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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.

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Photographs of a common eider liver and pancreas.
Photographs from a Common Eider (Somateria mollissima)
Photographs from a Common Eider (Somateria mollissima)
Photographs from a Common Eider (Somateria mollissima)

Photographs from a Common Eider (Somateria mollissima) from Massachusetts, USA. (A) There are scattered, small, pale foci in the liver. (B) Petechial and ecchymotic hemorrhages are present in the pancreas.

Photographs from a Common Eider (Somateria mollissima) from Massachusetts, USA. (A) There are scattered, small, pale foci in the liver. (B) Petechial and ecchymotic hemorrhages are present in the pancreas.

Photomicrographs from a Common Eider showing necrosis.
Photomicrographs from a Common Eider (Somateria mollissima)
Photomicrographs from a Common Eider (Somateria mollissima)
Photomicrographs from a Common Eider (Somateria mollissima)

Photomicrographs from a Common Eider (Somateria mollissima) from Massachusetts, USA. (A) Multiple pale foci of acute hepatic necrosis. (B) Multiple foci of acute pancreatic necrosis (arrow).

Photomicrographs from a Common Eider (Somateria mollissima) from Massachusetts, USA. (A) Multiple pale foci of acute hepatic necrosis. (B) Multiple foci of acute pancreatic necrosis (arrow).

Walruses resting on an ice floe
Walruses resting on an ice floe
Walruses resting on an ice floe
Walruses resting on an ice floe

A group of Pacific walruses during summer in the Chukchi Sea

cantilever staff plate
Cantilever Staff Plate at Muddy Creek
Cantilever Staff Plate at Muddy Creek
Cantilever Staff Plate at Muddy Creek

Cantilever staff plate at Muddy Creek near Hampton streamgage

An image depiction how remote sensing is used to sense soil erosion
How Remote Sensing Was Used To Detect Soil Erosion
How Remote Sensing Was Used To Detect Soil Erosion
How Remote Sensing Was Used To Detect Soil Erosion

Information from satellite imagery helped to differentiate areas vulnerable to soil erosion from off-highway vehicle use. For this study we developed a “P-factor” by scaling ground measurements of soil compaction to vehicle disturbances mapped from aerial imagery.

Information from satellite imagery helped to differentiate areas vulnerable to soil erosion from off-highway vehicle use. For this study we developed a “P-factor” by scaling ground measurements of soil compaction to vehicle disturbances mapped from aerial imagery.

Graphic of invasives increases after wind turbine construction
Invasives Increases After Wind Turbine Construction
Invasives Increases After Wind Turbine Construction
Invasives Increases After Wind Turbine Construction

Invasives index values before and after turbine construction compared to surrounding control areas (top). Green indicates turbines with higher index values in the period after construction, and yellow indicates no change or lower invasive index values after construction.

Invasives index values before and after turbine construction compared to surrounding control areas (top). Green indicates turbines with higher index values in the period after construction, and yellow indicates no change or lower invasive index values after construction.

A diagram of sampling approach for remote measurement of invasives around wind turbines.
Wind Turbine Sampling Approach
Wind Turbine Sampling Approach
Wind Turbine Sampling Approach

Sampling approach for remote measurements of invasives around wind turbines. 

Woman wearing a USGS cap and face covering holds up a coiled snake
Melanie Madden displays a gophersnake
Melanie Madden displays a gophersnake
Melanie Madden displays a gophersnake

Researcher Melanie Madden holds up a gophersnake (Pituophis catenifer).

Woman wearing USGS cap and a face covering holds up lizard that appears to smile
Melanie Madden displays Blainville's Horned Lizard
Melanie Madden displays Blainville's Horned Lizard
Melanie Madden displays Blainville's Horned Lizard

Researcher Melanie Madden holds up a Blainville's Horned Lizard (Phrynosoma blainvillii).

Person wearing a USGS hat and a face covering stands in a vegetated area next to a creek and takes a photo
Taking habitat photos for Arroyo Toad surveys
Taking habitat photos for Arroyo Toad surveys
Taking habitat photos for Arroyo Toad surveys

James Molden takes habitat photos for Arroyo Toad surveys in Santa Ysabel Creek.

The Colorado River near Grand Junction, Colorado. 
The Colorado River near Grand Junction, Colorado. 
The Colorado River near Grand Junction, Colorado. 
The Colorado River near Grand Junction, Colorado. 

The Colorado River near Grand Junction, Colorado. The entire Colorado River Basin provides water for more than 40 million people in seven states and nearly 5.5 million acres of farmland across the western U.S. and Mexico. 

The Colorado River near Grand Junction, Colorado. The entire Colorado River Basin provides water for more than 40 million people in seven states and nearly 5.5 million acres of farmland across the western U.S. and Mexico. 

Cody Lanpher making a high flow measurement during a snow melt event on the Gallatin River near Gallatin Gateway, MT.
USGS employee making a high flow measurement during a snow melt event
USGS employee making a high flow measurement during a snow melt event
USGS employee making a high flow measurement during a snow melt event

Cody Lanpher making a high flow measurement during a snow melt event on the Gallatin River near Gallatin Gateway, MT.

Color photograph of solar panel and volcano-monitoring station
A GPS station that monitors ground deformation on Kīlauea Volcano
A GPS station that monitors ground deformation on Kīlauea Volcano
A GPS station that monitors ground deformation on Kīlauea Volcano

A GPS station that monitors ground deformation on Kīlauea Volcano, one of the approximately 240 volcano-monitoring stations that Steven Fuke, as part of the HVO Technician Group, designs, installs, and maintains. 

A GPS station that monitors ground deformation on Kīlauea Volcano, one of the approximately 240 volcano-monitoring stations that Steven Fuke, as part of the HVO Technician Group, designs, installs, and maintains. 

A graph depicting how an area changes through time with a well pad
How an area changes through time with a well pad
How an area changes through time with a well pad
How an area changes through time with a well pad

Graph showing A) Landsat time series of the Soil-Adjusted Total Vegetation Index (SATVI) from 1984-2011.

Black and white graphic showing thermal map of Kīlauea summit
May 29, 2020—Thermal map of Kīlauea summit
May 29, 2020—Thermal map of Kīlauea summit
May 29, 2020—Thermal map of Kīlauea summit

The May 29 overflight provided updated thermal images of Kīlauea summit, covering the caldera floor and showing the warm surface of the water lake in Halema‘uma‘u crater. No significant changes were observed in the surface temperature of Kīlauea's summit crater lake.

The May 29 overflight provided updated thermal images of Kīlauea summit, covering the caldera floor and showing the warm surface of the water lake in Halema‘uma‘u crater. No significant changes were observed in the surface temperature of Kīlauea's summit crater lake.

Color orthomosaic of Kīlauea  volcano summit
May 29, 2020—Updated aerial map of Kīlauea summit
May 29, 2020—Updated aerial map of Kīlauea summit
May 29, 2020—Updated aerial map of Kīlauea summit

The May 29 overflight provided updated aerial photographs of Kīlauea summit, covering the caldera floor and showing the current size of the water lake in Halema‘uma‘u crater.

The May 29 overflight provided updated aerial photographs of Kīlauea summit, covering the caldera floor and showing the current size of the water lake in Halema‘uma‘u crater.

A graphic showing well pads in the Colorado Plateau
Well pads in the Colorado Plateau
Well pads in the Colorado Plateau
Well pads in the Colorado Plateau

Location map of the Colorado Plateau ecoregion; ecoregion detail (A) with individual well sites identified by a black dot; Google Earth Pro aerial photography showing the footprint of oil and gas development at the landscape scale as small light colored patches (B); Google Earth Pro close-up of well pads and roads (C).

Location map of the Colorado Plateau ecoregion; ecoregion detail (A) with individual well sites identified by a black dot; Google Earth Pro aerial photography showing the footprint of oil and gas development at the landscape scale as small light colored patches (B); Google Earth Pro close-up of well pads and roads (C).

image related to volcanoes. See description
During today's overflight of Kīlauea summit, both thermal and visual camera
During today's overflight of Kīlauea summit, both thermal and visual camera
During today's overflight of Kīlauea summit, both thermal and visual camera

During today's overflight of Kīlauea summit, both thermal and visual cameras were used to characterize activity. Comparing thermal (left) to visual (right) images of nearly the same view, you can see that the growing crater lake at Kīlauea's summit remains hot.

During today's overflight of Kīlauea summit, both thermal and visual cameras were used to characterize activity. Comparing thermal (left) to visual (right) images of nearly the same view, you can see that the growing crater lake at Kīlauea's summit remains hot.

Glaucous-winged gull with externally attached GPS satellite transmitter
Glaucous-winged gull with externally attached GPS satellite transmitte
Glaucous-winged gull with externally attached GPS satellite transmitte
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