Robert M. Lent (Former Employee)

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has actively pursued research in the effects of climate change on the hydrology of New England. Ongoing focus areas of climate change science activities of the USGS in New England include the following: • Hydrologic climate-response data (initiating or expanding long-term hydrologic climate-response data collection networks to detect and monitor climate-related ch

Many climate-related hydrologic variables in New England have changed in the past century, and many are expected to change during the next century. It is important to understand and monitor these changes because they can affect human water supply, hydroelectric power generation, transportation infrastructure, and stream and riparian ecology. This report describes a framework for hydrologic monitor

Long-term streamflow information is critical for use in several water-related areas that are important to humans and wildlife, including water management, computation of flood and drought flows for water infrastructure, and analysis of climate-related trends. Specific uses are many and diverse and range from informing water rights across state and international boundaries to designing dams and bri

Runoff-based indicators of terrestrial water availability are appropriate for humid regions, but have tended to limit our basic hydrologic understanding of drylands – the dry-subhumid, semiarid, and arid regions which presently cover nearly half of the global land surface. In response, we introduce an indicator framework that gives equal weight to humid and dryland regions, accounting fully for bo

This report presents a framework for a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) hydrologic climate-response program designed to provide early warning of changes in the seasonal water cycle of Maine. Climate-related hydrologic changes on Maine's rivers and lakes in the winter and spring during the last century are well documented, and several river and lake variables have been shown to be sensitive to air-tem

It is important to monitor hydrologic systems in the United States that could change dramatically over the short term as a result of climate change. Many ecological effects of climate change can be understood only if hydrologic data networks are in place. Because of its humid, temperate climate and its substantial annual snowpack, Maine’s seasonal water cycle is sensitive to air temperature change

No abstract available.

Total mercury and methylmercury were measured in 4 reservoir cores and 12 wetland cores from Sudbury River. The distribution of total mercury and methylmercury in these cores was evaluated to determine the potential for total mercury and methylmercury transport from reservoir and wetlands sediments to the water column. Concentrations of methylmercury were corrected for an analytical artifact intro

No abstract available.

No abstract available.

Two sets of hydrologic indices were developed to characterize the water-budget components of nontidal wetlands. The first set consisted of six water-budget indices for input and output variables, and the second set consisted of two hydrologic interaction indices derived from the water-budget indices. The indices then were applied to 19 wetlands with previously published water-budget data. Two tril

Greater-than-normal precipitation during the summer of 1993 affected the hydrologic response and surface-water quality in the Devils Lake Basin. Large areas in the basin were flooded as a result of the precipitation, and water from these areas drained slowly through the chain of lakes into Devils Lake. This report summarizes the results of surface-water quantity and quality monitoring designed to