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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 811 records · Page 45Linked to original sources
USGS2011

2010 bathymetric survey and digital elevation model of Corte Madera Bay, California

A high-resolution bathymetric survey of Corte Madera Bay, California, was collected in early 2010 in support of a collaborative research project initiated by the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission and funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The primary objective of the Innovative Wetland Adaptation in the Lower Corte Madera Creek Watershed Project is to develop shoreline adaptation strategies to future sea-level rise based upon sound science. Fundamental to this research was the development of an of an up-to-date, high-resolution digital elevation model (DEM) extending from the subtidal environment through the surrounding intertidal marsh. We provide bathymetric data collected by the U.S. Geological Survey and have merged the bathymetry with a 1-m resolution aerial lidar data set that was collected by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration during the same time period to create a seamless, high-resolution DEM of Corte Madera Bay and the surrounding topography. The bathymetric and DEM surfaces are provided at both 1 m and 10 m resolutions formatted as both X, Y, Z text files and ESRI Arc ASCII files, which are accompanied by Federal Geographic Data Committee compliant metadata.

California↗
USGS1995

U.S. Geological Survey activities in New Mexico 1995

The report provides an overview of the USGS in New Mexico, including activities of the Water Resources, Geologic, and National Mapping Divisions. Some USGS projects address hydrologic and geologic hazards, such as flood discharges, landslides, and land subsidence. Recent environmental assessments include participation in the Kirtland Air Force Base Installation Restoration Program, erosion on the Zuni Reservation, and ground-water contamination in eastern Bernalillo County. Water availability studies have focused on ground-water depletion in the Albuquerque Basin, recharge in the Roswell Basin, and the water resources of Taos County. Irrigation drainage in the San Juan River area and trace metals in a reach of the Rio Grande have been investigated. The National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) program has two study units partly located in New Mexico. Energy and mineral resource assess- ments include gas resources in the San Juan Basin and environmental impacts of mining in the Mimbres Resource Area. The USGS is studying the extent of suitable habitat for Mexican Spotted Owls. Also discussed are cartographic/thematic products and Geographical Information Systems; surface-water, ground-water, and water-quality data-collection net- works; and reports published from 1993 to 1995.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2023

Magnitude and frequency of floods for rural streams in Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina, 2017—Results

Reliable estimates of the magnitude and frequency of floods are an important part of the framework for hydraulic-structure design and flood-plain management in Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina. Annual peak flows measured at U.S. Geological Survey streamgages are used to compute flood‑frequency estimates at those streamgages. However, flood‑frequency estimates also are needed at ungaged stream locations. A process known as regionalization was used to develop regression equations to estimate the magnitude and frequency of floods at ungaged locations. A multistate approach was used to update estimates of the magnitude and frequency of floods in rural, ungaged basins in Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina. Annual peak-flow data through September 2017 were analyzed for 965 streamgages with 10 or more years of data on rural streams in Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and adjacent parts of Alabama, Florida, Tennessee, and Virginia. Flood‑frequency estimates of the 50‑, 20‑, 10‑, 4‑, 2‑, 1‑, 0.5‑, and 0.2‑percent annual exceedance probability streamflows, which correspond to flood-recurrence intervals of 2, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, 200, and 500 years, respectively, were computed for the 965 streamgages following national guidelines. As part of the computation of flood‑frequency estimates for the streamgages, an updated value for the regional skew coefficient (0.048) was developed using a Bayesian generalized least squares regression model. The new regional skew has a mean square error or average variance of prediction of 0.092. Additionally, basin characteristics for these stations were computed using a geographical information system. Exploratory analyses on the 965 streamgages confirmed the five hydrologic regions for Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina defined in a previous rural flood‑frequency study. From the 965 streamgages, streamgages with 30 or more years of record were used to complete a peak-flow trend analysis. Of the 965 streamgages, 164 streamgages were found to be redundant and were excluded from the regional regression analyses. Data from the remaining 801 streamgages (292 in Georgia, 75 in South Carolina, 303 in North Carolina, 15 in Alabama, 12 in Florida, 39 in Tennessee, and 65 in Virginia) were used in a regional regression analysis relating basin characteristics to flood‑frequency estimates. This analysis, based on generalized least squares regression, was used to develop a set of predictive equations to estimate the 50‑, 20‑, 10‑, 4‑, 2‑, 1‑, 0.5‑, and 0.2‑percent annual exceedance probability streamflows for rural, ungaged basins in Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina. The final set of predictive equations are all functions of drainage area and percentage of the drainage basin within each of the five hydrologic regions. Average errors of prediction for these regression equations range from 35.8 to 44.4 percent. Flood‑frequency estimates also were computed for 72 regulated (for example, a streamgage where flow is altered by a dam or weir) streamgages in Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina with 20 or more years of post-regulation record using data through water year 2019. The water year is the annual period from October 1 through September 30 and is designated by the year in which the period ends. Of the 72 regulated streamgages, 18 had pre-regulated periods of record that also were analyzed as part of this study. Flow adjustments were applied to historic peaks and large floods from the pre-regulated period, if available, for use in the post-regulation frequency analysis. Estimates of large floods provide valuable information in frequency analysis and, thus, were included in the post-regulation frequency analysis.

Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina↗
USGS2000

Data for Quaternary faults in western Montana

The "World Map of Major Active Faults" Task Group is compiling published fault data, developing a digital database of the fault data, and preparing a series of maps for the United States and other countries in the western Hemisphere. The data is intended to portray the locations, ages, and activity rates of major earthquake-related features such as faults, folds, and liquefaction features that have geologic evidence of Quaternary (1.6 Ma) deformation. The Western Hemisphere effort is sponsored by International Lithosphere Program (ILP) Task Group II-2; the data compilation, database, and map for the United States is funded largely by the National Earthquake Hazard Reduction Program (NEHRP) through the U.S. Geological Survey. The ILP effort in the Western Hemisphere is coordinated by Michael N. Machette, the digital database is designed and managed Kathleen M. Haller, and map data are digitized and manipulated by Richard L. Dart. In addition to meeting the goals of the Task Group II-2, this effort represents a key contribution to the new Global Seismic Hazards Assessment Program (ILP Task Group II-0) for the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction. This compilation, which documents the published data on Quaternary surface faulting in western Montana, is one of many similar state or regional compilations that are planned for the project. Compilations for Arizona (Pearthree, 1998 #2945), Colorado (Widmann and others, 1998 #3441), New Mexico (Machette and others, 1998), and West Texas (Collins and others, 1996 #993) are currently available and the compilation for features east of the Rocky Mountain front will be available in early 2000 (Crone and Wheeler, in press). All are primarily a catalog of data that includes a variety of geographic, geologic, and paleoseismologic parameters for known or assumed Quaternary faults. These data compilations, the digital database, and the companion maps summarize the published information on known tectonic features and present the information in an internally consistent format. The compilations will be available in digital database format on the WorldWide Web in the near future, which will greatly improve their utility. Release of data for individual states and regions within the United States in this text-based format was necessary because of the time required to develop the national database.

Montana↗
USGS2019

Biogeochemical and physical processes controlling mercury methylation and bioaccumulation in Lake Powell, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Utah and Arizona, 2014 and 2015

Mercury monitoring results from about 300 Morone saxatilis (striped bass) muscle tissue samples collected by the State of Utah from Lake Powell resulted in a Utah/Arizona fish consumption advisory issued in 2012 for approximately the lower 100 kilometers of the reservoir. Chemical, physical, and biological data were collected during two synoptic sampling cruises on Lake Powell during May/June 2014 and August 2015 to test three hypotheses associated with a conceptual model developed to explain the observed geographic concentration gradient of Hg in fish tissue samples. This model proposes that in the transition from a primarily riverine system to a reservoir, there is a change in the concentration and composition of water-column particulate material, increasing in the proportion of organic content moving downstream, as the larger size fractions of the inorganic particulate load are deposited in the upper reservoir. This change alleviates light limitation of phytoplankton production and leads to a higher proportion of autochthonous primary production in the downstream direction. This, in turn, drives increased microbial methylmercury (MeHg) production in the benthos and potentially the water column, in the downstream direction, and results in the observed elevated fish Hg levels in the lower part of the reservoir. The model also proposes that there are differences between the main stem of Lake Powell and side canyons, embayments, or secondary rivers entering the reservoir, in terms of Hg cycling dynamics and bioaccumulations, driven mainly by differences in hydrology. Finally, seasonal differences in Hg dynamics within the reservoir are proposed, based on seasonal dynamics associated with primary production and the physical process of seasonal stratification. A total of three statistically testable hypotheses were proposed and postulated that measurable differences in key Hg and non-Hg metrics exist between: (1) the upper and lower reservoir; (2) main stem and river arm/side canyon/embayment sites; and (3) early-season (May/June 2014, less stratified) and late-season (August 2015, stratified) conditions. Statistically modeled least square means in combination with the graphical analysis of Hg and non-Hg parameters were used to examine the data collected during the study and test these hypotheses. Data collected during the study are included in a U.S. Geological Survey data release and are available online at https://doi.org/10.5066/F74X560J . In general, water-column, plankton, and surface sediment samples collected during the synoptic sampling cruises are supportive of the three hypotheses associated with the conceptual model. In support of hypothesis 1 (comparing upper and lower reservoir sites), the least square mean for turbidity was higher in the upper reservoir. In contrast, surface water particulate organic carbon (as a percentage of total particulate mass), particulate MeHg (by mass [in nanograms per gram] and as a percentage of total mercury [THg]), and particulate-dissolved partitioning coefficients for THg and MeHg were higher in the lower reservoir. Plankton THg concentrations also were significantly (probability [ p ] less than (<) 0.05) higher in the lower reservoir. Surface sediment metrics in support of hypothesis 1 include higher MeHg production potential rates in the lower reservoir. In contrast, there were no statistically significant differences between the upper and lower reservoir for surface sediment percent of MeHg and MeHg concentration, percent MeHg, or methylation rate constants. These spatial trends associated with hypothesis 1 indicate a pathway for enhanced Hg bioavailability in the lower reservoir. Hypothesis 2, which tested for differences between main stem and river arm/side canyon/embayment sites, was supported by a number of water-column parameters, including particulate THg and MeHg concentrations by mass (in nanograms per gram) and percent particulate MeHg being significantly ( p <0.05) higher in the river arms, side canyons, and embayments relative to the main stem channel. Plankton MeHg concentrations (by mass [in nanograms per gram] and volume [in nanograms per liter] and as a percentage of THg) were elevated in river arm/side canyon/embayment sites compared to main stem sites, indicating an enhanced potential for MeHg bioaccumulation at the base of the pelagic food web in river arms, side canyons, and embayments. In contrast, few of the sediment metrics differed between main stem and river arm/side canyon/embayment sampling sites; however, the potential for MeHg degradation in surface sediment was significantly higher in the main stem. The data indicate that river arm/side canyon/embayment sites may experience enhanced Hg bioaccumulation, compared to the main stem, because of higher MeHg levels at the base of the pelagic food web. This conclusion is supported by the elevated Hg detected in striped bass muscle tissue samples collected in the San Juan Arm during this study (2014). Fish collected from the lower reservoir exhibited a distinct Hg isotopic signature that was enriched in delta (δ) 202 Hg and capital delta (Δ) 199 Hg relative to fish samples collected from either Good Hope Bay or the San Juan Arm. Hypothesis 3 tested for differences between early (May/June) high-flow and late (August) low-flow seasons. This test was supported by a range of non-Hg metrics (nitrate, phosphate, chlorophyll a , dissolved oxygen, fluorescent dissolved organic matter, temperature, and pH) that reflect the increase in chlorophyll a , decrease in nutrients, and buildup of stratified conditions in the transition from early- to late-season sampling periods. Significant seasonal differences also were noted for multiple Hg metrics, including (a) water-column filtered and particulate (by mass) MeHg and THg concentrations; (b) plankton MeHg and THg concentration (by mass); and (c) sediment percent MeHg, Hg(II)-methylation rate constant, and microbial ribosomal ribonucleic acid, small subunit 16 (16S rRNA) abundance, all of which were higher during the late-season synoptic sampling. Overall, the surface sediment metrics are consistent with a seasonal shift from the early-season synoptic results, when the availability of Hg(II) exerts a primary control on MeHg production, to the late-season synoptic sampling, when microbial activity is a dominant driver of MeHg production.

Arizona, Utah↗
USGS2008

GIS Representation of Coal-Bearing Areas in Africa

The African continent contains approximately 5 percent of the world's proven recoverable reserves of coal (World Energy Council, 2007). Energy consumption in Africa is projected to grow at an annual rate of 2.3 percent from 2004 through 2030, while average consumption in first-world nations is expected to rise at 1.4 percent annually (Energy Information Administration, 2007). Coal reserves will undoubtedly continue to be part of Africa's energy portfolio as it grows in the future. A review of academic and industrial literature indicates that 27 nations in Africa contain coal-bearing rock. South Africa accounts for 96 percent of Africa's total proven recoverable coal reserves, ranking it sixth in the world. This report is a digital compilation of information on Africa's coal-bearing geology found in the literature and is intended to be used in small scale spatial investigations in a Geographic Information System (GIS) and as a visual aid for the discussion of Africa's coal resources. Many maps of African coal resources often include points for mine locations or regional scale polygons with generalized borders depicting basin edges. Point locations are detailed but provide no information regarding extent, and generalized polygons do not have sufficient detail. In this dataset, the polygons are representative of the actual coal-bearing lithology both in location and regional extent. Existing U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) digital geology datasets provide the majority of the base geologic polygons. Polygons for the coal-bearing localities were clipped from the base geology that represented the age and extent of the coal deposit as indicated in the literature. Where the 1:5,000,000-scale geology base layer's ages conflicted with those in the publications, polygons were generated directly from the regional African coal maps (1:500,000 scale, approximately) in the published material. In these cases, coal-bearing polygons were clipped to the literature's indicated coal extent, without regard to the underlying geology base or topographic constraints. Indication of the presence of African coal is based on multiple sources. However, the quality of the sources varies and there is often disagreement in the literature. This dataset includes the rank, age, and location of coal in Africa as well as the detailed source information responsible for each coal-bearing polygon. The dataset is not appropriate for use in resource assessments of any kind. Attributes necessary for tasks, such as number of coal seams, thickness of seams, and depth to coal are rarely provided in the literature and accordingly not represented in this data set. Small-scale investigations, representations and display uses are most appropriate for this product. This product is the first to show coal distribution as bounded by actual geologic contacts for the entire African continent. In addition to the spatial component of this dataset, complete references to source material are provided for each polygon, making this product a useful first step resource in African coal research. Greater detail regarding the creation of this dataset as well as the sources used is provided in the metadata file for the Africa_coal.shp file.

Open-File Report↗
USGS1970

Annotated bibliography on artificial recharge of ground water, 1955-67

Artificial ground-water recharge has become more important as water use by agriculture, industry, and municipalities increases. Water management agencies are increasingly interested in potential use of recharge for pollution abatement, waste-water disposal, and re-use and reclamation of locally available supplies. Research projects and theoretical analyses of operational recharge systems show increased scientific emphasis on the practice. Overall ground-water basin management systems generally now contain considerations of artificial recharge, whether by direct or indirect methods. Artificial ground-water recharge is a means of conserving surface runoff for future use in places where it would otherwise be lost, of protecting ground-water basins from salt-water encroachment along coastal areas, and of storing and distributing imported water. The biblio-graphy emphasizes technology; however, annotations of articles on waste-water reclamation, ground-water management and ground-water basin management are included. Subjects closely related to artificial recharge, including colloidal flow through porous media, field or laboratory instrumentation, and waste disposal by deep well injection are included where they specifically relate to potential recharge problems. Where almost the same material has been published in several journals, all references are included on the assumption that some publications may be more readily available to interested persons than others. Other publications, especially those of foreign literature, provided abstracts that were used freely as time limitations precluded obtaining and annotating all materials. Abstracts taken from published sources are noted. These are: "Abstracts of North American Geology," U.S. Department of the Interior, Geological Survey; "Abstracts of Recent Published Material on Foil and Water Conservation," ARS-41 series, Agricultural F.esearch Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture; "Water and1 Water Engineering," published by Fuel and Metallurgical Journals, Ltd., London, England; "Journal of Geophysical Research," American Geophysical Union, Washington, D.C.; "American Society of Civil Engineers Transactions," New York; "Selected Bibliography of Hydrology, United Kingdom, for the Years 1955-59," International Association of Scientific Hydrology; "Water Wells, an Annotated Bibliography," California University Water Resources Center Archives Report 13; "Re-use of Effluent in the Future With an Annotated Bibliography," by G. A. Whetstone, Texas Water Development Board Report 8, Austin, Tex.; "Journal of Water Pollution Control Federation," Washington, D.C.; and "A List of Selected Technical References on Artificial Recharge of Ground-Water Reservoirs," compiled by Roy W. Graves, Tulsa University, Information Services Department, Tulsa, Okla. Other notations are self-explanatory, and initials are those of the authors (DCS, DJG, WK). An unpublished compilation of recharge references by Arnon Arad sponsored by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization during a training period with the U.S. Geological Survey was also used. The bibliography is arranged alphabetically by author. Where an author has more than one publication, the arrangement is chronological; where an author has more than one publication in a given year, a, b, c, . . . are added. The indexing is by subject and geographic location. Each article was assigned the key words or phrases to best characterize its contents. Units of measure are as they were in the original article; abbreviations retained are generally those in common use such as mg/1 (milligrams per liter), ppm (parts per million), gpm (gallons per minute), km (kilometers), m (meters), cu m per hr (cubic meters p^r hour), cfs (cubic feet per second), me/1 (milliequivalents per liter), psi (pounds per square inch), BOD (biochemical oxygen demand), sq m (square meters), gpd (gallons per day), and mgd (million gallons per day). The bibliography was prepared because of the worldwide interest in the field of artificial recharge and the need for a single source of references to the literature published since 1954. The work is a sequel to the "Annotated Bibliography on Artificial Recharge of Ground Water Through 1954," by D. K. Todd, U.S. Geological Survey Water-Supply Paper 1477, published in 1959.

Water Supply Paper↗
USGS1999

Vocalization behavior and response of black rails

We measured the vocal responses and movements of radio-tagged black rails (Laterallus jamaicensis) (n = 43, 26 males, 17 females) to playback of vocalizations at 2 sites in Florida during the breeding seasons of 1992-95. We used regression coefficients from logistic regression equations to model the probability of a response conditional to the birds' sex, nesting status, distance to playback source, and the time of survey. With a probability of 0.811, non-nesting male black rails were most likely to respond to playback, while nesting females were the least likely to respond (probability = 0.189). Linear regression was used to determine daily, monthly, and annual variation in response from weekly playback surveys along a fixed route during the breeding seasons of 1993-95. Significant sources of variation in the linear regression model were month (F = 3.89, df = 3, p = 0.0140), year (F = 9.37, df = 2, p = 0.0003), temperature (F = 5.44, df=1, p = 0.0236), and month*year (F = 2.69, df = 5, p = 0.0311). The model was highly significant (p < 0.0001) and explained 53% of the variation of mean response per survey period (R2 = 0.5353). Response probability data obtained from the radio-tagged black rails and data from the weekly playback survey route were combined to provide a density estimate of 0.25 birds/ha for the St. Johns National Wildlife Refuge. Density estimates for black rails may be obtained from playback surveys, and fixed radius circular plots. Circular plots should be considered as having a radius of 80 m and be located so the plot centers are 150 m apart. Playback tapes should contain one series of Kic-kic-kerr and Growl vocalizations recorded within the same geographic region as the study area. Surveys should be conducted from 0-2 hours after sunrise or 0-2 hours before sunset, during the pre-nesting season, and when wind velocity is < 20 kph. Observers should listen for 3-4 minutes after playing the survey tape and record responses heard during that time. Observers should be trained to identify black rail vocalizations and should have acceptable hearing ability. Given the number of variables that may have large effects on the response behavior of black rails to tape playback, we recommend that future studies using playback surveys should be cautious when presenting estimates of 'absolute' density. Though results did account for variation in response behavior, we believe that additional variation in vocal response between sites, with breeding status, and bird density remains in question. Playback surveys along fixed routes providing a simple index of abundance would be useful to monitor populations over large geographic areas, and over time. Considering the limitations of most agency resources for webless waterbirds, index surveys may be more appropriate. Future telemetry studies of this type on other species and at other sites would be useful to calibrate information obtained from playback surveys whether reporting an index of abundance or density estimate.

Book chapter↗
USGS1987

Results of a workshop concerning impacts of various activities on the functions of bottomland hardwoods

Under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has regulatory responsibilities related to the discharge of dredged or fill material into the Nation’s waters. In addition to its advisory role in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' permit program, EPA has a number of specific authorities, including formulation of the Section 404(b)(1) guidelines, use of Section 404(c) to prohibit disposal at particular sites, and enforcement actions for unauthorized discharges. A number of recent court cases focus on the geographic scope of Section 404 jurisdiction in potential bottomland hardwood (BLH) wetlands and the nature of landclearing activities in these areas that require a permit under Section 404. Accordingly, EPA needs to establish the scientific basis for implementing its responsibilities under Section 404 in bottomland hardwoods. EPA is approaching this task through a series of workshops designed to provide current scientific information on bottomland hardwoods and to organize that information in a manner pertinent to key policy questions. The first two workshops in the series were originally conceived as technically oriented meetings that would provide the information necessary to develop policy options at the third workshop. More specifically, the first workshop was designed to examine a zonation concept as a means of characterizing different BLH communities and describing variations in their functions along a soil moisture gradient. The second workshop was perceived as an attempt to evaluate the impacts of various activities on those functions. However, one conclusion of the first workshop, which was held in December 1984 in St. Francisville, Louisiana, was that the zonation approach does not describe the variability in the functions performed by BLH ecosystems sufficiently well to allow its use as the sole basis for developing a regulatory framework. That is, factors other than zone were considered critical for an effective characterization of the structure and functions of bottomland hardwoods. The approach to the second workshop, the results of which are described in this report, was therefore modified in response to the conclusions from the first workshop. The focus of the second workshop remained an analysis of the impacts of various activities or the functions of BLH ecosystems. However, as a prerequisite to this analysis, participants were also asked to develop a list of characteristics that determine the extent to which BLH sites perform the important functions. The workshop was organized such that alternating plenary and workgroup sessions allowed ample time for communication while still maintaining a focus on the overall goal. In the initial session, various individuals gave presentations concerning methodologies for evaluating the functions performed by wetlands, factors influencing the conversion of BLH forests to other uses, and the impacts of conversion activities. These were followed by a series of case study presentations designed to familiarize participants with the kinds of issues that are dealt with in the Section 404 program. These presentations are cited in this report as (author, workshop presentation). At the conclusion of these presentations, participants were divided into six workgroups to examine the functions of BLH ecosystems in the areas of hydrology, water quality, fisheries, wildlife, ecosystem processes, and culture/recreation/economics. Each workgroup was asked to undertake the following tasks. 1. Developed a list of functions performed by BLH ecosystems from the perspective of the workgroup's expertise and area of responsibility. 2. Identify those activities (e.g., impoundment construction, conversion to soybean farming) that impact the major functions (e.g., sediment retention, detrital export) performed by BLH ecosystems. 3. Develop a list of characteristics that determine the extent to which a BLH site performs each function and describe the relationship of each characteristic to the function. Develop, with supporting evidence where possible, an analysis of the impact of each activity (Task 2) on each characteristic (Task 3) and on each function as a whole. Upon completion of Task 2, in an effort to provide some uniformity in the analysis by the various workgroups, EPA personnel and several participants met and compiled a complete list of all the activities identified as having significant impacts in bottomland hardwoods (Table 1). From this list the group derived a set of seven activities, and a number of specific actions associated with each, for analysis by the workgroups (Table 2). These activities were selected on the basis of their perceived importance in BLH ecosystems and their interest from the perspective of EPA. Each workgroup was also encourage to ass any activities of particular important from its perspective. The workgroup reports that follow document the results of discussion concerning the above tasks. The WORKSHOP SUMMARY attempts to summarize these workgroup results, discuss availability of information, and identify some problems that must be addressed prior to the third workshop in this series.

Report↗
USGS1987

Results of a workshop concerning ecological zonation in bottomland hardwoods

Under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has regulatory responsibilities concerning the discharge of dredged or fill material into the Nation's waters. In addition to its advisory role in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' permit program, EPA has a number of specific authorities, including formulation of the Section 404(b)(1) Guidelines, use of Section 404(c) to prohibit disposal at particular sites, and enforcement actions for unauthorized discharges. A number of recent court cases focus on the geographic scope of Section 404 jurisdiction in potential bottomland hardwood (BLH) wetlands and the nature of landclearing activities in these areas that require a permit under Section 404. Accordingly, EPA needs to establish the scientific basis for implementing its responsibilities under Section 404 in bottomland hardwoods. EPA is approaching this task through a series of workshops designed to provide current scientific information on bottomland hardwoods and to organize that information in a manner pertinent to key questions, including the following. What are the characteristics of bottomland hardwoods (in terms of hydrology, soils, vegetation, fish, wildlife, agricultural potential, and the like) and how can the functions (e.g., flood storage, water quality maintenance, detrital export) that they perform best be quantified? How do perturbations like landclearing, levee construction, and drainage impact the functions that bottomland hardwoods perform and how can these effects best be quantified? And finally, how significant are the impacts and how is their significance likely to change under various management scenarios? The first workshop in this series was held December 3-7, 1984, in St. Francisville, Louisiana. The workshop was attended by over 40 scientists and regulators (see ACKNOWLEDGMENTS section) and facilitated by the editors of this report under an Interagency Agreement between EPA and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The general objective of the workshop was to examine ways in which the structure and function of BLH ecosystems can be characterized and, in particular, to investigate the utility of a conceptual framework developed at a workshop held in Lake Lanier, Georgia, in 1980. In this framework, the transition from aquatic habitats to upland habitats through a BLH ecosystem is divided into six zones based on concomitant variation in the soil moisture regime and associated vegetation (Table 1). The zonation concept is of particular interest to EPA from at least two perspectives. The first is simply as a framework for organizing information. If the zones are discernible in the field, have recognizable characteristics, and perform identifiable functions, they might form a useful basis for tasks such as assessing the impacts of a particular site-specific activity. The second is the potential utility of the zonation concept in identifying the wetland portions of BLH communities. If the zones can be recognized in the field, and if one or more of them can be shown consistently to have wetland characteristics (i.e., perform functions, such as detrital export, often attributed to wetlands), while others do not, then the zones might have utility in identifying areas that fall under the jurisdiction of Section 404. The workshop itself was divided into two parts. The first was a series of papers in which authors described current research and data-synthesis activities in the context of the zonation concept. The second was a series of six workgroups in which participants discussed the zonation concept from the perspective of hydrology, soils, vegetation, fish, wildlife, and ecosystem processes. This report is a compilation of the written material from those workgroups, much of which was produced at the workshop. The formal papers presented in the first part of the workshop have been distributed to participants under separate cover, but are referenced in this report by citations such as: (Jones, workshop presentation).

Report↗
USGS2003

Nearshore benthic habitat GIS for the Channel Islands National Sanctuary and southern California State Fisheries Reserves. Volume 1

The nearshore benthic habitat of the Santa Barbara coast and Channel Islands supports diverse marine life that is commercially, recreationally, and intrinsically valuable. Some of these resources are known to be endangered including a variety of rockfish and the white abalone. Agencies of the state of California and the United States have been mandated to preserve and enhance these resources. Data from sidescan sonar, bathymetry, video and dive observations, and physical samples are consolidated in a geographic information system (GIS). The GIS provides researchers and policymakers a view of the relationship among data sets to assist scienctific research and to help with economic and social policy-making decisions regarding this protected environment.

California↗
USGS2009

Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

The Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center (NPWRC) conducts integrated research to fulfill the Department of the Interior's responsibilities to the Nation's natural resources. Located on 600 acres along the James River Valley near Jamestown, North Dakota, the NPWRC develops and disseminates scientific information needed to understand, conserve, and wisely manage the Nation's biological resources. Research emphasis is primarily on midcontinental plant and animal species and ecosystems of the United States. During the center's 40-year history, its scientists have earned an international reputation for leadership and expertise on the biology of waterfowl and grassland birds, wetland ecology and classification, mammalian behavior and ecology, grassland ecosystems, and application of statistics and geographic information systems. To address current science challenges, NPWRC scientists collaborate with researchers from other U.S. Geological Survey centers and disciplines (Biology, Geography, Geology, and Water) and with biologists and managers in the Department of the Interior (DOI), other Federal agencies, State agencies, universities, and nongovernmental organizations. Expanding upon its scientific expertise and leadership, the NPWRC is moving in new directions, including invasive plant species, restoration of native habitats, carbon sequestration and marketing, and ungulate management on DOI lands.

Fact Sheet↗
USGS2008

Basin characteristics for selected streamflow-gaging stations in and near West Virginia

Basin characteristics have long been used to develop equations describing streamflow. In the past, flow equations used in West Virginia were based on a few hand-calculated basin characteristics. More recently, the use of a Geographic Information System (GIS) to generate basin characteristics from existing datasets has refined the process for developing equations to describe flow values in the Mountain State. These basin characteristics are described in this document for streamflow-gaging stations in and near West Virginia. The GIS program developed in ArcGIS Workstation by Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI?) used data that included National Elevation Dataset (NED) at 1:24,000 scale, climate data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA), streamlines from the National Hydrologic Dataset (NHD), and LandSat-based land-cover data (NLCD) for the period 1999-2003. Full automation of data generation was not achieved due to some inaccuracies in the elevation dataset, as well as inaccuracies in the streamflow-gage locations retrieved from the National Water Information System (NWIS). A Pearson?s correlation examination of the data indicates that several of the basin characteristics are correlated with drainage area. However, the GIS-generated data provide a consistent and documented set of basin characteristics for resource managers and researchers to use.

West Virginia↗
USGS2016

Estimated historical distribution of grassland communities of the Southern Great Plains

The purpose of this project was to map the estimated distribution of grassland communities of the Southern Great Plains prior to Euro-American settlement. The Southern Great Plains Rapid Ecoregional Assessment (REA), under the direction of the Bureau of Land Management and the Great Plains Landscape Conservation Cooperative, includes four ecoregions: the High Plains, Central Great Plains, Southwestern Tablelands, and the Nebraska Sand Hills. The REA advisors and stakeholders determined that the mapping accuracy of available national land-cover maps was insufficient in many areas to adequately address management questions for the REA. Based on the recommendation of the REA stakeholders, we estimated the potential historical distribution of 10 grassland communities within the Southern Great Plains project area using data on soils, climate, and vegetation from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) including the Soil Survey Geographic Database (SSURGO) and Ecological Site Information System (ESIS). The dominant grassland communities of the Southern Great Plains addressed as conservation elements for the REA area are shortgrass, mixed-grass, and sand prairies. We also mapped tall-grass, mid-grass, northwest mixed-grass, and cool season bunchgrass prairies, saline and foothill grasslands, and semi-desert grassland and steppe. Grassland communities were primarily defined using the annual productivity of dominant species in the ESIS data. The historical grassland community classification was linked to the SSURGO data using vegetation types associated with the predominant component of mapped soil units as defined in the ESIS data. We augmented NRCS data with Landscape Fire and Resource Management Planning Tools (LANDFIRE) Biophysical Settings classifications 1) where NRCS data were unavailable and 2) where fifth-level watersheds intersected the boundary of the High Plains ecoregion in Wyoming. Spatial data representing the estimated historical distribution of grassland communities of the Southern Great Plains are provided as a 30 x 30-meter gridded surface (raster dataset). This information will help to address the priority management questions for grassland communities for the Southern Great Plains REA and can be used to inform other regional-level land management decisions.

Southern Great Plains↗
USGS2009

Production of a national 1:1,000,000-scale hydrography dataset for the United States: feature selection, simplification, and refinement

During 2006-09, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the National Atlas of the United States, produced a 1:1,000,000-scale (1:1M) hydrography dataset comprising streams and waterbodies for the entire United States, including Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, for inclusion in the recompiled National Atlas. This report documents the methods used to select, simplify, and refine features in the 1:100,000-scale (1:100K) (1:63,360-scale in Alaska) National Hydrography Dataset to create the national 1:1M hydrography dataset. Custom tools and semi-automated processes were created to facilitate generalization of the 1:100K National Hydrography Dataset (1:63,360-scale in Alaska) to 1:1M on the basis of existing small-scale hydrography datasets. The first step in creating the new 1:1M dataset was to address feature selection and optimal data density in the streams network. Several existing methods were evaluated. The production method that was established for selecting features for inclusion in the 1:1M dataset uses a combination of the existing attributes and network in the National Hydrography Dataset and several of the concepts from the methods evaluated. The process for creating the 1:1M waterbodies dataset required a similar approach to that used for the streams dataset. Geometric simplification of features was the next step. Stream reaches and waterbodies indicated in the feature selection process were exported as new feature classes and then simplified using a geographic information system tool. The final step was refinement of the 1:1M streams and waterbodies. Refinement was done through the use of additional geographic information system tools.

Scientific Investigations Report↗
USGS2019

Estimating potential wetland extent along selected river reaches in Indiana using streamflow statistics and flood-inundation mapping techniques

In this study potential wetland extents were estimated for 12 river reaches covering about 750 river miles in Indiana and parts of Illinois and Ohio. The study was completed by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service. This study follows and adds to the work completed in a pilot study and determines that potential wetland extents can be estimated using streamflow statistics, streamgage data, and flood-inundation mapping techniques. The study was designed to assist in the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program. The Agricultural Conservation Easement Program is a voluntary program administered by the Natural Resources Conservation Service that provides technical and financial assistance to private landowners and Tribes to restore, protect, and enhance wetlands in exchange for retiring eligible land from agriculture. For a site to be eligible for wetland restoration, it should be in a zone with sustained or frequent flooding. This study calculated the flows that lasted for a period of 7 consecutive days on average at least once every 2 years (a value termed the “7MQ2”) for all the U.S. Geological Survey streamgages within the selected river reaches. These 7MQ2 flows were related to the stage-discharge tables for each streamgage, and a corresponding water-surface elevation was determined. Maps of estimated wetland extent were prepared using the 7MQ2 inundation elevation data in conjunction with bare-earth land-surface elevation data made publicly available through the online geospatial data clearinghouses of Indiana, Illinois, and Ohio. Flood-inundation mapping techniques were applied with the aid of geographic information system software to generate water-surface planes that represent inundation elevations associated with the 7MQ2 streamflow. Land-surface elevation data from high-resolution digital elevation models were subtracted from the water-surface planes to produce maps of wetland extent. The 12 map products, including datasets and geoprocessing tools, produced from this study will aid the National Resources Conservation Service and its partners with the onsite inundation-zone verification in agricultural land for potential restoration.

Illinois, Indiana, Ohio↗
USGS2010

Phenological classification of the United States: A geographic framework for extending multi-sensor time-series data

This study introduces a new geographic framework, phenological classification, for the conterminous United States based on Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) time-series data and a digital elevation model. The resulting pheno-class map is comprised of 40 pheno-classes, each having unique phenological and topographic characteristics. Cross-comparison of the pheno-classes with the 2001 National Land Cover Database indicates that the new map contains additional phenological and climate information. The pheno-class framework may be a suitable basis for the development of an Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR)-MODIS NDVI translation algorithm and for various biogeographic studies.

Remote Sensing↗
USGS2019

Deep convolutional neural networks for map-type classification

Maps are an important medium that enable people to comprehensively understand the configuration of cultural activities and natural elements over different times and places. Although a massive number of maps are available in the digital era, how to effectively and accurately locate and access the desired map on the Internet remains a challenge today. Previous works partially related to map-type classification mainly focused on map comparison and map matching at the local scale. The features derived from local map areas might be insufficient to characterize map content. To facilitate establishing an automatic approach for accessing the needed map, this paper reports our investigation into using deep learning techniques to recognize seven types of map, including topographic, terrain, physical, urban scene, the National Map, 3D, nighttime, orthophoto, and land cover classification. Experimental results show that the state-of-the-art deep convolutional neural networks can support automatic map-type classification. Additionally, the classification accuracy varies according to different map-types. This work can contribute to the implementation of deep learning techniques in the cartographic community and advance the progress of Geographical Artificial Intelligence (GeoAI).

Conference Paper↗