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USGS2008

Methods and sources of data used to develop selected water-quality indicators for streams and ground water for EPA's 2007 Report on the Environment: Science report

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) was one of numerous governmental agencies, private organizations, and the academic community that provided data and interpretations for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (USEPA) 2007 Report on the Environment: Science Report . This report documents the sources of data and methods used to develop selected water–quality indicators for the 2007 edition of the report compiled by USEPA. Stream and ground–water–quality data collected nationally in a consistent manner as part of the USGS’s National Water–Quality Assessment Program (NAWQA) were provided for several water–quality indicators, including Nitrogen and Phosphorus in Streams in Agricultural Watersheds; Pesticides in Streams in Agricultural Watersheds; and Nitrate and Pesticides in Shallow Ground Water in Agricultural Watersheds . In addition, the USGS provided nitrate (nitrate plus nitrite) and phosphorus riverine load estimates calculated from water–quality and streamflow data collected as part of its National Stream Water Quality Accounting Network (NASQAN) and its Federal–State Cooperative Program for the Nitrogen and Phosphorus Discharge from Large Rivers indicator.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2011

USGS global change science strategy: A framework for understanding and responding to climate and land-use change

This U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Global Change Science Strategy expands on the Climate Variability and Change science component of the USGS 2007 Science Strategy, “Facing Tomorrow’s Challenges: USGS Science in the Coming Decade” (U.S. Geological Survey, 2007). Here we embrace the broad definition of global change provided in the U.S. Global Change Research Act of 1990 (Public Law 101–606,104 Stat. 3096–3104)—“Changes in the global environment (including alterations in climate, land productivity, oceans or other water resources, atmospheric chemistry, and ecological systems) that may alter the capacity of the Earth to sustain life”—with a focus on climate and land-use change. There are three major characteristics of this science strategy. First, it addresses the science required to broadly inform global change policy, while emphasizing the needs of natural-resource managers and reflecting the role of the USGS as the science provider for the Department of the Interior and other resource-management agencies. Second, the strategy identifies core competencies, noting 10 critical capabilities and strengths the USGS uses to overcome key problem areas. We highlight those areas in which the USGS is a science leader, recognizing the strong partnerships and effective collaboration that are essential to address complex global environmental challenges. Third, it uses a query-based approach listing key research questions that need to be addressed to create an agenda for hypothesis-driven global change science organized under six strategic goals. Overall, the strategy starts from where we are, provides a vision for where we want to go, and then describes high-priority strategic actions, including outcomes, products, and partnerships that can get us there. Global change science is a well-defined research field with strong linkages to the ecosystems, water, energy and minerals, natural hazards, and environmental health components of the USGS Science Strategy (2007). When science strategies that cover these other components are developed, coordinated implementation will be necessary to achieve Bureau-level synergies and optimize capabilities and expertise. In October 2010, USGS realigned its management and budget structure to implement its 2007 Science Strategy. The new organizational structure, in which “Global Change” is one of seven key mission areas, lends itself to the advancement of the established six strategic goals. USGS global change science is formally represented by the “Climate and Land-Use Change” Mission Area in the FY 2012 budget (USGS, 2011). This plan was developed by the USGS Global Change Science Strategy Planning Team (SSPT) appointed by the USGS Director on March 4, 2010 and charged with developing a Global Change Science Strategy for the coming decade (McNutt, 2010). USGS managers and science staff are the main audience for this science strategy. This document is also intended to serve as the foundation for consistent USGS collaboration and communication with partners and stakeholders.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2007

U.S. Geological Survey Georgia Water Science Center and City of Brunswick–Glynn County Cooperative Water Program— Summary of activities, July 2005 through June 2006

Since 1959, the U.S. Geological Survey has conducted a cooperative water resources program (CWP) with the City of Brunswick and Glynn County in the Brunswick, Georgia, area. Since the late 1950s, the salinity of ground water in the Upper Floridan aquifer near downtown Brunswick, Georgia, has been increasing, and its occurrence has been detected across an area of increasing size. Pumping of the Upper Floridan aquifer near downtown Brunswick has lowered water levels in the aquifer and resulted in an upward hydraulic gradient between the highly saline parts of the Lower Floridan aquifer and the normally fresh Upper Floridan aquifer. Saltwater likely enters the Upper Floridan aquifer through localized, vertically oriented conduits of relatively high permeability and moves laterally in response to the distribution of stresses within the aquifer. The Brunswick-Glynn County CWP for fiscal year 2006 includes the operation and maintenance of 12 continuous water-level recorders. In addition, water-level data were collected from 52 wells and water from 70 wells was analyzed for chloride concentration during June 2005. Geophysical logs were obtained from one well to assess whether the cause of elevated chloride concentration could be due to leaky well casing. A summary of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Environmental Protection Division (GaEPD) Georgia Coastal Sound Science Initiative (CSSI) activities that directly benefit the CWP-Brunswick-Glynn County is included in this report. The GaEPD CSSI is a program of scientific and feasibility studies to support development of a final strategy to protect the Upper Floridan aquifer from saltwater contamination. These data presented in this report are needed by State and local authorities to manage water resources effectively in the coastal area of Georgia.

Georgia↗
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↗
USGS2024

Implementation of the CREED approach for environmental assessments

Environmental exposure data are a key component of chemical and ecological assessments, supporting and guiding environmental management decisions and regulations. Measures taken to protect the environment based on exposure data can have social and economic implications. Flawed information may lead to measures being taken in the wrong place or to important action not being taken. Although the advantages of harmonizing evaluation methods have been demonstrated for hazard information, no comparable approach is established for exposure data evaluation. The goal of Criteria for Reporting and Evaluating Exposure Datasets (CREED) is to improve the transparency and consistency with which exposure data are evaluated regarding usability in environmental assessments. Here, we describe the synthesis of the CREED process, and propose methods and tools to summarize and interpret the outcomes of the data usability evaluation in support of decision-making and communication. The CREED outcome includes a summary that reports any key gaps or shortcomings in the reliability (data quality) and relevance (fitness for purpose) of the data being considered. The approach has been implemented in a workbook template (provided as Supporting Information), for assessors to readily follow the workflow and create a report card for any given dataset. The report card communicates the outcome of the CREED evaluation and summarizes important dataset attributes, providing a concise reference pertaining to the dataset usability for a specified purpose and documenting data limitations that may restrict data use or increase environmental assessment uncertainty. The application of CREED is demonstrated through three case studies, which also were used during beta testing of the methodology. As experience with the CREED approach application develops, further improvements may be identified and incorporated into the framework. Such development is to be encouraged in the interest of better science and decision-making, and to make environmental monitoring and assessment more cost-effective.

Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management↗
USGS2021

The role of behavioral ecotoxicology in environmental protection

For decades, we have known that chemicals affect human and wildlife behavior. Moreover, due to recent technological and computational advances, scientists are now increasingly aware that a wide variety of contaminants and other environmental stressors adversely affect organismal behavior and subsequent ecological outcomes in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. There is also a groundswell of concern that regulatory ecotoxicology does not adequately consider behavior, primarily due to a lack of standardized toxicity methods. This has, in turn, led to the exclusion of many behavioral ecotoxicology studies from chemical risk assessments. To improve understanding of the challenges and opportunities for behavioral ecotoxicology within regulatory toxicology/risk assessment, a unique workshop with international representatives from the fields of behavioral ecology, ecotoxicology, regulatory (eco)toxicology, neurotoxicology, test standardization, and risk assessment resulted in the formation of consensus perspectives and recommendations, which promise to serve as a roadmap to advance interfaces among the basic and translational sciences, and regulatory practices.

Environmental Science & Technology↗
USGS2007

Coastal Prairie Restoration Information System: Version 1 (Louisiana)

The Coastal Prairie Restoration Information System (CPR) is a Microsoft Access database that allows users to query and view data about Louisiana coastal prairie species. Less than 0.1% of Louisiana's coastal prairie vegetation remains in a relatively undisturbed condition. Encompassing as much as 1 million hectares of land, coastal prairie is a hybrid of coastal wetlands and tall grass prairie. Over 550 plant species have been identified in Louisiana's coastal prairies to date. Efforts to conserve and restore this endangered ecosystem are limited by the ability of workers to identify and access knowledge about this diverse group of plants. In this database, a variety of data are provided for each of 650 coastal prairie species in Louisiana. The database was developed at the U.S. Geological Survey National Wetlands Research Center by Larry Allain, with software development by Myra Silva. Additional funding was provided by the biology department of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (ULL), the ULL Center for Environmental and Ecological Technology, and the National Science Foundation.

Data Series↗
USGS2025

Climate change impacts on plant communities in the sagebrush region—A science synthesis to inform Bureau of Land Management resource management

This report synthesizes current (2024) science-based knowledge related to the impacts of climate change on big sagebrush vegetation in Western North America. This effort was conducted through the U.S. Geological Survey working with the Bureau of Land Management as part of multiple science syntheses to aid management agencies developing environmental impacts assessments in response to human-related or caused events. This report reviews the potential impacts climate change may have on sagebrush vegetation and related management decisions. The body of the synthesis introduces the diverse impacts of climate change across the region by first focusing directly on what climate change may entail in terms of altered temperature and precipitation patterns. The report then discusses how these changes could likely affect individual plant species based on experimental results and scale the impacts to species distributions and community composition. The synthesis section ends by surveying efforts to model potential future changes in habitat. The report goes on to link the synthesis conclusions to individual land uses or land management decisions, such as forage resources, restoration or fuel treatment. Finally, the report provides a section that discusses the pros and cons of available datasets that model the potential future of vegetation in the sagebrush region.

Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nev↗
USGS2025

Ambient field seismology in critical zone hydrological sciences

Passive ambient noise monitoring is an emerging tool in environmental seismology, leveraging the ambient seismic field to assess temporal variations in shallow subsurface properties. This review focuses on the potential and challenges of using scattered coda waves from noise correlation functions to monitor critical zone dynamics. The sensitivity of seismic velocities to various environmental factors, including precipitation, snowmelt, atmospheric pressure, and groundwater fluctuations, underscores the method’s versatility. While coda waves excel in detecting subtle changes due to their scattered nature, ballistic waves provide higher spatial resolution, albeit with challenges in source stability. Advances in seismic sensing, including distributed acoustic sensing and low-cost geophone networks, have enabled high-resolution monitoring of hydrological processes, subsurface deformation, and seismic hazards. Integrating seismic data with hydrological models provides insights into water storage, pore pressure changes, and soil moisture dynamics. However, limitations in spatial resolution, calibration with ground truth data, and coupled effects between environmental factors remain key challenges. This review emphasizes the importance of interdisciplinary approaches in refining methodologies, enhancing sensor deployments, and addressing data gaps. Passive seismic monitoring offers opportunities to understand critical zone processes and their broader impacts on seismic hazards and environmental sustainability.

Comptes Rendus. Géoscience↗
USGS2018

USA National Phenology Network observational data documentation

The goals of the USA National Phenology Network (USA-NPN, www.usanpn.org ) are to advance science, inform decisions, and communicate and connect with the public regarding phenology and species’ responses to environmental variation and climate change. The USA-NPN seeks to advance the science of phenology and facilitate ecosystem stewardship by providing phenological information freely and openly. To accomplish these goals, the USA-NPN National Coordinating Office (NCO) delivers observational data on plant and animal phenology in several formats, including minimally processed status and intensity datasets and derived phenometrics for individual plants, sites, and regions. This document describes the suite of observational data products delivered by the USA National Phenology Network, covering the period 2009–present for the United States and accessible via the Phenology Observation Portal ( http://dx.doi.org/10.5066/F78S4N1V ) and via an Application Programming Interface. The data described here have been used in diverse research and management applications, including over 30 publications in fields such as remote sensing, plant evolution, and resource management.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2021

Landsat Collection 2 Level-2 Science Products

The U.S. Geological Survey produces research quality, applications ready, Level-2 Science Products derived from Landsat Collection 2 Level-1 data. These products are used to monitor, assess, and project changes in land use, land cover, and environmental conditions affecting the human condition, natural processes, and biological habitats. Landsat Collection 2 Level-2 Science Products are time-series observational data processed for consistency and continuity to measure effects of environmental change and serve as input into Landsat essential climate variable Level-3 Science Products.

Fact Sheet↗
USGS1986

U.S. Geological Survey toxic Waste-Groundwater Contamination Program, fiscal year 1985

In fiscal year 1982, the U S Geological Survey began an interdisciplinary research thrust entitled Toxic Waste-Groundwater Contamination Program The objective of the thrust was to provide earth sciences information necessary to evaluate and mitigate existing groundwater contamination problems resulting from the planned or inadvertant disposal of wastes and from certain land-use practices, and to improve future waste disposal and land-use practices The program supports process-oriented and interdisciplinary field research, and regional groundwater quality studies This article provides an overview of the current (Fiscal Year 1985) activities of the Toxic Waste Program

Environmental Geology and Water Sciences↗
USGS2010

Integrating Agriculture and Conservation

The USGS produces the needed science-based information to guide management actions and policy decisions that support wildlife habitat and other environmental services compatible with USDA conservation goals and farm operations. The Policy Analysis and Science Assistance Branch of the Fort Collins Science Center (FORT) has conducted research involving a national landowner survey and numerous short- and long-term evaluations regarding vegetation responses to land management practices. This research helps land and resource managers to make informed decisions and resolve resource management conflicts.

Fact Sheet↗
USGS2018

Concentrations of lead and other inorganic constituents in samples of raw intake and treated drinking water from the municipal water filtration plant and residential tapwater in Chicago, Illinois, and East Chicago, Indiana, July–December 2017

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Environmental Health Mission Area (EHMA) is providing comprehensive science on sources, movement, and transformation of contaminants and pathogens in watershed and aquifer drinking-water supplies and in built water and wastewater infrastructure (referred to as the USGS Water and Wastewater Infrastructure project) in the Greater Chicago Area and elsewhere in the United States, to fill data gaps identified by stakeholders and collaborators in drinking water and public health. EHMA Water and Wastewater Infrastructure research specifically provides insight into natural factors in the environment as well as those water-infrastructure components and processes (such as source-water corrosivity, treatment, plumbing, and so forth) that might influence human exposure to chemical and microbial contaminants at the residential tap. This infrastructure-exposure research role is fulfilled uniquely by the USGS and not by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), other agencies, or municipalities that focus on regulatory and policy activities and related compliance. The USGS approach to assessing the possible links between human health and chemical contaminant and pathogen exposure in drinking water is conducted in collaboration with public health experts and includes comprehensive characterization of the presence/absence and concentrations of more than 500 organic and 27 inorganic chemical constituents at the point of use (tap). Laboratory results for lead and other inorganic contaminants in Chicago, Illinois, and East Chicago, Indiana, residential tapwater are being released to ensure the timely release of quality-assured data to participants in the study. Concentrations of lead and other inorganic constituents were assessed in drinking water at the point of use (kitchen tap or filter) in 45 residential locations and in two locations within each of the two Chicago water purification plants and the two East Chicago water filtration plants during July–December 2017. Three methods were used for analyzing lead. The most sensitive method had a reporting limit of 0.020 micrograms per liter (µg/L). When using the most sensitive analytical method, lead was detected in 39 of 45 residential tapwater samples, with concentrations ranging from less than 0.020 µg/L to 5.31 µg/L (median of the detected values = 0.481 µg/L). Concentrations of lead also were detected in Lake Michigan intake water at all water purification/filtration plant facilities at concentrations ranging from 0.083 to 0.330 µg/L, but were not detected above the reporting limit in any samples of treated, pre-distribution drinking water at any of the water purification/filtration plant facilities. Because the USGS Water and Wastewater Infrastructure project in the Greater Chicago Area is focused on the potential human exposure to a broad suite of organic and inorganic contaminants in drinking water and is not focused specifically on lead, the sampling protocol did not include “first-draw,” stagnant sampling and samples were collected with point-of-use treatment in place, if present. Thus, the lead results reported herein are not appropriate for assessment of compliance with the EPA 1991 Lead and Copper Rule. Information resources for lead mitigation and water filtration are provided.

Illinois, Indiana↗
USGS2022

Integrating principles and tools of decision science into value-driven watershed planning for compensatory mitigation

Several environmental policies strive to restore impaired ecosystems and could benefit from a consistent and transparent process — co-developed with key stakeholders — to prioritize impaired ecosystems for restoration activities. The Clean Water Act, for example, establishes reallocation mechanisms to transfer ecosystem services from sites of disturbance to compensation sites to offset aquatic resource functions that are unavoidably lost through land development. However, planning for the prioritization of compensatory mitigation areas is often hampered by decision-making processes that fall into a myopic decision frame because they are not co-produced with stakeholders. In this study, we partnered with domain experts from the North Carolina Division of Mitigation Services (NCDMS) to co-develop a real-world decision framework to prioritize catchments by potential for the development of mitigation projects following principles of a structured decision-making process and knowledge co-production. Following an iterative decision analysis cycle, domain experts revised foundational components of the decision framework and progressively added complexity and realism as they gained additional insights or more information became available. Through the course of facilitated in-person and remote interactions, the co-development of a decision framework produced three main ‘breakthroughs’ from the perspective of the stakeholder group: a) recognition of the problem as a multi-objective decision driven by several values in addition to biogeophysical goals (e.g., functional uplift; restoring or enhancing lost functionality of ecosystems), b) that the decision comprises a linked and sequential planning-to-implementation process, and c) future risk associated with land-use and climate change must be considered. We also present an interactive tool for ‘on-the-fly’ assessment of alternatives and tradeoff analysis, allowing domain experts to quickly test, react to, and revise prioritization strategies. The decision framework described in this study is not limited to the prioritization of compensatory mitigation activities across North Carolina, but rather serves as a framework to prioritize a wide range of restoration, conservation, and resource allocation activities in similar environmental contexts across the nation.

Ecological Applications↗
USGS2004

Ten suggestions to strengthen the science of ecology

There are few well-documented, general ecological principles that can be applied to pressing environmental issues. When they discuss them at all, ecologists often disagree about the relative importance of different aspects of the science's original and still important issues. It may be that the sum of ecological science is not open to universal statements because of the wide range of organizational, spatial, and temporal phenomena, as well as the sheer number of possible interactions. We believe, however, that the search for general principles has been inadequate to establish the extent to which generalities are possible. We suggest that ecologists may need to reconsider how we view our science. This article lists 10 suggestions for ecology, recognizing the many impediments to finding generalizations in this field, imposed in part by the complexity of the subject and in part by limits to funding for the study of ecology.

Conference Paper↗
USGS2008

Environmental chemical data for perishable sediments and soils collected in New Orleans, Louisiana, and along the Louisiana Delta following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, 2005

In October 2005, nearly one month after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, a team of scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey and the Missouri University of Science and Technology deployed to southern Louisiana to collect perishable environmental data resulting from the impacts of these storms. Perishable samples collected for this investigation are subject to destruction or ruin by removal, mixing, or natural decay; therefore, collection is time-critical following the depositional event. A total of 238 samples of sediment, soil, and vegetation were collected to characterize chemical quality. For this analysis, 157 of the 238 samples were used to characterize trace element, iron, total organic carbon, pesticide, and polychlorinated biphenyl concentrations of deposited sediment and associated shallow soils. In decreasing order, the largest variability in trace element concentration was detected for lead, vanadium, chromium, copper, arsenic, cadmium, and mercury. Lead was determined to be the trace element of most concern because of the large concentrations present in the samples ranging from 4.50 to 551 milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg). Sequential extraction analysis of lead indicate that 39.1 percent of the total lead concentration in post-hurricane sediment is associated with the iron-manganese oxide fraction. This fraction is considered extremely mobile under reducing environmental conditions, thereby making lead a potential health hazard. The presence of lead in post-hurricane sediments likely is from redistribution of pre-hurricane contaminated soils and sediments from Lake Pontchartrain and the flood control canals of New Orleans. Arsenic concentrations ranged from 0.84 to 49.1 mg/kg. Although Arsenic concentrations generally were small and consistent with other research results, all samples exceeded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Human Health Medium-Specific Screening Level of 0.39 mg/kg. Mercury concentrations ranged from 0.02 to 1.30 mg/kg. Comparing the mean mercury concentration present in post-hurricane samples with regional background data from the U.S. Geological Survey National Geochemical Dataset, indicates that mercury concentrations in post-hurricane sediment generally are larger. Sequential extraction analysis of 51 samples for arsenic indicate that 54.5 percent of the total arsenic concentration is contained in the extremely mobile iron-manganese oxide fraction. Pesticide and polychlorinated biphenyl Arochlor concentrations in post-hurricane samples were small. Prometon was the most frequently detected pesticide with concentrations ranging from 2.4 to 193 micrograms per kilogram (µg/kg). Methoxychlor was present in 22 samples with a concentration ranging from 3.5 to 3,510 µg/kg. Although methoxychlor had the largest detected pesticide concentration, it was well below the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s High-Priority Screening Level for residential soils. Arochlor congeners were not detected for any sample above the minimum detection level of 7.9 µg/kg.

Louisiana↗
USGS2013

Measuring environmental change in forest ecosystems by repeated soil sampling: a North American perspective

Environmental change is monitored in North America through repeated measurements of weather, stream and river flow, air and water quality, and most recently, soil properties. Some skepticism remains, however, about whether repeated soil sampling can effectively distinguish between temporal and spatial variability, and efforts to document soil change in forest ecosystems through repeated measurements are largely nascent and uncoordinated. In eastern North America, repeated soil sampling has begun to provide valuable information on environmental problems such as air pollution. This review synthesizes the current state of the science to further the development and use of soil resampling as an integral method for recording and understanding environmental change in forested settings. The origins of soil resampling reach back to the 19th century in England and Russia. The concepts and methodologies involved in forest soil resampling are reviewed and evaluated through a discussion of how temporal and spatial variability can be addressed with a variety of sampling approaches. Key resampling studies demonstrate the type of results that can be obtained through differing approaches. Ongoing, large-scale issues such as recovery from acidification, long-term N deposition, C sequestration, effects of climate change, impacts from invasive species, and the increasing intensification of soil management all warrant the use of soil resampling as an essential tool for environmental monitoring and assessment. Furthermore, with better awareness of the value of soil resampling, studies can be designed with a long-term perspective so that information can be efficiently obtained well into the future to address problems that have not yet surfaced.

Journal of Environmental Quality↗