Images

Montana River sonar on a bridge

Sheridan River bridge

Northern Hawk Owl in a tree in Juneau, Alaska.

Northern Hawk Owl on a building in Juneau, Alaska.

MODIS Aqua 1 km true color satellite image showing resuspended volcanic ash cloud (arrow) generated from high winds scouring exposed ash on the Pacific side of the Katmai volcanic range. The cloud stretches across the Shelikof Straight and western Kodiak Island. Image ID 2010333 taken November 29, 2010. Courtesy NASA.

This MODIS Aqua 1-km-resolution, true-color satellite image shows a resuspended ash cloud generated from high winds scouring the dry, unvegetated deposits in the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes. The cloud stretches across Shelikof Strait to western Kodiak Island.

Location: south-central Alaska, from Kodiak to Anchorage

Toklat River view from a bridge

Bridge crossing over Toklat River

View of Toklat River from a bridge

Remnants of a spruce forest complex following a severe wildfire in the Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska. Wildfires are the dominant landscape-scale disturbance operating at annual time scales in Alaska, and fires play a major role in the rate and extent of vegetation growth and productivity of a site.

Mayumi Arimitsu lowering the instrument to measure oceanographic data from the R/V Alaskan Gyre

Mayumi Arimitsu lowering the CTD equipment into the water.

Mayumi Arimitsu sorting through fish caught in the mid-water trawl on the R/V Alaskan Gyre

Professor Michael Ort (Northern Arizona University) and graduate student Joel Unema examine deposits from the 2008 eruption of Okmok volcano in Alaska as part of their research to reconstruct the complex history of the eruption.  Dr.

Mayumi Arimitsu emptying the trawl contents in a large bucket in Prince William Sound.

As part of the Changing Arctic Ecosystem project, two biologists sampling invertebrates near the Chipp River area.

Ice wedge polygons near the Chipp River area on the north slope of Alaska

An enhanced photo of camp on the north slope.

The avian paramyxovirus is found across the planet, infect wild and domestic birds, and sometimes lead to disease outbreaks, but according to a new study led by the USGS, wild ducks and shorebirds do not appear to carry these viruses, which can lead to Newcastle disease that sickens or kills poultry.

Whimbrel chick on the Colville River Delta, Alaska.

King Eiders are well adapted to the frigid climate of the Arctic. These birds feed on mollusks and can reach depths up to 150 meters when diving in the ocean.