Images

This map displays the 10-year trend for total phosphorus, as well as the total change in flow-normalized loads per acre for total phosphorus across the Chesapeake Bay Watershed from 2014 to 2023. 

This map displays the average 10-year per acre loads, also known as yields, of nitrate + nitrite, also known as inorganic nitrogen, across the Chesapeake Bay Watershed from 2014 to 2023. 

This map displays the long-term trend for nitrate + nitrite, also known as inorganic nitrogen, as well as the percent total change in flow-normalized loads for nitrate + nitrite across the Chesapeake Bay Watershed from 1985 to 2023. 

View of the Susquehanna River, the longest river on the east coast of the United States.

(a) Predicted median annual specific conductance (SC) for all modeled stream reaches in the Chesapeake Bay watershed (CBW) for the 2014–2016 time period. (b) SC departure classes for the 2014–2016 time period. (c) Percent of the modeled CBW area in each of the departure classes over the four time periods.

USGS scientists Jimmy Webber and Dan Burns explain how water quality equipment is used to take measurements at War Branch and other monitoring stations.

Community partners tour the bioreactor at War Branch. 

The War Branch bioreactor was installed below a natural spring in the War Branch watershed. The USGS had previously measured elevated nitrate concentrations from this spring. 

The War Branch bioreactor was installed below a natural spring in the War Branch watershed. The USGS had previously measured elevated nitrate concentrations from this spring. 

Community partners tour the bioreactor at War Branch. 

The War Branch bioreactor was installed below a natural spring in the War Branch watershed. The USGS had previously measured elevated nitrate concentrations from this spring. 

The USGS and local partners hosted a meeting at the War Branch monitoring station to share water-quality and conservation work happening in the watershed with farmers, environmental and agricultural agencies, nonprofit groups, and local universities.

A Hawaiian Volcano Observatory gas scientist works to install a newly calibrated Multi-Gas instrument at the Sulfur Cone site. At an elevation of 3,430 meters (11,240 feet) above sea level, the air is rare! Working conditions are far more strenuous for HVO field teams at these high elevations due to the much lower levels of oxygen in the air to breathe.

Sams Creek is an 11 square mile watershed which sits in both Frederick and Carrol counties in Maryland.   This watershed as a mixture of cattle and cropping practices.  

The purple dot on the map represents the location of the future Sams Creek monitoring site.

War Branch is an 11 square mile watershed in Rockingham County, Virginia with mostly poultry and beef agricultural activities. 

Locations of the current monitoring sites that are a part of the Chesapeake Bay Small Agricultural Watershed Monitoring Program.

Bucks Branch is a 7 square mile watershed in Sussex County, Delaware with mostly poultry and row-crop agricultural activities. 

The green dot on the map represents the location of the Bucks Branch monitoring site. Stream monitoring data from this iste can be viewed here.

Hammer Creek is a 13 square mile watershed in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania. It has a mixture of cropland and animal-raising activities. 

Little Conewago Creek is a 5 square mile watershed in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania. Like Hammer Creek, it has a mixture of animal and crop agricultural activities. 

USGS scientists Hillary Dozier and Jimmy Webber work on installing a monitoring station at War Branch. NWIS data for this site can be found here.

During an overflight at approximately 8:15 a.m. HST on June 6, 2024, USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists observed the extensive crack features on either side of the now inactive fissures from the June 3 Kīlauea Southwest Rift Zone eruption. Cracks range in length and are parallel to the fissure system. USGS photo by A.R. Nalesnik. 

Interactive UAS Science Exhibit on display in Reston

Included in this display are some of the earliest UAS platforms operated by the USGS and an interactive touch screen table that provides access to additional information and videos.

War Branch is a tributary of Smith Creek in the Shenandoah Valley. This location is a part of the Small Agricultural Watersheds monitoring project.