Multimedia Gallery

Animation displays modeled beach profile elevation as it has evolved at Fishing Point, Virginia. These data are based on historical charts and images and measure distance (in kilometers) of cross-shore accretion. Q_S is the flux of sand to the beach, and Q_D is the flux of sand from the beach to the active dune. Yellow represents sand, blue represents

USGS ground failure experts examine landslides after Hurricane Maria in the municipality of Las Marias, Puerto Rico.

Supervisory Research Hydrologist, Mike McHale taking a volumetric flow measurement in a storm sewer at USGS 425520078535601 West Delavan Avenue, Buffalo, New York, as part of the Green Infrastructure project. (Credit: Michael Antidormi, USGS. Public domain.)

Overview of Taan Fiord. Inset showing location of Taan Fiord, Alaska in Wrangell St. Elias National Park and Preserve. Taan Fiord is about 100 km from the nearest town, Yakutat, AK. Landsat 8 image of Taan Fiord acquired in 2016. Vegetation loss is clear near the water line. The evacuated subaerial landslide area and runout are visible to the left of the fjord head.

:  A site visit to Puerto Rico’s Sierra de Luquillo mountains and El Yunque National Forest, 2020. (credit – M. Eaton) 

Figure 4. Yearly Distribution (2007-2019) of Tamarisk Beetle (Diorhabda spp.). Annual tamarisk beetle distribution map. Provided by RiversEdge West. 2020. Used with permission from Ben Bloodgood, Program Coordinator.

A closeup of the northern shoreline shows how opaque the water is against the rocks. USGS photo by M. Patrick.

The water pond from the webcam site. This view provides a better view of the greenish zone in the west end of the pond (bottom right of photo).

A USGS scientist navigates a personal watercraft (PWC) slowly through Elkhorn Slough. The PWC is equipped with an echosounder and GPS, to record accurate depth and location. This mapping effort is part of recurring surveys in the Monterey Bay area. Data from these surveys help the USGS understand how sand moves around the Bay, how the beaches, inlets, harbors, and other

Hawai'i 'Amakihi (Chlorodrepanis virens).

The whistling coqui (E. cochranae), one of 17 iconic Puerto Rican amphibians in the genus Eleutherodactylus, observed in a lowland delta marsh of the Arecibo River on Puerto Rico’s north coast. (credit – M. Eaton)

A USGS scientist navigates a personal watercraft equipped with sonar and GPS to collect depth information (bathymetry) of the nearshore. This mapping effort is part of recurring surveys in the Monterey Bay area. Data from these surveys help the USGS understand how sand moves around the Bay, how the beaches, inlets, harbors, and other coastal features change with storms and

A USGS scientist walks along Santa Cruz Main Beach at the edge of the San Lorenzo River in Santa Cruz, California, wearing a backpack with GPS equipment. She is collecting elevation data that will be used to create a topographic map of the beach. This mapping effort is part of recurring surveys in the Monterey Bay area. Data from these surveys help the USGS understand how

The study of the Earth's natural life cycles is known as phenology. Scientists track the emergence of shoots and leaves, blooming flowers and pollinators as phenological signals every spring.

Dr. Steve Ingebritsen, USGS CalVO

USGS research geologist Jason Chaytor (L) and marine technicians Alex Nichols (center) and Eric Moore (R) deploy the “sparker” sound source on a seismic research cruise off the southwest coast of Puerto Rico aboard the R/V Sultana in March 2020.

USGS marine technicians Alex Nichols (L) and Eric Moore (R) deploy the hydrophone array on a seismic research cruise off the southwest coast of Puerto Rico aboard the R/V Sultana in March 2020.

USGS marine technician Wayne Baldwin prepares to deploy the hydrophone array during a seismic research cruise off the southwest coast of Puerto Rico on board the R/V Sultana in March 2020.

Looking upstream from the bridge at the sampling site on the Second River above Washington Ave at Belleville, NJ (USGS Downstream order number 01392518) 

The USGS National Integrated Water Availability Assessments (IWAAs) concept map shows daily estimates of natural water storage (water present on the landscape such as standing water, snowpack, soil water, and shallow groundwater) for approximately 110,000

A U.S. Army Air Corps biplane is prepared for a mission to drop bombs on a lava flow advancing toward Hilo during the Mauna Loa 1935 eruption. Below the plane is one of 20 demolition bombs (center) dropped in an attempt to disrupt and redirect the Humu‘ula lava flow, and two of the 20 "pointer bombs" (left and right) that were used for aiming purposes. 

Aerial view of a bomb detonating on Mauna Loa near the source of the 1935 Humu‘ula lava flow on the morning of December 27, 1935. This was one of 20 demolition bombs dropped on the lava flow that morning by the Army Bombing Squadron from Luke Field, O‘ahu.

NWQL Townhall - Carlos Arozarena celebrates 50 years of service with Nwql - Usgs

Mushroom Pool, in the Lower Geyser Basin of Yellowstone National Park, as it looked in June 23, 1967. The sample that would be the source of Thermus aquaticus strain YT-1 came from this hot spring. Pictured is Thomas Brock standing near the edge of the pool. Image from the self-published "A Scientist in Yellowstone National Park" (Brock, 2017).

Kentucky mount constructed from Speed Rail. This mount can be used to deploy Rio Grande, RiverPro, RioPro, and RiverSurveyor ADCPs.

Kentucky mount constructed from Speed Rail. This mount can be used to deploy Rio Grande, RiverPro, RioPro, and RiverSurveyor ADCPs.

The USGS National Integrated Water Availability Assessments (IWAAs) concept map shows daily estimates of natural water storage (water present on the landscape such as standing water, snowpack, soil water, and shallow groundwater) for approximately 110,000

This timelapse sequence shows the water pond in Halema‘uma‘u Crater, at Kīlauea's summit, between November 1, 2019, and March 26, 2020. Over this time the water level rose approximately 14 meters (46 feet), equivalent to 67 cm (about 2 feet) per week. The timelapse shows one image per day (with a few cloudy images removed), and is looped several times.

Field equipment used by USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center scientists for bathymetric and topographic surveys in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, California

Scanning electron microprobe images show the complexity of tiny Icelandic ash grains (150 micron, or 0.006 inch). Image (a) shows a dense and blocky grain, and (b) shows a foamy grain. Photos by J. Schmith.

Land managers representing National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, US Forest Service, Navajo Nation, private ranches and farms attend the first RestoreNet stakeholder meeting at the USGS Southwest Biological Science Center in February 2020. 

Map and graphs illustrating (A) the extent of the shoreline and dune-base forecast locations (red). The year of (B) the first available and (C) most recent shoreline (red) and dune-base (blue) positions are provided for each transect. (D) Total number of shoreline and dune-base positions used in the analysis are also shown. #, number.

Land use change in the Anza Valley, CA from 1934 to 2005.  

Map of the super gage site locations in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana

Answer: a GPS capable of accurately measuring elevations to within 10 cm (~4 in). In the summer of 2019, USGS organized a Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) survey of the Kīlauea summit and East Rift Zone, including both the Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō and 2018 lower Puna lava flows. LiDAR utilizes an airborne laser (helicopter-mounted) to send pulses of light toward the ground, while a

Question: what's that in the shrubs?

Participants of the Coastal Change Hazards State of Our Nation’s Coast stakeholder engagement workshop at the Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Reserve in Falmouth, MA. Participants are pictured here talking in small groups.

A group of participants at the Coastal Change Hazards State of Our Nation’s Coast stakeholder engagement workshop at the Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Reserve in Falmouth, MA. Here participants are pictured writing the names of tools they use on sticky notes.

U.S. Geological Survey booth at the exhibition hall of the 2020 Esri Federal GIS Conference.

USGS marine engineering technician Dan Powers from the USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center retrieves the GOMEX box corer from Bellingham Bay, Washington.

This image is a cropped rendition of  two aerial images that demonstrate satellite-derived cyanobacteria concentrations in surface waters from an area in Florida. The top image is true-color photograph, and the bottom image is from the Medium Resolution

Maps displaying the spatial-temporal variability in the NPPSD 3.0 dataset

2020 February Public Lecture Flyer

From California to Cambodia - Surface Water Mapping Using Cloud-Based Remote Sensing

By Chris Soulard, USGS Western Geographic Science Center

• With cloud based remote sensing we can now access, process, and analyze terabytes of satellite imagery remotely via the internet. 
• Satellite

The 43rd annual Mineral Commodity Summaries report from the USGS National Minerals Information Center is the earliest comprehensive source of 2019 world mineral production data. It includes information on the domestic industry structure, government programs, and tariffs as well as five-year salient statistics on more than 90 mineral commodities that are important to the U.

USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory News Media Management Guide—General Protocols and Templates, USGS Circular 1462 (https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/cir1462) provides protocols and templates for (1) normal conditions when CVO has an opportunity to be proactive with its messages and to raise general awareness, (2

USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists examine an outcrop of reddish-brown Hilo ash during a recent study to investigate the origins of volcanic ash deposits on the Island of Hawai‘i. Age dates of lava flows above and below the Hilo ash deposit indicate that the ash was erupted between 3,000 and 14,000 years ago. 

Porites and Acropora coral species in reef flat pools in the National Park of American Samoa on Ofu, Manuʻa Islands Group, American Samoa.