Images

The Red River of the North at Fargo, North Dakota on May 21, 2010.

An aerial photograph looking west along the coastline of the current flow field. The Ki entry continues to produce a small plume, which is distributed along the newly formed delta. The color change in the ocean near the entry is due to the wave erosion of material from the delta and the lava itself.

Spring breakup on May 21 on the Yukon River at Pilot Station, Alaska.

A closer view of the County viewing area, looking northeast. Again, the thermal image is shown together with a normal photograph. Recently emplaced flows, from the past several weeks, are light red (center of image). The currently active breakouts, just 250 yards northwest of the road, show up as white and yellow.

Atsena Otie Key is one of thirteen islands on Florida's Gulf Coast that make up Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuge. Nearby waters support a multi-million dollar clam-farming industry. USGS documented pre-oil coastal conditions near the Refuge with baseline petrochemical measurements and aerial photography.

This USGS aerial photograph shows the white sheen of a sand bar just north of Anclote Key, Florida. Accessible only by boat, Anclote Key is split between a State Park and National Wildlife Refuge.

Florida's mangrove forests were hard hit by the uncommonly cold temperatures in January, 2010. Here, a dull brown swath of freeze-damaged mangroves cuts across the photograph, offering a stark contrast with green vegetation lining the nearby Intracoastal Waterway.

In this picture of Shark Island, Everglades National Park, you can see numerous mangroves killed by high winds and storm surge from Hurricane Wilma (2005).

Altogether, flight paths on all of the USGS pre-oil reconnaissance flights covered parts of 11 National Wildlife Refuges, two units of the National Park Service, and numerous State of Florida Parks and Aquatic Preserves. Here, USGS ecologist Tom J. Smith III briefs the pilot on an intended flight path along Florida's west coast.

Fathead minnow

A USGS researcher deploys an SPMD near Cedar Key, Florida in advance of oil landfall from the Deepwater Horizon Spill. After remaining at a sampling site for up to 28 days, the special membrane inside the SPMD is retrieved and sent to a laboratory for analysis.

Taking measurements of arid soil with a field spectrometer.

To assess pre-oil baseline levels of petrochemicals in the waters off Florida's coastline, USGS scientists deployed semi-permeable membrane devices (SPMDs) at 18 locations around Florida in advance of oil landfall from the Deepwater Horizon incident.

Although oil and water do not normally mix, oil contaminants in waterways can be measured using a special membrane nicknamed a "fatbag." The fatbags absorb many fat-soluble chemicals from the water at a known rate, so they can be used to estimate the concentration of such chemicals.

Studying arid soils for remote sensing. Jim Crowley taking spectral measurements with a field spectrometer.

Studying arid soils for remote sensing. Jim Crowley and John Mars taking spectral measurements of arid soil with a field spectrometer.

USGS geologists Karen Morgan and Ginger Tiling-Range load imaging gear for a pre-oil reconnaissance flight. USGS captured more than 350 miles of Florida's coastline, from Cedar Key to Flamingo, with over 9,800 aerial photographs. The photographs document conditions along Florida's coastline in advance of the arrival of oil from the Deepwater Horizon incident.

USGS geologist Karen Morgan prepares gear that records the flight path so that its GPS coordinates can be synchronized with the camera. The resulting images are tagged with GPS coordinates.

Microcystis is one of the most common bloom-forming cyanobacteria, AKA, blue-green algae.  Many strains of this species produce a family of potent liver toxins, the microcystins.

The Pembina River at Neche, ND with the streamgage house to the left top hiding in some trees.

The Pembina River at Neche, North Dakota.