Images

Two USGS hydrologic technicians taking GPS levels at the Ramsgate Conveyance Channel near Great Bridge, Virginia.

Data for this site can be found at USGS Water Data for the Nation.

Two USGS hydrologic technicians taking GPS levels at the Ramsgate Conveyance Channel near Great Bridge, Virginia.

Data for this site can be found at USGS Water Data for the Nation.

Two USGS hydrologic technicians taking GPS levels at the Ramsgate Conveyance Channel near Great Bridge, Virginia.

Data for this site can be found at USGS Water Data for the Nation.

USGS hydrologic technician Chelsea Vande Pol collects a discharge measurement downstream of a storm drain in Hampton Roads, VA.

Winter 2025 Photo Contest Winner: Taylor Camper, Honorable Mention category

The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. Located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the East Coast, it runs north-south from the mouth of the Susquehanna River near Havre de Grace, Maryland, to the Atlantic Ocean near Virginia Beach, Virginia.

The Chesapeake Bay watershed has experienced substantial population growth over the last several decades. Since 1950, the population has more than doubled, and between 1980 and 2023, the number increased from 12.7 million to 18.6 million.

The Chesapeake Bay is roughly 200 miles (322 kilometers) in length and varies in width from a mere 4 miles (6.4 kilometers) near Aberdeen, Maryland, to 30 miles (48 kilometers) near Cape Charles, Virginia.

The Chesapeake Bay watershed spans more than 64,000 square miles (166,000 square kilometers) and encompasses parts of six states—Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia—and the District of Columbia.

How Deep Do We Drill?

The USGS provides research-quality, applications-ready Landsat Level-2 and Level-3 science products to support an array of land surface change studies. Collection 2 Level-2 scene-based science products include Surface Reflectance, Surface Temperature, Surface Reflectance-Derived Spectral Indices, and Provisional Aquatic Reflectance.

Lake Accotink is a 55 acre lake in Fairfax county which suffers from high rates of sedimentation. As the lake fills with sediment, it loses volume. This animations shows how the lake might continue to lose volume over time if dredging does not continue.

Lake Accotink is a 55 acre lake in Fairfax county which suffers from high rates of sedimentation. The lake is fed by Accotink Creek, which includes the Long Branch tributary. These two streams deliver most of the sediment to Lake Accotink.  

The USGS West Point pipe extensometer (56J 49) with a total depth of 1,371 feet. Data for this site can be found on USGS Water Data for the Nation.

A USGS technician, Daniel Markey, works to connect GNSS sensors to the instrument table of the West Point extensometer at the West Point Subsidence Superstation.

The building housing the West Point extensometer. The actual extensometer can be seen inside through the open doors.

The USGS West Point pipe extensometer (56J 49) with a total depth of 1,371 feet. Data for this site can be found on USGS Water Data for the Nation.

Two USGS scientists balance the West Point extensometer's fulcrum arm prior to the instrument's activation.

A USGS mobile laboratory vehicle out in the field before dawn near the Lynnwood monitoring site: S F Shenandoah River Near Lynnwood, VA - USGS Water Data for the Nation

The North Fork Shenandoah River near the Lynnwood monitoring station at dawn.

This photo was taken as a part of the Shenandoah River HABs Project.

Accotink Creek is an urban stream in Fairfax County, Virginia. Like many urban streams, its banks are heavily eroded, and that eroded sediment is transported downstream. This impacts downstream water quality and contributes to lake sedimentation in Lake Accotink.

Accotink Creek is an urban creek and a tributary of Lake Accotink. Accotink Creek suffers from high rates of streambank erosion, which causes the steep, unstable banks seen on the far side of the creek in the above image.