Cee Nell, PhD

A map of the Potomac River stream network is colored by Strahler stream order, where higher order represents a larger stream. Next to the map is a donut chart, showing that small headwater streams (order 1) make up 57% of the river network, by length. The first three orders of streams, together, make up 87% of the network by length.

A map of the contiguous U.S. using a snowflake hex pattern to show relative snow cover for March 2023 compared to 20-year average (2003 through 2022). Much of the western states experienced more snow than normal, such as the Rocky Mountains and the upper Great Plains. Much of the eastern U.S.

A map of the contiguous U.S. using a snowflake hex pattern to show snow cover for March 2023. Snowier places are white with snow, emphasizing the Rocky Mountains and Sierra range in the western U.S., the Upper Midwest, and Maine in the northeast.

Mean daily streamflow (cfs) of the Rio Grande at Embudo, New Mexico from 1991 to 2022. The chart has a black background and the 30 years of mean daily streamflow data are plotted as stacked white ridge lines that emulate the aesthetics of a classic rock album.

Animated map of the continental U.S. and paired line chart. For each month from 2000 to 2020, the map shows burned areas within water supply watersheds, and the chart displays the total number of affected water users. In 2003, 2005, 2014, and 2017, wildfires burned key water supply watersheds that together supply water to over 1.5 million consumers.

Circularity of named lakes in the U.S. A histogram shows circularity for lakes and reservoirs in the United States, defined as 4π * Area / perimeter squared. The distribution is skewed left, as most lakes and reservoirs aren’t very circular.

A Tale of two winters. A map of CONUS and lollipop style charts show the difference in percent snow covered area for February 2023 compared to the 20-year mean (2003-2022). Paired charts show the relationships between latitude, longitude, and difference in percent snow covered area, depicting two very different winters between the coasts.

8 maps of the continental U.S. show county-level water use for 8 categories of use – thermoelectric, irrigation, public supply, industrial, aquaculture, mining, domestic, and livestock. Use in each category is shown as a percent of total water use, by county. In the northern plains, most water is used for livestock. In west Texas, most water is used for mining.

A 3D aerial view of Norristown, Pennsylvania shows where the Schuylkill River passes through the city. The water in the river is shown in bright blue, while the surrounding city is shown in natural color.

An alluvial diagram showing the number of deaths due to natural disasters in the United States over the past 50 years (1972 – 2022). The data include deaths due to eight types of natural disasters: wildfires, drought, extreme temperatures, landslides, volcanic activity, earthquakes, storms, and floods

A tile map of the US showing streamgages by flow levels through the month of March 2023. For each state, an area chart shows the proportion of streamgages in wet, normal, or dry conditions. Streamflow conditions are quantified using percentiles comparing the past month’s flow levels to the historic record for each streamgage.

A data visualization showing how Minimum Annual Streamflow has changed from generation to generation over the past 100 years. Across the contiguous United States, streamflow has increased by 22% when comparing the baseline “Silent generation” (1920 – 1946) against the Gen Z years (1997-2020).

Six panel data visualization in the graphical form of a comic. The first panel is of a bright sun with trees lining a street that has tall buildings on either side.

An animation of spring leaf out timing in the contiguous U.S. from Jan 1 2023 to Apr 3, 2023. A map and bar chart are synchronized to show the onset of spring as the year progresses, with southernmost parts of the U.S. first entering spring and rising up through parts of the midwest and east coast.

In 2015, water use in the U.S. totaled 322 billion gallons/day. Total water use is broken out into 8 categories using different colors.

Waffle charts are colorized and faceted by contaminant (Pb, Fe, NO3-, and Sr) and region (West, Central, Midwest, East). Each 10 x 10 waffle charts shows the proportion of study area that contains high, moderate, and low concentrations where 1 square = 1 % of region. Figure contains callouts where, for example, NO3- in the Central U.S.

Where is Earth’s water? Series of 3 landscapes depicting where water is in blue for all Earth’s water, all freshwater, and surface & other freshwater.

Where is Earth’s water? Series of 3 interconnected tree maps for all Earth’s water, all freshwater, and surface & other freshwater. All Earth’s water tree map is broken down in size order displaying oceans, other saline water, and freshwater.