Images

This ADCP sends an acoustic pulse into the water to measure the speed of the water, the depth of the river and to measure how far it's moved across the river. With this information, it can compute discharge.

Salmon Creek at Bruno Road near Seward, AK; Paul Schauer running a level survey for the streambed scour project.

USGS scientists Robert Sickler (left) and Rufus Catchings (right) carrying an auger to a drill hole for seismic survey.

USGS scientists Robert Sickler (below) and Rufus Catchings (standing) attaching a section of an auger bit in order to drill a hole for a seismic survey.

Congressman Higgins (NY-26) speaks to the press during a visit to the USGS Research Vessel Muskie. The R/V Muskie was temporarily moored in Buffalo, N.Y., August 8 and 9, 2013.

The R/V Muskie was temporarily moored in Buffalo, N.Y., August 8 and 9, 2013.

The R/V Muskie was temporarily moored in Buffalo, N.Y., August 8 and 9, 2013.

The USGS Research Vessel Muskie was temporarily moored in Buffalo, N.Y., August 8 and 9, 2013.

USGS large vessels like the R/V Muskie are "floating laboratories" that carry scientific instruments, such as this Niskin bottle, which collects lake water samples.

USGS Great Lakes Science Center Director Russel Strach speaks to the media during Congressman Brian Higgins' recent visit to the USGS Research Vessel Muskie. The R/V Muskie was temporarily moored in Buffalo, N.Y., August 8 and 9, 2013.

The R/V Muskie was temporarily moored in Buffalo, N.Y., August 8 and 9, 2013, when it was visited by Congressman Brian Higgins (NY-26).

Invasive sea lamprey prey on commercially important fish species such as lake trout, living off of the blood and body fluids of adult fish.  It is one of many fish species that USGS scientists study from the USGS Research Vessel Muskie. These lamprey belong to the Great Lakes Fisheries Commission.

Invasive sea lamprey prey on commercially important fish species such as lake trout, living off of the blood and body fluids of adult fish. It is one of many fish species that USGS scientists study from the USGS Research Vessel Muskie. These lamprey belong to the Great Lakes Fisheries Commission.

This common loon has been marked with a satellite transmitter and geolocator tag.

Warren Hall on California State University East Bay's Hayward campus is scheduled to be demolished Aug. 17, 2013 for seismic safety reasons. The landmark building's implosion will produce energy similar to a small earthquake that can be used to study and map the nearby Hayward Fault. In partnership with the university, U.S.

A large strand of non-native prickly lettuce (Lactuca serriola) grows near a well pad in Dunn County, ND.

A stand of field sow thistle (yellow flowers; Sonchus arvensis), Canada thistle (purple flowers; Cirsium arvense), and Kentucky bluegrass (grass; Poa pratensis), all of which are non-native and growing near an oil well pad in Mountrail County, ND.

Damsel flies, like this ebony jewelwing collected at French Creek in Onaga, Kansas, are among the stream organisms inventoried for the USGS Regional Stream Quality Assessments.

A survey base station is established using a RTK-GPS receiver with mobile units to collect data points in and around the crater. Information will be used to monitor surface changes, deformation, erosion and aggradation inside the crater. This type of technology is precise to the centimeter. View is to the south of Mount St.

An ebony jewelwing (Calopteryx maculata) perched on a blade of grass in the foreground with a flowing stream in the background

South Toe River near Celo, NC, Oran Mosteller streamgaging.

Charles Drost, USGS Southwest Biological Science Center, measures a many-lined skink