Images

This is a telescopic alidade in which a pendulum device, or compensator replaces the conventional bubble for establishing a horizontal reference line from which vertical angles may be measured. Alidades were the primary mapping instrument in the U.S. from about 1865 to the 1980s, when they were replaced by the total station.

This Rembrandt Portrait Studio Camera uses sheet film negatives. AGFA was the abbreviation for Actien-Gesellschaft für Anilin-Fabrikation, given in 1873 to a company that had been founded in Berlin in 1867.
Object ID: USGS-000322

The rectangular base (blade) features two different types of spirit levels and a trough compass. Manufactured by W. & L.E. Gurley, Troy, New York.
Object ID: USGS-000328

Model #6367, believed to be manufactured December 15, 1898 by the Weston Electrical Instrument Company, Newark, New Jersey. Edward Weston introduced this type of meter in 1889 and was a serious competitor of Thomas Edison in the development of electricity.

Prism level manufactured by C.L. Berger & Sons, serial# 16898. The company was founded by Christian Louis Berger (1842-1922) who was born at Stuttgart, Germany and moved to Boston in 1866. In 1871 he joined with George Louis Buff, and began trading as Buff & Berger.

Also known as a Forrester's Compass or Miner's Compass, a dip (or dipping) needle is an instrument for measuring the intensity of the earth's magnetic field. It is used to locate buried or hidden metal. Manufactured by W. & L.E. Gurley, Troy, New York.
Object ID: USGS-000345

Distilling Apparatus or Still. The prominent feature of this antique lab equipment is the spherical copper globe. Object ID: USGS-000240

Shipwrecks and other artificial structures increase the potential for large invasions of unwanted species into coral reefs, even relatively pristine ones. In this picture, a shipwreck in the remote Palmyra Atoll in the central Pacific Ocean resulted in the dense colonization of an invasive coral-like species called Rhodactis howesii, pictured here.

2006 oblique-angle aerial photo of South Cascade Glacier, northwestern Washington State, looking approximately south-southeast.

USGS Researcher Calin Tatu sampling a spring in a Balkan endemic nephropathy (BEN) village in Romania. Samples of water are tested for the presence of toxic organic compounds that are linked to BEN.

USGS researcher examining bass for abnormalities in the field.

Researchers implant a radio transmitter in a 16-foot, 155-pound female Burmese python (Python molurus) at the South Florida Research Center, Everglades National Park. Radio-tracking builds understanding of where pythons spend their time and therefore where they can be controlled in practice. Photo courtesy of Lori Oberhofer, National Park Service.

Wright Todd applies light-sensitive color solution to a base sheet on a photo lab whirler. This method was used for generating color-composite proofing of map separate registration.

Some of the larger wind energy facilities in North America are composed of hundreds of wind turbines dispersed across tens of thousands of acres, like this one in Colorado.

USGS topographic field party, circa 1925, with a Wye level on a tripod and two stadia rods.

USGS topographic mapping field camp in the early 1900s. Note the USGS "pick and hammer" flag flying below the United States flag. It was common practice to fly both flags in USGS field camps. Also note the "US" on the tents. Much of the USGS field gear was obtained from army surplus.

A closeup of the Fosheim Peninsula on central Ellesmere Island where the wolf, Brutus, was radio-tagged.

A couple of hours after being immobilized for collaring, Brutus, a wolf being studied by USGS scientists, appears to have fully recovered. He returns to his pack mates and demonstrates dominance behavior over a younger male wolf. Note that Brutus has a stiff, aggressive stance and upright tail, while the younger male cowers.

Reflection of autumn cedars (green and orange needles) in a calm pond with downed woody debris. Taken in the Cascade Mountains of the Pacific Northwest.

Sunlight through an autumn fern (with spores structures) in front of a downed old-growth cedar tree.

A scientist from the North Carolina Aquarium removes an invasive red lionfish (Pterois volitans) found in coastal North Carolina's hard bottom habitat, to prevent ecological impacts due to its predation and competition with native fishes.