Images

From left to right, Amit Millo, Sandy Brosnahan, and Jennifer Cramer of the USGS Woods Hole Aerial Imaging and Mapping (AIM) group stand with their drone during sUAS data collection at the Darby Creek Superfund site in Darby Creek, PA.

Shaun Donmoyer and Zachary Houston, USGS Pennsylvania Water Science Center, sampling for stream water quality, ALCOSAN project, Pittsburgh, (Jared Carte, USGS).

Initial sampling for monitoring before and after a project to update combined sewer overflow systems in the Pittsburgh area.

Shaun Donmoyer and Zachary Houston sampling at the point location, three rivers, Pittsburgh PA (Jared Carte, USGS).

Shaun Donmoyer and Zach Houston are collecting a water sample to characterize water quality conditions near a combined sewer overflow as part of the Three Rivers Region Water Quality Monitoring with Allegheny County Sanitary Authority project. 

Combined sewer outfall (CSO) at stream sampling location 03085550 Chartiers Creek at Crafton, Pennsylvania, during the wet weather event for the ALCOSAN project (Lee Eicholtz, USGS). 

Jennifer Cramer is preparing a wingtra lidar flight at the Darby Creek landfill Superfund site (Philadelphia skyline is visible on the horizon) on March 27, 2025.  sUAS, also known as a drone, is being used to model morphological changes in the tidal creek and adjacent landfill with lidar sensors, potential contaminated groundwater seeps are identified using th

Physical Scientist Tristan Mohs walks through a forest buffer area.

Fencing and riparian forest-buffer planting are essential tools for managers and provide numerous benefits to streams.

Hammer Creek is a creek in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania. Its 13 square mile watershed has a mixture of cropland and animal-raising activities.

Screenshot of title page for "Hurricane Ida: USGS Response in Pennsylvania to September 1-2, 2021, Flooding Related to Remnants of Hurricane Ida" geonarrative. 

This map shows 161 sites across Pennsylvania that were sampled for PFAS concentrations. The color coding indicates PFAS concentration levels at each site. USGS image.

A map of Lake Erie that includes the rough dates of operation of autonomous and crewed vehicles by USGS, Saildrone, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI), and State and Ontario partners throughout Lake Erie during summer 2023.

Photo of a field near a site in Pennsylvania where USGS staff take groundwater pesticide samples (USGS).

Physical Scientist Molly Huber of the Florence Bascom Geoscience Center examines tree roots in a location where a root cookie was recently cut.

Molly was there as part of a stream habitat/riparian assessment at Orson Creek in south central Pennsylvania.

Exposed Hellam Conglomerate member of the Chickies Quartzite at East Mount Zion Superfund Site, York County, Pennsylvania. (Lisa Senior, USGS)

Map showing principal aquifers (PAs) and wells that were sampled as part of a Nationwide assessment of the quality of groundwater used for public supply.  

Impairments in Linganore Creek in Maryland (top) and Little Conestoga Creek in Pennsylvania (bottom) caused by altered geomorphology and high nutrients from sedimentation and agricultural runoff.

Boulder of Hellam Conglomerate member of the Chickies Quartzite at East Mount Zion Superfund Site, York County, Pennsylvania. (Lisa Senior, USGS)

USGS scuba divers collect bottom water for environmental-DNA and nutrient analysis. Photo credit: Shelby Eagan, USGS.

Survey equipment at Raystown Dam near Huntingdon, Pennsylvania. USGS measures datum (elevation) information as part of monitoring lake level as well as streamflow and stage below the dam. (Victor Cortes, USGS Pennsylvania Water Science Center).

Hydrologic Technician Ian Lynch from the Pittsburgh Field Office of the Pennsylvania Water Science Center takes a high flow measurement at USGS station 03085500, Chartiers Creek at Carnegie, PA during flooding from remnants of Hurricane Ida. 

Flooded area at railroad yard in Norristown, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania during Hurricane Ida in September 2021. (USGS)