Chesapeake Bay Activities
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The Chesapeake Bay is our Nation’s largest estuary and provides over $100 billion in annual economic value. The USGS works with Federal, State, local, and academic partners to provide research and monitoring and to communicate results to inform management for the Chesapeake and other important landscapes across the Nation. See our Science page to learn about our themes and topics being addressed.
Chesapeake Bay Highlights for 2019
The USGS works with Federal, State, and academic science partners to conduct monitoring and research in the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem, the Nation’s largest estuary, and other critical ecosystems across the country.
Find out moreUSGS updates trends for nutrients and sediment in the Watershed
The Chesapeake Bay Program nontidal network consists of more than 100 stations throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Monitoring of nutrients, sediment, and flow is conducted to provide estimates of loads and trends in the watershed.
Learn more hereQuick Links
Learn more about USGS science activities in the Bay from our Science Strategy. Additional summaries of the USGS Chesapeake Bay Activities are available in the science topics section.
Science Features, Summaries, and Videos
USGS Chesapeake Bay Science Fact Sheet
Chesapeake Bay Activities Bibliography
News
This year’s Bay Barometer sets a different type of foundation for Bay restoration
Chesapeake Bay Program — by Rachel Felver — March 25, 2020
Smallmouth woes range from contaminants to more stress at spawning sites
Bay Journal — by Ad Crable — January 29, 2020
Keeping microplastics out of the Bay
Chesapeake Bay Program — by Morgan Corey — January 23, 2020
Publications
Sediment and chemical contaminant loads in tributaries to the Anacostia River, Washington, District of Columbia, 2016–17
A study was conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the Washington, D.C., Department of Energy & Environment to estimate the loads of suspended-sediment-bound chemical compounds in five gaged tributaries and four ungaged tributaries of the Anacostia River (known locally as “Lower Anacostia River”) in Washington, D.C...
Wilson, Timothy P.
Patterns of denitrification potential in tidal freshwater forested wetlands
Limited evidence for spatial patterns of denitrification in tidal freshwater forested wetlands (TFFWs), seemingly due to high spatial variability in the process, is surprising considering the various spatial gradients of its biogeochemical and hydrogeomorphic controls in these ecosystems. Because certain physical environmental gradients may be...
Korol, Alicia R.; Noe, Gregory B.
Spatially referenced models of streamflow and nitrogen, phosphorus, and suspended-sediment loads in streams of the northeastern United States
SPAtially Referenced Regression On Watershed attributes (SPARROW) models were developed to quantify and improve the understanding of the sources, fate, and transport of nitrogen, phosphorus, and suspended sediment in the northeastern United States. Excessive nutrients and suspended sediment from upland watersheds and tributary streams have...
Ator, Scott W.