Unified Interior Regions
California
The Southwest Region includes California, Nevada, and Arizona. The Regional Office, headquartered in Sacramento, provides Center oversight and support, facilitates internal and external collaborations, and works to further USGS strategic science directions.
States L2 Landing Page Tabs
The Southwest Region includes California, Nevada, and Arizona. 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
Midwestern Roots tie Landsat Mural Artist to USGS EROS Center
Lompoc, California and the Landsat program have a long and storied history.
All eight Landsat satellites have launched from the military installation now known as Vandenberg Space Force Base (SFB), which will soon host the ascent of Landsat 9.
CAWSC Biogeochemistry Group Expands its Monitoring of Water Quality in the Delta
The USGS California Water Science Center’s Biogeochemistry Group continues to address surface water quality issues and food web dynamics throughout California, particularly in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and San Francisco Bay.
Magnitude 6.0 Earthquake in California
A magnitude 6.0 (M6.0) earthquake struck Little Antelope Valley, California near the Nevada border on July 8, 2021 at 3:49pm local time (July 8 at 22:49 UTC).
Publications
A geology and geodesy based model of dynamic earthquake rupture on the Rodgers Creek‐Hayward‐Calaveras Fault System, California
The Hayward fault in California's San Francisco Bay area produces large earthquakes, with the last occurring in 1868. We examine how physics‐based dynamic rupture modeling can be used to numerically simulate large earthquakes on not only the Hayward fault, but also its connected companions to the north and south, the Rodgers Creek and Calaveras...
Harris, Ruth A.; Barall, Michael; Lockner, David A.; Moore, Diane E.; Ponce, David A.; Graymer, Russell; Funning, Gareth J.; Morrow, Carolyn A.; Kyriakopoulos, Christodoulos; Eberhart-Phillips, Donna
Approaches for assessing long-term annual yields of highway and urban runoff in selected areas of California with the Stochastic Empirical Loading and Dilution Model (SELDM)
The California Department of Transportation, commonly known as CalTrans, and other municipal separate storm sewer system permittees in California as well as other State departments of transportation nationwide need information about potential loads and yields (loads per unit area) of constituents of concern in stormwater runoff and discharges from...
Granato, Gregory E.; Friesz, Paul J. Characterization of deep-sea coral and sponge communities in Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary: Point Arena South Essential Fish Habitat Conservation Area and New Amendment 28 Areas
This report summarizes samples collected during a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) cruise conducted in October 2019 on board E/V Nautilus. Areas sampled in Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary included areas proposed for fisheries management zoning in the Point Arena South (PAS) Essential Fish Habitat Conservation Area (EFH). Dive planning...
Graiff, Kaitlin; Roletto, Jan; Tezak, Sage; Williams, Gary E.; Cochrane, Guy R.
Drag and sediment transport: conditions at the bottom boundary
Research on bed sediment grain size, bedform morphology, vegetation characteristics, and sediment resuspension and transport is part of the Sediment Transport in Coastal Environments project.
San Francisco Bay Bathymetry
Bathymetry of a dynamic tidal estuary, such as San Francisco Bay, provides the observable linkage between anthropogenic modifications of the landscape—such as evolving land use practices, flood control, and water diversions—and natural forces of climate-driven river flow, sea level change, tides, and wind. By examining our record of hydrographic surveys, spanning over 150 years, we can gain...
San Francisco Bay geomorphology
This research is part of the project “Sediment Transport in Coastal Environments”
Dynamic coastlines along the western U.S.
The west coast of the United States is extremely complex and changeable because of tectonic activity, mountain building, and land subsidence. These active environments pose a major challenge for accurately assessing climate change impacts, since models were historically developed for more passive sandy coasts.
PCMSC Marine Facility (MarFac)
Learn about the USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center Marine Facility, or MarFac
U.S. West Coast and Alaska Marine Geohazards
Marine geohazards are sudden and extreme events beneath the ocean that threaten coastal populations. Such underwater hazards include earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides, and tsunamis.
Devastating earthquakes in Japan (2011) and Chile (2010) that spawned pan-oceanic tsunamis sent a sobering reminder that U.S. coastlines are also vulnerable to natural disasters that originate in...
Seafloor Faults off Southern California
More than 22 million people live along Southern California’s coast, and many more migrate there every year. Faults and earthquake threats in this region have been heavily studied on land. USGS aims to boost our knowledge about faults on the seafloor, so they can be included in hazard assessments.
Remote Sensing Coastal Change
We use remote-sensing technologies—such as aerial photography, satellite imagery, structure-from-motion (SfM) photogrammetry, and lidar (laser-based surveying)—to measure coastal change along U.S. shorelines.
California Sand Resource Assessment Project
The USGS is working in partnership with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the State of California Ocean Protection Council (OPC) to evaluate sand and gravel resources in Federal and State waters for potential use in future beach nourishment projects. Prior to the leasing and development of outer continental shelf (OCS) sand resources for use in beach restoration or coastal...
Coastal Storm Modeling System (CoSMoS)
The Coastal Storm Modeling System (CoSMoS) makes detailed predictions of storm-induced coastal flooding, erosion, and cliff failures over large geographic scales. CoSMoS was developed for hindcast studies, operational applications and future climate scenarios to provide emergency responders and coastal planners with critical storm-hazards information that can be used to increase public safety...
Hazards: EXPRESS
Marine geohazards including earthquakes, landslides, and tsunamis lie offshore of densely populated areas of California, Oregon, and Washington. One goal of EXPRESS is to improve assessments of these hazards.
Ecosystems: EXPRESS
The continental shelf and slope offshore California, Oregon, and Washington are home to deep-sea corals, chemosynthetic communities, and other sensitive habitats that could be impacted by the development of energy and mineral resources. The EXPRESS (Expanding Pacific Research and Exploration of Submerged Systems) campaign will map and characterize these special areas to help guide ocean...
Parent and alkylated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in north San Francisco Bay, Napa River, and Sonoma Creek in 2018 and 2019
Sediment grain-size distributions, stable carbon isotope ratios (d13C), total carbon to total nitrogen ratios (C:N), short-lived radionuclides (Beryllium-7, Cesium-137, and Lead-210), concentrations of 76 parent and alkylated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and concentrations of 33 per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) were measured in the northern reach of San Francisco Bay, and...
High-resolution multibeam bathymetry and backscatter data collected in 2004 for the northern Channel Islands region, southern California
This data release presents data for 5-m resolution multibeam-bathymetry and acoustic-backscatter data of the northern Channel Islands region, southern California. The USGS collected the data in the northern Channel Islands region in 2004 aboard R/V Ewing using a Kongsberg Simrad EM-1002 multibeam echosounder. These datam previously published, are now reprocessed to a finer spatial...
High-resolution multi-channel and Chirp seismic-reflection data from USGS cruise 2018-641-FA collected in south-central California in support of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Cal DIG I offshore alternative energy project
The purpose of the study is to assess shallow geohazards, benthic habitats, and thereby the potential for alternative energy infrastructure (namely floating wind turbines) offshore south-central California due to its proximity to power grid infrastructure associated with the Morro Bay power plant. This dataset was collected as part of a geophysical survey during two legs at sea in 2018.
Grain-size data for sediment samples collected in Whiskeytown Lake, northern California, in 2018 and 2019
The USGS measured topographic change associated with sediment deposition and erosion in and around Whiskeytown Lake after the Carr Fire, in order to support calculations of post-fire sediment yield from the surrounding landscape. This data release includes grain-size data from sediment samples collected in submerged and subaerial regions in Whiskeytown Lake and around the reservoir margin.
High-resolution (1 m) digital elevation model (DEM) of San Francisco Bay, California, created using bathymetry data collected between 1999 and 2020 (ver. 2.0, July 2021)
A 1-m resolution bathymetric digital elevation model of San Francisco Bay was constructed from bathymetric surveys collected from 1999 to 2020. The DEM has been divided into northern, central, and southern sections due to file size, and is available in both MLLW and NAVD88 versions. Background: In 2014 and 2015 the California Ocean Protection Council contracted the collection of bathymetric...
Geophysical and core sample data collected offshore San Francisco, California, during field activity 2019-649-FA from 2019-10-11 to 2019-10-18
USGS collected geophysical and core sample data aboard R/V Bold Horizon in 2019 on cruise 2019-649-FA offshore San Francisco, California. The data were collected to assess sand and gravel resources in Federal and State waters for potential use in future beach nourishment projects along stretches of the coast where critical erosion hotspots have been identified. This cruise was funded through...
Hydrodynamic and sediment transport model of San Pablo Bay, California, Nov-Dec 2014
A three-dimensional hydrodynamic and sediment transport model of San Pablo and Suisun Bays was constructed using the Delft3D4 modeling suite to simulate water levels, flow, waves, and suspended sediment for time period of 11/1-12/31, 2014. This data release describes the construction and validation of the model application and provides input files suitable to run the model on D3D software...
Vibracore CT scans from the San Lorenzo River
This data release contains information on computed tomography images of a vibracore that was collected in 2019. A site next to the San Lorenzo River in Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park, California, was cored to understand the history of recent vertical incision and floodplain abandonment. The core was split into 3 segments after collection. Each segment was scanned using a Geotek Rotating X-...
Hydrodynamic model of the San Francisco Bay and Delta, California
A 2-D hydrodynamic model of the San Francisco Bay and Delta was constructed using the Delft3D Flexible Mesh modeling suite to simulate water levels. Required model input files are provided to run the model for the time period from 10/1/18 to 3/30/19. This data release describes the construction and validation of the model application and provides input files suitable to run the model on...
Geophysical and core sample data collected offshore Oceanside to San Diego, southern California, during field activity 2018-638-FA from 2018-05-21 to 2018-05-26
USGS collected geophysical and core sample data aboard R/V Bold Horizon in 2018 on cruise 2018-638-FA offshore Oceanside to San Diego, southern California. The data were collected to assess sand and gravel resources in Federal and State waters for potential use in future beach nourishment projects along stretches of the coast where critical erosion hotspots have been identified.
Modeled extreme total water levels along the U.S. west coast
This dataset contains information on the probabilities of storm-induced erosion (collision, inundation and overwash) for each 100-meter (m) section of the United States Pacific coast for return period storm scenarios. The analysis is based on a storm-impact scaling model that uses observations of beach morphology combined with sophisticated hydrodynamic models to predict how the coast will...
Chirp sub-bottom data collected in 2019 in Whiskeytown Lake, California during USGS field activity 2018-686-FA
High-resolution chirp sub-bottom data were collected by the USGS in May of 2019 in Whiskeytown Lake, California using an Edgetech SB-512i sub-bottom profiler. These data were collected to measure possible debris flows into the lake during the 2018-2019 rainy season following the July-August 2018 Carr fire that burned vegetation around the entire lake. Post-fire hillslope sediment yields are...
Less than 20% of the world's oceans have been explored. A global initiative seeks to change that, by pledging to complete detailed mapping of 10% of the seafloor by the year 2030. The United States is contributing to this effort in part through a collaborative team of federal, state, and nongovernment organizations to map, explore, and characterize waters along the US Pacific coast...
Prediction of Flooding Now and Into the Future: a geonarrative on coastal storms
The USGS is conducting a comprehensive evaluation of groundwater resources of the Adelaida area. Use this map to explore the hydrogeology of the area, including land use, geology, and USGS hydrologic data by watershed or water management district.
This USGS geonarrative (Esri Story Map) summarizes the USGS response and findings after the M6.4 on July 4 and M7.1 on July 6, 2019 in Searles Valley, Southern California, and includes links to USGS research publications and data releases.
A data visualization exploring the relationship between nutrient distribution and phytoplankton under different conditions across the San Francisco Delta and Estuary. Assessing distribution and abundance aids understanding of how managing nutrient supplies affects aquatic food webs, helping managers evaluate the potential environmental benefits of future nutrient reduction efforts against costs.
Data visualization tool created for California's Bay-Delta Regional Monitoring Program. This web application visualizes nutrients and phytoplankton spatially and temporally for data collected in 2018.
RestoreNet is a networked ecological experiment on the cutting-edge of restoration science. The experiment sites span dryland ecoystems of the southwest U.S.
Domestic wells provide drinking water supply for approximately 40 million people in the United States. Knowing the location of these wells, and the populations they serve, is important for identifying heavily used aquifers, locations susceptible to contamination, and populations potentially impacted by poor-quality groundwater.
A geonarrative summary of the USGS report that provides a broad perspective on California’s exposure to volcanic hazards. By integrating volcanic hazard information with geospatial data on populations, infrastructure, and resources, the results provide estimates of impacts to people and our environment if an eruption were to occur.
The GAMA-PBP Public-Supply Well Results data viewer allows the user to visualize and download California water-quality data and trends for1974 - 2014. Groundwater-quality data for 38 inorganic constituents are captured and can be downloaded for individual sites or by grid cell.
Figure 4. Yearly Distribution (2007-2019) of Tamarisk Beetle (Diorhabda spp.). Annual tamarisk beetle distribution map. Provided by RiversEdge West. 2020. Used with permission from Ben Bloodgood, Program Coordinator.
The California Seafloor Mapping Program (CSMP) is a cooperative program to create a comprehensive coastal and marine geologic and habitat base map series for California's State waters. Initiated in 2008, the CSMP has collected bathymetry and backscatter data that are being turned into habitat and geologic base maps.
Influence of invasive submerged aquatic vegetation (E. densa) on currents and sediment transport in a freshwater tidal system
We present a field study combining measurements of vegetation density, vegetative drag, and reduction of suspended-sediment concentration (SSC) within patches of the invasive submerged aquatic plant Egeria densa. Our study was motivated by concern that sediment trapping by E. densa, which has proliferated in the Sacramento–San Joaquin...
Lacy, Jessica R.; Foster-Martinez, Madeline R.; Allen, Rachel M.; Drexler, Judith Z. Approaches for assessing long-term annual yields of highway and urban runoff in selected areas of California with the Stochastic Empirical Loading and Dilution Model (SELDM)
The California Department of Transportation, commonly known as CalTrans, and other municipal separate storm sewer system permittees in California as well as other State departments of transportation nationwide need information about potential loads and yields (loads per unit area) of constituents of concern in stormwater runoff and discharges from...
Granato, Gregory E.; Friesz, Paul J. Recency of faulting and subsurface architecture of the San Diego Bay pull-apart basin, California, USA
In southern California, plate boundary motion between the North American and Pacific plates is distributed across several sub-parallel fault systems. The offshore faults of the California Continental Borderland (CCB) are thought to accommodate ~10-15% of the total plate boundary motion, but the exact distribution of slip and the mechanics of slip...
Singleton, Drake Moore; Maloney, Jillian M.; Brothers, Daniel; Klotsko, Shannon; Driscoll, Neal W.; Rockwell, Thomas K. Relative risk of groundwater-quality degradation near California (USA) oil fields estimated from 3H, 14C, and 4He
Relative risks of groundwater-quality degradation near selected California oil fields are estimated by examining spatial and temporal patterns in chemical and isotopic data in the context of groundwater-age categories defined by tritium and carbon-14. In the Coastal basins, western San Joaquin Valley (SJV), and eastern SJV; 82, 76, and 0...
McMahon, Peter B.; Landon, Matthew K.; Davis, Tracy; Wright, Michael; Rosecrans, Celia Z.; Anders, Robert; Land, Michael; Kulongoski, Justin T.; Hunt, Andrew
Landscape evolution in eastern Chuckwalla Valley, Riverside County, California
This study investigates sedimentary and geomorphic processes in eastern Chuckwalla Valley, Riverside County, California, a region of arid, basin-and-range terrain where extensive solar-energy development is planned. The objectives of this study were to (1) measure local weather parameters and use them to model aeolian sediment-transport potential...
East, Amy E.; Gray, Harrison J.; Redsteer, Margaret Hiza; Ballmer, Matthew Potential use of the benthic foraminifers Bulimina denudata and Eggerelloides advenus in marine sediment toxicity testing
The benthic foraminifers Bulimina denudata and Eggerelloides advenus are commonly abundant in offshore regions in the Pacific Ocean, especially in waste-discharge sites. The relationship between their abundance and standard macrofaunal sediment toxicity tests (amphipod survival and sea urchin fertilization) as well as sediment...
McGann, Mary Preconditioning by sediment accumulation can produce powerful turbidity currents without major external triggers
Turbidity currents dominate sediment transfer into the deep ocean, and can damage critical seabed infrastructure. It is commonly inferred that powerful turbidity currents are triggered by major external events, such as storms, river floods, or earthquakes. However, basic models for turbidity current triggering remain poorly tested, with few...
Bailey, Lewis; Clare, Michael; Rosenberger, Kurt J.; Cartigny, Matthieu J.B.; Talling, Peter J.; Paull, Charles K.; Gwiazda, Roberto; Parsons, Daniel; Simmons, Stephen; Xu, Jingping; Haigh, Ivan; Maier, Katherine L.; McGann, Mary; Lundsten, Eve M. Characterization of deep-sea coral and sponge communities in Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary: Point Arena South Essential Fish Habitat Conservation Area and New Amendment 28 Areas
This report summarizes samples collected during a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) cruise conducted in October 2019 on board E/V Nautilus. Areas sampled in Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary included areas proposed for fisheries management zoning in the Point Arena South (PAS) Essential Fish Habitat Conservation Area (EFH). Dive planning...
Graiff, Kaitlin; Roletto, Jan; Tezak, Sage; Williams, Gary E.; Cochrane, Guy R. Forecasting the frequency and magnitude of postfire debris flows across southern California
Southern California has a long history of damaging debris flows after wildfire. Despite recurrent loss, forecasts of the frequency and magnitude of postfire debris flows are not available for the region like they are for earthquakes. Instead, debris flow hazards are typically assessed in a reactive manner after wildfires. Such assessments are...
Kean, Jason W.; Staley, Dennis M. A geology and geodesy based model of dynamic earthquake rupture on the Rodgers Creek‐Hayward‐Calaveras Fault System, California
The Hayward fault in California's San Francisco Bay area produces large earthquakes, with the last occurring in 1868. We examine how physics‐based dynamic rupture modeling can be used to numerically simulate large earthquakes on not only the Hayward fault, but also its connected companions to the north and south, the Rodgers Creek and Calaveras...
Harris, Ruth A.; Barall, Michael; Lockner, David A.; Moore, Diane E.; Ponce, David A.; Graymer, Russell; Funning, Gareth J.; Morrow, Carolyn A.; Kyriakopoulos, Christodoulos; Eberhart-Phillips, Donna The weight of cities: Urbanization effects on Earth’s subsurface
Across the world, people increasingly choose to live in cities. By 2050, 70% of Earth's population will live in large urban areas. Upon considering a large city, questions arise such as, how much does that weigh? What are its effects on the landscape? Does it cause measurable subsidence? Here I calculate the weight of San Francisco Bay region...
Parsons, Thomas E. Toward physics-based nonergodic PSHA: A prototype fully-deterministic seismic hazard model for southern California
We present a nonergodic framework for probabilistic seismic‐hazard analysis (PSHA) that is constructed entirely of deterministic, physical models. The use of deterministic ground‐motion simulations in PSHA calculations is not new (e.g., CyberShake), but prior studies relied on kinematic rupture generators to extend empirical earthquake rupture...
Milner, Kevin R.; Shaw, Bruce E.; Goulet, Christine A.; Richards-Dinger, Keith B.; Callaghan, Scott; Jordan, Thomas H.; Dieterich, James H.; Field, Edward H.
The Cliff Feature Delineation Tool scans digital elevation models (DEM) to delineate features on seacliffs like the cliff top, midline, toe, and convexities/concavities on the cliff face, outputting linear features as polylines and point shapefiles.
The MODLFOW One-Water Hydrologic Flow Model (MF-OWHM) (MF-OWHM; Boyce and others, 2020; Hanson and others, 2014) is a MODFLOW-2005-based integrated hydrologic flow model (IHM) that is the most complete version, to date, of the MODFLOW family of hydrologic simulators needed for the analysis of a broad range of conjunctive-use issues.
Use this Groundwater Age Mixtures and Contaminant Trends Tool (GAMACTT) to explore the effects of basic aquifer properties and well configurations on groundwater age mixtures in groundwater discharge and on contaminant trends from varying nonpoint-source contaminant input scenarios.
An Excel® Workbook for Interpreting Groundwater Age Distributions from Environmental Tracer Data
Software to Process and Preserve Legacy Magnetotelluric Data from circa 1990 truck-mounted cross power and time series files in ASCII format.
The Pedestrian Evacuation Analyst is an ArcGIS extension that estimates how long it would take for someone to travel on foot out of a hazardous area that was threatened by a sudden event such as a tsunami, flash flood, or volcanic lahar. It takes into account the elevation changes and the different types of landcover that a person would encounter along the way.
The MODPATH-OBS (Hanson and others, 2013) computer program is designed to calculate simulated equivalents for observations related to advective groundwater transport that can be represented in a quantitative way by using simulated particle-tracking data.
The Central Valley Hydrologic Model (CVHM) is an extensive, detailed three-dimensional (3D) computer model of the hydrologic system of the Central Valley (Faunt, 2009). The Central Valley Hydrologic Model (CVHM) simultaneously accounts for changing water supply and demand across the landscape, and simulates surface water and groundwater flow across the entire Central Valley.
A Grid-Based, Distributed-Parameter Watershed Model to Estimate Net Infiltration Below the Root Zone
The Mojave River: A 3D Journey
The Mojave River is the largest of the streams and rivers that flow through southwestern San Bernardino County, CA. It extends more than 100 miles east from its source in the San Bernardino Mountains to the end east of Afton Canyon. This 3D animation takes the viewer on a tour of the entire length of the river.
Earthquake Briefing — The Antelope Valley, CA Earthquake, July 8, 2021
Earthquake Briefing with Austin Elliot, USGS on the Antelope Valley, CA earthquake that occurred on July 8, 2021.
PubTalk - 6/2021: Mount St. Helens Revisited
Title: Mount St. Helens Revisited: Lives Changed, Lessons Learned, and Legacies of the 1980 Eruptions
By Carolyn Driedger, USGS Hydrologist & Outreach Specialist
- Mount St. Helens' eruptions had a disproportionately large influence on our understanding of volcanoes, hazards, and eruption response.
- Unique circumstances, both locally and abroad
Sunset on the R/V Sproul
Looking across the back deck/stern of the R/V Robert Gordon Sproul. The wire going through the block in the A-frame leads to the CHIRP sonar fish towed in the water. Oil platforms are shown in the distance.
PubTalk 5/2021 - Where Earthquakes Hide in the Desert
Title: Where Earthquakes Hide in the Desert: What we've learned from recent fault ruptures in the western U.S.
By Austin J. Elliott, USGS Research Geologist
- Three large earthquakes since 2019 have ruptured incompletely mapped faults in the western U.S.
- Both satellite and field measurements give extremely detailed maps of how the
Seismic science crew and the R/V Sproul
In the background is the Research Vessel (R/V) Robert Gordon Sproul, operated by Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO). Science crew shown from left to right: Alicia Balster-Gee (USGS Geophysicist), Jamie Conrad (USGS Research Geologist, co-chief scientist), Rachel Marcuson (USGS Engineering Technician), Jared Kluesner (USGS Research Geophysicist, chief scientist),
...
Deploying seismic streamer
Science crew from the USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center work on deployment of seismic streamer on deck of R/V Robert Gordon Sproul. Green cable is the hydrophone streamer and a "bird" is being attached to control depth in the water. Left to Right: Travis Alongi, Daniel Kennedy, Alicia Balster-Gee, Jared
...
Scientists aboard research vessel conduct water-quality mapping
Scientists aboard R/V Aiken conduct water-quality mapping in support of wastewater-derived nutrients project
Turn Around, Salamander!
This video shows a California tiger salamander finding its way to an underpass designed to help amphibians and reptiles cross the road safely, with the help of a "turn-around" that helps guide the salamander back in the right direction as it travels away from the underpass. The salamander was caught on wildlife cameras at various points between the turn-around and the
PubTalk 4/2021 - From Data to Maps - The National Geospatial Program
Title: From Data to Maps The National Geospatial Program - the Nation's source for topographic information
By: Michael Tischler
- Responsibilities of a national mapping agency
- National elevation data
- National hydrography data
- Next-generation mapping products
We are the Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program (AD)
We are the USGS Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program. Our mission is to provide science for sustainable stewardship of Earth’s precious resources. We conduct research, quantify resources, work to understand ecosystems, and develop tools to ensure our Nation has the best information to manage resources and prepare for
We are the Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program
We are the USGS Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program. Our mission is to provide science for sustainable stewardship of Earth’s precious resources. We conduct research, quantify resources, work to understand ecosystems, and develop tools to ensure our Nation has the best information to manage resources and prepare for
Lompoc, California and the Landsat program have a long and storied history.
All eight Landsat satellites have launched from the military installation now known as Vandenberg Space Force Base (SFB), which will soon host the ascent of Landsat 9.
The USGS California Water Science Center’s Biogeochemistry Group continues to address surface water quality issues and food web dynamics throughout California, particularly in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and San Francisco Bay.
A magnitude 6.0 (M6.0) earthquake struck Little Antelope Valley, California near the Nevada border on July 8, 2021 at 3:49pm local time (July 8 at 22:49 UTC).
A study published June 29, 2021 in the journal Frontiers in Climate, titled “Hotter Drought Escalates Tree Cover Declines in Blue Oak Woodlands of California,” by four EROS scientists, already has been attracting attention.
To find out what’s shaking beneath the seafloor off southern California’s coast, USGS scientists turned on their hydrophones and used sound waves to “see” beneath the seafloor.
One of the three main ways that California Volcano Observatory scientists monitor the state’s threatening volcanoes is by sampling the gases that are released from magma deep below (in addition to monitoring seismicity and deformation).
You are invited to a public lecture about recent surface rupturing earthquakes in the western United States.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — On May 9, 2021, Christina (Tina) Neal became the new director of the U.S. Geological Survey Volcano Science Center, home of the Alaska, California, Cascades, Hawaiian and Yellowstone volcano observatories.
After 15 years of planning and development, the ShakeAlert earthquake early warning system is now available to more than 50 million people in California, Oregon and Washington, the most earthquake-prone region in the conterminous U.S.
Salinity levels in the Upper Colorado River Basin, which covers portions of Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico, have steadily decreased since 1929, according to a new U.S. Geological Survey study analyzing decades of water-quality measurements.
CORVALLIS, ORE. – Reduction in wildlife mortality rates is sometimes cited as a potential benefit to the replacement of older, smaller turbines by larger, next generation turbines. In contrast, others have expressed concern that newer, larger turbines may actually increase bird and bat deaths.
Summary statistics are now available for this challenge. Thanks again to everyone who contributed!
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Locations
Southwest Regional Director's Office
Phone: (916) 278-9551
Fax: (916) 278-9566
Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center
Phone: 831-460-7401
Fax: 831-427-4748
Sacramento Projects Office (USGS California Water Science Center)
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Fax: 916-278-3070
Western Ecological Research Center - Headquarters
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Geology, Minerals, Energy and Geophysics Science Center
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Earthquake Science Center
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San Diego Projects Office (USGS California Water Science Center)
Phone: 619-225-6100
Fax: 619-225-6101
USGS California Volcano Observatory (CalVO package delivery)
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Phone: 650-329-5083
Truckee Field Office (USGS California Water Science Center)
Phone: 530-587-0910
Fax: 530-587-0914
Redding Field Office (USGS California Water Science Center)
Phone: 530-246-5282
Fax: 530-246-0717
Ukiah Field Office (USGS California Water Science Center)
Phone: 707-468-4040
Fax: 707-468-4022
Redlands Field Office (USGS California Water Science Center)
Phone: 909-798-3272
West Sacramento Projects Office (USGS California Water Science Center)
Phone: 916-617-2799
Eureka Satellite Office (USGS California Water Science Center)
Phone: 707-442-3169
Fax: 707-445-7860
Sacramento Field Office (USGS California Water Science Center)
Phone: 916-381-0207
Fax: 916-381-0556
Santa Cruz Field Office (USGS California Water Science Center)
Phone: 831-460-7494
Santa Maria Field Office (USGS California Water Science Center)
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Fax: 805-928-9220
Poway Field Office (USGS California Water Science Center)
Phone: 858-679-4015
Fax: 858-679-4019
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