Publications

In July of 2006, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) conducted a geophysical survey offshore of the Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana, as part of the USGS Barrier Island Coastal Monitoring project (BICM), which is part of a broader study focused on Subsidence and Coastal Change (SCC). This report serves as an archive of unprocessed digital Compressed High Intensity Radar Pulse (CHIRP) seismic...

Over the past century, seagrass habitats from the bays of Texas to the gulf shores of Florida have decreased. Seagrass beds, which are highly dependent on water quality and clarity for survival, are home to a multitude of aquatic plants and animals and a source of economic activity through commercial and recreational fishing and ecotourism. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Gulf...

A week after Hurricane Katrina made landfall in Louisiana, a collaboration among multiple organizations began building a database called the Geographic Information System for the Gulf, shortened to "GIS for the Gulf," to support the geospatial data needs of people in the hurricane-affected area. Data were gathered from diverse sources and entered into a consistent and standardized data...

Satellite images from multiple sensors and dates were analyzed to measure the extent of flooding caused by Hurricane Katrina in the New Orleans, La., area. The flood polygons were combined with a high-resolution digital elevation model to estimate water depths and volumes in designated areas. The multiple satellite acquisitions enabled monitoring of the floodwater volume and extent...

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) assisted State and Federal agencies with humanitarian aid and geospatial analyses in support of search and rescue operations after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

The western burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia hypugaea) is threatened in Mexico, endangered in Canada, and declining in most of the western United States. Most previous research has focused on burrowing owl breeding biology, and little is known about its winter ecology. We determined characteristics of roost sites used by western burrowing owls in southern Texas during winter. Data on 46...

Adult rare minnow (Gobiocypris rarus) were exposed to 0, 1, 5, and 25 ng/l (nominal concentrations) of 17α-ethynylestradiol (EE2) and 3, 10, and 30 μg/l (nominal concentrations) of 4-nonylphenol (NP) under flow-through conditions for a period of 28 d. Low mortality was observed at 5 and 25 ng/l EE2 and the growth of fish reduced significantly at 25 ng/l EE2 compared to controls. However...

The genetically unique population of muskellunge Esox masquinongy inhabiting Shoepack Lake in Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota, is potentially at risk for loss of genetic variability and long-term viability. Shoepack Lake has been subject to dramatic surface area changes from the construction of an outlet dam by beavers Castor canadensis and its subsequent failure. We simulated the...

Sturgeon use benthic habitats in and adjacent to main channels where environmental conditions can include bedload sediment transport and high near-bed flow velocities. Bed velocity measurements obtained with acoustic Doppler instruments provide a means to assess the concentration and velocity of sediment moving near the streambed, and are thus indicative of the bedload sediment transport...

Libraries are grouped into four major types: public, school, academic, and special. The U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) National Wetlands Research Center (NWRC) library is classified as a special library because it is sponsored by the Federal government, and the collections focus on a specific subject. The NWRC library is the only USGS library dedicated to wetland science. Library...

The National Wetlands Research Center (NWRC) library is part of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and is the only USGS library dedicated to wetland science. The mission of the NWRC library is to support the research and information needs of scientists, managers, and support personnel by providing a specialized, scientific collection of library materials and related information services...

In 2001, the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program of the U.S. Geological Survey began a series of studies on the transport of anthropogenic and natural contaminants (TANC) to public-supply wells. The main goal of the TANC program was to better understand the source, transport, and receptor factors that control contaminant movement to public-supply wells in representative...