Multimedia Gallery

Root nodules are a symbiotic relationship between a plant and nitrogen-fixing bacteria. A symbiotic relationship is one where both organisms benefit. Nitrogen-fixing bacteria change inorganic nitrogen from the air into ammonia, a form of nitrogen most organisms can use. They also use a process called rock dissolution to release other nutrients, such as calcium and

Lahontan Cutthroat Trout. Scientists have found that drought and wildfire dramatically reduce suitable habitat for the federally threatened Lahontan cutthroat trout. 

Big bear scat found while in the field

Antlers, White Mountains, Alaska

Mountain Hemlock in Alaska

View West from Wolverine Glacier

A windblown stand of hemlock trees at the Wolverine Glacier field site

View from Wolverine Glacier from Helicopter

View of Nellie Juan Glacier from Wolverine Glacier

A photo of Chattanooga River in North Carolina

Native species richness (of the 29 species) using cool to warm colors to represent overlapping distributions of few to many species, respectively. The top panel shows that the present (year 2000) distribution of hotspots in the national park aligns well with the distribution of SEAs. As shown in the lower panel, projected species richness at the end of the century (year

Metrosideros polymorpha

Waipiro Valley, Big Island, HI

Image of Landsat ARD tiles and Land Change Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection (LCMAP) Regions.

Data Science: Water Use in 2015 Visualization 2. Click here to read more about USGS Water Resources Mission Area Data Science. 

Data Science: Lake Mead Water Level Decline Visualization. Click here to read more about USGS Water Resources Mission Area Data Science. 

Data Science: Probability of abundant Bass/Walleye Visualization. Click here to read more about USGS Water Resources Mission Area Data Science. 

Data Science: Water Use in 2015 Visualization. Click here to read more about USGS Water Resources Mission Area Data Science. 

Data visualization pulling together multiple datasets from multiple agencies to explain how rain and flooding from Hurricane Florence impacted the landscape.

Data science tools and techniques to build and execute data workflows for modeling and complex data analyses.

A U.S. national map with notes about areas of high water use in 2015.

Data visualization pulling together multiple datasets from multiple agencies to explain how rain and flooding from Hurricane Florence impacted the landscape.

Enhancing scientific research with reproducible, collaborative, and scalable data analysis workflows and methodologies.Example R code leveraging a reproducible data pipeline with the package “remake” to handle dependencies and organize workflow.

Data Science for Water Resources GIF

Collection of visualizations that take complex data and make them accessible to non-scientific audiences

Mount Shasta, a steep-sided Cascade Range stratovolcano in Northern California, looms above Little Glass Mountain, a thick obsidian flow erupted from the Medicine Lake shield volcano about 1,000 years ago. These are just two of the young volcanic areas monitored by the USGS California Volcano Observatory. USGS photo.

Map showing the locations of all U.S. volcanoes with their threat category designated by color. Very high threat is red, high is orange, moderate is yellow, low is green, and very low is blue. 

The alfalfa leafcutting bee (Megachile rotundata) is an introduced species common to Southwest Idaho. They originate from the old world, most likely from northeastern Africa or the Middle East. These bees are successful pollinators of various crops and have been imported to North America for use in agriculture and beekeeping.

Nor'Ida was a nor'easter that formed from the remnants of Hurricane Ida during November 2009. These beach profiles show the changes resulting from the storm which caused widespread beach erosion (loss of elevation) but little changes to the dunes. Hurricane Irene made landfall several times along the Atlantic coast of the U.S. in August 2011. By the time the storm was

Two examples of pre- and post-Sandy beach profiles showing the flattening of dune and upper beach elevations in addition to morphological changes at the shoreface.

Coastal Change Hazards Portal showing probabilities of collision, overwash, and inundation at Fire Island during a Category 3 hurricane. For more information on other category storms, see https://marine.usgs.gov/coastalchangehazardsportal/).

Coastal Change Hazards Portal showing short-term shoreline change at Fire Island. For more information, see https://marine.usgs.gov/coastalchangehazardsportal/).

The newest Fire Island coastal system research is focused on integrating information across research themes.

For more than 15 years, the USGS has actively studied natural and human changes to the shoreline, beaches, and dunes at Fire Island. This research program has refined our understanding of the long (decades to centuries)- and short-term (storm events, seasons, years) geomorphological changes on the barrier island that influence natural, cultural, and recreational resources

 Photo collage of images from Fire Island showing dunes and beaches

Location map of the Fire Island study area with labels

Map of the Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket study sites outlined in red.

Animation of land cover change in the Black Hills, created using Land Change Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection data from the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center.

An animation of the growth of a solar farm, created using Land Change Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection data.

See data for USGS gage 15275100 Chester Creek at Arctic Boulevard at Anchorage, AK.

Fire Island is a 50-km long barrier island along the south shore of Long Island, NY. The island is comprised of seventeen year-round communities; federal, state, and county parks; and supports distinct ecosystems alongside areas of economic and cultural value. In addition to providing resources to its residents, the barrier island also protects the heavily-populated

 Department of Interior UAS pilots from left to right – Elizabeth Pendleton (USGS, Woods Hole, MA), Colin Milone (Office of Aviation Services, AK), John Vogel (USGS; Flagstaff, AZ), Sandy Brosnahan (USGS, Woods Hole, MA), Brandon Forbes (USGS; Tuscon, AZ), Chris Holmquist-Johnson

Turbines at a wind energy site on Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi.

Bat detection and monitoring equipment set up below a turbine at an Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi wind energy site.

A wind turbine rising above Oʻahu trees forms part of a wind energy installation where USGS bat research is taking place.

In an effort spanning the Natural Hazards and Ecosystems Mission Areas, pilots from the Saint Petersburg and Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Centers collect imagery data using Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) while personnel from the Wetlands and Aquatic Research Center (WARC) conduct ground-based site surveys of Pelican Island, Alabama. These data are being combined to

A USGS electronics technician performs maintenance on a ShakeAlert Earthquake Early Warning (EEW) sensor station, located in the San Francisco Bay Area. ShakeAlert station components include strong-motion accelerometers, solar panel and battery power systems, and communications & telemetry equipment for communication with the wider ShakeAlert network.