Publications

Reliable estimates of the magnitude and frequency of floods are essential for the design of transportation and water-conveyance structures, flood-insurance studies, and flood-plain management. Such estimates are particularly important in densely populated urban areas. In order to increase the number of streamflow-gaging stations (streamgages) available for analysis, expand the...

Laboratory experiments were conducted to assess if exposure to atmospheric African dust stimulates or inhibits the growth of four putative bacterial coral pathogens. Atmospheric dust was collected from a dust-source region (Mali, West Africa) and from Saharan Air Layer masses over downwind sites in the Caribbean [Trinidad and Tobago and St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI)]. Extracts of...

Topographic data at selected areas within the Alabama River flood plain near Montgomery, Alabama, were collected using a truck-mounted mobile terrestrial light detection and ranging system. These data were collected for inclusion in a flood inundation model developed by the National Weather Service in Birmingham, Alabama. Data are presented as ArcGIS point shapefiles with the extension...

This project provides baseline data of butterfly populations at two coastal prairie restoration sites in Louisiana, the Duralde Unit of Lacassine National Wildlife Refuge (hereafter, the Duralde site) and the Cajun Prairie Restoration Project in Eunice (hereafter, the Eunice site). In all, four distinct habitat types representing different planting methods were sampled. These data will...

Mangroves are among the most well described and widely studied wetland communities in the world. The greatest threats to mangrove persistence are deforestation and other anthropogenic disturbances that can compromise habitat stability and resilience to sea-level rise. To persist, mangrove ecosystems must adjust to rising sea level by building vertically or become submerged. Mangroves may...

In response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in spring 2010, the Natural Resources Conservation Service implemented the Migratory Bird Habitat Initiative (MBHI) to provide temporary wetland habitat for migrating and wintering waterfowl, shorebirds, and other birds along the northern Gulf of Mexico via managed flooding of agricultural lands. We used weather-surveillance radar to conduct...

This fact sheet presents a brief overview of groundwater and surface-water resources in Cameron Parish, Louisiana. Information on the availability, use, and quality of water from groundwater and surface-water sources in the parish is discussed. Previously published reports and data stored in the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Water Information System (http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis)...

This fact sheet presents a brief overview of groundwater and surface-water resources in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana. Information on the availability, use, and quality of water from groundwater and surface-water sources in the parish is discussed. Previously published reports and data stored in the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Water Information System (http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis)...

Groundwater withdrawals have caused saltwater to encroach into freshwater-bearing aquifers beneath Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Groundwater investigations in the 1960s identified a freshwater-saltwater interface located at the Baton Rouge Fault, across which abrupt changes in water levels occur. Aquifers south of the fault generally contain saltwater, and aquifers north of the fault contain...

The 2011 flood in the Lower Mississippi resulted in the second highest recorded river flow diverted into the Atchafalaya River Basin (ARB). The higher water levels during the flood peak resulted in high hydrologic connectivity between the Atchafalaya River and floodplain, with up to 50% of the Atchafalaya River water moving off channel. Water quality samples were collected throughout the...

Precipitation data from Global Climate Models have been downscaled to smaller regions. Adapting this downscaled precipitation data to a coupled hydrodynamic surface-water/groundwater model of southern Florida allows an examination of future conditions and their effect on groundwater levels, inundation patterns, surface-water stage and flows, and salinity. The downscaled rainfall data...

During January and February 2011 the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the University of South Florida (USF), conducted geochemical surveys on the west Florida Shelf. Data collected will allow USGS and USF scientists to investigate the effects of climate change on ocean acidification within the northern Gulf of Mexico, specifically, the effect of ocean acidification on...