Images

At the USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory Electronics Lab, technicians build, test, and prepare scientific instruments to be deployed for monitoring volcanoes worldwide.

Seismometers (instruments for recording earthquakes) are tested and fitted at the USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory before going out into the field.

The Volcano Distater Assistance Program (VDAP) maintains an equipment cache located at the USGSS Cascades Volcano Observatory. The volcano monitoring equipment can be rapidly deployed worldwide when needed.

Three of the nine wild sea otter populations in the U.S. are federally listed as threatened. In California, USGS biologists have lead an annual population census to assess the local populations' recovery, working closely with state agencies and the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

John Rosendale installs a pipe to monitor harmful algal blooms at Cheney Reservoir in Kansas. 

A beautiful capture of a streamgage at Bunnell Brook near Burlington, CT.

Hydrologic technician Lindsay Hastings took this photo of the Rio Brazos near Tierra Amarilla, New Mexico during her first field trip as a streamgager with the New Mexico Water Science Center. Did you know that New Mexico was the birth place of streamgaging?

Vilano Beach, FL: Low altitude oblique aerial photographs taken before Hurricane Matthew (Sept. 6, 2014) and after (Oct. 14, 2016) show that storm waves and currents eroded a 16-foot-high san dune, exposing old seawalls and washing away boardwalks and decks.

Low-altitude oblique photography taken before Hurricane Matthew (Sept. 6, 2014) and after (Oct. 13, 2016) shows the storm cut a new inlet between the Atlantic Ocean and the Matanzas River, stripping away a 3.7 meter (12-foot) dune and carrying sand into the estuary.

Low-altitude oblique photography taken before Hurricane Matthew (Sept. 6, 2014) and after (Oct. 13, 2016) in Flagler Beach, FL, shows that waves washed away part of Highway A1A and obliterated a 5.2-meter (17-foot) dune.

This was an early morning capture as the sun was rising at Schwabacher's Landing, Wyoming. The heavy cloud cover shielded the Grand Tetons from full view, but as we sat there, a small sliver of the mountains peeked through the clouds just long enough to take a few shots.

This U.S. Geological Survey storm-tide sensor was installed on a pier pylon near Big Talbot Island State Park in Duval County, Florida, in preparation for Hurricane Matthew's arrival. 

A shot taken from the walkway behind the Jackson Lake Lodge in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming. 

USGS hydrologic technician Jym Chapman (above) installs a rapid deployment gauge to measure water-surface elevation and other data in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, prior to Hurricane Matthew’s approach in October 2016. Hydrologist Tim Pojunas (below) measures an elevation reference point used to calibrate the newly installed RDG.

Ryan Patrick, USGS hydrologist, installs a storm-tide sensor in preparation for Hurricane Matthew. The data collected by these sensors is used to create better storm-tide models, more accurate flood forecasts, more effective flood-protection infrastructure, and wiser land use policies.

View from Canyonlands Research Center. 

On the Colorado Plateau, mature biocrusts are bumpy and dark-colored due to the presence of lichens, mosses, and high densities of cyanobacteria and other organisms. Disturbed biocrusts are lighter in color, looking more like the underlying sand than undisturbed ones, and are less capable of stabilizing soils or providing soil fertility.

USGS scientist Jayne Belnap examines instrumentation to measure photosynthetic rates of biocrusts.

Many human activities can be unintentionally harmful to biological crusts. The biocrusts are no match for the compressional stress caused by footprints of livestock or people or tracks from vehicles.

On the Colorado Plateau, mature biocrusts are bumpy and dark-colored due to the presence of lichens, mosses, and high densities of cyanobacteria and other organisms. These organisms perform critical functions, such as fertilizing soils and increasing soil stability, therefore reducing dust.

Don Ashton uses radio telemetry to track a federally threatened Oregon spotted frog (Rana pretiosa). Data provide information on resource use, movement patterns, and overwintering