Images

A super streamgage sits inside the brown structure underneath the bridge over the Wabash River linking Indiana and Illinois. The closest town is New Harmony, IN. 

Open pit rare earth element mine at Mountain Pass, California. Stepped sides of the pit and access for mining vehicles are shown.

A low-flying helicopter towing a geophysical device collects scientific data on groundwater and geology. Information collected during these surveys can help with studying critical mineral resources, natural hazards and groundwater potential.

A helicopter rigged with an airborne geophysical survey collecting equipment. Information collected during these surveys can help with studying critical mineral resources, natural hazards and groundwater potential. A cow is here too.

Screenshot of the USGS Flood Inundation Mapper shows the Lake Ontario shoreline at Braddock Heights. USGS image. 

COLORS OF THE CARBON RAINBOW

Not All Carbon is the Same

Scientists use color to classify carbon at different points in the carbon cycle based on carbon function, characteristics, and location. This creates a more descriptive framework than traditional "organic" and "inorganic" labels.

Climate change interacts with droughts in many ways. Some regions are experiencing warmer, drier conditions than they have in the past, leading to less rainfall (meteorological drought) or snowpack (snow drought). Over time, this can cause water sources like lakes, streams, and underground aquifers to dry up (hydrological drought).

A topographic map of Horseshoe Bend, part of the Grand Canyon in Arizona, made with topoBuilder.

topoBuilder & OnDemand Topo Capabilities 

A comparison of low, medium (default), and high contour smoothing options available from the topoBuilder application.

A topographic map of Horseshoe Bend, part of the Grand Canyon in Arizona, made with topoBuilder. Custom topographic maps like this one can be made using topoBuilder.

topoBuilder & OnDemand Topo Capabilities

USGS map showing the movement of a lesser scaup infected with highly pathogenic avian influenza (red line) compared to four lesser scaup not infected (maroon, yellow, blue and black lines). Movement was recorded January 23 to 26, 2022. The black dot identifies where the birds were captured and released in Maryland.

USGS scientist Jeff Pigati collects pollen for radiocarbon dating at the site where human footprints were found in order to estimate the age of the footprints. Pollen also provides a picture of what kind of vegetation existed at the time that the footprints were made.

Cartoon GIF cross-section of river sediments filling the bottom of Lake Powell from pre-Glen Canyon dam to today.

Male (ram - left) and female (ewe) bighorn sheep outside of Yellowstone National Park. 

Miel Corbett, Chief of Western States Office of Communications and Publishing. Leads public affairs team and activities in the Western United States. 

The Grizzly Creek Fire initiated in August 2020, and widespread destructive debris flow activity followed the during the summer of 2021. This image shows damage from the summer 2021 debris flow in Glenwood Canyon, Colorado. 

Interstate 70 through Glenwood Canyon, Colorado. In the summer of 2021, travelers in Colorado's Glenwood Canyon were safely evacuated before massive mounds of mud and rocks buried highways and destroyed bridges, thanks to a debris flow warning system developed in part by the USGS.

Targeted monitoring of Golden Eagle populations is an integral component of effective management, serving as a guide for deciding the appropriate course of management action, evaluating the effectiveness of such actions, and providing options to better achieve management goals.

USGS scientists designed a low-cost, easy-to-build method of sampling the air for eDNA. Photo by Kylle Roy, USGS