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Photograph of Blanca Peak (Colorado) looking up at an alluvial fan and glacial moraine sourced from an alpine catchment. Deposits like these are often important records of past changes in erosion, sedimentation, and tectonic activity.
Photograph of Blanca Peak (Colorado) looking up at an alluvial fan and glacial moraine sourced from an alpine catchment. Deposits like these are often important records of past changes in erosion, sedimentation, and tectonic activity.
This image depicts a Quaternary fault scarp running vertically across the center of the image, separating active sedimentation on the left from eroding mountain catchments on the right.
This image depicts a Quaternary fault scarp running vertically across the center of the image, separating active sedimentation on the left from eroding mountain catchments on the right.
View east across Dixie Valley from the crest of the Stillwater Range, western Nevada. In the foreground are igneous rocks of an Oligocene caldera complex; bedrock in the Desatoya Mountains on the horizon is a slightly younger caldera complex. A major challenge for bedrock mapping is inferring what is in the subsurface between exposures like these.
View east across Dixie Valley from the crest of the Stillwater Range, western Nevada. In the foreground are igneous rocks of an Oligocene caldera complex; bedrock in the Desatoya Mountains on the horizon is a slightly younger caldera complex. A major challenge for bedrock mapping is inferring what is in the subsurface between exposures like these.
Perspective view of the Colorado Plateau looking from above to the northwest. Image shows a part J.C.
Perspective view of the Colorado Plateau looking from above to the northwest. Image shows a part J.C.
USGS Geologist Natalie Kehrwald takes a tree ring sample. Tree rings can provide sub-seasonal records of hydroclimate and fire over centennial time scales.
USGS Geologist Natalie Kehrwald takes a tree ring sample. Tree rings can provide sub-seasonal records of hydroclimate and fire over centennial time scales.
Landscape-scale fire and wind damage to tree stands on the Trinchera Ranch, Colorado
Landscape-scale fire and wind damage to tree stands on the Trinchera Ranch, Colorado
Closeup of a tree core sample showing tree rings obtained using increment borer, Dinosaur National Monument.
Closeup of a tree core sample showing tree rings obtained using increment borer, Dinosaur National Monument.
USGS researcher Matt Burgess remotely pilots a UAS collecting lidar data during the April 2022 USGS UASnow project at Berthoud Pass, Colorado.
USGS researcher Matt Burgess remotely pilots a UAS collecting lidar data during the April 2022 USGS UASnow project at Berthoud Pass, Colorado.
Map view of the Continental U.S. showing a national-scale elevation surface of the base of Cenozoic rocks. Dark brown irregular polygons are outcrops of Precambrian rocks.
Map view of the Continental U.S. showing a national-scale elevation surface of the base of Cenozoic rocks. Dark brown irregular polygons are outcrops of Precambrian rocks.
One productive coring trip provides >50-m of sediment for analyses and curation. The Quaternary Lab currently stores ~350-m of soft sediment cores collected between 2005 and 2025.
One productive coring trip provides >50-m of sediment for analyses and curation. The Quaternary Lab currently stores ~350-m of soft sediment cores collected between 2005 and 2025.
USGS researcher Joe Adams in front of a UAS ground control target at a burned site within the Lake–Napa Unit (LNU) Lightning Complex fire area.
USGS researcher Joe Adams in front of a UAS ground control target at a burned site within the Lake–Napa Unit (LNU) Lightning Complex fire area.
Manual piston coring is used for lakes <20-m water depth and can obtain up to 15-20m sediment core.
Manual piston coring is used for lakes <20-m water depth and can obtain up to 15-20m sediment core.
A UAS collecting natural color video over one of the study sites during a joint NUSO and USGS Water Resources Mission Area snow mapping project in Winter Park, Colorado.
A UAS collecting natural color video over one of the study sites during a joint NUSO and USGS Water Resources Mission Area snow mapping project in Winter Park, Colorado.
USGS researcher Joe Adams (NUSO) setting up a GPS base station at one of the study sites for a snow mapping project in Winter Park, Colorado. GPS base station data is used in post-processing to improve the geospatial accuracy of UAS collected data.
USGS researcher Joe Adams (NUSO) setting up a GPS base station at one of the study sites for a snow mapping project in Winter Park, Colorado. GPS base station data is used in post-processing to improve the geospatial accuracy of UAS collected data.
USGS NUSO researchers Victoria Scholl and Mark Bauer take a moment to enjoy the scenery during a UAS data collection for the snow water equivalent (SWE) project at the Berthoud Pass Colorado study site.
USGS NUSO researchers Victoria Scholl and Mark Bauer take a moment to enjoy the scenery during a UAS data collection for the snow water equivalent (SWE) project at the Berthoud Pass Colorado study site.
Please don’t walk on the biocrust!
USGS Matt Burgess operating a UAS in flight at the USGS Canyonlands Research Station near Moab, Utah
USGS Matt Burgess operating a UAS in flight at the USGS Canyonlands Research Station near Moab, Utah
USGS scientists Victoria Scholl (USGS NUSO) and Armin Howell (USGS Canyonlands Research Station) placing UAS ground control targets at the USGS Canyonlands Research Station near Moab, Utah
USGS scientists Victoria Scholl (USGS NUSO) and Armin Howell (USGS Canyonlands Research Station) placing UAS ground control targets at the USGS Canyonlands Research Station near Moab, Utah
Drone's eye view of a USGS remote pilot during a biocrust mission near Moab, UT
NUSO UAS pilot Matt Burgess captures an image of himself while landing a UAS after a flight over a biocrust site near Moab, Utah.
Drone's eye view of a USGS remote pilot during a biocrust mission near Moab, UT
NUSO UAS pilot Matt Burgess captures an image of himself while landing a UAS after a flight over a biocrust site near Moab, Utah.
USGS remote pilot Matt Burgess at Arrow Canyon in Clark County, Nevada
USGS remote pilot Matt Burgess at Arrow Canyon in Clark County, Nevada
USGS scientist Mark Bauer in front of the Arrow Canyon Flood Control Dam in Nevada during a UAS mission
USGS scientist Mark Bauer in front of the Arrow Canyon Flood Control Dam in Nevada during a UAS mission