Publications
Browse more than 160,000 publications authored by our scientists over the past 100+ year history of the USGS. Publications available are: USGS-authored journal articles, series reports, book chapters, other government publications, and more.
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Mission Area Publications
Mission Area Publications
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Filter Total Items: 175050
A field test of R package GPSeqClus: For establishing animal location clusters A field test of R package GPSeqClus: For establishing animal location clusters
The ability to track animals with Global Positioning System (GPS) collars opened an enormous potential for studying animal movements and behaviour in their natural environment. One such endeavour is to identify clusters of GPS locations as a way to estimate predator kill rate. Clapp et al. (2021) developed an R package (GPSeqClus) to assess a location dataset based on user-defined...
Authors
H. Dean Cluff, L. David Mech
Incorporating temperature into seepage loss estimates for a large unlined irrigation canal Incorporating temperature into seepage loss estimates for a large unlined irrigation canal
Quantifying seepage losses from unlined irrigation canals is necessary to improve water use and conservation. The use of heat as a tracer is widely used in quantifying seepage rates across the sediment–water interface. In this study, field observations and two-dimensional numerical models were used to simulate seepage losses during the 2018 and 2019 irrigation season in the Truckee Canal...
Authors
Ramon C. Naranjo, David Smith, Evan J. Lindenbach
Comparison of traditional and geometric morphometrics using Lake Huron ciscoes of the Coregonus artedi complex Comparison of traditional and geometric morphometrics using Lake Huron ciscoes of the Coregonus artedi complex
Here we determine how traditional morphometrics (TM) compares with geometric morphometrics (GM) in discriminating among morphologies of four forms of ciscoes of the Coregonus artedi complex collected from Lake Huron. One of the forms comprised two groups of the same deepwater cisco separated by capture depth, whereas the other three forms were shallow-water ciscoes. Our three groups of...
Authors
Benjamin E Martin, Brian O’Malley, Randy E Eshenroder, Yu-Chun Kao, Chris Olds, Timothy P. O’Brien, Chris L. Davis
Structured decision making to prioritize regional bird monitoring needs Structured decision making to prioritize regional bird monitoring needs
Conservation planning for large ecosystems has multiple benefits but is often challenging to implement because of the multiple jurisdictions, species, and habitats involved. In addition, decision making at large spatial scales can be hampered because many approaches do not explicitly incorporate potentially competing values and concerns of stakeholders. After the Deepwater Horizon oil...
Authors
Auriel M. V. Fournier, R. Randy Wilson, Jeffrey S. Gleason, Evan M. Adams, Janell M. Brush, Robert J. Cooper, Stephen J. DeMaso, Melanie J. L. Driscoll, Peter C. Frederick, Patrick G.R. Jodice, Mary Ann Ottinger, David B. Reeves, Michael A. Seymour, Stephanie M. Sharuga, John M. Tirpak, William G. Vermillion, Theodore J. Zenzal, James E. Lyons, Mark S. Woodrey
Beyond presence mapping: Predicting fractional cover of non-native vegetation in Sentinel-2 imagery using an ensemble of MaxEnt models Beyond presence mapping: Predicting fractional cover of non-native vegetation in Sentinel-2 imagery using an ensemble of MaxEnt models
Non-native species maps are important tools for understanding and managing biological invasions. We demonstrate a novel approach to extend presence modeling to map fractional cover (FC) of non-native yellow sweet clover Melilotus officinalis in the Northern Great Plains, USA. We used ensembles of MaxEnt models to map FC across landscapes from satellite imagery trained from regional...
Authors
Todd M. Preston, Aaron N. Johnston, Kyle Gregory Ebenhoch, Robert H. Diehl
Moving Aircraft River Velocimetry (MARV): Framework and proof-of-concept on the Tanana River Moving Aircraft River Velocimetry (MARV): Framework and proof-of-concept on the Tanana River
Information on velocity fields in rivers is critical for designing infrastructure, modeling contaminant transport, and assessing habitat. Although non-contact approaches to measuring flow velocity are well established, these methods assume a stationary imaging platform. This study eliminates this constraint by introducing a framework for moving aircraft river velocimetry (MARV). The...
Authors
Carl J. Legleiter, Paul J. Kinzel, Mark Laker, Jeff Conaway
The San Francisco Estuary, USA as a reference section for an Anthropocene series The San Francisco Estuary, USA as a reference section for an Anthropocene series
A San Francisco Estuary core was analysed at high resolution to assess its component stratigraphic signatures of the Anthropocene in the form of non-native species, Hg, spheroidal carbonaceous particles, δ13Corg, δ15N, radiogenic materials, and heavy metals. Time series analysis of the core using Ti data provides a chronology to depth 167 cm into the 1960s. Below this, to depth 230 cm...
Authors
Stephen J Himson, Mark Williams, Jan Zalasiewicz, Colin N. Waters, Mary McGann, Richard England, Bruce E. Jaffe, Arnoud Boom, Rachael Holmes, Sue Sampson, Cerin Pye, Juan Carlos Berrio, Genevieve Tyrrell, Ian P. Wilkinson, Neil Rose, Pawel Gaca, Andrew Cundy
A multimodal data fusion and deep learning framework for large-scale wildfire surface fuel mapping A multimodal data fusion and deep learning framework for large-scale wildfire surface fuel mapping
Accurate estimation of fuels is essential for wildland fire simulations as well as decision-making related to land management. Numerous research efforts have leveraged remote sensing and machine learning for classifying land cover and mapping forest vegetation species. In most cases that focused on surface fuel mapping, the spatial scale of interest was smaller than a few hundred square...
Authors
Mohamad Alipour, Inga P. La Puma, Joshua J. Picotte, Kasra Shamsei, Eric Rowell, Adam Watts, Branko Kosovic, Hamed Ebrahimian, Erugrul Taciroglu
High resolution SnowModel simulations reveal future elevation-dependent snow loss and earlier, flashier surface water input for the Upper Colorado River Basin High resolution SnowModel simulations reveal future elevation-dependent snow loss and earlier, flashier surface water input for the Upper Colorado River Basin
Continued climate warming is reducing seasonal snowpacks in the western United States, where >50% of historical water supplies were snowmelt-derived. In the Upper Colorado River Basin, declining snow water equivalent (SWE) and altered surface water input (SWI, rainfall and snowmelt available to enter the soil) timing and magnitude affect streamflow generation and water availability. To...
Authors
John C. Hammond, Graham A. Sexstone, Annie L. Putman, Theodore B. Barnhart, David M. Rey, Jessica M. Driscoll, Glen Liston, Kristen L. Rasmussen, Daniel McGrath, Steven R. Fassnacht, Stephanie K. Kampf
Green turtle movements in the Gulf of Mexico: Tracking reveals new migration corridor and habitat use suggestive of MPA expansion Green turtle movements in the Gulf of Mexico: Tracking reveals new migration corridor and habitat use suggestive of MPA expansion
Globally, Marine Protected Areas are an important tool in the conservation of large marine vertebrates. Recent studies have highlighted the use of protected areas by imperiled green turtles (Chelonia mydas) in the southern Gulf of Mexico. To identify and characterize inter-nesting, migratory, and foraging areas for green turtles that nest in the northern Gulf of Mexico, we deployed 14...
Authors
Margaret Lamont, Allison Benscoter, Kristen Hart
Juxtaposition of intensive agriculture, vulnerable aquifers, and mixed chemical/microbial exposures in private-well tapwater in northeast Iowa Juxtaposition of intensive agriculture, vulnerable aquifers, and mixed chemical/microbial exposures in private-well tapwater in northeast Iowa
In the United States and globally, contaminant exposure in unregulated private-well point-of-use tapwater (TW) is a recognized public-health data gap and an obstacle to both risk-management and homeowner decision making. To help address the lack of data on broad contaminant exposures in private-well TW from hydrologically-vulnerable (alluvial, karst) aquifers in agriculturally-intensive...
Authors
Paul M. Bradley, Dana W. Kolpin, Darrin A. Thompson, Kristin M. Romanok, Kelly L. Smalling, Sara E. Breitmeyer, Mary C. Cardon, David M. Cwiertny, Nicola Evans, R. William Field, Michael J. Focazio, Laura E. Beane Freeman, Carrie E. Givens, James L. Gray, Gordon L. Hager, Michelle L. Hladik, Jonathan N. Hoffman, Rena R. Jones, Leslie K. Kanagy, Rachael F. Lane, R. Blaine McCleskey, Danielle Medgyesi, Elizabeth Medlock-Kakaley, Shannon M. Meppelink, Michael T. Meyer, Diana A. Stavreva, Mary H. Ward
Physicochemical coastal groundwater dynamics between Kauhakō Crater lake and Kalaupapa settlement, Moloka‘i, Hawai‘i Physicochemical coastal groundwater dynamics between Kauhakō Crater lake and Kalaupapa settlement, Moloka‘i, Hawai‘i
Land-based sources of groundwater pollution can be a critical threat to coral reefs, and a better understanding of “ridge-to-reef” water movement is required to advance management and coral survival in the Anthropocene. In this study a more complete understanding of the geological, atmospheric, and oceanic drivers behind coastal groundwater exchange on the Kalaupapa peninsula, on Moloka...
Authors
Ferdinand K.J. Oberle, Olivia M. Cheriton, Peter W Swarzenski, Eric K. Brown, Curt D. Storlazzi