Unified Interior Regions
South Dakota
Surface water and groundwater provide important water supplies in South Dakota. Major rivers include the Big Sioux, James, Cheyenne, and Missouri Rivers. Key aquifers include the Dakota, Madison, Minnelusa, and Big Sioux aquifers. The Dakota Water Science Center has many studies that focus on these resources as well various other national and international studies.
States L2 Landing Page Tabs
Williston Basin Oil and Gas Assessments
The U.S. Geological Survey completed the following assessments of conventional and continuous oil and gas resources of the Devonian Three Forks Formation and Devonian and Mississippian Bakken Formation in the Williston Basin Province 5031 of North Dakota, Montana, and South Dakota:
- 2013 Conventional and Continuous Assessment ( ...
Remote Sensing Phenology
Phenology is the study of plant and animal life cycles in relation to the seasons. EROS maintains a set of nine annual phenological metrics for the conterminous United States, all curated from satellite data. Taken together, the metrics represent a powerful tool for documenting life cycle trends and the impacts of climate change on ecosystems.
Land Cover Projections
Scientists at EROS look at local and global drivers of land-use change to project how different scenarios will impact and change landscapes. Using the FOREcasting SCEnarios of Land-use Change (FORE-SCE) modeling framework provides spatially explicit projections of future land-use and land-cover change.
Coastal National Elevation Database (CoNED) Applications
The Coastal National Elevation Database (CoNED) and Applications project at EROS offers information used for a range of applications analysis needed for climate change analysis.
Land Treatment Exploration Tool
The Land Treatment ExplorationTool provides a practical resource for managers who are planning restoration and rehabilitation actions on public lands. The tool generates a variety of spatial products while being user friendly for all levels of GIS expertise, even to those with little or no experience.
Bird Banding Laboratory
The Bird Banding Laboratory (BBL) is an integrated scientific program established in 1920 supporting the collection, archiving, management and dissemination of information from banded and marked birds in North America. This information is used to monitor the status and trends of resident and migratory bird populations. Because birds are good indicators of the health of the environment, the...
Williston and Powder River Basins Groundwater Availability Study
The development of two nationally important energy-producing areas, the Williston structural basin (containing the Bakken Formation) and Powder River structural basin, provide a critical opportunity to study the water-energy nexus within a groundwater context. Large volumes of water are needed for energy development in these basins. The hydraulically connected aquifers in the...
Webinar: Projecting Climate Change Impacts on Wetland-Dependent Birds in the Prairie Pothole Region
View this webinar to learn how scientists are projecting the impacts of climate change on birds in the Prairie Pothole Region.
Groundwater-Flow Model for the High Plains Aquifer in South Dakota
Project Period: 2013-2018
Cooperators: Rosebud Sioux Tribe, Oglala Sioux Tribe
Project Chief: Kyle Davis
Bridge Scour Publications
Publications about North and South Dakota bridge scour.
Black Hills Area Floods Since 1877
Summary of Floods in the Black Hills Area Since 1877.
Black Hills Area Floods - 1921 to 1930
Black Hills Area Floods - 1921 to 1930
Image of the Week - 50 Year Flood Flashback
A Landsat satellite image captured the flooding in Dell Rapids, SD in the Spring of 2019. It's remarkably similar to an aerial photograph of flooding 50 years earlier.
Eyes on Earth Episode 1 - Intro to EROS
A rundown of the history of the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center, the Landsat program, and the Center's role in the observation and study of landscape change worldwide.
Eyes on Earth Episode 8 – Assessing America’s Cropland
Every year, the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) uses data from satellites like Landsat to estimate crop types and crop yields in the United States. The result is the Cropland Data Layer (CDL), which offers an annual look at more than 100 crop categories across the country. In this episode, Dave Johnson with NASS discusses how Landsat can identify
Image of the Week - A New Yellowstone Hot Spot
Scientists with the USGS Yellowstone Volcano Observatory use satellite and aerial imagery to map hot springs, geothermal vents, and geysers at Yellowstone National Park. They recently found an entirely new thermal area miles from the nearest trailhead. Landsat 8's thermal infrared sensors captured the change in a nighttime image from April of 2017. Aerial images reveal a
Variable Warming Upper Midwest Lakes and Implications for Sport Fish
Climate change is predicted to alter sport fish communities in Midwestern lakes, but managers currently have limited information on individual lakes that can be used to set local expectations or intervene with mitigation strategies. Northeast and North Central CASC supported researchers, with strong participation from the Midwest Glacial Lakes Partnership, have combined
LANDFIRE Team - 2019
Members of the LANDFIRE team met in March of 2019 at the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center near Sioux Falls, SD.
Winter Streamflow Measurement at Belle Fourche River, SD
On February 8, 2019, USGS hydrologic technicians Joel Petersen and Sarah Davis measured a streamflow of 368 cubic feet per second at the Belle Fourche River near Elm Springs (USGS streamgage 06438000). Because of the depth of the ice, at times staff needed to lay flat on the snow and ice to ensure the equipment reaches to the stream bed. And because of the extreme cold
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Winter Streamflow Measurement at South Fork Grand River near Cash, SD
USGS Hydrologic technician Sarah Davis measuring streamflow at the South Fork Grand River near Cash, SD (streamgage 06356500) on January 31, 2019. Measuring the streamflow under ice requires drilling holes across the width of the stream and then collecting data from each hole. At times streams can freeze solid but drilling holes are necessary to verify that. The
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Land Change in the Black Hills - LCMAP
Animation of land cover change in the Black Hills, created using Land Change Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection data from the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center.
Bison in Badlands National Park
Bison in the grasslands of Badlands National Park. Tens of millions of bison once roamed this region, but were nearly eliminated by the early 20th century due to overhunting. Bison were brought back to Badlands in 1963 and the population has thrived. The park is concerned about how water and forage availability might change as the climate changes, and what this
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An Introduction to the AppEEARS Point Sampler
This short video provides a quick demonstration of the Point Sample using the Application for Extracting and Exploring Analysis Ready Samples (AρρEEARS).
AppEEARS provides a simple and efficient way to subset, transform, and visualize geospatial data distributed from a variety of federal archives. The following topics are discussed in the video: how to submit a
Using the Advanced Criteria in EarthExplorer
EarthExplorer helps users get to exactly the scenes they want. The Additional Criteria tab helps users pick scenes that meet specific requirements.
This video will show you how to utilize the Additional Criteria tab in EarthExplorer.
You can find additional videos on tools and types of imagery available on this website:
Agencies like NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) that commit multiple millions of dollars to put Landsat satellites into space need to know that the spacecraft, the sensors onboard, the ground system operating the satellite, and the launch vehicle are all designed and built the right way.
Tim Rykowski has a history of reviewing satellite ground systems. NASA’s Space Network Systems Manager, Rykowski figures he’s probably sat in on a few dozen such reviews during his 35 years at NASA, including the design and build of the Landsat 9 (L9) Ground System that’s going on now.
When they step out of their science or engineering realms, staff members at the Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center near Sioux Falls, SD, often tell a different story about the work they do.
In many ways, a more interesting story.
WATER RIGHTS AND WATER LAW WORKSHOP
EROS team earns top honor from Department of Interior for work with international body.
Former Chief Scientist's contributions as head of Landsat Science Team, commitment to education recognized
Media and the public are invited to attend a free meeting about South Dakota water issues on Thursday, April 19, in Rapid City, South Dakota.
USGS has produced topographic maps of American landscapes for more than a century as part of its Congressional mandate to maintain the elevation data that helps document change across the Nation. The use of LiDAR, refined at EROS, is key to modern topography.
Instead of requiring costly dredging to remove sediment buildup behind water reservoirs and diversions, sediment from reservoirs in the Missouri River Basin could actually be used as fracking proppant feedstock, also known as frac sand, according to a recently published U.S. Geological Survey study.
About 70 percent of wild prairie dogs successfully ingested baits containing an oral sylvatic plague vaccine, or SPV, that were distributed throughout their habitats, according to a new U.S. Geological Survey study.
Conference: April 19, 2018
Field trips: April 20, 2018
Monitoring our changing planet is critical to supporting a world population expected to reach eight billion by 2025. Observing the Earth from space offers unprecedented levels of data and a holistic view, which enables scientists to detect the most critical trends in natural resource conditions at local and global scales.
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Locations
Dakota Water Science Center- Huron Programs Office
Phone: (605) 352-4241
Fax: (605) 352-4304
Dakota Water Science Center- Rapid City
Phone: (605) 394-3200
Fax: (605) 355-4523
Dakota Water Science Center- Pierre Field Office
Phone: (605) 224-8440
Fax: (605) 224-8478
Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center
custserv@usgs.gov
Phone: 800-252-4547
Yankton, South Dakota Field Research Station
Phone: 605-665-9217