Publications
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National Unmanned Aircraft Systems Project Office National Unmanned Aircraft Systems Project Office
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Project Office leads the implementation of UAS technology in the Department of the Interior (DOI). Our mission is to support the transition of UAS into DOI as a new cost-effective tool for collecting remote-sensing data to monitor environmental conditions, respond to natural hazards, recognize the consequences and...
Authors
Susan E. Goplen, Jeff L. Sloan
Experimental flights using a small unmanned aircraft system for mapping emergent sandbars Experimental flights using a small unmanned aircraft system for mapping emergent sandbars
The US Geological Survey and Parallel Inc. conducted experimental flights with the Tarantula Hawk (T-Hawk) unmanned aircraft system (UAS ) at the Dyer and Cottonwood Ranch properties located along reaches of the Platte River near Overton, Nebraska, in July 2013. We equipped the T-Hawk UAS platform with a consumer-grade digital camera to collect imagery of emergent sandbars in the reaches...
Authors
Paul J. Kinzel, Mark A. Bauer, Mark R. Feller, Christopher Holmquist-Johnson, Todd Preston
Uranium isotopes and dissolved organic carbon in loess permafrost: Modeling the age of ancient ice Uranium isotopes and dissolved organic carbon in loess permafrost: Modeling the age of ancient ice
The residence time of ice in permafrost is an indicator of past climate history, and of the resilience and vulnerability of high-latitude ecosystems to global change. Development of geochemical indicators of ground-ice residence times in permafrost will advance understanding of the circumstances and evidence of permafrost formation, preservation, and thaw in response to climate warming...
Authors
Stephanie A. Ewing, James B. Paces, J.A. O'Donnell, M.T. Jorgenson, M.Z. Kanevskiy, George R. Aiken, Y. Shur, Jennifer W. Harden, Robert G. Striegl
Obtaining valid geologic models from 3-D resistivity inversion of magnetotelluric data at Pahute Mesa, Nevada Obtaining valid geologic models from 3-D resistivity inversion of magnetotelluric data at Pahute Mesa, Nevada
We summarize the results of a three-dimensional (3-D) resistivity inversion simulation that we conducted with the intent of characterizing the subsurface 3-D distribution of volcanic composite units of Pahute Mesa, Nevada, without any a priori information on the actual 3-D distribution of the known subsurface geology. The 3-D methodology involved using a 3-D geologic model based on...
Authors
Brian D. Rodriguez, Donald S. Sweetkind
Atlas of relations between climatic parameters and distributions of important trees and shrubs in North America: Revisions for all taxa from the United States and Canada and new taxa from the western United States Atlas of relations between climatic parameters and distributions of important trees and shrubs in North America: Revisions for all taxa from the United States and Canada and new taxa from the western United States
This is the seventh volume in an atlas series that explores the relations between the geographic distributions of woody plant species and climatic variables in North America. A 25-kilometer (km) equal-area grid of modern climatic and bioclimatic variables was constructed from weather data. The geographic distributions of selected tree and shrub species were digitized, and the presence or...
Authors
Robert S. Thompson, Katherine H. Anderson, Richard T. Pelltier, Laura E. Strickland, Sarah L. Shafer, Patrick J. Bartlein, Andrew K. McFadden
Yellowstone plume trigger for Basin and Range extension, and coeval emplacement of the Nevada–Columbia Basin magmatic belt Yellowstone plume trigger for Basin and Range extension, and coeval emplacement of the Nevada–Columbia Basin magmatic belt
Widespread extension began across the northern and central Basin and Range Province at 17–16 Ma, contemporaneous with magmatism along the Nevada–Columbia Basin magmatic belt, a linear zone of dikes and volcanic centers that extends for >1000 km, from southern Nevada to the Columbia Basin of eastern Washington. This belt was generated above an elongated sublithospheric melt zone...
Authors
Victor E Camp, Kenneth L. Pierce, Lisa Ann Morgan Morzel
Social Values for Ecosystem Services, version 3.0 (SolVES 3.0): documentation and user manual Social Values for Ecosystem Services, version 3.0 (SolVES 3.0): documentation and user manual
The geographic information system (GIS) tool, Social Values for Ecosystem Services (SolVES), was developed to incorporate quantified and spatially explicit measures of social values into ecosystem service assessments. SolVES 3.0 continues to extend the functionality of SolVES, which was designed to assess, map, and quantify the social values of ecosystem services. Social values—the...
Authors
Benson C. Sherrouse, Darius J. Semmens
Linking biophysical models and public preferences for ecosystem service assessments: a case study for the Southern Rocky Mountains Linking biophysical models and public preferences for ecosystem service assessments: a case study for the Southern Rocky Mountains
Through extensive research, ecosystem services have been mapped using both survey-based and biophysical approaches, but comparative mapping of public values and those quantified using models has been lacking. In this paper, we mapped hot and cold spots for perceived and modeled ecosystem services by synthesizing results from a social-values mapping study of residents living near the Pike...
Authors
Kenneth J. Bagstad, James Reed, Darius J. Semmens, Benson C. Sherrouse, Austin Troy
Aeolian responses to climate variability during the past century on Mesquite Lake Playa, Mojave Desert Aeolian responses to climate variability during the past century on Mesquite Lake Playa, Mojave Desert
The erosion and deposition of sediments by wind from 1901 to 2013 have created large changes in surface features of Mesquite Lake playa in the Mojave Desert. The decadal scale recurrence of sand-sheet development, migration, and merging with older dunes appears related to decadal climatic changes of drought and wetness as recorded in the precipitation history of the Mojave Desert...
Authors
John W. Whitney, George N. Breit, S.E. Buckingham, Richard L. Reynolds, Rian C. Bogle, Lifeng Luo, Harland L. Goldstein, John M. Vogel
Late Quaternary slip history of the Mill Creek strand of the San Andreas fault in San Gorgonio Pass, southern California: The role of a subsidiary left-lateral fault in strand switching Late Quaternary slip history of the Mill Creek strand of the San Andreas fault in San Gorgonio Pass, southern California: The role of a subsidiary left-lateral fault in strand switching
The fault history of the Mill Creek strand of the San Andreas fault (SAF) in the San Gorgonio Pass region, along with the reconstructed geomorphology surrounding this fault strand, reveals the important role of the left-lateral Pinto Mountain fault in the regional fault strand switching. The Mill Creek strand has 7.1–8.7 km total slip. Following this displacement, the Pinto Mountain...
Authors
Katherine J. Kendrick, Jonathan C. Matti, Shannon A. Mahan
Late Quaternary chronostratigraphic framework of terraces and alluvium along the lower Ohio River, southwestern Indiana and western Kentucky, USA Late Quaternary chronostratigraphic framework of terraces and alluvium along the lower Ohio River, southwestern Indiana and western Kentucky, USA
The lower Ohio River valley is a terraced fluvial landscape that has been profoundly influenced by Quaternary climate change and glaciation. A modern Quaternary chronostratigraphic framework was developed for the lower Ohio River valley using optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating and allostratigraphic mapping to gain insights into the nature of fluvial responses to glacial...
Authors
Ronald C. Counts, Madhav K. Murari, Lewis A. Owen, Shannon Mahan, Michele Greenan
Effects of fragmentation on the spatial ecology of the California Kingsnake (Lampropeltis californiae) Effects of fragmentation on the spatial ecology of the California Kingsnake (Lampropeltis californiae)
We investigated the spatial ecology of the California Kingsnake (Lampropeltis californiae) in unfragmented and fragmented habitat with varying patch sizes and degrees of exposure to urban edges. We radiotracked 34 Kingsnakes for up to 3 yr across four site types: interior areas of unfragmented ecological reserves, the urbanized edge of these reserves, large habitat fragments, and small...
Authors
Michael P. Anguiano, James E. Diffendorfer