Water Resources
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.
The firn meltwater Retention Model Intercomparison Project (RetMIP): Evaluation of nine firn models at four weather station sites on the Greenland ice sheet
Perennial snow, or firn, covers 80 % of the Greenland ice sheet and has the capacity to retain surface meltwater, influencing the ice sheet mass balance and contribution to sea-level rise. Multilayer firn models are traditionally used to simulate firn processes and estimate meltwater retention. We present, intercompare and evaluate outputs from...
Vandecrux, Baptiste; Mottram, Ruth; Langen, Peter; Fausto, Robert; Olesen, Martin; Stevens, C. Max; Verjans, Vincent; Leeson, Amber; Ligtenberg, Stefan; Kuipers Munneke, Peter; Marchenko, Sergey S.; van Pelt, Ward; Meyer, Colin R.; Simonsen, Sebastian B.; Heilig, Achim; Samimi, Samira; Marshall, Shawn J.; Machguth, Horst; MacFerrin, Michael J.; Niwano, Masashi; Miller, Olivia L.; Voss, Clifford I.; Box, Jason E. Assessing uranium and select trace elements associated with breccia pipe uranium deposits in the Colorado River and main tributaries in Grand Canyon, USA
Assessing chemical loading from streams in remote, difficult-to-access watersheds is challenging. The Grand Canyon area in northern Arizona, an international tourist destination and sacred place for many Native Americans, is characterized by broad plateaus divided by canyons as much as two-thousand meters deep and hosts some of the highest-grade...
Tillman, Fred; Anderson, Jessica; Unema, Joel; Chapin, Thomas Soil moisture product validation good practices protocol, version 1.0
The Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) included soil moisture in the list of Essential Climate Variables (ECVs) to express its important role in Earth’s water, energy and carbon cycle. Soil moisture has a major impact on agriculture, land surface hydrology, weather, and climate forecasting. This document is a community-based effort to provide...
Montzka, Carsten; Cosh, Michael H.; Camacho, Fernando; Nickeson, Jaime; Montzka, Carsten; Cosh, Michael H.; Bayat, Bagher; Al Bitar, Ahmad; Berg, Aaron; Bindlish, Rajat; Bogena, Heye Reemt; Bolton, John D.; Cabot, Francois; Caldwell, Todd; Chan, Steven; Colliander, Andreas; Wade Crow; Das, Narendra; De Lannoy, Gabrielle; Dorigo, Wouter; Evett, Steven R.; Gruber, Alexander; Hahn, Sebastian; Jagdhuber, Thomas; Jones, Scott F.; Kerr, Yann; Kim, Seungbum; Koyama, Christian; Kurum, Mehmed; Lopez-Baeza, Ernesto; Mattia, Francesco; McColl, Kaighin A.; Mecklenburg, Susanne; Mohanty, Binayak; O´Neill, Peggy; Or, Dani; Pellarin, Thierry; Petropoulos, George P.; Piles, Maria; Reichle, Rolf H.; Rodriguez-Fernandez, Nemesio; Rüdiger, Christoph; Scanlon, Tracy; Schwartz, Robert C.; Spengler, Daniel; Srivastava, Prashant K.; Suman, Swati; van der Schalie, Robin; Wagner, Wolfgang; Wegmüller, Urs; Wigneron, Jean-Pierre; Camacho, Fernando; Nickeson, Jaime Carbon dioxide and methane flux in a dynamic Arctic tundra landscape: Decadal‐scale impacts of ice wedge degradation and stabilization
Ice wedge degradation is a widespread occurrence across the circumpolar Arctic causing extreme spatial heterogeneity in water distribution, vegetation, and energy balance across landscapes. These heterogeneities influence carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) fluxes, yet there is little understanding of how they effect change in landscape‐level...
Wickland, Kimberly P.; Jorgenson, M.Torre; Koch, Joshua C.; Kanevskiy, Mikhail Z.; Striegl, Robert G.
Geochemical assessment of groundwater in the Big Chino subbasin, Arizona, 2011–18
A geochemical characterization of groundwater in the Big Chino subbasin of Arizona was conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the City of Prescott, the Town of Prescott Valley, and the Salt River Project, to understand groundwater evolution through the study area and the source of water to springs along the gaining reach of...
Beisner, Kimberly R.; Jones, Casey J. R. Differences in neonicotinoid and metabolite sorption to activated carbon are driven by alterations to the insecticidal pharmacophore
Widespread application of neonicotinoids has led to their proliferation in waters. Despite low neonicotinoid hydrophobicity, our prior studies implicated granular activated carbon (GAC) in neonicotinoid removal. Based on known receptor binding characteristics, we hypothesized that the insecticidal pharmacophore influences neonicotinoid sorption....
Webb, Danielle T.; Nagorzanski, Matthew R.; Powers, Megan M; Cwiertny, David M.; Hladik, Michelle; LeFevre, Gregory H. Nitrate in streams during winter low‐flow conditions as an indicator of legacy nitrate
Winter low‐flow (LF) conditions in streams provide a potential opportunity to evaluate the importance of legacy nitrate in catchments due to the dominance of slow‐flow transport pathways and lowered biotic activity. In this study, the concentration, flux, and trend of nitrate in streams during winter low‐flow conditions were analyzed at 320 sites...
Johnson, Henry M.; Stets, Edward G.
Statistical methods in water resources
This text began as a collection of class notes for a course on applied statistical methods for hydrologists taught at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Training Center. Course material was formalized and organized into a textbook, first published in 1992 by Elsevier as part of their Studies in Environmental Science series. In 2002, the...
Helsel, Dennis R.; Hirsch, Robert M.; Ryberg, Karen R.; Archfield, Stacey A.; Gilroy, Edward J.
Evaluation of the U.S. Geological Survey streamgage network in South Carolina, 2017
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has been monitoring streamflow in South Carolina since the late 1800s. From the beginning, the USGS streamgage network in South Carolina has been dynamic, with streamgages being added or removed depending on their purpose and the availability of funding from Federal, State, and local partners. Streamflow...
Feaster, Toby D.; Kolb, Katharine R.
Chapter A6.2. Dissolved oxygen
The “National Field Manual for the Collection of Water-Quality Data” (NFM) provides guidelines and procedures for U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) personnel who collect data used to assess the quality of the Nation’s surface water and groundwater resources. This chapter, NFM A6.2, provides guidance and protocols for the measurement of dissolved...
Estimating flood magnitude and frequency on gaged and ungaged streams in Maine
Accurate estimates of flood frequency and magnitude on rivers and streams in Maine are a key component of effective flood risk management, flood mitigation, and flood recovery programs for the State. Flood-frequency estimates are published here for 148 streamgages in and adjacent to Maine. Equations are provided for users to compute flood-...
Lombard, Pamela J.; Hodgkins, Glenn A. River network and reach‐scale controls on habitat for lamprey larvae in the Umpqua River Basin, Oregon
This study developed a spatially explicit framework to support the conservation of Western Brook Lamprey Lampetra richardsoni and Pacific Lamprey Entosphenus tridentatus in the Umpqua River basin, Oregon. This framework identified locations within the river network likely to support “potential burrowing habitat” for lamprey...
Jones, Krista; Dunham, Jason B.; O'Connor, Jim E.; Keith, Mackenzie K.; Mangano, Joseph F.; Coates, Kelly; Mackie, Travis