Images

USGS crews had two research vessels out measuring streamflow on the Mississippi River at St. Louis on New Years Eve. USGS scientists Eric Looper and Jason Carron are one of many USGS field crews out in the floodwaters over the holiday.

USGS scientists Chris Rowden, Larry Buschmann and Bob Holmes dock the boat and coordinate with emergency managers.

Record flooding on the Meramec River near Eureka, Missouri. This area is close to a USGS streamgage and water quality monitoring station.

USGS scientists Chris Rowden, Larry Buschmann and Bob Holmes were on the Mississippi River at St. Louis taking streamflow measurements on New Years Eve. This information is critical to the National Weather Service, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and emergency managers in making flood predictions and response.

CNN interviews USGS National Flood Coordinator Bob Holmes live from the Mississippi River in St. Louis.

CNN interviews USGS National Flood Coordinator Bob Holmes live from the Mississippi River in St. Louis.

CNN interviews USGS National Flood Coordinator Bob Holmes live from the Mississippi River in St. Louis.

NBC Nightly News not only came out to interview USGS field crews on the Mississippi, they brought a team to fly overhead and capture video with a drone.

NBC Nightly News not only came out to interview USGS field crews on the Mississippi, they brought a team to fly overhead and capture video with a drone.

Here we are, taking the river ray out for a walk. Actually, our technician, Scott Southern, is taking the river ray over to where the Meramec River is overflowing the bridge to take a discharge measurement on December 30, 2015.

Here’s our river ray, peeking over the bridge at the water it’s going to measure soon. This is the Meramec River near Eureka, Missouri on December 30, 2015.

Here, you can see the effects of the Gasconade River’s flooding on a campground at Rich Fountain, Missouri. The floodwaters ate out the banks and scoured the surface, damaging concrete, steel, and asphalt. The water has since receded, but it will take some time to repair the damage and for the ecosystem to rebound.

USGS Hydrologic Technician Christopher Rowden is seen here documenting a high water mark on Maries River at Westphalia, MO. 

Non-native Cuban treefrogs have established a breeding population in New Orleans, Louisiana, the first such population on the U.S. mainland outside Florida. The treefrogs were discovered at the Audubon Zoo shortly after a shipment of palm trees from Florida were planted in the zoo's elephant enclosure in 2016.

Bryce Canyon is a unique sandstone formation in southern Utah. It is home to a large number of hoodoos, which are oddly shaped pillars of rock that formed due to different erosion rates for the dolomite that caps them and the sandstone that forms their base.

Bryce Canyon is a unique sandstone formation in southern Utah. It is home to a large number of hoodoos, which are oddly shaped pillars of rock that formed due to different erosion rates for the dolomite that caps them and the sandstone that forms their base.

Bryce Canyon is also home to large numbers of cedar trees that spread throughout the canyon.

Bryce Canyon is a unique sandstone formation in southern Utah. It is home to a large number of hoodoos, which are oddly shaped pillars of rock that formed due to different erosion rates for the dolomite that caps them and the sandstone that forms their base.

Bryce Canyon is also home to large numbers of cedar trees that spread throughout the canyon.

Bryce Canyon is a unique sandstone formation in southern Utah. It is home to a large number of hoodoos, which are oddly shaped pillars of rock that formed due to different erosion rates for the dolomite that caps them and the sandstone that forms their base.

Bryce Canyon is also home to large numbers of cedar trees that spread throughout the canyon.

Bryce Canyon is a unique sandstone formation in southern Utah. It is home to a large number of hoodoos, which are oddly shaped pillars of rock that formed due to different erosion rates for the dolomite that caps them and the sandstone that forms their base.

Bryce Canyon is also home to large numbers of cedar trees that spread throughout the canyon.

Bryce Canyon's Wall of Windows.

Bryce Canyon is a unique sandstone formation in southern Utah. It is home to a large number of hoodoos, which are oddly shaped pillars of rock that formed due to different erosion rates for the dolomite that caps them and the sandstone that forms their base.

Bryce Canyon is a unique sandstone formation in southern Utah. It is home to a large number of hoodoos, which are oddly shaped pillars of rock that formed due to different erosion rates for the dolomite that caps them and the sandstone that forms their base.

Bryce Canyon is also home to large numbers of cedar trees that spread throughout the canyon.