Publications

Designing conservation strategies that protect wide-ranging marine species is a significant challenge, but integrating regional telemetry datasets and synthesizing modeled movements and behavior offer promise for uncovering distinct at-sea areas that are important habitats for imperiled marine species. Movement paths of 10 satellite-tracked female loggerheads (Caretta caretta) from three...

This project provides highly detailed and accurate datasets of a portion of Alligator Point, Louisiana, acquired on March 5 and 6, 2010. The datasets are made available for use as a management tool to research scientists and natural-resource managers. An innovative airborne lidar instrument originally developed at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Wallops Flight...

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Albany Water, Gas, and Light Commission has conducted water resources investigations and monitored groundwater conditions and availability in the Albany, Georgia, area since 1977. This report presents an overview of hydrologic conditions, water quality, and groundwater studies in the Albany area of Dougherty County, Georgia, during 2009

The National Park Service (NPS) Inventory and Monitoring (I&M) Program initiated a benthic habitat mapping program in ocean and coastal parks in 2008-2009 in alignment with the NPS Ocean Park Stewardship 2007-2008 Action Plan. With more than 80 ocean and Great Lakes parks encompassing approximately 2.5 million acres of submerged territory and approximately 12,000 miles of coastline...

An inventory of water-quality data on field parameters, major ions, and nutrients provided a summary of water quality in headwater (first- and second-order) streams within watersheds along the Appalachian National Scenic Trail (Appalachian Trail). Data from 1,817 sampling sites in 831 catchments were used for the water-quality summary. Catchment delineations from NHDPlus were used as the

We tested the consistency and accuracy of flat-plate spectral measurements (400–1000 nm) of the marine macrophyte Ulva curvata. With sequential addition of Ulva thallus layers, the reflectance progressively increased from 6% to 9% with six thalli in the visible (VIS) and from 5% to 19% with ten thalli in the near infrared (NIR). This progressive increase was simulated by a mathematical...

The Cedar River alluvial aquifer is the primary source of municipal water in the Cedar Rapids, Iowa area. Municipal wells are completed in the alluvial aquifer approximately 40 to 80 feet below land surface. The City of Cedar Rapids and the U.S. Geological Survey have been conducting a cooperative study of the groundwater-flow system and water quality of the aquifer since 1992...

Minor flooding occurred July 23, 2010, in the Little Maquoketa River Basin and major flooding occurred July 23–26, 2010, in the Maquoketa River Basin in northeast Iowa following severe thunderstorm activity over the region during July 22–24. A breach of the Lake Delhi Dam on July 24 aggravated flooding on the Maquoketa River. Rain gages at Manchester and Strawberry Point, Iowa, recorded...

In a laboratory setting, we tested the ability of 24 non-native, wild-caught hatchling Burmese pythons (Python molurus bivittatus) collected in the Florida Everglades to survive when given water containing salt to drink. After a one-month acclimation period in the laboratory, we grouped snakes into three treatments, giving them access to water that was fresh (salinity of 0, control)...

During 2010–11, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Texas Water Development Board, used hydrograph separation to quantify historical base flow at 11 USGS streamflow-gaging stations between water years 1966–2009 and streamflow gains and losses from two sets of synoptic measurements of streamflow and specific conductance (the first in June 2010, followed by another...

This Web site contains information on rock cores archived at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center (SPCMSC). Archived cores consist of 3- to 4-inch-diameter coral cores, 1- to 2-inch-diameter rock cores, and a few unlabeled loose coral and rock samples. This document - and specifically the archive Web site portal - is intended to be a 'living'...

Watershed models can be used to simulate natural and human-altered processes including the flow of water and associated transport of sediment, chemicals, nutrients, and microbial organisms within a watershed. Simulation of these processes is useful for addressing a wide range of water-resource challenges, such as quantifying changes in water availability over time, understanding the...