Unified Interior Regions
Arizona
States L2 Landing Page Tabs
Mars Ice Consortium
The Mars Ice Consortium is a joint project between the USGS Astrogeology Research Program (Flagstaff, AZ) and the Arizona State University Mars Space Flight Facilty (Tempe, AZ) to bring together a single resource for the exploration of martian ices. Much of this research is done at the USGS Flagstaff Science Center.
Planetary Data Workshop
Planetary Data: Workshops for Users and Software Developers
PDS IMG Annex
The PDS Cartography and Imaging Sciences Node (“Imaging” or IMG) Annex is a data portal designed to support the public delivery of NASA-funded geospatial data products derived from PDS image data. Examples of geospatial derived products are cartographic and thematic maps of moons and planets, local and regional geologic feature maps, topographic and perspective views of...
Meteor Crater Drill Cores
While inventorying the drill cuttings from Meteor Crater, we identified 31 boxes of drill core from the crater. Unfortunately, there was little or no documentation for these cores and we initially did not know the drill hole locations or any of the ancillary details. With the assistance of Dr. David Kring, we eventually determined the origin of all of the drill cores. We found...
Meteor Crater Sample Collection
Meteor Crater is a 180 m deep, 1.2 km diameter bowl-shaped impact crater in Northern Arizona, and has long been a terrestrial analog site for planetary exploration. During the 1960’s, Eugene Shoemaker trained NASA astronauts at the crater to prepare for the Apollo missions to the Moon. The Meteor Crater Sample Collection consists of geologic samples from the Meteor Crater...
Lunar Calibration ROLO (Robotic Lunar Observatory)
The USGS lunar calibration program provides radiometric calibration and sensor stability monitoring for space-based remote sensing instruments using the Moon as a reference source. This is a unique on-orbit calibration technique for solar reflectance wavelengths that requires no special flight hardware, only that the instrument must view the Moon. The unmatched stability of the lunar...
MRCTR GIS Lab
The USGS Astrogeology Mapping, Remote-sensing, Cartography, Technology, and Research (MRCTR, pronounced "Mercator") GIS Lab provides web-based resources aimed at the planetary research community. The lab supports Geographic Information Systems (GIS) graphical, statistical, and spatial tools for analyses of planetary data, including the distribution of planetary GIS tutorials,...
RPIF Online Exhibits
The NASA/USGS RPIF is dedicated to providing online exhibits of archived materials. The RPIF houses a large collection of historical artifacts in relation to space exploration, map-making, and planetary geology.
Cartography and Imaging Sciences Node of NASA Planetary Data System
The USGS Astrogeology Science Center is host to the lead science component of the Cartography and Imaging Sciences Node (IMG) of the NASA Planetary Data System (PDS). A partner facility at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) provides engineering support and technical management for the IMG. The IMG is a PDS science discipline node that archives over 500 TB in a growing...
USGS/NASA Planetary Photogrammetry Guest Facility
-- ON HOLD -- Training Opportunity -- ON HOLD --
Photogrammetric Processing of Planetary Stereo Imagery using ISIS and SOCET GXP® TBD
Please note that we no longer have any scheduled SOCET SET® trainings at this time. We are currently transitioning to BAE's latest photogrammtry suite called SOCET...
RPIF Pioneers of Astrogeology
Some of the pioneers in planetary geologic research include Eugene Shoemaker, Harrison "Jack" Schmitt, Don Wilhelms, Raymond Batson, David Roddy, Gordon Swann and Baerbel Lucchitta. Click on the images below to learn about each person and their contributions to Astrogeology.
Gordan Alfred Swann
Gordon Alfred Swann was born in Palisade, CO, September 21, 1931. After serving in the U.S. Navy from 1952 to 1956, he received a Ph.D. from the University of Colorado in 1962 as one of the pioneers in a study of the Precambrian geology of the Front Range of Colorado. His career in the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) began in Denver in 1963 working on a Defense Department...
Results of ground-water, surface-water, and water-chemistry monitoring, Black Mesa area, northeastern Arizona, 1994
The Black Mesa monitoring program is designed to document long-term effects of ground-water pumping from the N aquifer by industrial and municipal users. The N aquifer is the major source of water in the 5,400-square-mile Black Mesa area, and the ground water occurs under confined and unconfined conditions. Monitoring activities include continuous...
Littin, G.R.; Monroe, S.A.
Sand-storage changes in the Colorado River downstream from the Paria and Little Colorado Rivers, June 1992 to February 1994
Graf, J.B.; Marlow, J.E.; Fisk, G.G.; Jansen, S.M.
Results of ground-water, surface-water, and water-quality monitoring, Black Mesa area, northeastern Arizona, 1992-93
No abstract available.
Littin, G.R.; Monroe, S.A.
Hydrogeology and deformation of sandbars in response to fluctuations in flow of the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon, Arizona
Rill erosion, slumping, and fissuring develop on seepage faces of many sandbars along the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon. These processes, observed at low river stage, are a response to residual head gradients in the sandbars caused by the river-stage fluctuation. Three sandbars were instrumented with sensors for continual monitoring of pore...
Carpenter, M.C.; Carruth, R.L.; Fink, J.B.; Boling, J.K.; Cluer, B.L.
Selected chemical characteristics and acute toxicity of urban stormwater, streamflow, and bed material, Maricopa County, Arizona
The chemistry and toxicity of urban stormwater, streamflow, and bed material in the Phoenix, Arizona, area were characterized to determine if urban stormwater could degrade the quality of streams. Toxic phases of stormwater (oil and grease, suspended solids, dissolved metals, and dissolved organics) were identified to aid water-quality managers...
Lopes, Thomas J.; Fossum, Kenneth D.
Statistical summary of selected physical, chemical, and microbial characteristics, and estimates of constituent loads in urban stormwater, Maricopa County, Arizona
Stormwater and streamflow in the Phoenix, Arizona, area were monitored to determine the physical, chemical, and microbial characteristics of storm- water from areas having different land uses; to describe the characteristics of streamflow in a river that receives urban stormwater; and to estimate constituent loads in stormwater from unmonitored...
Lopes, T.J.; Fossum, K.D.; Phillips, J.V.; Monical, J.E.
Monitoring Channel Sand Storage in the Colorado River in Grand Canyon
Jansen, Samuel M.D.; Graf, Julia B.; Marlow, Jonathan E.; Fisk, Gregory G.
Water-level fluctuations, water temperatures, and tilts in sandbars -6.5R, 43.1L, and 172.3L, Grand Canyon, Arizona, 1990-93
Rill erosion, slumping, and fissuring develop on seepage faces of many sandbars along the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon at low river stage. Three sandbars were instrumented with sensors for continual monitoring of stage, pore pressure, ground-water temperature, and tilt to determine the relation between ground-water flow and sandbar...
Carpenter, Michael C.; Crosswhite, Jason A.; Carruth, R.L.
Measurements of aquifer-storage change and specific yield using gravity surveys
Pinal Creek is an intermittent stream that drains a 200-square-mile alluvial basin in central Arizona. Large changes in water levels and aquifer storage occur in an alluvial aquifer near the stream in response to periodic recharge and ground-water withdrawals. Outflow components of the ground-water budget and hydraulic properties of the alluvium...
Pool, D.R.; Eychaner, J.H. Measured and predicted velocity and longitudinal dispersion at steady and unsteady flow, Colorado River, Glen Canyon Dam to lake mead
The effect of unsteadiness or dam releases on velocity and longitudinal dispersion of flow was evaluated by injecting a fluorescent dye into the Colorado River below Glen Canyon Dam and sampling for dye concentration at selected sites downstream. In Glen Canyon, average flow velocity through the study reach increased directly with discharge, but...
Graf, J.B.
Cross-sectional area of the shallow alluvial aquifer at selected sites along the upper Santa Cruz River, Arizona
No abstract available.
Carruth, Rob
Accounting for Consumptive Use of Lower Colorado River Water in Arizona, California, Nevada, and Utah
In the Colorado River valley between the east end of Lake Mead and the international boundary with Mexico (see figure), the river is the principal source of water for agricultural, domestic, municipal, industrial, hydroelectric-power generation, and recreational purposes. Water is stored in surface reservoirs and in the river aquifer---permeable...
Owen-Joyce, Sandra J.; Wilson, Richard P.
Habitat used by bats and insects at uranium mines near Grand Canyon
Acoustic bat detectors and light traps used to sample for bats and insects at detention ponds located on and near uranium mines adjacent to the Grand Canyon.
Grand Canyon High Flow Monitoring
The USGS monitors sediment loads during Grand Canyon's beach-building high flow releases.
USGS on Campus
In a documentary style, this video discusses the close relationship between the USGS Arizona Water Science Center and the University of Arizona. Students and Scientists collaborating for the future development of each other.
Measuring Water Levels in a Flowing Well
This video demonstrates how to measure low pressure hydraulic head in a flowing well.
Cloud Lightning
What looks like lightning arcing through an ominous cloud is actually a dry landscape of rocky buttes in southern Utah and northeastern Arizona. River channels flow north from Arizona into the San Juan River. The light vertical feature at the top of the image is referred to as Comb Ridge, a jagged fold in the Earth's crust called a monocline.
- Collection: Earth
Hurricane Odile, AZ Flooding September 2014, USGS at Work
This video shows the flooding that occurred in Arizona from the remnants of Hurricane Odile, while explaining the different techniques for high flow measurements.
Measuring Groundwater with Steel Tape
This video demonstrates how to measure water levels in wells using a graduated steel tape.
Measuring Groundwater with Electric Tape
This video demonstrates how to measure water levels in wells using an electric tape.
Redington Stream Flow
This video shows the process of taking a stream flow measurement using a bridge crane and current meter.
Changes in Earth's Gravity Reveal Changes in Groundwater Storage
Did you know that changes in the amount of water in aquifers cause small changes in Earth’s gravitational field? When the amount of groundwater in an aquifer changes, either by recharge or by discharge to surface water or wells, the gravitational acceleration at the land surface also changes. In this photo, USGS Research Hydrologist Jeff Kennedy is making measurements of
...
Minute 319 Pulse Flow
The minute 319 pulse flow experiment flood in the Lower Colorado River Delta allows scientists the opportunity to study many different aspects of a flood. With the help of CSAs we had the opportunity to actually back calculate the roughness value at the times that our technicians in Yuma measured discharge.
Gravity Recharge Monitoring
Time-lapse Microgravity Monitoring of Artificial Recharge
This video shows a series of clips collected in 2013 during the SAVSARP gravity experiment.
Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell announced today that Interior’s Southwest Climate Science Center is awarding nearly a million dollars to universities and other partners for research to guide managers of parks, refuges and other cultural and natural resources in planning how to help species and ecosystems adapt to climate change.
As part of the continued US Topo maps revision and improvement cycle, the USGS will be including mountain bike trails to upcoming quadrangles on a state-aligned basis.
Scientists and technicians from the U.S. Geological Survey will be conducting field studies of flood flows from the recent heavy rains resulting from Tropical Storm Odile today.
Scientists and technicians from the U.S. Geological Survey will be conducting field studies of high water flows from the recent heavy rains in Phoenix along the Salt River today.
U.S. Geological Survey field crews are measuring flooding after heavy rainfall occurred in northern portions of Maricopa County, Arizona.
Increasing the density -- the amount per square mile -- of natural gas drilling sites and associated ponds in the Cypress Creek basin is not expected to have a substantial impact on the amount of sediment or water entering Brewer Lake, according to a new U.S. Geological Survey report.
Stronger storms, rising seas, and flooding are placing hundreds of millions people at risk around the world, and big part of the solution to decrease those risks is just off shore. A new study finds that coral reefs reduce the wave energy that would otherwise impact coastlines by 97 percent.
Newly published research is the first to characterize the distribution and interactions of natural perchlorate in a terrestrial ecosystem. The study results are important in assessing risks associated with ecological and human health and with potential movement of natural perchlorate contamination into groundwater.
As a large pulse of water is being released into the former delta of the Colorado River along the U.S.-Mexico border, U.S. Geological Survey scientists are studying the effects on the environment as part of a historic, bi-national collaborative effort.
More than 400 years after its discovery by Galileo, the largest moon in the Solar System – Ganymede – has finally claimed a spot on the map.
Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell announced today that Interior’s Southwest Climate Science Center is awarding nearly $1.2 million to universities and other partners for research to guide managers of parks, refuges and other cultural and natural resources in planning how to help species and ecosystems adapt to climate change.
Drought conditions are linked to declines in a protected desert tortoise population in part of the Sonoran Desert, according to a U.S. Geological Survey study.
Social Media
Locations
Astrogeology Science Center
Phone: 928-556-7000
Fax: 928-556-7014
Southwest Climate Adaptation Science Center
Western Geographic Science Center - Tucson Project Office
Western Geographic Science Center - Flagstaff Project Office
Arizona Water Science Center, Tucson Office
Phone: (520) 670-6671
Fax: (520) 670-5592
Yellowstone Volcano Observatory (YVO)
yvowebteam@usgs.gov
Phone: 360-993-8906
Southwest Biological Science Center - Flagstaff, AZ, Research Station
Phone: 928-556-7094
Fax: 928-556-7092
Southwest Biological Science Center - Tucson, AZ, Research Station
Phone: (520) 670-6671
Fax: (520) 670-5592
Arizona Water Science Center, Flagstaff Office
Phone: (928) 556-7136
Fax: (928) 556-7112
Arizona Water Science Center, Tempe Office
Phone: (480) 736-1093
Fax: (480) 736-1356
Arizona Water Science Center, Yuma Office
Phone: (928) 782-6024
Fax: (928) 782-0268