Images

This video shows the unmanned aerial system collecting a water sample from Halema‘uma‘u. This wider view shows the scale of the UAS relative to the water pond. USGS video by M. Patrick, 26 Oct 2019.

Jim Smith working on cabling inside of Lucchetti dam in Puerto Rico, assisting the Puerto Rico Strong Motion Program with Hurricane Maria recovery efforts. 

Fire Island is a barrier island off the coast of Long Island, New York that hosts several protected areas, nesting habitat for shorebirds, and beachgoers looking for a relaxing place for recreation. USGS studies how the island changes over time - in both the past and present - to better understand how the island may evolve in the future. 

USGS and OAS team prepares the sampling mechanism and inspects the unmanned aerial system a few minutes before mission start and takeoff. All safety precautions were taken to ensure the aircraft and sampling mechanism were sterile, and would return safely from the pond.

USGS technicial Scott Lydeen climbing the tower at the Strawberry Peak seismic station tower, part of the Southern California Seismic Network.

Civil Air Patrol captured this aerial image of Mauna Loa's summit caldera, Moku‘āweoweo, on Sunday, October 20, 2019. The true summit of Mauna Loa is located just to the right of the center of the image, at the highest location above the caldera wall in the background.

Environmental geoscience fieldwork

The water level at Kīlauea summit continues to slowly rise, with the size of the pond gradually enlarging. The pond today was at least 140 m (460 ft) in the east-west direction (from bottom to top of image). This length is a minimum estimate as the west end of the pond is now partially blocked from view by the crater walls. USGS photo by D. Swanson.

Sulphur Cone (left), viewed toward southwest, from 3,480 m (11,420 ft) above sea level on Mauna Loa's southwest rift zone. At right, an HVO geoscientist and technician rebuild volcanic gas monitoring equipment installed near an outgassing fissure.

Black Dog breccia pipe is the remnant of an inactive hydrothermal vent system fo

Material filling the dissolved voids includes clasts of wall rock as well as beach sediments being washed into the voids. The lower structure on the left is about 0.7 m (2 ft) wide and 1.5 m (5 ft) high. Note the fracture alignment above the void structure on the right.

A closer look at the water surface. While most of the surface has a yellow-green color, portions along the shoreline have a blue color and seem to correspond to areas of water upwelling. USGS photo by M. Patrick.

An remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) or drone, equipped with a camera, sits on the Arctic tundra awaiting a radio signal that tells it to fly.

Example of a low-oblique photograph taken with an unmanned aerial system (UAS), or drone, of the coastal bluffs of Barter Island on North Slope of Alaska. The photographs from different time periods can be compared, using a technique called structure-from-motion photogrammetry, to measure changes in the coastal bluffs.

USGS scientist Chelsea Stalk stands on a floating sled that enables sub‐bottom surveying in shallow water, nearshore, and shore‐face environments. The sled is equipped with an EdgeTech SB‐512i CHIRP system and single‐beam sonar. This equipment is used to collect seismic sub‐bottom profiles and single‐beam bathymetry.

Example of a thermal photograph of Barter Island's bluffs, on the North Slope of Alaska. Two USGS scientists stand waving on the right side of the photo. Lighter areas are warmer, darker areas are colder. Thermal photography makes it easy to detect areas of permafrost, or the lack thereof.

Alongshore view of the Barter Island permafrost bluffs, along the north coast of Alaska in the Arctic Ocean.

Gigantic chunks of perafrost coastal bluffs tumbled down onto the beach along Barter Island on the North Slope of Alaska. A USGS scientist drives past them, seeking good locations to place instruments and markers that will be used in photographic analysis.

Example of a high-oblique photograph taken with an unmanned aerial system (UAS), or drone, of the coastal bluffs of Barter Island on North Slope of Alaska. The photographs from different time periods can be compared, using a technique called structure-from-motion photogrammetry, to measure changes in the coastal bluffs.

Large blocks of coastal bluff tumble down onto the beach of Barter Island, on the North Slope of Alaska.

Along the stretch of coastal bluffs of Barter Island, North Slope of Alaska, a new drainage gully developed between September 2018 and September 2019. USGS scientists have been measuring permafrost degradation, coastal erosion, and flooding hazards on and around Barter Island for the last decade.