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The USGS provides unbiased, objective, and impartial scientific information upon which our audiences, including resource managers, planners, and other entities, rely.
Browse more than 65,000 articles authored by our scientists over the past 100+ year history of the USGS and refine search by topic, location, year, and advanced search.
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Assessing the status and drivers of phytoplankton blooms along the riverine to freshwater-tidal continuum in a modified delta Assessing the status and drivers of phytoplankton blooms along the riverine to freshwater-tidal continuum in a modified delta
Shifts in phytoplankton communities, from beneficial taxa that fuel food webs to harmful taxa that degrade water quality, are often linked to anthropogenic modifications to estuaries. We analyzed monitoring data from 2000 to 2023 in the heavily modified southern, landward portion of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (California, USA) to determine the status and drivers of phytoplankton...
Authors
Nicholas (Nick) Framsted, Crystal Lee Sturgeon, Tamara E. C. Kraus, Keith Bouma-Gregson
Subsurface vertical connectivity shapes solute transport to montane streams: Insights from watershed-scale geophysics-informed modeling Subsurface vertical connectivity shapes solute transport to montane streams: Insights from watershed-scale geophysics-informed modeling
Headwater catchments provide essential water and nutrients to downstream ecosystems. The timing and evolution of their transport is shaped in part by the “invisible” subsurface structure but have been largely unexplored at the watershed scale. This raises a fundamental question: how and to what extent does subsurface structure influence streamflow and solute transport in montane...
Authors
Xueyuan Kang, Pamela L. Sullivan, Burke J. Minsley, Li Li, Marc Dumont, Kamini Singha
Hyperspectral narrowband imaging spectroscopy: A new paradigm for Earth observation Hyperspectral narrowband imaging spectroscopy: A new paradigm for Earth observation
This editorial introduces the Special Issue entitled “Hyperspectral Narrowband Imaging Spectroscopy: A New Paradigm for Earth Observation” in the August 2026 issue of Photogrammetric Engineering & Remote Sensing (PE&RS), the flagship journal of the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS). This volume represents the fourth dedicated hyperspectral special issue...
Authors
Prasad Thenkabail, Itiya Aneece, Pardasaradhi Teluguntla
Climate change vulnerability assessment for guiding ecosystem restoration in fire-prone landscapes of the western U.S. Climate change vulnerability assessment for guiding ecosystem restoration in fire-prone landscapes of the western U.S.
Climate-driven alterations to fire regimes challenges forest management and restoration in the western United States, where increased wildfire severity threatens ecosystem integrity and resilience. In this study, we demonstrate the application of the FireCLIME (Fire-Climate-Landscape Interactions in Montane Ecosystems) Vulnerability Assessment (VA) as a decision-support tool for...
Authors
Megan Friggens, Rachel A. Loehman, Stephanie Mueller, William T. Flatley, Andrea E. Thode
Stream health shows indirect and threshold responses to implementation of agricultural conservation practices Stream health shows indirect and threshold responses to implementation of agricultural conservation practices
Many agricultural conservation practices (hereafter conservation practices) are intended to protect streams from the deleterious effects of agriculture, but desired effects of their implementation are not always realized. Understanding the pathways through which conservation practices influence stream health can guide future implementation. Our goal was to quantify how conservation...
Authors
Joshua B. Mouser, Serena Ciparis, Jonathan A. Czuba, Bryan L. Brown, Paul L. Angermeier
How to determine an earthquake rate budget? A comparison of geodetic, geologic, and seismologic moment rates How to determine an earthquake rate budget? A comparison of geodetic, geologic, and seismologic moment rates
How much tectonic geodetic strain is accommodated as earthquakes? Can estimates of tectonic geodetic strain be used in probabilistic seismic hazard analyses? Understanding the balance of moment accumulation (i.e., geodetic moment) and accommodation (i.e., geologic and seismologic moment) is a necessary step toward leveraging corrected geodetic strain rates to quantify earthquake budgets...
Authors
Alexandra Elise Hatem, Richard W. Briggs, Frederick Pollitz, Nadine G. Reitman, M. Morow Tan
Subsurface water ice mapping on Mars: A probabilistic approach Subsurface water ice mapping on Mars: A probabilistic approach
Subsurface water ice deposits on Mars are an important resource for potential future human exploration. They are also an indicator of the planet’s past climate. However, the distribution of subsurface water ice in Mars’s midlatitudes is uncertain because spacecraft imagery cannot directly observe subsurface ice in most cases. Various spacecraft remote sensing instruments are sensitive to
Authors
Samuel W Courville, Nathaniel E Putzig, Gareth A Morgan, Asmin Pathare, Colin M. Dundas, David M. H. Baker, Ali Bramson, Rachael H. Hoover, Stefano Nerozzi, Matthew R. Perry, Megan Russell, Hanna G. Sizemore
Enhancements to the USGS Landsat Level 2 surface temperature and emissivity product for Collection 3 reprocessing Enhancements to the USGS Landsat Level 2 surface temperature and emissivity product for Collection 3 reprocessing
The Landsat program provides the longest continuous global record of thermal infrared observations of the Earth's surface, underpinning critical applications in climate monitoring, water resources, ecosystem dynamics, urban heat analysis, and natural hazard assessment. The release of a global inventory of Landsat Collection 2 Level 2 surface temperature products by the U.S. Geological...
Authors
Saeed Arab, Chase Mueller, Christopher J. Crawford, Danika Wellington, Ray Dittmeier, Glynn Hulley, Aaron Gerace, Calli Jenkerson, Simon Hook, Amirhossein Hassanzadeh, Rehman Eon, Cody Anderson, Pat Scaramuzza, Frank M. Göttsche
Global carbon investment in terrestrial biological nitrogen fixation Global carbon investment in terrestrial biological nitrogen fixation
Biological nitrogen (N) fixation (BNF) provides the N needed to produce proteins and other biological building blocks, helping feed humanity and mitigate climate change. Due to its high energetic cost compared to other forms of N acquisition, biotic investment in BNF indicates N limitation. Globally gridded BNF flux data provide an opportunity to determine the energetic investment in BNF...
Authors
Duncan N.L. Menge, Carla R. Reis Ely, Steven S. Perakis, Sian Kou-Giesbrecht, Cory C. Cleveland, Sasha C. Reed, Benton N. Taylor, Sarah A. Batterman, Timothy E. Crews, Katherine A. Dynarski, Jennifer L. Funk, Maga G. Gei, Kevin L. Griffin, Michael J. Gundale, David F. Herridge, Sarah E. Jovan, Mark B. Peoples, Johannes Piipponen, Emilio Rodriguez-Caballero, Verity G. Salmon, Fiona M. Soper, Anika P. Staccone, Bettina Weber, Amelia A. Wolf, Nina Wurzburger
Understanding natal emigration in group-living carnivores Understanding natal emigration in group-living carnivores
Dispersal is a critical ecological and evolutionary process, yet the drivers of individual variation in emigration, particularly under human-modified conditions, remain relatively understudied. We investigate the determinants and patterns of emigration in a managed population of cooperative breeders using genetic samples from harvested individuals.We used a novel genetic approach to...
Authors
Kathleen M. Petersen, Joel M. Tebbenkamp, Matthew A. Mumma, David Edward Ausband
Quantifying methane emissions from a rich fen with uncrewed aircraft systems in boreal Alaska Quantifying methane emissions from a rich fen with uncrewed aircraft systems in boreal Alaska
Thawing of permafrost in northern latitudes is accelerating, potentially releasing substantial amounts of methane (CH4) as forested permafrost plateaus transition into wetlands. This ecosystem shift alters the carbon exchange between the soil and atmosphere, influencing the permafrost-carbon feedback. Monitoring these changes may require measurement platforms operating across varied...
Authors
J.M. Tomlin, C.W. Edgar, E. Seroki, E.S. Euskirchen, E.S. Kane, M.Y. McPartland, L.T. Iraci, Kristen L. Manies
Increasing artificial light at night enhances salmonid predator foraging efficiency in an urbanized lake Increasing artificial light at night enhances salmonid predator foraging efficiency in an urbanized lake
Artificial light at night (ALAN) poses a threat to ecosystems globally. It includes both direct and indirect light, or skyglow, which occurs when ALAN scatters in the atmosphere, extending beyond its original source. We analyzed ALAN trends in Lake Washington, WA, from 2014 to 2023 using Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) nighttime light measurements, evaluated the...
Authors
Jennifer A Schulien, Tessa Julianne Code