Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Images

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.

Filter Total Items: 21608
Schools (shadows along the shore) of Pacific sand lance in Cabin Bay, Prince William Sound
Schools of Pacific sand lance in Cabin Bay, Prince William Sound
Schools of Pacific sand lance in Cabin Bay, Prince William Sound
Schools of Pacific sand lance in Cabin Bay, Prince William Sound

Schools (shadows along the shore) of Pacific sand lance in Cabin Bay, Prince William Sound

Schools (shadows along the shore) of Pacific sand lance in Cabin Bay, Prince William Sound

Three Arctic Terns sitting on a log in the water in Prince William Sound
Three Arctic Terns sitting on a log in Prince William Sound
Three Arctic Terns sitting on a log in Prince William Sound
Three Arctic Terns sitting on a log in Prince William Sound

Three Arctic Terns sitting on a log floating in the water in Prince William Sound.

Three Arctic Terns sitting on a log floating in the water in Prince William Sound.

WERC scientist and Cassin's Auklet chick
WERC scientist and Cassin's Auklet chick
WERC scientist and Cassin's Auklet chick
WERC scientist and Cassin's Auklet chick

USGS WERC scientist Emily (Emma) Kelsey and Cassin's Auklet (Ptychoramphus aleuticus) chick.

USGS WERC scientist Emily (Emma) Kelsey and Cassin's Auklet (Ptychoramphus aleuticus) chick.

Satellite image of Canyonlands National Park, Utah.
Canyonlands Satellite View
Canyonlands Satellite View
Canyonlands Satellite View

In September 1964, Interior Secretary Stewart Udall successfully shepherded some of the most remote and rugged terrain within the continental United States into the jurisdiction of the National Park Service (NPS) with the creation of Canyonlands National Park in southeastern Utah.

In September 1964, Interior Secretary Stewart Udall successfully shepherded some of the most remote and rugged terrain within the continental United States into the jurisdiction of the National Park Service (NPS) with the creation of Canyonlands National Park in southeastern Utah.

GLSC Headquarters
The Great Lakes Science Center Headquarters
The Great Lakes Science Center Headquarters
The Great Lakes Science Center Headquarters

Main Entrance to the Great Lakes Science Center's Headquarters building in Ann Arbor, MI.

Main Entrance to the Great Lakes Science Center's Headquarters building in Ann Arbor, MI.

USGS employees take samples in a River for a Northeast stream Study
USGS Employees Take Samples In Bronx River for Northeast Stream Study
USGS Employees Take Samples In Bronx River for Northeast Stream Study
USGS Employees Take Samples In Bronx River for Northeast Stream Study

USGS employees take samples in Bronx River for a Northeast stream Quality Assessment 

USGS employees take samples in Bronx River for a Northeast stream Quality Assessment 

Satellite image showing how the Kaskawulsh glacier causes some river diversion.
Kaskawulsh Glacier, Canada
Kaskawulsh Glacier, Canada
Kaskawulsh Glacier, Canada

The end of Kaskawulsh Glacier lies at a drainage divide. Before spring 2016, the majority of the glacier's meltwater flowed north by way of the Slims River into Kluane Lake, and from there into the Yukon River and to the Bering Sea.

The end of Kaskawulsh Glacier lies at a drainage divide. Before spring 2016, the majority of the glacier's meltwater flowed north by way of the Slims River into Kluane Lake, and from there into the Yukon River and to the Bering Sea.

Kaskawulsh Glacier, Yukon Territory, Canada, Landsat 8, taken July 4, 2016
Landsat 8 image of Kaskawulsh Glacier in Canada's Yukon Territory
Landsat 8 image of Kaskawulsh Glacier in Canada's Yukon Territory
Landsat 8 image of Kaskawulsh Glacier in Canada's Yukon Territory

Landsat 8 satellite image of the Kaskawulsh Glacier in Canada's Yukon Territory, showing how glacier melt has altered meltwater discharge to the Kaskawulsh River.

Landsat 8 satellite image of the Kaskawulsh Glacier in Canada's Yukon Territory, showing how glacier melt has altered meltwater discharge to the Kaskawulsh River.

Bumble bee on Scarlet Globemallow
Bumble bee on Scarlet Globemallow
Bumble bee on Scarlet Globemallow
Bumble bee on Scarlet Globemallow

To investigate whether insects could be used as bioindicators of climate change, USGS researchers studied insect community composition along an elevation gradient in semi-arid shrublands of eastern Oregon.

To investigate whether insects could be used as bioindicators of climate change, USGS researchers studied insect community composition along an elevation gradient in semi-arid shrublands of eastern Oregon.

Biologists catching forage fish with a cast net in Prince William Sound
Biologists with cast net caught forage fish in Prince William Sound
Biologists with cast net caught forage fish in Prince William Sound
Biologists with cast net caught forage fish in Prince William Sound

Brielle Heflin and Sarah Schoen catching forage fish with a cast net in Prince William Sound.

Brielle Heflin and Sarah Schoen catching forage fish with a cast net in Prince William Sound.

A banded Black-legged Kittiwake foraging in Prince William Sound, Alaska
A banded Black-legged Kittiwake foraging
A banded Black-legged Kittiwake foraging
A banded Black-legged Kittiwake foraging

A banded Black-legged Kittiwake foraging near Little Green Island in Prince William Sound, Alaska.

A banded Black-legged Kittiwake foraging near Little Green Island in Prince William Sound, Alaska.

A banded Black-legged Kittiwake taking off with a juvenile Pacific herring in bill
A banded Black-legged Kittiwake taking off
A banded Black-legged Kittiwake taking off
A banded Black-legged Kittiwake taking off

A banded Black-legged Kittiwake taking off with a juvenile Pacific herring near Little Green Island in Prince William Sound, Alaska.

A banded Black-legged Kittiwake taking off with a juvenile Pacific herring near Little Green Island in Prince William Sound, Alaska.

Scientist Abby Lynch holding a Rio Grand Cutthroat Trout
Abby Lynch Holding Rio Grand Cutthroat Trout
Abby Lynch Holding Rio Grand Cutthroat Trout
Abby Lynch Holding Rio Grand Cutthroat Trout

Increasing temperatures and decreasing precipitation threaten the persistence of the Rio Grande cutthroat trout, the southernmost  subspecies of cutthroat trout, found only in parts of New Mexico and Colorado.

Increasing temperatures and decreasing precipitation threaten the persistence of the Rio Grande cutthroat trout, the southernmost  subspecies of cutthroat trout, found only in parts of New Mexico and Colorado.

Black-legged Kittiwake captured 2 Pacific sand lance
Black-legged Kittiwake captured 2 Pacific sand lance
Black-legged Kittiwake captured 2 Pacific sand lance
Black-legged Kittiwake captured 2 Pacific sand lance

Black-legged Kittiwake captured 2 Pacific sand lance.

Black-legged Kittiwake captured Pacific sand lance above the water
Black-legged Kittiwake foraging on Pacific sand lance
Black-legged Kittiwake foraging on Pacific sand lance
Black-legged Kittiwake foraging on Pacific sand lance

Black-legged Kittiwakes foraging on Pacific sand lance.

2 Black-legged Kittiwakes, one captured Pacific sand lance
Black-legged Kittiwakes foraging on Pacific sand lance
Black-legged Kittiwakes foraging on Pacific sand lance
Black-legged Kittiwakes foraging on Pacific sand lance

Black-legged Kittiwakes foraging on Pacific sand lance

Scientists moving a complete limnocorral to McKinley Lake
Deploying of a limnocorral at McKinley Lake
Deploying of a limnocorral at McKinley Lake
Deploying of a limnocorral at McKinley Lake

Deployment of a limnocorral at McKinley Lake, near Cordova, Alaska for Elodea spp. experiment. This experiment is studying the effect of the invasive species Elodea spp. on aquatic ecosystems.

Deployment of a limnocorral at McKinley Lake, near Cordova, Alaska for Elodea spp. experiment. This experiment is studying the effect of the invasive species Elodea spp. on aquatic ecosystems.

Electrofishing in a stream
Electrofishing in a New Mexico Stream
Electrofishing in a New Mexico Stream
Electrofishing in a New Mexico Stream

Increasing temperatures and decreasing precipitation threaten the persistence of the Rio Grande cutthroat trout, the southernmost  subspecies of cutthroat trout, found only in parts of New Mexico and Colorado.

Increasing temperatures and decreasing precipitation threaten the persistence of the Rio Grande cutthroat trout, the southernmost  subspecies of cutthroat trout, found only in parts of New Mexico and Colorado.

Fish drying at a subsistence fish camp along the Yukon River
Fish drying at a subsistence fish camp along the Yukon River
Fish drying at a subsistence fish camp along the Yukon River
Fish drying at a subsistence fish camp along the Yukon River

Fish drying at a subsistence fish camp along the Yukon River.

Measuring a small Rio Grande Cutthroat Trout
Measuring a Rio Grande Cutthroat Trout
Measuring a Rio Grande Cutthroat Trout
Measuring a Rio Grande Cutthroat Trout

Increasing temperatures and decreasing precipitation threaten the persistence of the Rio Grande cutthroat trout, the southernmost  subspecies of cutthroat trout, found only in parts of New Mexico and Colorado.

Increasing temperatures and decreasing precipitation threaten the persistence of the Rio Grande cutthroat trout, the southernmost  subspecies of cutthroat trout, found only in parts of New Mexico and Colorado.

Biologist adjusts a fish wheel trap on the Yukon River
Randy Brown adjusts a fish wheel trap on the Yukon River
Randy Brown adjusts a fish wheel trap on the Yukon River
Randy Brown adjusts a fish wheel trap on the Yukon River

Randy Brown adjusts a fish wheel trap on the Yukon River that will catch Chinook salmon.

Randy Brown adjusts a fish wheel trap on the Yukon River that will catch Chinook salmon.