Images

Gallinas Creek watershed, NM in October 2022, after Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon fire (photo by Sheila Murphy, USGS)

USGS safety and occupational health specialist Sean Raabe verifies the elevation of a USGS water level sensor in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. Photograph taken October 2, 2022. Credit: Hannah Flynn, USGS.

USGS hydrologic technician Emily Robinson documents high water marks from Hurricane Ian on a house near Buckingham, Florida. Photograph taken October 2, 2022. Credit: Roberto Ravelo, USGS.

A geophysical survey airplane with a tail stinger magnetometer. Credit: Courtesy EON  

An Earth MRI survey to cover central Arkansas and and southern Missouri. The USGS is contracting with Woolpert in collaboration with EON Geosciences who will be conducting the survey to fly over all or parts of 50 counties in central Arkansas and all or parts of 10 counties in southern Misso

USGS scientists Sophie Kuhl and Kevin Kroeger work with National Park Service scientist Petra Zuniga to collect a soil core from a salt marsh site where the mineral olivine was applied to study its role in capturing carbon dioxide in tidal wetlands. The site is located along the Herring River at National Park Service’s Cape Cod National Seashore in Massachusetts.

Satellite footage showing Hurricane Ian as it approaches the South Carolina coast just before landfall September 30. NOAA images. 

Agriculture fields in Mason Valley, Nevada. This area was studied for a Scientific Investigations Report 2022-5123.

Lukas Medo, a USGS hydrologic technician, installs a water-level sensor in Levy County, Florida, September 26, ahead of Hurricane Ian's landfall. Photo by Patrick Marasco, USGS. 

A helicopter with a boom that contains sensitive equipment for conducting airborne geophysical surveys.

Airborne geophysical surveys make use of a boom with sensitive equipment installed on small aircraft.

Image of Gloeotrichia echinulata colonies found by USGS scientists in the water column at Moreau Lake in New York.

The rusty patched bumblebee is the first bee to be listed as endangered in the continental US, and the western bumblebee has been the subject of extensive USGS work that has found effects of climate, land cover change, and pesticides on the decline of the species.

Although it may seem like it’s solid beneath your feet, the Earth is a dynamic structure. The surface is constantly moving. Different parts of the planet move in different ways and at different time scales. The USGS studies these sometimes subtle, yet sometimes dramatic movements to help keep us safe.

Location of Core Sagebrush Areas, Growth Opportunity Areas, and Other Rangeland Areas identified within the sagebrush biome of the United States of America, By: Doherty et al., 2022 from publication “A Sagebrush Conservation Design to Proactively Restore America’s Sagebrush Biome.”  .

Wedge sample removed from a redwood stump at the base of the San Andreas fault scarp (slope up in the background).

Sample removed from a redwood stump, displaying annual rings. The sample will help researchers determine past earthquakes in the area. 

Nick Cunetta stands between two sampled redwood stumps on a pressure ridge between two strands of the San Andreas fault

Austin Elliott with the USGS Earthquake Science Center prepares to carry Redwood stump samples out to the road.

EARTH'S PULSE

Hazard Monitoring

Scientists rely on measurements and networks of sensors to monitor Earth’s movements. Similar to tracking someone’s pulse, these sensors check the ‘hazard heartbeat’ of Earth’s surface, waters, and air. Hazard monitoring helps us understand where, when, why, and how much things change over time.

MONITORING BIOLOGICAL THREATS: Protecting Ecosystems, Public Safety, and the Economy