Mapping Application Development

The present landforms of Long Island are the result of many geologic processes, some of which began many millions of years ago and some of which began only recently. Most of the major features of the present-day topography, however, are related to the last glaciation, which ended approximately 22,000 years ago.

About 7.56 million people lived on Long Island in 2010. Of these, about 2.50 million are in Kings County, 2.23 million in Queens County, 1.34 million in Nassau County, and 1.49 million in Suffolk County.

On Long Island, land use includes the human activities and management practices for which land is used. Land cover is a mosaic of developed, forest, agriculture, and wetlands areas. Both land use and land cover are usually discussed in similar environments. The National Land Cover Database (NLCD) serves as the definitive LANDSAT-based, 30-meter resolution, land cover database for the Nation. NLCD...

Long Island is surrounded by an almost limitless amount of saltwater in the Atlantic Ocean, in the Long Island Sound, and in the many bays bordering Long Island. Although the salty water is important to the economy of the area and is of significant recreational value, this website is mainly concerned with the fresh water of Long Island, which from many standpoints, is even more important than the...

Precipitation is water released from clouds in the form of rain, freezing rain, sleet, snow, or hail. It is the primary connection in the water cycle that provides for the delivery of atmospheric water to the Earth. Most precipitation falls as rain. Water seeping down from the land surface and reaching the water table adds to the groundwater and is called groundwater recharge. Groundwater is...

One of the most important concepts to understand is that volumes of water pumped from a groundwater system must come from somewhere and must cause a change in the groundwater system. Another important concept is that water table aquifers are hydraulically connected to the streams that drain them. Therefore, pumping water from aquifers that are hydraulically connected with surface-water bodies can...

The foundation of any groundwater analysis, including those analyses whose objective is to propose and evaluate alternative management strategies, is the availability of high-quality data. Some, such as precipitation data, are generally available and relatively easy to obtain at the time of a hydrologic analysis. Other data and information, such as geologic and hydrogeologic maps, can require...

The depth to the water table can be determined by installing wells that penetrate the top of the saturated zone just far enough to respond to water table fluctuations. Preparation of a water-table map requires that only wells that have their well screens installed near the water table be used. If the depth to water is measured at a number of such wells throughout an area of study, and if those...

The groundwater data-collection network of the USGS New York Water Science Center, Coram Program Office encompasses data collection from approximately 600 groundwater-monitoring wells on Long Island and in the five boroughs of New York City. Data from these stations are collected in varying frequencies to supply our cooperators, stakeholders, and the public with mission critical information.

Throughout the State of the Aquifer System, Long Island, New York web pages, there are several hyperlinks which launch interactive maps, animations, and other tools. These resources are compiled here for your convenience and perusal.