Publications

The history-matching approach to parameter estimation with models enables a powerful offshoot analysis of data worth—using the uncertainty of a model forecast as a metric for the worth of data. Adding observation data will either have no impact on forecast uncertainty or will reduce it. Removing existing data will either have no impact on forecast uncertainty or will increase it. The...

The impacts of white-nose syndrome (WNS) on many bat species in eastern North America have been well documented because of the length of time that the causative agent, Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd), has been present and the ability to monitor bat hibernacula in that region. However, the disease outcomes for bat species in western North America are less known because of the more...

Great Aleutian underthrusting earthquakes produced destructive tsunamis impacting Hawaiʻi in 1946 and 1957. Prior modeling of the 1957 tsunami deposit and runup records on eastern Aleutian and Hawaiian Islands jointly with tide-gauge observations across the Pacific Ocean constrained a rupture model with shallow slip up to 26 m along 600 km of the plate boundary. Here we implement this...

Describing future habitat for sensitive species can be helpful in planning conservation efforts to ensure species persistence under new climatic conditions. The Gila monster (Heloderma suspectum) is an iconic lizard of the southwestern United States. The northernmost range of Gila monsters is the Mojave Desert, an area experiencing rapid human population growth and urban sprawl. To...

The Perseverance rover is exploring Jezero crater on Mars, one of its goals being to collect samples to be returned to Earth to search for organic remains of ancient Martian life. However, the organic content of these rocks has likely suffered from the radiation environment on the surface of Mars to an extent yet to be quantified. For the first time, a 1000 sols long ageing experiment...

Continuous, high-resolution data for characterizing freshwater habitat conditions can support successful management of endangered salmonids. Uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) make acquiring such fine-scale data along river channels more feasible, but workflows for quantifying reach-scale salmon habitats are lacking. We evaluated the potential for UAS-based mapping of hydraulic habitats...

Estimates of dynamic groundwater volumes supplying baseflow to streams are important for water availability projections during extended periods of drought. The primary goals of this study were to provide dynamic storage volume estimates, inferred from streamflow recession analysis, for baseflow regimes within seven gaged catchments within the Neversink Reservoir Watershed (NRW), a...

The Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer is divided spatially into three parts (eastern, central, and western). The largest groundwater withdrawals are from the eastern part of the Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer, which provides water to approximately 39,000 people in Ada and Sulphur, Oklahoma, and surrounding areas. The Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer, including the eastern part, is designated a sole source...

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, North Dakota Department of Water Resources, South Dakota Department of Transportation, and the Wyoming Water Development Office, has developed standard methods of peak-flow frequency analysis for studies in Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming. These methods describe...

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 required the Secretary of the Interior to establish a program to inventory abandoned hard-rock mines in the United States. The Department of the Interior’s Office of Environmental Policy and Compliance asked the U.S. Geological Survey’s Mineral Deposit Database project (USMIN) to use existing data sources to build an inventory of all...

The U.S. Geological Survey assessed the Quaternary evolution of Seven Mile Island, New Jersey, to quantify coastal sediment availability, which is crucial for establishing sediment budgets, understanding sediment dispersal, and managing coastlines. This report presents preliminary interpretations of seismic profiles, maps of Holocene sand thickness from the shoreline to 2 kilometers...

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Suffolk County Water Authority, evaluated the aquifer transmissivity and storage properties at the Alvahs Lane well field north of the village of Cutchogue, New York. This analysis of aquifer properties provides the Suffolk County Water Authority with hydrogeologic information needed to develop water supplies to meet the increasing...