference when observations of model variables are made. We demonstrate our approach with data from the Cache Creek watershed (a subbasin of the Sacramento River watershed). The empirical models used to generate the needed probability distributions are based on the same empirical models currently being used by the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Cache Creek Hg TMDL working group. The significant difference is that input uncertainty and error are explicitly included in the model and propagated throughout its algorithms. This work demonstrates how to integrate uncertainty into the complex and highly uncertain Hg TMDL decisionmaking process. The various sources of uncertainty are propagated as decision risk that allows decisionmakers to simultaneously consider uncertainties in remediation/implementation costs while attempting to meet environmental/ecologic targets. We must note that this research is on going. As more data are collected, the HgT and cost-mitigation submodels are updated and the uncertainties may be reduced. Subsequently, the value of using a probabilistic framework for estimating and explicitly stating these uncertainties within a decisionmaking process can be estimated when new data are collected. Future work includes the design and implementation of a Bayesian network decision support system (BN-DSS) to produce mitigation scenarios for offset-project evaluation in the Cache Creek watershed. The decisionmaker, a wastewater-treatment plant, is expected to evaluate potential Hg-offset programs in terms of changes in HgT load changes, MeHg-production potential, project cost, and other suitability criteria. Subsequently, scenarios can be analyzed by performing sensitivity analyses and ranking environmental and economic uncertainties in terms of the decisionmaker’s preferences and risk choices. Such an analysis allows decisionmakers and stakeholders to explore various scenarios and predict the consequences of different stated preferences over outcomes.

Open-File Report↗

USGS2016

Genetic status and conservation of Westslope Cutthroat Trout in Glacier National Park

Invasive hybridization is one of the greatest threats to the persistence of Westslope Cutthroat Trout Oncorhynchus clarkii lewisi . Large protected areas, where nonhybridized populations are interconnected and express historical life history and genetic diversity, provide some of the last ecological and evolutionary strongholds for conserving this species. Here, we describe the genetic status and distribution of Westslope Cutthroat Trout throughout Glacier National Park, Montana. Admixture between Westslope Cutthroat Trout and introduced Rainbow Trout O. mykiss and Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout O. clarkii bouvieri was estimated by genotyping 1,622 fish collected at 115 sites distributed throughout the Columbia, Missouri, and South Saskatchewan River drainages. Currently, Westslope Cutthroat Trout occupy an estimated 1,465 km of stream habitat and 45 lakes (9,218 ha) in Glacier National Park. There was no evidence of introgression in samples from 32 sites along 587 km of stream length (40% of the stream kilometers currently occupied) and 17 lakes (2,555 ha; 46% of the lake area currently occupied). However, nearly all (97%) of the streams and lakes that were occupied by nonhybridized populations occurred in the Columbia River basin. Based on genetic status (nonnative genetic admixture ≤ 10%), 36 Westslope Cutthroat Trout populations occupying 821 km of stream and 5,482 ha of lakes were identified as “conservation populations.” Most of the conservation populations ( N = 27; 736 km of stream habitat) occurred in the Columbia River basin, whereas only a few geographically restricted populations were found in the South Saskatchewan River ( N = 7; 55 km) and Missouri River ( N = 2; 30 km) basins. Westslope Cutthroat Trout appear to be at imminent risk of genomic extinction in the South Saskatchewan and Missouri River basins, whereas populations in the Columbia River basin are widely distributed and conservation efforts are actively addressing threats from hybridization and other stressors. A diverse set of pro-active management approaches will be required to conserve, protect, and restore Westslope Cutthroat Trout populations in Glacier National Park throughout the 21st century.

Glacier National Park↗

USGS2016

Case studies of capacity building for biodiversity monitoring

Monitoring the status and trends of species is critical to their conservation and management. However, the current state of biodiversity monitoring is insufficient to detect such for most species and habitats, other than in a few localised areas. One of the biggest obstacles to adequate monitoring is the lack of local capacity to carry out such programs. Thus, building the capacity to do such monitoring is imperative. We here highlight different biodiversity monitoring efforts to illustrate how capacity building efforts are being conducted at different geographic scales and under a range of resource, literacy, and training constraints. Accordingly, we include examples of monitoring efforts from within countries (Kenya, France, and China), within regions (Central America and the Arctic) and larger capacity building programs including EDGE (Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered) of Existence and the National Red List Alliance.

Book chapter↗

USGS2009

EAARL Coastal Topography-Pearl River Delta 2008: Bare Earth

These remotely sensed, geographically referenced elevation measurements of Lidar-derived bare earth (BE) topography were produced as a collaborative effort between the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Florida Integrated Science Center (FISC), St. Petersburg, FL; the University of New Orleans (UNO), Pontchartrain Institute for Environmental Sciences (PIES), New Orleans, LA; and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Wallops Flight Facility, VA. This project provides highly detailed and accurate datasets of a portion of the Pearl River Delta in Louisiana and Mississippi, acquired March 9-11, 2008. The datasets are made available for use as a management tool to research scientists and natural resource managers. An innovative airborne Lidar instrument originally developed at the NASA Wallops Flight Facility, and known as the Experimental Advanced Airborne Research Lidar (EAARL), was used during data acquisition. The EAARL system is a raster-scanning, waveform-resolving, green-wavelength (532-nanometer) Lidar designed to map near-shore bathymetry, topography, and vegetation structure simultaneously. The EAARL sensor suite includes the raster-scanning, water-penetrating full-waveform adaptive Lidar, a down-looking red-green-blue (RGB) digital camera, a high-resolution multi-spectral color infrared (CIR) camera, two precision dual-frequency kinematic carrier-phase GPS receivers, and an integrated miniature digital inertial measurement unit, which provide for submeter georeferencing of each laser sample. The nominal EAARL platform is a twin-engine Cessna 310 aircraft, but the instrument may be deployed on a range of light aircraft. A single pilot, a Lidar operator, and a data analyst constitute the crew for most survey operations. This sensor has the potential to make significant contributions in measuring sub-aerial and submarine coastal topography within cross-environmental surveys. Elevation measurements were collected over the survey area using the EAARL system, and the resulting data were then processed using the Airborne Lidar Processing System (ALPS), a custom-built processing system developed in a NASA-USGS collaboration. ALPS supports the exploration and processing of Lidar data in an interactive or batch mode. Modules for presurvey flight line definition, flight path plotting, Lidar raster and waveform investigation, and digital camera image playback have been developed. Processing algorithms have been developed to extract the range to the first and last significant return within each waveform. ALPS is used routinely to create maps that represent submerged or first surface topography. Specialized filtering algorithms have been implemented to determine the 'bare earth' under vegetation from a point cloud of last return elevations.

Data Series↗

USGS2009

EAARL Coastal Topography-Pearl River Delta 2008: First Surface

These remotely sensed, geographically referenced elevation measurements of Lidar-derived first surface (FS) topography were produced as a collaborative effort between the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Florida Integrated Science Center (FISC), St. Petersburg, FL; the University of New Orleans (UNO), Pontchartrain Institute for Environmental Sciences (PIES), New Orleans, LA; and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Wallops Flight Facility, VA. This project provides highly detailed and accurate datasets of a portion of the Pearl River Delta in Louisiana and Mississippi, acquired March 9-11, 2008. The datasets are made available for use as a management tool to research scientists and natural resource managers. An innovative airborne Lidar instrument originally developed at the NASA Wallops Flight Facility, and known as the Experimental Advanced Airborne Research Lidar (EAARL), was used during data acquisition. The EAARL system is a raster-scanning, waveform-resolving, green-wavelength (532-nanometer) Lidar designed to map near-shore bathymetry, topography, and vegetation structure simultaneously. The EAARL sensor suite includes the raster-scanning, water-penetrating full-waveform adaptive Lidar, a down-looking red-green-blue (RGB) digital camera, a high-resolution multi-spectral color infrared (CIR) camera, two precision dual-frequency kinematic carrier-phase GPS receivers, and an integrated miniature digital inertial measurement unit, which provide for submeter georeferencing of each laser sample. The nominal EAARL platform is a twin-engine Cessna 310 aircraft, but the instrument may be deployed on a range of light aircraft. A single pilot, a Lidar operator, and a data analyst constitute the crew for most survey operations. This sensor has the potential to make significant contributions in measuring sub-aerial and submarine coastal topography within cross-environmental surveys. Elevation measurements were collected over the survey area using the EAARL system, and the resulting data were then processed using the Airborne Lidar Processing System (ALPS), a custom-built processing system developed in a NASA-USGS collaboration. ALPS supports the exploration and processing of Lidar data in an interactive or batch mode. Modules for presurvey flight line definition, flight path plotting, Lidar raster and waveform investigation, and digital camera image playback have been developed. Processing algorithms have been developed to extract the range to the first and last significant return within each waveform. ALPS is used routinely to create maps that represent submerged or first surface topography. Specialized filtering algorithms have been implemented to determine the 'bare earth' under vegetation from a point cloud of last return elevations.

Data Series↗

USGS2007

A GIS library of multibeam data for Massachusetts Bay and the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, offshore of Boston, Massachusetts

Introduction The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has mapped the sea floor of the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary and western Massachusetts Bay, offshore of Boston, Massachusetts (figure 1a, figure 1b). The mapping was carried out using a Simrad Subsea EM1000 Multibeam Echo Sounder (95 kHz) on the Frederick G. Creed on four cruises between 1994 and 1998. The mapping was conducted in cooperation with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and with support from the Canadian Hydrographic Service and the University of New Brunswick. This GIS Library contains images and grids of bathymetry, shaded relief bathymetry, and backscatter intensity data from these surveys in an Environmental Systems Research Institute (http://www.esri.com) (ESRI) ArcMap 9.1 Geographic Information System (GIS) project. The shapefiles, images, grids and associated metadata may also be downloaded individually. Descriptions and interpretations of the data are available in a series of published maps.

Data Series↗

USGS2010

Development of a channel classification to evaluate potential for cottonwood restoration, lower segments of the Middle Missouri River, South Dakota and Nebraska

This report documents development of a spatially explicit river and flood-plain classification to evaluate potential for cottonwood restoration along the Sharpe and Fort Randall segments of the Middle Missouri River. This project involved evaluating existing topographic, water-surface elevation, and soils data to determine if they were sufficient to create a classification similar to the Land Capability Potential Index (LCPI) developed by Jacobson and others (U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2007–5256) and developing a geomorphically based classification to apply to evaluating restoration potential. Existing topographic, water-surface elevation, and soils data for the Middle Missouri River were not sufficient to replicate the LCPI. The 1/3-arc-second National Elevation Dataset delineated most of the topographic complexity and produced cumulative frequency distributions similar to a high-resolution 5-meter topographic dataset developed for the Lower Missouri River. However, lack of bathymetry in the National Elevation Dataset produces a potentially critical bias in evaluation of frequently flooded surfaces close to the river. High-resolution soils data alone were insufficient to replace the information content of the LCPI. In test reaches in the Lower Missouri River, soil drainage classes from the Soil Survey Geographic Database database correctly classified 0.8–98.9 percent of the flood-plain area at or below the 5-year return interval flood stage depending on state of channel incision; on average for river miles 423–811, soil drainage class correctly classified only 30.2 percent of the flood-plain area at or below the 5-year return interval flood stage. Lack of congruence between soil characteristics and present-day hydrology results from relatively rapid incision and aggradation of segments of the Missouri River resulting from impoundments and engineering. The most sparsely available data in the Middle Missouri River were water-surface elevations. Whereas hydraulically modeled water-surface elevations were available at 1.6-kilometer intervals in the Lower Missouri River, water-surface elevations in the Middle Missouri River had to be interpolated between streamflow-gaging stations spaced 3–116 kilometers. Lack of high-resolution water-surface elevation data precludes development of LCPI-like classification maps. An hierarchical river classification framework is proposed to provide structure for a multiscale river classification. The segment-scale classification presented in this report is deductive and based on presumed effects of dams, significant tributaries, and geological (and engineered) channel constraints. An inductive reach-scale classification, nested within the segment scale, is based on multivariate statistical clustering of geomorphic data collected at 500-meter intervals along the river. Cluster-based classifications delineate reaches of the river with similar channel and flood-plain geomorphology, and presumably, similar geomorphic and hydrologic processes. The dominant variables in the clustering process were channel width (Fort Randall) and valley width (Sharpe), followed by braiding index (both segments). Clusters with multithread and highly sinuous channels are likely to be associated with dynamic channel migration and deposition of fresh, bare sediment conducive to natural cottonwood germination. However, restoration potential within these reaches is likely to be mitigated by interaction of cottonwood life stages with the highly altered flow regime.

Scientific Investigations Report↗

USGS2013

Statistical classification of hydrogeologic regions in the fractured rock area of Maryland and parts of the District of Columbia, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Delaware

Hydrogeologic regions in the fractured rock area of Maryland were classified using geographic information system tools with principal components and cluster analyses. A study area consisting of the 8-digit Hydrologic Unit Code (HUC) watersheds with rivers that flow through the fractured rock area of Maryland and bounded by the Fall Line was further subdivided into 21,431 catchments from the National Hydrography Dataset Plus. The catchments were then used as a common hydrologic unit to compile relevant climatic, topographic, and geologic variables. A principal components analysis was performed on 10 input variables, and 4 principal components that accounted for 83 percent of the variability in the original data were identified. A subsequent cluster analysis grouped the catchments based on four principal component scores into six hydrogeologic regions. Two crystalline rock hydrogeologic regions, including large parts of the Washington, D.C. and Baltimore metropolitan regions that represent over 50 percent of the fractured rock area of Maryland, are distinguished by differences in recharge, Precipitation minus Potential Evapotranspiration, sand content in soils, and groundwater contributions to streams. This classification system will provide a georeferenced digital hydrogeologic framework for future investigations of groundwater availability in the fractured rock area of Maryland.

Delaware;District of Columbia;Maryl;Pennsylvania;V↗

USGS2020

Assessment of soil and water resources in the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument, New Mexico

The Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument (Monument) in southern New Mexico was established in 2014. Given anticipated future demands in the Monument for recreation, livestock grazing, and maintenance of rights-of-way (for example, pipelines and powerlines), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) needs a better understanding of the current soil and water resources and how infrastructure improvements could affect these resources and the watershed. Specifically, the BLM is concerned with infiltration and erosion and their relations to existing or planned infrastructure, such as roads, campgrounds, location of livestock grazing, and rights-of-way. Alternatives to the current land-use conditions, land-management practices, and infrastructure will be assessed by BLM to best protect Monument resources. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the BLM, conducted a study to assess the soil and water resources within the Monument to provide an inventory and compilation of natural-resource information needed by resource managers for the BLM’s land-use planning process for this new national monument. The overall objectives of this study were to (1) compile and interpret existing soil- and water-resource data for the Monument and (2) provide a basic assessment of the surface hydrological effects of selected alternatives to current land use and infrastructure. Data were compiled by using geographic information system software and evaluated for hydrologic and landscape properties that influence infiltration, runoff, and erosion. The effects of changing vegetation were simulated by using different scenarios in the Rangeland Hydrology and Erosion Model. Results of this model indicate areas where soil loss or runoff may occur.

New Mexico↗

USGS1999

Covariance of lichen and vascular plant floras

The geographic relationships among taxonomic groups are important to study to determine patterns of biodiversity and whether or not associations occur between large groups, e.g., birds and vascular plants. This study was undertaken to determine relationships between higher plants and lower plants, specifically vascular plant and lichen floras in nine national parks of the Great Lakes region. No significant relationship was found between vascular plant floras and lichen floras in this area, which spans 1200 km longitudinally, or between an additional 19 areas from North America that were less than 1000 km(2) in area. For areas larger than 1000 km(2), however, a significant positive relationship existed for 33 areas that span one to approximately 150 million km(2). The ratio of numbers of vascular plants to lichens appeared to average just over 6 across the 33 areas. In the Great Lakes parks, between 28-30% of either the vascular plant or lichen species were singletons (occurring in only one park), but the parks that contained the most singletons were not congruent: Isle Royale had the most singleton lichens, while Indiana Dunes had the most vascular plant singletons. Fewer lichen species (2%) than vascular plants (4%) occurred in all nine parks. Latitude appeared to explain some of the variation between the two groups: vascular plants decreased with increasing latitude, while lichens increased.

Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Wisc↗

USGS1987

Trend analysis of monthly sulfur dioxide emissions in the conterminous United States, 1975-1984

Trends in monthly sulfur dioxide emissions for the 48 conterminous United States during the decade 1975-1984 are identified using a robust nonparametric procedure. Statistically significant downward trends are indicated in 32 States, upward trends appear in 10 States, and no significant trend is apparent in six States. Geographically, a distinct regional pattern of emission increases and decreases is evident with declines dominating the Eastern and Western States; increases aligning longitudinally from border to border in most of the Great Plains States, in several New England States, and in Georgia; and no trends frequently occurring in proximity to the upward trending emissions in the Plains States. A time-series decomposition of the monthly values indicates that one distinct emissions pattern commonly occurred through the period of record. This pattern is characterized by an initial emissions increase that peaks between 1977 and 1978, followed by a shallow and undulating decrease though the end of 1984. It is suggested that this signature represents the 'national' trend for the period. In addition, five regions of coherent sulfur dioxide emissions behavior are defined on the basis of seasonal occurrence of maximum and minimum emission loadings. A winter-summer, latitudinal opposition is apparent in the timing of emissions maxima, whereas an equinox-summer, longitudinal opposition is apparent in the timing of emissions minima.Trends in monthly sulfur dioxide emissions for the 48 conterminous United States during the decade 1975-1984 are identified using a robust nonparametric procedure. Statistically significant downward trends are indicated in 32 States, upward trends appear in 10 States, and no significant trend is apparent in six States. Geographically, a distinct regional pattern of emission increases and decreases is evident with declines dominating the Eastern and Western States; increases aligning longitudinally from border to border in most of the Great Plains States, in several New England States, and in Georgia; and no trends frequently occurring in proximity to the upward trending emissions in the Plains States. A time-series decomposition of the monthly values indicates that one distinct emissions pattern commonly occurred through the period of record. This pattern is characterized by an initial emissions increase that peaks between 1977 and 1978, followed by a shallow and undulating decrease through the end of 1984. It is suggested that this signature represents the 'national' trend for the period. Additional study results are discussed.

Atmospheric Environment↗