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
Black Hills Area Floods - 1991 to 2000
Black Hills Area Flooding - 1991 to 2000
Look under the Multimedia table for pictures and more information regarding the event date and location, flow data (if available), a brief summary of the event, and links to available photographs or scanned newspaper articles.
Black Hills Area Floods - 1877 to 1890
Black Hills Area Floods - 1877 to 1890
Look under the Multimedia table for pictures and more information regarding the event date and location, flow data (if available), a brief summary of the event, and links to available photographs or scanned newspaper articles.
Black Hills Hydrology Study
Black Hills Hydrology Study
The 1972 Black Hills-Rapid City Flood
The 1972 Black Hills-Rapid City Flood Revisited
RRAWFLOW: Rainfall-Response Aquifer and Watershed Flow Model
RRAWFLOW: Rainfall-Response Aquifer and Watershed Flow Model
Concepts for Study of the Contamination Potential of Bedrock Aquifers in the Black Hills Area, Western South Dakota
Concepts for Study of the Contamination Potential of Bedrock Aquifers in the Black Hills Area, Western South Dakota
Hydrologic Units for South Dakota in Google Earth
Project Period: 2009
Cooperator: Hyde County Conservation District, South Dakota Association of Conservation Districts
Project Chief: Ryan Thompson
Land Treatment Digital Library
The LTDL was created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to catalog information about land treatments on Federal lands in the western United States for all interested parties. The flexible framework of the library allows for the storage of a wide variety of data in different formats. The LTDL currently stores previously established land treatments or what often are called legacy data. The...
Groundwater Flow, Quality, and Mixing in the Wind Cave National Park Area, South Dakota
Project Period: 2007-2010
Cooperator: National Park Service
Project Chief: Andrew Long
Hydrologic Information for Evaluation of Reservoir Management Strategies for Sheridan Lake to Enhance Fish Habitat in Spring Creek
Project Period: 2007-2008
Cooperator: South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks
Project Chief: Dan Driscoll
National Stream Quality Accounting Network (NASQAN)
Project Period: 2002-2008
Project Chief: Kathy Neitzert
Potentiometric Surface Mapping of the Arikaree Aquifer, Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and Bennett County, South Dakota
Project Period: 1998-2007
Cooperator: Oglala Sioux Tribe
Project Chief: Janet Carter
LCMAP Workshop Computer
South Dakota State University Extension Office Senior Ag Research Technician Brad Richardson uses the LCMAP Timeseries Analysis and Plotting Tool (TAPTool) at the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center in Sioux Falls, SD.
EROS in Action - CoNED with Dean Gesch and Jeff Danielson
USGS/EROS Physical Scientist Dean Gesch and USGS/EROS CoNED Applications Project Chief Jeff Danielson discuss the Coastal National Elevation Database (CoNED), its acquisition and its uses.
Image of the Week - Cottonwood Fire
October 16, 2018, marks the two-year anniversary of the Cottonwood Fire in western South Dakota. The fire consumed a large swath of grassland near the community of Wall and just north of Badlands National Park.
Thanks to low relative humidity, and high winds and temperatures, the fire spread quickly. It burned 41,360 acres by the time it was 100 percent contained
Staff Gage for Streamgage 06431500, Spearfish Creek at Spearfish, SD
Staff gage for Spearfish Creek at Spearfish, SD (USGS streamgage 06431500). This site was established as a U.S. Geological Survey streamgage on October 9, 1946, and is operated in cooperation with South Dakota Department of Natural Resources. More information on this streamgage is available at
...Spearfish Creek at Spearfish, SD (USGS Streamgage 06431500)
Gage house for Spearfish Creek at Spearfish, SD (USGS streamgage 06431500). This site was established as a U.S. Geological Survey streamgage on October 9, 1946, and is operated in cooperation with South Dakota Department of Natural Resources. Streamgages are visited by a USGS hydrologic technician on 6-week intervals throughout the year. The October or early November visit
...EROS: EarthExplorer and GloVis - Register For An Account
USGS EROS | How To Search and Download Satellite Imagery The USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center has created a series of videos to help users search for and download remotely sensed imagery. The first step in the process is to register for a free account so you can search and order data from EarthExplorer and GloVis websites. This video walks you
Jennifer Lacey: Leading USGS in Space
For this native South Dakotan, a love for math and a college trip to EROS in Sioux Falls, SD led to overseeing USGS's Landsat operations including the upcoming 2020 launch of Landsat 9. Read Jennifer's story and other #womeninscience stories at https://bit.ly/2D1RHk5
Image of the Week - Beetle Damage in the Black Hills
Ponderosa pine forests in the Black Hills of South Dakota are the focus of this week’s USGS Image of the Week.
Mountain pine beetles are about the size of a grain of rice, so of course we can’t see them from space in satellite images. What is visible is what the beetles can do to a pine forest. The washed-out pink color indicates large areas of standing dead or
Cottonwood Fire, 2016
October 16, 2018, marks the two-year anniversary of the Cottonwood Fire in western South Dakota. The fire consumed a large swath of grassland near the community of Wall and just north of Badlands National Park.
An Introduction to Suomi-NPP NASA VIIRS Data Products
This video provides an introduction to new land data products from the joint National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) satellite sensor aboard the Suomi-National Polar-orbiting Partnership (S-NPP). The Suomi-NPP NASA VIIRS data products discussed in the
Beetle Damage in the Black Hills
Mountain pine beetles are about the size of a grain of rice, so of course we can’t see them from space in satellite images. What is visible is what the beetles can do to a pine forest. The washed-out pink color indicates large areas of standing dead or damaged trees.
Image of the Week - Lake Thompson
Many lakes in South Dakota’s Prairie Pothole Region are expanding.
Lake Thompson in eastern South Dakota is one that has displayed remarkable change in recent decades.
Each week, the Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center highlights a new satellite image(s) featuring striking changes in the Earth's surface. Our images come from locations
First-of-its-kind survey shows that algal toxins are found nationwide
Past fireworks displays are the probable cause of elevated concentrations of a contaminant called perchlorate in groundwater and surface water within Mount Rushmore National Memorial, according to a recent U.S. Geological Survey report.
South Dakota-based scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey are helping to restore a depleted aquifer and build in-country expertise for managing groundwater in the Ararat Basin of Armenia.
Media and the public are invited to attend a free meeting about South Dakota water issues on Thursday, April 7, in Rapid City, South Dakota.
Increased precipitation is the primary cause of rising streamflow in many eastern South Dakota streams, according to arecent U.S. Geological Survey report.
A newly published, three-volume “Remote Sensing Handbook” is a comprehensive coverage of all remote sensing topics written by over 300 leading global experts.
With the release of new US Topo maps for Illinois and South Dakota, the USGS has completed the second, three-year cycle of revising and updating electronic US Topo quadrangles. This means that since late 2009, the USGS has published nearly every map in the conterminous U.S., twice.
The City of Sioux Falls and the United States Geological Survey (USGS) are conducting a state-of-the-art groundwater survey this fall. Beginning this week, CGG Canada Services, who is under contract with the City, will begin flying a helicopter over the Big Sioux Aquifer to collect, record, and map its geophysical measurements.
The U.S. Geological Survey and NASA will honor their 25-year science partnership and ongoing advancements in land remote sensing at a ceremony in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, on Thursday.
Three tiny fish larvae that were captured by U.S. Geological Survey scientists in May 2014 have just been confirmed to be pallid sturgeon. These new genetic identifications add to mounting evidence that critically endangered pallid sturgeon spawned successfully in the Lower Missouri River downstream of Gavins Point Dam, South Dakota.