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Publications

The scientific reputation of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) for excellence, integrity and objectivity is one of the Bureau’s most important assets to ensuring long-term credibility and public trust. Below you can view OKI publications, and may search for them by TITLE or KEYWORD but not by AUTHOR.

For a more in-depth search, the USGS Pubs Warehouse provides access to over 130,000 publications.

Filter Total Items: 745

The future of Indiana's water resources: A report from the Indiana climate change impacts assessment

Indiana’s water resources—in streams and lakes, in plants and soils, and underground—are a critical component of the state’s economy and well-being. Availability of this important resource is driven by precipitation and temperature patterns, both of which have shifted in recent decades, and is also highly influenced by how we manage natural and human systems. As local temperatures continue to ris
Authors
Keith A. Cherkauer, Robert Barr, Laura Bowling, Kyuhyun Byun, Indrajeet Chaubey, Natalie Chin, Chun-Mei Chiu, Darren Ficklin, Alan Hamlet, Stephen Kines, Charlotte Lee, Ram Neupane, Garett Pignotti, Sanoar Rahman, Sarmistha Singh, Pandara Valappoil-Femeena, Tanja N. Williamson, Melissa Widhalm, Jeffrey Dukes

Machine-learning model to delineate sub-surface agricultural drainage from satellite imagery

Knowing subsurface drainage (tile-drain) extent is integral to understanding how landscapes respond to precipitation events and subsequent days of drying, as well as how soil characteristics and land management influence stream response. Consequently, a time series of tile-drain extent would inform one aspect of land management that complicates our ability to explain streamflow and water-quality a
Authors
Fleford Santos Redoloza, Tanja N. Williamson, Alex O. Headman, Barry J. Allred

Trends in environmental, anthropogenic, and water-quality characteristics in the upper White River Basin, Indiana

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with The Nature Conservancy, undertook a study to update and extend results from a previous study (Koltun, 2019, https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20195119), using data from 3 additional years and newer estimation methods. Koltun (2019) assessed trends in streamflow, precipitation, and estimated annual mean concentrations and flux of nitrate plus nitrite,
Authors
G.F. Koltun

Potential drivers of change in fluxes of nutrients and total suspended solids in the upper White River Basin, Indiana, Water Years 1997–2019

The U.S. Geological Survey and The Nature Conservancy previously collaborated to evaluate changes and trends in the concentrations and flux of nutrients (total phosphorus, as phosphorus; nitrate plus nitrite, as nitrogen; and total Kjeldahl nitrogen, as nitrogen) and total suspended solids (TSS) at three study gages located on the upper White River at Muncie, near Nora, and near Centerton, Indiana
Authors
G.F. Koltun, Cassie Hauswald

Dynamics of streamflow permanence in a headwater network: Insights from catchment-scale model simulations

The hillslope and channel dynamics that govern streamflow permanence in headwater systems have important implications for ecosystem functioning and downstream water quality. Recent advancements in process-based, semi-distributed hydrologic models that build upon empirical studies of streamflow permanence in well-monitored headwater catchments show promise for characterizing the dynamics of streamf
Authors
D. Tyler Mahoney, J.R. Christensen, H.E. Golden, C.R. Lane, G.R. Evenson, Elaheh (Ellie) White, K.M. Fritz, E D'Amico, Chris D. Barton, Tanja N. Williamson, Kenton Sena, C.T. Agouridis

Assessing Escherichia coli and microbial source tracking markers in the Rio Grande in the South Valley, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 2020–21

The Rio Grande, in southern Albuquerque, New Mexico, is a Clean Water Act Section 303(d) Category 5 impaired reach for Escherichia coli (E. coli). The reach is 5 miles in length, extending from Tijeras Arroyo south to the Isleta Pueblo boundary. An evaluation of E. coli and microbial source tracking markers (human-, canine-, and waterfowl-specific sources) was conducted by the U.S. Geological Surv
Authors
Rebecca E. Travis, Kate Wilkins, Christopher M. Kephart

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in groundwater from the Great Miami buried-valley aquifer, southwestern Ohio, 2019–20

Groundwater samples were collected during 2019 and 2020 from 23 wells in the Great Miami buried-valley aquifer (GM-BVA) in southwestern Ohio by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Miami Conservancy District, Dayton, Ohio, to determine concentrations of selected per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). The GM-BVA is a glacial outwash and alluvial fill aquifer that is the sole sou
Authors
Paul M. Buszka, Brian E. Mailot, Neal A. Mathes

Building a library of source samples for sediment fingerprinting – Potential and proof of concept

PurposeSediment fingerprinting of fluvial targets has proven useful to guide conservation management and prioritize sediment sources for Federal and State supported programs in the United States. However, the collection and analysis of source samples can make these studies unaffordable, especially when needed for multiple drainage basins. We investigate the potential use of source samples from a b
Authors
Tanja N. Williamson, Faith Fitzpatrick, Rebecca Kreiling

Metagenomic mapping of cyanobacteria and potential cyanotoxin producing taxa in large rivers of the United States

Cyanobacteria and cyanotoxin producing cyanobacterial blooms are a trending focus of current research. Many studies focus on bloom events in lentic environments such as lakes or ponds. Comparatively few studies have explored lotic environments and fewer still have examined the cyanobacterial communities and potential cyanotoxin producers during ambient, non-bloom conditions. Here we used a metagen
Authors
D.M. Linz, N. Sienkiewicz, I. Struewing, Erin A. Stelzer, Jennifer L. Graham, Jingrang Lu

Four decades of regional wet deposition, local bulk deposition, and stream-water chemistry show the influence of nearby land use on forested streams in Central Appalachia☆

Hydrologic monitoring began on two headwater streams (<1 km2) on the University of Kentucky's Robinson Forest in 1971. We evaluated stream-water (1974–2013) and bulk-deposition (wet + dust) (1984–2013) chemistry in the context of regional wet-deposition patterns that showed decreases in both sulfate and nitrate concentrations as well as proximal surface-mine expansion. Decadal time steps (1974–83,
Authors
Tanja N. Williamson, Kenton Sena, Megan E. Shoda, Chris D. Barton

Comparison of surrogate models to estimate pesticide concentrations at six U.S. Geological Survey National Water Quality Network sites during water years 2013–18

During water years 2013–18, the U.S. Geological Survey National Water-Quality Assessment Project sampled the National Water Quality Network for Rivers and Streams year-round and reported on 221 pesticides at 72 sites across the United States. Pesticides are difficult to measure, their concentrations often represent discrete snapshots in time, and capturing peak concentrations is expensive. Three t
Authors
S. Alex Covert, Aubrey R. Bunch, Charles G. Crawford, Gretchen P. Oelsner

Using cyanobacteria and other phytoplankton to assess trophic conditions: A qPCR-based, multi-year study in twelve large rivers across the United States

Phytoplankton is the essential primary producer in fresh surface water ecosystems. However, excessive phytoplankton growth due to eutrophication significantly threatens ecologic, economic, and public health. Therefore, phytoplankton identification and quantification are essential to understanding the productivity and health of freshwater ecosystems as well as the impacts of phytoplankton overgrowt
Authors
Chiqian Zhang, Kyle D. McIntosh, Nathan Sienkiewicz, Erin A. Stelzer, Jennifer L. Graham, Jingrang Lu
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