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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 more than 82,000 reports 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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US Topo Product Standard US Topo Product Standard
This document defines a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) digital topographic map. This map product series, named “US Topo,” is modeled on the now historical USGS 7.5-minute (1:24,000 scale) topographic map series produced and printed by the USGS from 1947 to 2006. US Topo maps have the same extent, scale, and general layout as the historical topographic maps. US Topo maps incorporate an
Authors
Larry R. Davis, Kristin A. Fishburn, Helmut Lestinsky, Laurence R. Moore, Jennifer L. Walter
Economical environmental sampler designs for detecting airborne spread of fungi responsible for Rapid `Ōhi`a Death Economical environmental sampler designs for detecting airborne spread of fungi responsible for Rapid `Ōhi`a Death
We designed two new samplers for monitoring airborne particulates that rely on either natural wind currents (Passive Environmental Sampler) or a battery-operated fan (Active Environmental Sampler). Both samplers are significantly less expensive than commercial devices such as Rotorod® and Burkard Samplers that are used in the agricultural and health science industries. They are...
Authors
Carter T. Atkinson, Kylle Roy, Carolina Granthon
Using acoustic Doppler velocity meters to estimate suspended sediment along the lower Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers Using acoustic Doppler velocity meters to estimate suspended sediment along the lower Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers
Lake Pepin is the largest naturally formed lake on the Mississippi River and has complex management needs to satisfy economic, environmental, and cultural demands. Lake Pepin is filling in with sediment at a rapid rate compared to conditions before settlement by European immigrants and intense agricultural cultivation. Accordingly, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has developed...
Authors
Joel T. Groten, Jeffrey R. Ziegeweid, J. William Lund, Christopher A. Ellison, Samuel B. Costa, Erin N. Coenen, Erich W. Kessler
Response of vegetation in open and partially wooded fens to prescribed burning at Seney National Wildlife Refuge Response of vegetation in open and partially wooded fens to prescribed burning at Seney National Wildlife Refuge
The health and function of northern peatlands, particularly for fens, are strongly affected by fire and hydrology. Fens are important to several avian species of conservation interest, notably the yellow rail (Coturnicops noveboracensis). Fire suppression and altered hydrology often result in woody encroachment, altering the plant community and structure. Woody encroachment and its...
Authors
Jane E. Austin, Wesley E. Newton
Hydrogeology of Lower Amargosa Valley and groundwater discharge to the Amargosa Wild and Scenic River, Inyo and San Bernardino Counties, California, and adjacent areas in Nye and Clark Counties, Nevada Hydrogeology of Lower Amargosa Valley and groundwater discharge to the Amargosa Wild and Scenic River, Inyo and San Bernardino Counties, California, and adjacent areas in Nye and Clark Counties, Nevada
In 2009, Congress designated certain reaches of the Amargosa River in Inyo County, California between the town of Shoshone and Dumont Dunes as a Wild and Scenic River. As part of the management of the Amargosa Wild and Scenic River, the Bureau of Land Management cooperated with the U.S. Geological Survey to assess the surface and groundwater resources of the Tecopa basin. Groundwater is...
Authors
Wayne R. Belcher, Donald S. Sweetkind, Candice B. Hopkins, Megan E. Poff
Assessment of bird exposure to lead at Tyndall and Beale Air Force Bases, 2016–17 Assessment of bird exposure to lead at Tyndall and Beale Air Force Bases, 2016–17
Soil contamination by lead (Pb) from past small munitions training on Beale Air Force Base, California, and Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, may result in adverse effects for passerine birds that utilize the locations. A study was conducted during 2016-17 by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Air Force, at both Air Force Bases...
Authors
Timothy A. Bargar
Monitoring the pulse of our Nation's rivers and streams—The U.S. Geological Survey streamgaging network Monitoring the pulse of our Nation's rivers and streams—The U.S. Geological Survey streamgaging network
In the late 1800s, John Wesley Powell, second Director of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), proposed gaging the flow of rivers and streams in the Western United States to evaluate the potential for irrigation. Around the same time, several cities in the Eastern United States established primitive streamgages to help design water-supply systems. Streamgaging technology has greatly...
Authors
Sandra M. Eberts, Michael D. Woodside, Mark N. Landers, Chad R. Wagner
The Mississippi Alluvial Plain aquifers—An engine for economic activity The Mississippi Alluvial Plain aquifers—An engine for economic activity
U.S. Geological Survey science supports groundwater resource management in the Mississippi Alluvial Plain region. The USGS Science and Decisions Center is working with the Water Availability and Use Science Program to integrate economics into a sophisticated model of groundwater in the region. The model will quantify the status of the groundwater system and help researchers, stakeholders...
Authors
Mustapha Alhassan, Collin B. Lawrence, Steven Richardson, Emily Pindilli
Demographic responses of least terns and piping plovers to the 2011 Missouri River flood—A large-scale case study Demographic responses of least terns and piping plovers to the 2011 Missouri River flood—A large-scale case study
A catastrophic flood event on the Missouri River system in 2011 led to substantial changes in abundance and distribution of unvegetated sand habitat. This river system is a major component of the breeding range for interior Least terns (Sternula antillarum; “terns”) and piping plovers (Charadrius melodus; “plovers”), both of which are Federally listed ground-nesting birds that prefer...
Authors
Michael J. Anteau, Mark H. Sherfy, Terry L. Shaffer, Rose J. Swift, Dustin L. Toy, Colin M. Dovichin
Assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources in the South Florida basin, 2016 Assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources in the South Florida basin, 2016
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated mean undiscovered, technically recoverable resources of 49 million barrels of oil and 18 billion cubic feet of gas in the onshore and State waters part of the South Florida basin.
Authors
Tina L. Roberts-Ashby, Paul C. Hackley, Celeste D. Lohr, Christopher J. Schenk, Tracey J. Mercier, Katherine J. Whidden, Phuong A. Le, Marilyn E. Tennyson, Stephanie B. Gaswirth, Cheryl A. Woodall, Michael E. Brownfield, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller, Kristen R. Marra, Thomas M. Finn
U.S. Geological Survey science for the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative—2017 annual report U.S. Geological Survey science for the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative—2017 annual report
The Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI) was established in 2008 to address the scientific and conservation questions associated with land use changes because of energy development and other factors in southwest Wyoming. Over the past decade, partners from U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), State and Federal land management agencies, universities, and the public have collaborated...
Authors
Linda Zeigenfuss, Ellen Aikens, Cameron L. Aldridge, Patrick J. Anderson, Timothy J. Assal, Zachary H. Bowen, Anna D. Chalfoun, Geneva W. Chong, Cheryl A. Eddy-Miller, Stephen S. Germaine, Tabitha A. Graves, Collin G. Homer, Christopher Huber, Aaron N. Johnston, Matthew J. Kauffman, Daniel J. Manier, Ryan R. McShane, Kirk A. Miller, Adrian P. Monroe, Anna Ortega, Annika W. Walters, Teal B. Wyckoff
Aquifer depletion and potential impacts on long-term irrigated agricultural productivity Aquifer depletion and potential impacts on long-term irrigated agricultural productivity
Groundwater is the Earth’s most extracted raw material, with almost 1,000 cubic kilometers per year (800 million acre-feet per year) of groundwater pumped from aquifers around the world. Approximately 70% of groundwater withdrawals worldwide are used to support agricultural production systems, and within the United States, about 71% of groundwater withdrawals are used for irrigating...
Authors
John Tracy, Jennifer Johnson, Leonard F. Konikow, Gretchen Miller, Dana Porter, Zhuping Sheng, Steven Sibray