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The Pacific Region has nine USGS Science Centers in California, Nevada, and Hawaii. The Regional Office, headquartered in Sacramento, provides Center oversight and support, facilitates internal and external collaborations, and works to further USGS strategic science directions.
News
Waves of Survival in American Samoa
Pete Gurr, a resident of American Samoa, was on his way to work when he felt an earthquake that originated 110 miles out at sea. Because of tsunami training he had received, he knew about the possibility of a deadly wave and drove down to the closest coastal village, where he warned the residents. Similarly, Tina Pule knew the earthquake was stronger than usual and told her parents to go inland.
Publications
Coastal circulation and water-column properties in the National Park of American Samoa, February–July 2015
There is little information on the oceanography in the National Park of American Samoa (NPSA). The transport pathways for potentially harmful constituents of land-derived runoff, as well as larvae and other planktonic organisms, are driven by nearshore circulation patterns. To evaluate the processes affecting coral reef ecosystem health, it is...
Storlazzi, Curt D.; Cheriton, Olivia; Rosenberger, Kurt J.; Logan, Joshua B.; Clark, Timothy B.
Effects of Climate and land use on diversity, prevalence, and seasonal transmission of avian hematozoa in American Samoa
The indigenous forest birds of American Samoa are increasingly threatened by changing patterns of rainfall and temperature that are associated with climate change as well as environmental stressors associated with agricultural and urban development, invasive species, and new introductions of avian diseases and disease vectors. Long term changes in...
Atkinson, Carter T.; Utuzurrum, Ruth B.; Seamon, Joshua O.; Schmaedick, Mark A.; Lapointe, Dennis; Apelgren, Chloe; Egan, Ariel N.; Watcher-Weatherwax, William Ants of the national park of American Samoa
American Samoa makes up the eastern end of the Samoan Archipelago. On the islands of Tutuila, Taʽū and Ofu, the National Park of American Samoa (NPSA) protects about 4,000 ha of coastal, mid-slope and ridge-top forest. While the ant fauna of the Samoan Archipelago is considered relatively well documented, much of NPSA has never been surveyed for...
Banko, Paul C.; Peck, Robert W.
The Value of U.S. Coral Reefs for Risk Reduction
Summary of the report, “Rigorously valuing the role of U.S. coral reefs in coastal hazard risk reduction”
U.S. Seismic Hazard Maps – Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, Samoa and the Pacific Islands, and Guam and Northern Mariana Islands
Seismic hazard maps for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, Samoa and the Pacific Islands, and Guam.
Thermal Imaging Camera Use: Identifying Groundwater Inputs to a Reef in American Samoa
USGS scientists used a thermal camera in American Samoa to understand the effect of land-based contaminants on an adjacent coral reef lagoon ecosystem. The infrared (IR) camera was used to capture thermal images of the lagoon to look for temperature differences to understand the distribution of freshwater entering the lagoon and the circulation of the lagoon water at various tidal levels.
21st Century High-Resolution Climate Projections for Guam and American Samoa
While home to many people and a rich diversity of unique plant and animal life, the U.S. territories of Guam and American Samoa are especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change because of their small size, geographical remoteness, and exposure to threats such as sea-level rise and increased storm surge. Developing predictions of future conditions is often the first step in helping...
This part of the data release presents projected flooding extent polygon (flood masks) and flooding depth points (flood points) shapefiles based on wave-driven total water levels for the State of Hawaii (the islands of Hawaii, Kahoolawe, Kauai, Lanai, Maui, Molokai, Niihau, and Oahu). For each island there are 8 associated flood mask and flood depth shapefiles: one for
This part of the data release presents projected flooding extent polygon (flood masks) and flooding depth points (flood points) shapefiles based on wave-driven total water levels for the Territory of Puerto Rico (the islands of Culebra, Puerto Rico, and Vieques). For each island there are 8 associated flood mask and flood depth shapefiles: one for each four nearshore wave energy
This part of the data release presents projected flooding extent polygon (flood masks) and flooding depth points (flood points) shapefiles based on wave-driven total water levels for American Samoa (the islands of Tutuila, Ofu-Olosega, and Tau). For each island there are 8 associated flood mask and flood depth shapefiles: one for each of four nearshore wave energy return periods
This data release provides flooding extent polygons (flood masks) and depth values (flood points) based on wave-driven total water levels for 22 locations within the States of Hawaii and Florida, the Territories of Guam, American Samoa, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. For each of the 22 locations there are eight ass
This data release is comprised of a set of eight time travel map shapefiles (two tsunami inundation zones and four travel times) for use in GIS software applications and two population exposure by travel time tables (residents and nonresidences) for use in GIS software applications and other standalone spreadsheet applications. The travel time map was generated using the Pedestrian Evacu
This dataset contains American Samoa nonresidence count estimates as a function of travel time out of the 2009 and probable maximum tsunami (PMT) inundation zones for four different travel speeds (slow walk, fast walk, slow run, and fast run). The data are organized in a manner which permits summarizing or visualizing the data by business classification (church, community center
This dataset contains American Samoa resident count estimates as a function of travel time out of the 2009 and probable maximum tsunami (PMT) inundation zones for four different travel speeds (slow walk, fast walk, slow run, and fast run). The data are organized in a manner which permits summarizing or visualizing the data by village, tsunami-evacuation zone, and/or travel tim
The travel time map was generated using the Pedestrian Evacuation Analyst model (version 1.0.1 for ArcGIS 10.5) from the USGS (https://geography.wr.usgs.gov/science/vulnerability/tools.html). The travel time analysis uses ESRI's Path Distance tool to find the shortest distance across a cost surface from any point in the hazard zone to a safe zone. This cost analysis consider
The travel time map was generated using the Pedestrian Evacuation Analyst model (version 1.0.1 for ArcGIS 10.5) from the USGS (https://geography.wr.usgs.gov/science/vulnerability/tools.html). The travel time analysis uses ESRI's Path Distance tool to find the shortest distance across a cost surface from any point in the hazard zone to a safe zone. This cost analysis consider
The travel time map was generated using the Pedestrian Evacuation Analyst model (version 1.0.1 for ArcGIS 10.5) from the USGS (https://geography.wr.usgs.gov/science/vulnerability/tools.html). The travel time analysis uses ESRI's Path Distance tool to find the shortest distance across a cost surface from any point in the hazard zone to a safe zone. This cost analysis consider
The travel time map was generated using the Pedestrian Evacuation Analyst model (version 1.0.1 for ArcGIS 10.5) from the USGS (https://geography.wr.usgs.gov/science/vulnerability/tools.html). The travel time analysis uses ESRI's Path Distance tool to find the shortest distance across a cost surface from any point in the hazard zone to a safe zone. This cost analysis consider
The travel time map was generated using the Pedestrian Evacuation Analyst model (version 1.0.1 for ArcGIS 10.5) from the USGS (https://geography.wr.usgs.gov/science/vulnerability/tools.html). The travel time analysis uses ESRI's Path Distance tool to find the shortest distance across a cost surface from any point in the hazard zone to a safe zone. This cost analysis consider
Coastal circulation and water-column properties in the National Park of American Samoa, February–July 2015
There is little information on the oceanography in the National Park of American Samoa (NPSA). The transport pathways for potentially harmful constituents of land-derived runoff, as well as larvae and other planktonic organisms, are driven by nearshore circulation patterns. To evaluate the processes affecting coral reef ecosystem health, it is...
Storlazzi, Curt D.; Cheriton, Olivia; Rosenberger, Kurt J.; Logan, Joshua B.; Clark, Timothy B. Effects of Climate and land use on diversity, prevalence, and seasonal transmission of avian hematozoa in American Samoa
The indigenous forest birds of American Samoa are increasingly threatened by changing patterns of rainfall and temperature that are associated with climate change as well as environmental stressors associated with agricultural and urban development, invasive species, and new introductions of avian diseases and disease vectors. Long term changes in...
Atkinson, Carter T.; Utuzurrum, Ruth B.; Seamon, Joshua O.; Schmaedick, Mark A.; Lapointe, Dennis; Apelgren, Chloe; Egan, Ariel N.; Watcher-Weatherwax, William Ants of the national park of American Samoa
American Samoa makes up the eastern end of the Samoan Archipelago. On the islands of Tutuila, Taʽū and Ofu, the National Park of American Samoa (NPSA) protects about 4,000 ha of coastal, mid-slope and ridge-top forest. While the ant fauna of the Samoan Archipelago is considered relatively well documented, much of NPSA has never been surveyed for...
Banko, Paul C.; Peck, Robert W. Bacterial communities associated with healthy and Acropora white syndrome-affected corals from American Samoa
Acropora white syndrome (AWS) is characterized by rapid tissue loss revealing the white underlying skeleton and affects corals worldwide; however, reports of causal agents are conflicting. Samples were collected from healthy and diseased corals and seawater around American Samoa and bacteria associated with AWS characterized using both culture-...
Wilson, Bryan; Aeby, Greta S.; Work, Thierry M.; Bourne, David G. Coral diversity and the severity of disease outbreaks: a cross-regional comparison of Acropora white syndrome in a species-rich region (American Samoa) with a species-poor region (Northwestern Hawaiian Islands).
The dynamics of the coral disease, Acropora white syndrome (AWS), was directly compared on reefs in the species-poor region of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI) and the species-rich region of American Samoa (AS) with results suggesting that biodiversity, which can affect the abundance of susceptible hosts, is important in influencing the...
Aeby, G.S.; Bourne, D.G.; Wilson, B.; Work, Thierry M. Effects of fringing reefs on tsunami inundation: American Samoa
A numerical model of tsunami inundation, Delft3D, which has been validated for the 29 September 2009 tsunami in Tutuila, American Samoa, is used to better understand the impact of fringing coral reefs and embayments on tsunami wave heights, inundation distances, and velocities. The inundation model is used to explore the general conditions under...
Gelfenbaum, G.; Apotsos, A.; Stevens, A.W.; Jaffe, B. Coral and crustose coralline algae disease on the reefs of American Samoa
Surveys for lesions in corals were conducted at seven sites around Tutuila in June 2004 and January 2005. The objectives of the study were to document the distribution and prevalence of disease in the major genera of corals and crustose coralline algae, systematically describe gross and microscopic morphology of lesions in reef corals and...
Aeby, G.; Work, Thierry M.; Fenner, D.; DiDonato, Eva
Areas Contributing Recharge to Wells in the Tafuna-Leone Plain, Tutuila, American Samoa
To address the concerns about the potential for contamination of drinking-water wells in the Tafuna-Leone Plain, Tutuila, American Samoa, a numerical ground-water flow model was developed and used to delineate areas contributing recharge to the wells (ACRWs). Surveys and analyses were conducted to obtain or compile certain essential hydrogeologic...
Izuka, Scot K.; Perreault, Jeff A.; Presley, Todd K. Characterizing lesions in corals from American Samoa
The study of coral disease has suffered from an absence of systematic approaches that are commonly used to determine causes of diseases in animals. There is a critical need to develop a standardized and portable nomenclature for coral lesions in the field and to incorporate more commonly available biomedical tools in coral disease surveys to...
Work, Thierry M.; Rameyer, Robert A. A new coccidian parasite, Isospora samoaensis, from the Wattled Honeyeater (Foulehaio carunculata) from American Samoa
A new species of Isospora is described from the feces of the wattled honeyeater, Foulehaio carunculata from American Samoa. Numerous oocysts of similar morphology were found in a single adult wattled honeyeater. Sporulated oocysts are ovoid, 28.9 × 26.1 (25-32 × 23-30) µm, with a smooth, colorless, bilayered wall; the inner wall is slightly...
Adamczyk, Kelly J.; McQuistion, Thomas E.; LaPointe, Dennis Detection of avian malaria (Plasmodium spp.) in native land birds of American Samoa
This study documents the presence of Plasmodium spp. in landbirds of central Polynesia. Blood samples collected from eight native and introduced species from the island of Tutuila, American Samoa were evaluated for the presence of Plasmodium spp. by nested rDNA PCR, serology and/or microscopy. A total of 111/188 birds (59%) screened by nested PCR...
Jarvi, S.I.; Farias, M.E.M.; Baker, H.; Freifeld, H.B.; Baker, P.E.; Van Gelder, E.; Massey, J.G.; Atkinson, C.T.
Analysis of streamflow characteristics for streams on the island of Tutuila, American Samoa
Several methods for estimating streamflow characteristics for low and peak flows for streams on Tutuila, American Samoa are presented. These methods, derived from frequency, flow-duration, and regression analyses, allow the user to compute estimates for the 7-day low flow with 2-year and 10-year recurrence intervals; the median flow; the mean flow...
Wong, Michael F.
American Samoa Coral Reefs and Coastal Hazard Risk Reduction
Rigorously Valuing the Role of American Samoa’s Coral Reefs in Coastal Hazard Risk Reduction
Estimated Annual Benefits
Maps of American Samoa showing the distribution of the value of averted direct building damages, indirect economic activity losses, and population annually protected from flooding by coral reefs. Results at 10 m2 resolution are
...Pete Gurr, a resident of American Samoa, was on his way to work when he felt an earthquake that originated 110 miles out at sea. Because of tsunami training he had received, he knew about the possibility of a deadly wave and drove down to the closest coastal village, where he warned the residents. Similarly, Tina Pule knew the earthquake was stronger than usual and told her parents to go inland.
Locations
Pacific Islands Climate Adaptation Science Center
Pacific Island Ecosystems Research Center
Phone: (808) 985-6420
Fax: (808) 967-8568
Pacific Islands Water Science Center
Phone: 808-690-9600
Fax: 808-690-9599