Books
Science Quality and Integrity
The USGS provides unbiased, objective, and impartial scientific information upon which our audiences, including resource managers, planners, and other entities, rely.
The USGS provides unbiased, objective, and impartial scientific information upon which our audiences, including resource managers, planners, and other entities, rely.
Browse almost 1,000 books authored by our scientists over the past 100+ year history of the USGS and refine search by topic, location, year, and advanced search.
Filter Total Items: 967
Simulation-optimization aids in resolving water conflict: Temecula Basin, Southern California
The productive agricultural areas of Pajaro Valley, California have exclusively relied on ground water from coastal aquifers in central Monterey Bay. As part of the Basin Management Plan (BMP), the Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency (PVWMA) is developing additional local supplies to replace coastal pumpage, which is causing seawater intrusion. The BMP includes an aquifer storage and recovery (A
Authors
Randall T. Hanson, Claudia C. Faunt, Wolfgang Schmid, Jonathan Lear
Response and recovery lessons from the 2010-2011 earthquake sequence in Canterbury, New Zealand
The impacts and opportunities that result when low-probability moderate earthquakes strike an urban area similar to many throughout the US were vividly conveyed in a one-day workshop in which social and Earth scientists, public officials, engineers, and an emergency manager shared their experiences of the earthquake sequence that struck the city of Christchurch and surrounding Canterbury region of
Authors
Mark Pierepiekarz, David Johnston, Kelvin Berryman, John Hare, Joan S. Gomberg, Robert A. Williams, Craig S. Weaver
Comparison of smoothing methods for the development of a smoothed seismicity model for Alaska and the implications for seismic hazard
In anticipation of the update of the Alaska seismic hazard maps (ASHMs) by the U. S. Geological Survey, we report progress on the comparison of smoothed seismicity models developed using fixed and adaptive smoothing algorithms, and investigate the sensitivity of seismic hazard to the models. While fault-based sources, such as those for great earthquakes in the Alaska-Aleutian subduction zone and f
Authors
Morgan P. Moschetti, Charles S. Mueller, Oliver S. Boyd, Mark D. Petersen
Semi-automated identification of leopard frogs
Principal component analysis is used to implement a semi-automatic recognition system to identify recaptured northern leopard frogs (Lithobates pipiens). Results of both open set and closed set experiments are given. The presented algorithm is shown to provide accurate identification of 209 individual leopard frogs from a total set of 1386 images.
Authors
Dijana Petrovska-Delacrétaz, Aaron Edwards, John Chiasson, Gérard Chollet, David S. Pilliod
North American amphibians: Distribution and diversity
Some 300 species of amphibians inhabit North America. The past two decades have seen an enormous growth in interest about amphibians and an increased intensity of scientific research into their fascinating biology and continent-wide distribution.This atlas presents the spectacular diversity of North American amphibians in a geographic context. It covers all formally recognized amphibian species fo
Social-ecological resilience and law
Environmental law envisions ecological systems as existing in an equilibrium state, reinforcing a rigid legal framework unable to absorb rapid environmental changes and innovations in sustainability. For the past four decades, “resilience theory,” which embraces uncertainty and nonlinear dynamics in complex adaptive systems, has provided a robust, invaluable foundation for sound environmental mana
InSAR imaging of Aleutian volcanoes: Monitoring a volcanic arc from space
No abstract available.
Authors
Zhong Lu, Daniel Dzurisin
Thresholds for conservation and management: structured decision making as a conceptual framework
A conceptual framework is provided for considering the threshold concept in natural resource management and conservation. We define three kinds of thresholds
relevant to management and conservation. Ecological thresholds are values of system state variables at which small changes bring about substantial or specified
changes in system dynamics. They are frequently incorporated into ecological model
Authors
James D. Nichols, Mitchell J. Eaton, Julien Martin
Leave no trace in the outdoors
The essential guide for enjoying the outdoors without harming the environment.
- Details the seven core principles of Leave No Trace ethics and practices
- Covers hiking, campfires, food storage, and personal hygiene
- Endorsed by the USDI National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, Fish & Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey, and the USDA Forest Service
Authors
Jeffrey L. Marion
Trends in groundwater quality in principal aquifers of the United States, 1988-2012
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program analyzed trends in groundwater quality throughout the nation for the sampling period of 1988-2012. Trends were determined for networks (sets of wells routinely monitored by the USGS) for a subset of constituents by statistical analysis of paired water-quality measurements collected on a near-decadal time scale. T
Authors
Bruce D. Lindsey, Michael G. Rupert
2014 update of the U.S. national seismic hazard maps
We held 8 regional and topical workshops across the U.S. to gather information for these maps. The maps were available to the public for comment during a 60-day period. A Steering Committee (9 experts) was assembled to review the inputs and results and provide additional insights. The maps have been presented at several professional meetings.
In this talk we discuss:
(1) CEUS, (2) WUS (outside
Authors
Mark D. Petersen, Morgan P. Moschetti, Peter M. Powers, Charles S. Mueller, Kathleen M. Haller, Arthur D. Frankel, Yuehua Zeng, Sanaz Rezaeian, Stephen C. Harmsen, Oliver S. Boyd, Edward H. Field, R Chen, Kenneth S. Rukstales, Nicolas Luco, Russell L. Wheeler, Anna H. Olsen
A new map of global ecological land units — An ecophysiographic stratification approach
In response to the need and an intergovernmental commission for a high resolution and data-derived global ecosystem map, land surface elements of global ecological pattern were characterized in an ecophysiographic stratification of the planet. The stratification produced 3,923 terrestrial ecological land units (ELUs) at a base resolution of 250 meters. The ELUs were derived from data on land surfa
Authors
Roger Sayre, Jack Dangermond, Charlie Frye, Randy Vaughan, Peter Aniello, Sean P. Breyer, Douglas Cribbs, Dabney Hopkins, Richard Nauman, William Derrenbacher, Dawn J. Wright, Clint Brown, Charles Convis, Jonathan H. Smith, Laurence Benson, D. Paco VanSistine, Harumi Warner, Jill Janene Cress, Jeffrey J. Danielson, Sharon L. Hamann, Thomas Cecere, Ashwan D. Reddy, Devon Burton, Andrea Grosse, Diane True, Marc Metzger, Jens Hartmann, Nils Moosdorf, Hans Durr, Marc Paganini, Pierre Defourny, Olivier Arino, Simone Maynard, Mark Anderson, Patrick Comer