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Explore our planet through photography and imagery, including climate change and water all the way back to the 1800s when the USGS was surveying the country by horse and buggy.

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US Congressman Dan Kildee with GLSC employees next to R/V Arcticus
US Congressman Dan Kildee with GLSC employees next to R/V Arcticus
US Congressman Dan Kildee with GLSC employees next to R/V Arcticus
US Congressman Dan Kildee with GLSC employees next to R/V Arcticus

US Congressman Dan Kildee (MI-05), third from left, and his Senior Legislative Assistant Jordan Dickinson, third from right, visit the science and vessel crew of the USGS research vessel Arcticus. Jill Wingifield of the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, second from right, also joined the two-hour cruise.

US Congressman Dan Kildee (MI-05), third from left, and his Senior Legislative Assistant Jordan Dickinson, third from right, visit the science and vessel crew of the USGS research vessel Arcticus. Jill Wingifield of the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, second from right, also joined the two-hour cruise.

US Congressman Dan Kildee with USGS personnel aboard the R/V Arcticus
US Congressman Dan Kildee with USGS personnel aboard the R/V Arcticus
US Congressman Dan Kildee with USGS personnel aboard the R/V Arcticus
US Congressman Dan Kildee with USGS personnel aboard the R/V Arcticus

US Congressman Dan Kildee (MI-05) and his Senior Legislative Assistant Jordan Dickinson experience Great Lakes fisheries research first hand aboard the USGS research vessel Arcticus.

US Congressman Dan Kildee (MI-05) and his Senior Legislative Assistant Jordan Dickinson experience Great Lakes fisheries research first hand aboard the USGS research vessel Arcticus.

A person crouches over the water handling scientific equipment at dusk with rocks in the background
Andrea "Andy" O'Neill in Monterey
Andrea "Andy" O'Neill in Monterey
Andrea "Andy" O'Neill in Monterey

“The ocean is the closest I can get to an unexplored world, without going into space... I mean, I feel a deep connection to the ocean and its constant rhythms, but when I visit, there's a new discovery or appreciation every time.

“The ocean is the closest I can get to an unexplored world, without going into space... I mean, I feel a deep connection to the ocean and its constant rhythms, but when I visit, there's a new discovery or appreciation every time.

Four people on the stern of a boat wear life jackets and prepare a long cable.
Preparing the multi-channel streamer
Preparing the multi-channel streamer
Preparing the multi-channel streamer

USGS science crew prepare to pull in the multi-channel streamer to troubleshoot the system.

Burned hill after fire with dead and charred trees.
Hill at Whiskeytown National Recreation Area 2 Months After Fire
Hill at Whiskeytown National Recreation Area 2 Months After Fire
Hill at Whiskeytown National Recreation Area 2 Months After Fire

A landscape at Whiskeytown National Recreation Area 2 months after summer 2018's Carr Fire near Redding, California, where USGS WERC researchers are studying fire impacts, post-fire vegetation recovery, and post-fire erosion and debris flows.

A landscape at Whiskeytown National Recreation Area 2 months after summer 2018's Carr Fire near Redding, California, where USGS WERC researchers are studying fire impacts, post-fire vegetation recovery, and post-fire erosion and debris flows.

Burned forest with a few small plants growing between burned trees.
Hillside at Whiskeytown National Recreation Area 2 Months After Fire
Hillside at Whiskeytown National Recreation Area 2 Months After Fire
Hillside at Whiskeytown National Recreation Area 2 Months After Fire

A landscape at Whiskeytown National Recreation Area 2 months after summer 2018's Carr Fire near Redding, California, where USGS WERC researchers are studying fire impacts, post-fire vegetation recovery, and post-fire erosion and debris flows.

A landscape at Whiskeytown National Recreation Area 2 months after summer 2018's Carr Fire near Redding, California, where USGS WERC researchers are studying fire impacts, post-fire vegetation recovery, and post-fire erosion and debris flows.

Roadside area with burned  clearing and trees.
Hillside at Whiskeytown National Recreation Area 2 Months After Fire
Hillside at Whiskeytown National Recreation Area 2 Months After Fire
Hillside at Whiskeytown National Recreation Area 2 Months After Fire

A landscape at Whiskeytown National Recreation Area 2 months after summer 2018's Carr Fire near Redding, California, where USGS WERC researchers are studying fire impacts, post-fire vegetation recovery, and post-fire erosion and debris flows.

A landscape at Whiskeytown National Recreation Area 2 months after summer 2018's Carr Fire near Redding, California, where USGS WERC researchers are studying fire impacts, post-fire vegetation recovery, and post-fire erosion and debris flows.

Clearing and road with burned hillside in the background.
Landscape at Whiskeytown National Recreation Area 2 Months After Fire
Landscape at Whiskeytown National Recreation Area 2 Months After Fire
Landscape at Whiskeytown National Recreation Area 2 Months After Fire

A landscape at Whiskeytown National Recreation Area 2 months after summer 2018's Carr Fire near Redding, California, where USGS WERC researchers are studying fire impacts, post-fire vegetation recovery, and post-fire erosion and debris flows.

A landscape at Whiskeytown National Recreation Area 2 months after summer 2018's Carr Fire near Redding, California, where USGS WERC researchers are studying fire impacts, post-fire vegetation recovery, and post-fire erosion and debris flows.

A window showing blue ocean water, with 3 camera lenses pointed through the window, and a pair of feet near the window.
Looking at the ocean through the bottom of a plane
Looking at the ocean through the bottom of a plane
Looking at the ocean through the bottom of a plane

Looking through the belly port of a small airplane before an aerial photographic survey starts, Fall 2018.

The Seabird Studies Team at the USGS Western Ecological Research Center is conducting aerial photographic surveys of the ocean off central and southern California to create comprehensive maps of seabird and marine mammal distributions.

Looking through the belly port of a small airplane before an aerial photographic survey starts, Fall 2018.

The Seabird Studies Team at the USGS Western Ecological Research Center is conducting aerial photographic surveys of the ocean off central and southern California to create comprehensive maps of seabird and marine mammal distributions.

A man wearing safety gear steers a personal watercraft looking to the right, with a small ocean wave behind him.
Mapping nearshore depths along a beach
Mapping nearshore depths along a beach
Mapping nearshore depths along a beach

Cordell Johnson uses a personal watercraft (PWC) equipped with GPS and sonar to measure seafloor depths near the beach.

This is a photo of one of the geothermal seeps that flows into the Yellowstone River.
One of the geothermal seeps that flows into the Yellowstone River
One of the geothermal seeps that flows into the Yellowstone River
One of the geothermal seeps that flows into the Yellowstone River

View of one of the geothermal seeps that flows into the Yellowstone River south of LaDuke Hot Spring.

Woman with a headset in a small airplane, looking at the camera.
Preparing for data collection on a aerial photographic survey
Preparing for data collection on a aerial photographic survey
Preparing for data collection on a aerial photographic survey

While still over land, Biological Technician, Amelia DuVall prepares the computer for data collection at the beginning of an aerial photographic survey.

Satellite image showing FPI.
FPI Forecast
FPI Forecast
FPI Forecast

Fire Potential Index map for October 10, 2018.

Fire Potential Index map for October 10, 2018.

A man walks across low sand dunes wearing a backpack and carrying a hand-held computer, near water, smoke stacks in distance.
Measuring dune elevations
Measuring dune elevations
Measuring dune elevations

Dan Nowacki measures dune elevations near the mouth of the Pajaro River with a precision GPS unit carried in his backpack.

Dan Nowacki measures dune elevations near the mouth of the Pajaro River with a precision GPS unit carried in his backpack.

Map showing new Gulf of Mexico storm tide bracket network
New Gulf of Mexico network speeds USGS hurricane preparations
New Gulf of Mexico network speeds USGS hurricane preparations
New Gulf of Mexico network speeds USGS hurricane preparations

Each one these blue dots represents a site where a storm-tide sensor bracket has been installed for the Gulf of Mexico pre-defined network. There are currently 85 brackets in Florida, 6 in Alabama, 3 in Mississippi, 18 in Louisiana and 26 in Texas, for a total of 138 bracketed sites. (Not all brackets will be used in all storms.)

 

Each one these blue dots represents a site where a storm-tide sensor bracket has been installed for the Gulf of Mexico pre-defined network. There are currently 85 brackets in Florida, 6 in Alabama, 3 in Mississippi, 18 in Louisiana and 26 in Texas, for a total of 138 bracketed sites. (Not all brackets will be used in all storms.)

 

Landscape photo of mountains in distance with low clouds filling valley in mid-ground and pine tress on slope in foreground
Sunrise at Mount St. Helens
Sunrise at Mount St. Helens
Sunrise at Mount St. Helens

The sun rises at Mount St. Helens (pictured in the distance), with low-level clouds covering Coldwater Lake. The view is from the Coldwater Science and Learning Center, the site of the 2018 GeoGirls field camp program.

The sun rises at Mount St. Helens (pictured in the distance), with low-level clouds covering Coldwater Lake. The view is from the Coldwater Science and Learning Center, the site of the 2018 GeoGirls field camp program.

Hurricane Michael Flood Event Viewer (map)
This Flood Event Viewer is a one-stop information source
This Flood Event Viewer is a one-stop information source
This Flood Event Viewer is a one-stop information source

The USGS creates a Flood Event Viewer for major flooding incidents, as a one-stop, interactive information source. On that website, viewers can click on each red dot (storm-tide sensor) to see details about it.

The USGS creates a Flood Event Viewer for major flooding incidents, as a one-stop, interactive information source. On that website, viewers can click on each red dot (storm-tide sensor) to see details about it.

One-story yellow concrete block house in Cape San Blas, Florida
Fish Inn, the scientists' field station, before Hurricane Michael
Fish Inn, the scientists' field station, before Hurricane Michael
Fish Inn, the scientists' field station, before Hurricane Michael

For ten years, this yellow concrete block house in Cape San Blas, Florida, dubbed Fish Inn, was the seasonal office, laboratory and living quarters for a team of USGS sea turtle researchers during their field season from November till April.

For ten years, this yellow concrete block house in Cape San Blas, Florida, dubbed Fish Inn, was the seasonal office, laboratory and living quarters for a team of USGS sea turtle researchers during their field season from November till April.

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