Libby Kahler
I work largely with the USGS Southwest Gravity Program, collecting and analyzing gravity data to answer hydrological questions.
Biography
My current projects include monitoring aquifer-storage change via established gravity methods, incorporating gravity observations as a groundwater model calibration target using coupled hydrogeophysical inversion, and assessing the utility of gravity data in detecting porosity changes across a fault.
Science and Products
Monitoring aquifer-storage change at Tucson Water's Southeast Houghton Area Recharge Project
The Arizona Water Science Center is monitoring aquifer-storage changes at an artificial recharge facility operated by Tucson Water in southeast Tucson. Aquifer-storage change is monitored by measuring changes in gravity over time at the same network of benchmarks. As water is added or removed from the aquifer, there is a change in mass and a corresponding measurable change in gravity.
Aquifer-Storage Change and Land-Surface Elevation Change Monitoring in the Tucson Active Management Area
The Arizona Water Science Center is monitoring aquifer-storage changes and land subsidence within the Tucson Active Management Area (AMA). Land-surface elevation change is monitored at a network of benchmarks throughout the Tucson AMA by measuring changes in land surface elevation over time (approximately annually) with Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR). Aquifer-storage change...
Aquifer storage change and storage properties, 2010–2017, in the Big Chino Subbasin, Yavapai County, Arizona
The Big Chino Subbasin is a groundwater basin that includes the Verde River headwaters in Yavapai County in north-central Arizona. Groundwater in the southern part of the subbasin is found primarily in the Big Chino and Williamson Valleys. The former is a potential municipal water source for growing communities in Yavapai County, particularly...
Kennedy, Jeffrey R.; Kahler, Libby M.; Read, Amy L.
Groundwater-storage change and land-surface elevation change in Tucson Basin and Avra Valley, south-central Arizona--2003-2016
The U.S. Geological Survey monitors groundwater-storage change and land-surface elevation change caused by groundwater withdrawal in Tucson Basin and Avra Valley—the two most populated alluvial basins within the Tucson Active Management Area. The Tucson Active Management Area is one of five active management areas in Arizona established by the...
Carruth, Robert L.; Kahler, Libby M.; Conway, Brian D.