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Data

The USGS collects multiple types of data in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The Data Catalog contains a list and links of all the types of Chesapeake information from USGS. Some of the most relevant data related to streams and rivers is highlighted in the “tracking status and trends indicators of stream health”. Land cover, use, and change data are also highlighted.

Filter Total Items: 151

Chesapeake Bay Watershed 1:24k 10, 30 and 90-meter Riparian Buffer Zones Chesapeake Bay Watershed 1:24k 10, 30 and 90-meter Riparian Buffer Zones

This data release contains three 10-meter resolution GeoTIFFs representing 10-meter (35-foot), 30-meter (100-foot) and 90-meter (300-foot) riparian buffer zones along shorelines, rivers, streams, and other lotic (flowing) water features. The layers are binary, where the value of each cell represents the presence or absence of the buffer zone. In addition, the data release contains...

Attribution of stream habitat assessment data to NHDPlus V2 and NHDPlus HR catchments within the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Attribution of stream habitat assessment data to NHDPlus V2 and NHDPlus HR catchments within the Chesapeake Bay Watershed

This data release links habitat assessment sites to both the NHDPlus Version 2 and NHDPlus High Resolution Region 02 networks using the hydrolink methodology. Linked habitat sites are those compiled by the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin (ICPRB) during creation of the Chesapeake Bay Basin-wide Index of Biotic Integrity (Chessie BIBI) for benthic macroinvertebrates (https...

Fish communities in PA and MD Piedmont mixed agricultural streams, 2023 Fish communities in PA and MD Piedmont mixed agricultural streams, 2023

From 2-27 June, 2023, a Virginia Tech team of 5 sampled the fish community in 30 Piedmont streams (lower Susquehanna River and upper Chesapeake Bay tributaries, Pennsylvania and Maryland, USA) spanning a gradient of agricultural intensity as part of a larger stream-health study including other teams who surveyed geomorphology, water quality, flow, temperature, and macroinvertebrates at...

Attribution of fish sampling data to NHDPlus HR catchments within the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Attribution of fish sampling data to NHDPlus HR catchments within the Chesapeake Bay Watershed

This data release links fish survey data from a suite of programs in the Chesapeake Bay watershed to the NHDPlus High Resolution Region 02 networks, hereafter referred to as NHDPlusHR. The data set contains site name, survey program, coordinates of sample, ancillary information such as sample date and site location information where available, and HR Permanent Identifier. It also...

Discharge measurements, air temperature, water temperature, and gage height data for select stream monitoring locations across Delmarva Peninsula (2022) Discharge measurements, air temperature, water temperature, and gage height data for select stream monitoring locations across Delmarva Peninsula (2022)

As part of a larger study examining stream conditions and the effect of Best Management Practices in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, thirty small streams on the Delmarva Peninsula were instrumented and monitored for gage height (water level), water temperature, and air temperature using Onset HOBO sensors from March to September 2022. In addition, two discrete discharge measurements were...

Data for Statewide Reconnaissance of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances in Rivers and Streams of Virginia, 2022-2023 Data for Statewide Reconnaissance of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances in Rivers and Streams of Virginia, 2022-2023

These data were collected in cooperation with the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (VADEQ) to document the occurrence of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in streams and rivers of Virginia. Specifically, this effort was initiated to: 1. Collect and analyze samples for PFAS at USGS-sampling stations in the Chesapeake Bay River Input Monitoring Network and Non-Tidal...

Basin characteristics data for the Washington, D.C. StreamStats application Basin characteristics data for the Washington, D.C. StreamStats application

This data was created to support the Washington D.C. StreamStats project funded by the Washington D.C. Department of Energy and Environment (DOEE). The data release contains high-resolution (1-meter) land cover data layers for Washington D.C. and its tributaries that represent canopy cover, canopy cover with building and road coverage removed (“pervious canopy”), impervious cover, slope...

Channel incision characteristics in Clarksburg, MD Channel incision characteristics in Clarksburg, MD

This dataset describes field-measured qualitative stream channel characteristics indicative of incision and remotely-measured predictions of channel incision from lidar in three headwater streams in the Piedmont physiographic region of Maryland. The files within the field-measured channel incision folder include 1) a point file of original survey locations with a description of channel...

Biological Indicators and Mercury Concentrations in Smallmouth Bass Biological Indicators and Mercury Concentrations in Smallmouth Bass

Biological indicators including morphometric (length, weight), age, sex and health indicators including organismal (health assessment index, condition factor), organ (hepatosomatic index, gonadosomatic index), cellular (intersex, parasite density, macrophage aggregate density), subcellular (plasma vitellogenin, estradiol, testosterone, 11-keto testosterone) and molecular (hepatic...

Depth grids for floodplain flood attenuation baseline and counterfactual scenarios in the Schuylkill River watershed, Pennsylvania Depth grids for floodplain flood attenuation baseline and counterfactual scenarios in the Schuylkill River watershed, Pennsylvania

As part of a study to quantify floodplain flood attenuation ecosystem services, datasets were developed representing a baseline (current floodplain condition) and counterfactual (floodplain flood storage removed) scenario for 18 sites in the Schuylkill River Watershed, Pennsylvania. This data release contains rasters (3-m resolution) of baseline and counterfactual flood depth grids for...

“ChesBay 24k – NE": Natural Environment Related Data Summaries for the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Within NHD Plus HR catchments (ver. 4.0, August 2025) “ChesBay 24k – NE": Natural Environment Related Data Summaries for the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Within NHD Plus HR catchments (ver. 4.0, August 2025)

These tabular data are the summarization of natural environment related variables within catchments of the Chesapeake Bay watershed at the 1:24,000 scale using the xstrm methodology. Variables being counted as natural environment related include soils/geology, lithology, elevation, slope, stream gradient, landform (geomorphon) and others. Outputs include tabular comma-separated values...
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