Publications
This list of Water Resources Mission Area publications includes both official USGS publications and journal articles authored by our scientists. A searchable database of all USGS publications can be accessed at the USGS Publications Warehouse.
Filter Total Items: 19101
Fiber-optic distributed temperature sensing of hydrologic processes—Diverse deployments and new applications by the U.S. Geological Survey Fiber-optic distributed temperature sensing of hydrologic processes—Diverse deployments and new applications by the U.S. Geological Survey
Fiber-optic distributed temperature sensing instruments harness the temperature-dependent properties of glass to measure temperature continuously along optical fibers by using precise pulses of laser light. In the mid-2000s, this technology was refined for environmental monitoring purposes such as snowpack-air exchange, groundwater/surface-water exchange, and lake-water stratification...
Authors
Martin A. Briggs, David M. Rey, Chad C. Opatz, Neil C. Terry, Connor P. Newman, Lance R. Gruhn, Carole D. Johnson
Consideration of grid cell size to represent stream network geometry for the conterminous United States Consideration of grid cell size to represent stream network geometry for the conterminous United States
No abstract available.
Authors
Brandon J. Fleming, Kenneth Belitz, Courtney D. Killian
Ranking river basins for stream temperature research and monitoring in the contiguous United States Ranking river basins for stream temperature research and monitoring in the contiguous United States
There is a need to prioritize research and data collection in river basins by integrating information from environmental, ecological, and socioeconomic datasets to maintain acceptable water quality for human uses and ecosystem health. Multiple anthropogenic and natural stressors are responsible for driving changes in stream temperatures that can alter ecosystems and degrade water quality...
Authors
Ramon C. Naranjo, Zachary C. Johnson, Lisa V. Lucas, Nancy T. Baker, Christopher Green
Drought in the Delta: Socio-ecological impacts, responses, and tools Drought in the Delta: Socio-ecological impacts, responses, and tools
Droughts are frequent events in the western United States, and can disrupt water supply and degrade water quality, challenging water management in the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta (Delta). This chapter for the State of Bay–Delta Science report describes what drought means for the Delta, how drought is managed in the Delta, and how drought management has changed over time. Projections of...
Authors
Rosemary Hartman, Noah Knowles, Amanda Fencl, Julia Ekstrom
Specific conductance and water type as a proxy model for salinity and total dissolved solids measurements in the Upper Colorado River Basin Specific conductance and water type as a proxy model for salinity and total dissolved solids measurements in the Upper Colorado River Basin
Salinity levels in streams and tributaries of the Colorado River Basin have been a major concern for the United States and Mexico for over 50 years as the water is used by millions of people for domestic and industrial purposes. Recently, the United States Geological Survey expanded stream monitoring networks including the number of sites where continuous (15-min) specific conductance is...
Authors
R. Blaine McCleskey, Charles A. Cravotta, Matthew P. Miller, Tanner William Chapin, Fred D. Tillman, Gabrielle L. Keith
Geographic determination of Pinus ponderosa using DART TOFMS, ICP-MS, and LIBS handheld analyzer Geographic determination of Pinus ponderosa using DART TOFMS, ICP-MS, and LIBS handheld analyzer
Due to legal requirements on international imports, it is important for law enforcement and regulatory agencies to identify the geographical provenance of timber. Current methods for geographic identification utilize data generated by direct analysis in real time time-of-flight mass spectrometry (DART TOFMS), genetics, and isotope-ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS), but identification...
Authors
Erin R. Price, Kierra R. Cano, Caelin P. Celani, Helder V. Carneiro, Karl S. Booksh, James A. Jordan, Pamela J. McClure, Megahn H. Pinedo, Michael E. Ketterer, Kent M. Elliott, Tyler B. Coplen, Edgard O. Espinoza
Blue carbon stocks along the Pacific Coast of North America are mainly driven by local rather than regional factors Blue carbon stocks along the Pacific Coast of North America are mainly driven by local rather than regional factors
Coastal wetlands, including seagrass meadows, emergent marshes, mangroves, and temperate tidal swamps, can efficiently sequester and store large quantities of sediment organic carbon (SOC). However, SOC stocks may vary by ecosystem type and along environmental or climate gradients at different scales. Quantifying such variability is needed to improve blue carbon accounting, conservation...
Authors
Christopher N. Janousek, Johannes Krause, Judith Z. Drexler, Kevin J. Buffington, Katrina L. Poppe, Erin K. Peck, Fernanda Adame, Elizabeth Watson, James Holmquist, Scott D. Bridgham, Scott F. Jones, Melissa Ward, Cheryl A. Brown, Lisa Beers, Matthew T. Costa, Heida L. Diefenderfer, Amy B. Borde, Lindsey Sheehan, John M Rybczyk, Carolyn Prentice, Andrew Gray, Alejandro Hinojosa-Corona, Ana Carolina Ruiz-Fernandez, Joan-Albert Sanchez-Cabeza, Karen E. Kohfeld, Paula Ezcurra, Jonathan Ochoa-Gomez, Karen M. Thorne, Marlow G. Pellatt, Aurora M. Ricart, Amanda M. Nahlik, Laura S. Brophy, Richard F. Ambrose, Mira Lutz, Craig Cornu, Steve Crooks, Lisamarie Windham-Myers, Margot Hessing-Lewis, Fred Short, Stephen Chastain, Trevor Williams, Tristan Douglas, Elizabeth Fard, Lauren N. Brown, Michelle F. Goman
Evaluating the potential to quantify salmon habitat via UAS-based particle image velocimetry Evaluating the potential to quantify salmon habitat via UAS-based particle image velocimetry
Continuous, high-resolution data for characterizing freshwater habitat conditions can support successful management of endangered salmonids. Uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) make acquiring such fine-scale data along river channels more feasible, but workflows for quantifying reach-scale salmon habitats are lacking. We evaluated the potential for UAS-based mapping of hydraulic habitats...
Authors
Lee R. Harrison, Carl J. Legleiter, Brandon Overstreet, James S. White
Preferential groundwater discharges along stream corridors are disregarded sources of greenhouse gases Preferential groundwater discharges along stream corridors are disregarded sources of greenhouse gases
Groundwater delivery of greenhouse gases (GHGs) to stream banks and riparian areas, before mixing with surface waters, has not been well quantified. We measured preferential groundwater delivery of GHGs to stream banks within three stream reaches, and found that stream banks with discharging groundwater emitted more CO2 and were sources of N2O compared to stream banks without actively...
Authors
A.M. Bisson, F. Liu, Eric M. Moore, Martin A. Briggs, A. M. Helton
Leveraging high-frequency sensor data and U.S. National Water Model output to forecast turbidity in a drinking water supply basin Leveraging high-frequency sensor data and U.S. National Water Model output to forecast turbidity in a drinking water supply basin
As high-frequency sensor networks increasingly enhance data-driven models of water quality, process-based models like the U.S. National Water Model (NWM) are generating accessible forecasts of streamflow at increasingly dense scales. There is now an opportunity to combine these products to construct actionable water quality forecasts. To that end, we couple streamflow forecasts from the...
Authors
John T. Kemper, Kristen L. Underwood, Scott Douglas Hamshaw, Dany Davis, Jason Siemion, James B. Shanley, Andrew W. Schroth
Analyzing multi-year nitrate concentration evolution in Alabama aquatic systems using a machine learning model Analyzing multi-year nitrate concentration evolution in Alabama aquatic systems using a machine learning model
Rising nitrate contamination in water systems poses significant risks to public health and ecosystem stability, necessitating advanced modeling to understand nitrate dynamics more accurately. This study applies the long short-term memory (LSTM) modeling to investigate the hydrologic and environmental factors influencing nitrate concentration dynamics in rivers and aquifers across the...
Authors
Bahareh KarimiDermani, Christopher Green, Geoffrey Tick, Hossein Gholizadeh, Wei Wei, Yong Zhang
James Buttle review: The characteristics of baseflow resilience across diverse ecohydrological terrains James Buttle review: The characteristics of baseflow resilience across diverse ecohydrological terrains
The dynamic storage of aquifers is the portion of groundwater that can potentially drain to any given point along a stream to create baseflow. Baseflow typically occurs year-round in perennial streams, though the characteristics and stability of dynamic storage are often most important to instream processes during extended dry periods (without precipitation and snowmelt) when runoff and...
Authors
Martin A. Briggs, Connor P. Newman, Joshua Robert Benton, David M. Rey, Christopher Konrad, Valerie Ouellet, Christian E. Torgersen, Lance R. Gruhn, Brandon J. Fleming, Christopher L. Gazoorian, Daniel H. Doctor