Unified Interior Regions
Florida
World class scientists working in Southeast Region Science Centers help our partners understand and manage complex issues including competition for limited water resources, coastal hazards, mineral and energy resource extraction, degraded ecosystems, vector-borne diseases, rapidly changing land use, and response to climate change.
States L2 Landing Page Tabs
Water-Use in Florida
Consistent and accurate statewide water-use data are essential for the sound management of Florida's water resources. The five water management districts (WMD), which are the primary collectors of water-use information, tailor their water use programs to each of their own needs and priorities. Consequently, within the State, there are several different levels of data collection, storage,...
Hydrology Monitoring Tools
The U.S. Geological Survey provides local and national web-based tools so that policy makers and the public can easily access the information they need to enhance preparedness, response, and resilience.
Real-time and Historical Data
These pages provide access to water-resources data collected at approximately 1.9 million sites in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Online access to this data is organized around the categories listed at the bottom.
The USGS investigates the occurrence, quantity, quality...
Real-Time Data Links
The U.S. Caribbean-Florida Water Science Center operates and maintains approximately 929 real-time sites in Florida, Puerto Rico, and U.S. Virgin Islands which provide long-term, accurate, and unbiased information that meets the needs of many diverse users. The USGS collects the streamflow data needed by Federal, State, and local agencies for planning and operating water-resources projects and...
Gulf Coast Petroleum Systems Project - Research
This site highlights the research on the processes that impact the formation, accumulation, occurrence, and alteration of hydrocarbon energy resources of the Gulf Coast of Mexico. The project also conducts assessments of undiscovered, technically recoverable hydrocarbon resources. The Gulf Coast Petroleum Systems Project focuses on the onshore and State waters portion of the Gulf Coast basin,...
Natural Drought and Flood Histories from Lacustrine Archives
Previous work performed as part of the USGS Holocene Synthesis project illuminated complex centennial-scale patterns of drought and wetter-than-average conditions across the North American continent interior during the past two millennia, where paleorecord data coverage is sparse. In order to explain the patterns of naturally-occurring drought, floods, and storms for the past, identified by...
Understanding Drivers of Cyanotoxin Production in the Lake Okeechobee Waterway
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and other researchers combined field and laboratory approaches in two studies to understand the factors that drive cyanobacterial bloom development and associated cyanotoxin production in Lake Okeechobee, the St. Lucie River and Estuary, and the Indian River Lagoon in response to the large-scale Lake Okeechobee cyanobacteria bloom in 2016.
Fine-scale Benthic Habitat Mapping
Both ATRIS configurations was deployed in Dry Tortugas National Park (DRTO) to fill information gaps in the spatial coverage of existing habitat maps.
Sea Level Rise and Climate: Impacts on the Greater Everglades Ecosystem and Restoration
The Greater Everglades Ecosystem covers much of south Florida, and the highest areas are only a few meters above sea level. Predictions of sea level rise and changes in storm intensity for the 21st century are particularly concerning to the urban population of Miami and the east coast, but also represent a challenge to Everglades National Park and Biscayne National Park resource...
Coral Reef Ecosystem Studies (CREST)
The specific objectives of this project are to identify and describe the processes that are important in determining rates of coral-reef construction. How quickly the skeletons of calcifying organisms accumulate to form massive barrier-reef structure is determined by processes of both construction (how fast organisms grow and reproduce) and destruction (how fast reefs break down by mechanical...
Black-band disease in the Florida Keys
Photos of corals affected by black-band disease in the Florida Keys.
Joint Ecosystem Modeling: Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow Helper
The Sparrow Helper tool allows for the evaluation of water management scenarios by generating, plotting, and mapping hydrologic metrics across a range of time scales to predict impacts of proposed water depth changes to sparrow subpopulations.
Davina Passeri presents poster about coastal change research
Davina Passeri of the St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center presents a poster about coastal change research in Dauphin Island, Alabama at the USGS Southeast Regional Meeting in February 2020.
Ilsa Kuffner presents a poster on coral research
Ilsa Kuffner speaks to a group at the USGS Southeast Regional Meeting in February 2020 about coral research conducted by the St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center
Sediment laboratory at St. Petersburg Coastal & Marine Science Center
The USGS St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center strives to provide timely, robust science using modern methods and state-of-the-art technologies. This involves keeping our facilities and equipment updated. Here, Deputy Center Director Chris Reich shows a new sediment laboratory to USGS Deputy Director Cindy Lodge
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Kathryn Smith at an Outreach Event
The USGS St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center conducted outreach at the Localtopia Event held in February 2020. Staff demonstrated a simulation of how storms can impact sandy coastlines through processes such as erosion. Check out the demonstration here.
Aerial image and satellite derived image of Florida Lakes
This image is a cropped rendition of two aerial images that demonstrate satellite-derived cyanobacteria concentrations in surface waters from an area in Florida. The top image is true-color photograph, and the bottom image is from the Medium Resolution
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How Our Reefs Protect Us: Valuing the Benefits of U.S. Reefs
The degradation of coastal habitats, particularly coral reefs, raises risks by increasing the exposure of coastal communities to flooding hazards during storms. The protective services of these natural defenses are not assessed in the same rigorous economic terms as artificial defenses, such as seawalls, and therefore often are not considered in decision-making. Here we
USGS St. Petersburg Studebaker Building
This historic brick Studebaker Building, originally built in 1925, was chosen as the location for the USGS St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center in the late 1980's. Many of the building’s original features are kept in tact to this day, including the Studebaker logos along the top of the building, and the Studebaker Distributor sign on the back of the building
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Florida Coral Reefs and Coastal Hazard Risk Reduction
Rigorously Valuing the Role of Florida’s Coral Reefs in Coastal Hazard Risk Reduction
Estimated Annual Benefits
Maps of Florida 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 aggregated into
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The Power of Wetland Plants
Scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey Wetland and Aquatic Research Center study important aspects of wetlands, such as the flow and quality of water, the chemistry of soil, and the plants and animals which call this ecosystem home. The plants found in wetlands are known as hydrophytic vegetation and they play a crucial role in
Why do wetlands matter?
Scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey Wetland and Aquatic Research Center (www.usgs.gov/warc) study important aspects of wetlands, such as the flow and quality of water, the chemistry of soil, and the plants and animals which call this ecosystem home. In this video, we learn about a handful of ways healthy wetland habitats benefit
What makes a wetland a wetland? (AD - Part 1)
Scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey Wetland and Aquatic Research Center study important aspects of wetlands, such as the flow and quality of water, the chemistry of soil, and the plants and animals which call this ecosystem home. In this video, we learn about three characteristics you can use to identify a wetland near you.
What makes a wetland a wetland? (Part 1)
Scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey Wetland and Aquatic Research Center study important aspects of wetlands, such as the flow and quality of water, the chemistry of soil, and the plants and animals which call this ecosystem home. In this video, we learn about three characteristics you can use to identify a wetland near you.
Several undergraduate students who were awarded internships at Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Florida, will visit the Saint Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center.
No one has a crystal ball to foresee what will happen during the 2018 hurricane season that begins June 1, but NOAA forecasters say there’s a 75 percent chance this hurricane season will be at least as busy as a normal year, or busier.
Potential coastal change impacts due to Alberto.
USGS Scientists will participate in the Gulf of Mexico Habitat Monitoring and Mapping User Workshop and Mapping Summit at the NOAA Disaster Response Center in Mobile, Alabama.
Cheryl Hapke will meet with Florida State Representative Ben Diamond on Friday, March 30, in his District office in St. Petersburg to brief him on the Florida Coastal Mapping Program.
Environmental DNA picks up traces of the elusive mammals’ saliva, skin, waste, or exhaled breaths.
At 12:32 am Alaska time on January 23, 2018, a magnitude 7.9 earthquake shook Alaska residents out of their beds and set off fears of a tsunami all down the West Coast. Fortunately, the tsunami was only a few inches in height, but within an hour of the earthquake in Alaska, waves of a different sort were hitting far away in Florida.
Florida's second-largest turtle rescue of 21st century is “exhausting, inspiring,” USGS biologist says
A new article compairs pH, dissolved oxygen, temperature, and salinity data from 10 Florida shellfish estuaries and shellfish bed stations.
It may be hard to believe the legend that sailors long-at-sea once considered manatees to be mermaids. The manatee nickname – the “Sea Cow” – which comes from the herbivores’ affinity for grazing on vegetation and their slow, ambling way just makes more sense. But a U.S. Geological Survey video reveals that while they may be cow-like, they also have more than a bit of the magical mermaid to them.
Coastal communities count on beaches for recreation and for protection from large waves, but beaches are vulnerable to threats such as erosion by storms and flooding. Whether beaches grow, shrink, or even disappear depends in part on what happens just offshore. How do features like shifting sandbars affect waves, currents, and the movement of sand from the beach to offshore and back?
Reporters: Do you want to accompany a USGS field crew as they work in the field to document how high the flood waters and storm surge from Hurricane Irma reached around the Jacksonville, Tampa and Fort Myers Areas?
If so, please contact Jeanne Robbins, jrobbins@usgs.gov, 919-571-4017.
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Locations
Wetland and Aquatic Research Center - Gainesville, FL
Phone: 352-378-8181
Fax: 352-378-4956
Caribbean-Florida Water Science Center - Lutz, FL Office
Phone: (813) 498-5000
Fax: (813) 498-5002
St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center
Phone: (727) 502-8000
Fax: (727) 502-8181
USGS-St. Petersburg Carbon Analytical Laboratory
USGS Everglades Research Offices
Phone: 305-242-7834
Caribbean-Florida Water Science Center - Fort Myers, FL Field Office
Phone: (239) 275-8448
Fax: (239) 275-6820
Caribbean Florida Water Science Center - Tallahassee, FL Field Office
Phone: (850) 553-3640
Fax: (805) 553-3641
Caribbean-Florida Water Science Center - Orlando, FL Field Office
Phone: (407) 803-5500
Fax: (407) 803-5501
Caribbean-Florida Water Science Center - Davie, FL Field Office
Phone: (954) 377-5900
Fax: (954) 377-5901
