Images

Looking up at a drone hovering near an open-path methane analyzer mounted on a flux tower. Instruments mounted on both the towers and on the drones are measuring gases emitted from the soil.

Engineering technician Jenny McKee from the USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center in Santa Cruz, California watches as an expendable sonobuoy leaves the launcher during the 2018 MATRIX cruise on research vessel Hugh R.

The USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory continues to closely monitor volcanoes and earthquakes on the Island of Hawai‘i. On this map, which shows earthquakes that occurred beneath the island between August 6, 2018, and November 14, 2018, the size of each circle depicts earthquake magnitude and color indicates earthquake depth, relative to mean sea level. USGS map.

USGS Hydrologist deploys water quality monitoring buoy on Skaneateles Lake

Cross section of deposited sediment in the Grand Canyon, AZ

GPS time series from station NRWY, near Norris Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park. The three plots show how the station is moving in a north-south direction (top), east-west direction (middle), and up-down direction (bottom).

Comparing 2009 vs 2014 Bank surface after erosion, Grand Canyon AZ. 

Pier water quality monitoring station at Skaneateles Lake

Rainbow over a canyon in the Grand Canyon, AZ

Fissure 22 was active in late May near Lanipuna Gardens subdivision, which is now mostly buried by lava flows. During the later stages of Fissure 22 activity, small strombolian-style explosions built a symmetric cinder cone over the vent.

Sediment Deposit in the Grand Canyon, AZ

USGS personnel configuring and deploying the streamer of hydrophone receivers on the R/V Hugh R. Sharp during the MATRIX cruise.  In foreground from left to right are Nathan Miller, Wayne Baldwin, and Eric Moore from the USGS Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center.

USGS scientists on the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon, AZ

Did you know that plants can help us understand what is happening underground? Studying plants in an area can sometimes provide information about soil conditions, water availability, and water quality.

An ADCP is used to measure streamflow from a bridge near Kelly, Wyoming. Even with smoke making the view hazy, the Tetons never fail to make measuring streamflow in the Gros Ventre a treat.

Sandy Brosnahan (left) and Ellizabeth Pendleton (right), Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) pilots flying drones at Sandy Neck Beach, Cape Cod, MA.  

Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center Aerial Imaging and Mapping (AIM) group on Great Marsh, Cape Cod, MA

USGS Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) pilot, Elizabeth Pendleton, setting a target in Great Marsh, Sandy Neck Beach, Cape Cod, Massachusetts

Did you know that plants can sometimes help us understand what is happening underground? Studying plants in an area can provide information about soil conditions, water availability, and water quality.

Algal bloom in the Ross Island Lagoon, Willamette River, Oregon.

Dive camera system with attached scooter