Images

The first USGS streamgage, at Embudo, New Mexico, just turned 125 years old.

Photograph from aerial survey showing the upper parts of the landslide that occurred in northwest Washington on March 22, 2014.

Photograph from an aerial survey showing the extent and impacts from the landslide in northwest Washington that occurred on March 22, 2014. The survey was conducted by the Washington State Department of Transportation, Washington State Department of Natural Resources, USGS, and King County Sheriff's Office.

USGS scientist Jamie Macy tracks the time-of-arrival of the pulse flow on March 24. 

Photograph from an aerial survey showing the extent and impacts from the landslide in northwest Washington that occurred on March 22, 2014. The survey was conducted by the Washington State Department of Transportation, Washington State Department of Natural Resources, USGS, and King County Sheriff's Office.

Photograph from an aerial survey showing the extent and impacts from the landslide in northwest Washington that occurred on March 22, 2014. The survey was conducted by the Washington State Department of Transportation, Washington State Department of Natural Resources, USGS, and King County Sheriff's Office.

Photograph from an aerial survey showing the extent and impacts from the landslide in northwest Washington that occurred on March 22, 2014. The survey was conducted by the Washington State Department of Transportation, Washington State Department of Natural Resources, USGS, and King County Sheriff's Office.

Photograph from an aerial survey showing the extent and impacts from the landslide in northwest Washington that occurred on March 22, 2014. The survey was conducted by the Washington State Department of Transportation, Washington State Department of Natural Resources, USGS, and King County Sheriff's Office.

Photograph from an aerial survey showing the extent and impacts from the landslide in northwest Washington that occurred on March 22, 2014. The survey was conducted by the Washington State Department of Transportation, Washington State Department of Natural Resources, USGS, and King County Sheriff's Office.

Colorado River at Southerly International Boundary days before the pulse flow, March 20th, 2014

USGS scientist Jeff Kennedy prepares to measure the change in gravity caused by changing aquifer storage for Minute 319 studies. 

Radio-collared female Carolina Northern Flying Squirrel (Glaucomys sabrinus coloratus) in a high elevation red spruce (Picea rubens) stand on Whitetop Mountain, VA during winter of 2014. 

Ice Jams in Redwater River near Vida, MT.

In this image, Bridalveil Fall can be seen from Tunnel View in Yosemite National Park. The waterfall is 617 ft (188 m) in height and is one of the most well-known of Yosemite National Park's waterfalls.

This stand of giant sequoia trees is known as the Bachelor and Three Graces. They are located within the Mariposa Grove of Big Trees in Yosemite National Park.

The USGS streamgage on the Merced River located at Pohono Bridge within Yosemite National Park. It measures the daily discharge of water in cubic feet per second. Data from the streamgage may be accessed online.

The sequoia forests of Yosemite National Park rely on a fire ecology-based ecosystem. Periodic forest fires clear out underbrush and shade-tolerant trees like white fir trees, allowing sequoia seedlings to reach adulthood. 

A western gray squirrel chews on a giant sequoia pinecone. Squirrels are an important method of seed dispersal for giant sequoias. As they chew on the pinecone, seeds fall out and can take root.

A pinecone of a giant sequoia rests on the forest floor. A large sequoia tree can have several thousand pinecones at a time. Although giant sequoia trees are among the largest trees in the world, their pinecones are comparatively small, usually only 2 inches or so.

In this image, the tunnel through the California Tunnel Tree may be seen. The tunnel was cut through the giant sequoia tree in 1895 to allow coaches, and eventually cars, to drive through the tree as part of a marketing stunt. The California Tunnel Tree is the only living giant sequoia with a tunnel cut through it. 

A giant sequoia tree within the Mariposa Grove of Big Trees in Yosemite National Park. Giant sequoias are the world's largest single trees by volume.