Unified Interior Regions
Region 1: North Atlantic-Appalachian
Our Science Centers
The NAA Region has 15 Science Centers spanning 14 NE States and Washington, DC. The Centers conduct interdisciplinary biologic, geologic, hydrologic, and energy monitoring and research addressing natural resource issues facing our nation.
Learn MoreFebruary Photo Contest
Check out the winning photographs in the February 2021 Photo Contest! Categories include People, USGS at Work, Where We Work, and Honorable Mention
See PhotosRegions L2 Landing Page Tabs
Using occupancy modeling and logistic regression to assess the distribution of shrimp species in lowland streams, Costa Rica: Does regional groundwater create favorable habitat?
Freshwater shrimps are an important biotic component of tropical ecosystems. However, they can have a low probability of detection when abundances are low. We sampled 3 of the most common freshwater shrimp species, Macrobrachium olfersii, Macrobrachium carcinus, and Macrobrachium heterochirus, and used occupancy modeling and logistic...
Snyder, Marcia; Freeman, Mary; Purucker, S. Thomas; Pringle, Catherine M.Mycobacterial infection in Northern snakehead (Channa argus) from the Potomac River catchment
The Northern snakehead, Channa argus (Cantor), is a non-native predatory fish that has become established regionally in some temperate freshwater habitats within the United States. Over the past decade, Northern snakehead populations have developed within aquatic ecosystems throughout the eastern USA, including the Potomac River system...
Densmore, Christine L.; Iwanowicz, Luke R. ; Henderson, Anne; Iwanowicz, Deborah D.; Odenkirk, J.S.A new method for discovering behavior patterns among animal movements
Advanced satellite tracking technologies enable biologists to track animal movements at fine spatial and temporal scales. The resultant data present opportunities and challenges for understanding animal behavioral mechanisms. In this paper, we develop a new method to elucidate animal movement patterns from tracking data. Here, we propose the...
Wang, Y.; Luo, Ze; Takekawa, John Y.; Prosser, Diann J.; Xiong, Y.; Newman, S.; Xiao, X.; Batbayar, N.; Spragens, Kyle A.; Balachandran, S.; Yan, B.Marine geophysical data collected in a shallow back-barrier estuary, Barnegat Bay, New Jersey
In 2011, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, began a multidisciplinary research project to better understand the water quality in Barnegat Bay, New Jersey. This back-barrier estuary is experiencing degraded water quality, algal blooms, loss of seagrass, and increases in oxygen...
Andrews, Brian D.; Miselis, Jennifer L.; Danforth, William W.; Irwin, Barry J.; Worley, Charles R.; Bergeron, Emile M.; Blackwood, Dann S.Obituary: Graham W. Smith (1950-2015)
O'Connell, Allan F.Bathymetric terrain model of the Atlantic margin for marine geological investigations
A bathymetric terrain model of the Atlantic margin covering almost 725,000 square kilometers of seafloor from the New England Seamounts in the north to the Blake Basin in the south is compiled from existing multibeam bathymetric data for marine geological investigations. Although other terrain models of the same area are extant, they are produced...
Andrews, Brian D.; Chaytor, Jason D.; ten Brink, Uri S.; Brothers, Daniel S.; Gardner, James V.; Lobecker, Elizabeth A.; Calder, Brian R.Determination of dilution factors for discharge of aluminum-containing wastes by public water-supply treatment facilities into lakes and reservoirs in Massachusetts
Dilution of aluminum discharged to reservoirs in filter-backwash effluents at water-treatment facilities in Massachusetts was investigated by a field study and computer simulation. Determination of dilution is needed so that permits for discharge ensure compliance with water-quality standards for aquatic life. The U.S. Environmental Protection...
Colman, John A.; Massey, Andrew J.; Brandt, Sara L.Geomorphology, active tectonics, and landscape evolution in the Mid-Atlantic region
In 2014, the geomorphology community marked the 125th birthday of one of its most influential papers, “The Rivers and Valleys of Pennsylvania” by William Morris Davis. Inspired by Davis’s work, the Appalachian landscape rapidly became fertile ground for the development and testing of several grand landscape evolution paradigms, culminating with...
Pazzaglia, Frank J.; Carter, Mark W.; Berti, Claudio; Counts, Ronald C.; Hancock, Gregory S.; Harbor, David; Harrison, Richard W.; Heller, Matthew J.; Mahan, Shannon A.; Malenda, Helen; McKeon, Ryan; Nelson, Michelle S.; Prince, Phillip; Rittenour, Tammy M.; Spotilla, James; Whittecar, G. RichardTrade-offs in osmoregulation and parallel shifts in molecular function follow ecological transitions to freshwater in the Alewife
Adaptation to freshwater may be expected to reduce performance in seawater because these environments represent opposing selective regimes. We tested for such a trade-off in populations of the Alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus). Alewives are ancestrally anadromous, and multiple populations have been independently restricted to freshwater (landlocked...
Velotta, Jonathan P.; McCormick, Stephen D.; Schultz, Eric T.Efficient wetland surface water detection and monitoring via Landsat: Comparison with in situ data from the Everglades Depth Estimation Network
The U.S. Geological Survey is developing new Landsat science products. One, named Dynamic Surface Water Extent (DSWE), is focused on the representation of ground surface inundation as detected in cloud-/shadow-/snow-free pixels for scenes collected over the U.S. and its territories. Characterization of DSWE uncertainty to facilitate its...
Jones, John W.Decision analysis to support development of the Glen Canyon Dam long-term experimental and management plan
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Bureau of Reclamation, National Park Service, and Argonne National Laboratory, completed a decision analysis to use in the evaluation of alternatives in the Environmental Impact Statement concerning the long-term management of water releases from Glen Canyon Dam and associated management...
Runge, Michael C.; LaGory, Kirk E.; Russell, Kendra; Balsom, Janet R.; Butler, R. Alan; Coggins,, Lewis G.; Grantz, Katrina A.; Hayse, John; Hlohowskyj, Ihor; Korman, Josh; May, James E.; O'Rourke, Daniel J.; Poch, Leslie A.; Prairie, James R.; VanKuiken, Jack C.; Van Lonkhuyzen, Robert A.; Varyu, David R.; Verhaaren, Bruce T.; Veselka, Thomas D.; Williams, Nicholas T.; Wuthrich, Kelsey K.; Yackulic, Charles B.; Billerbeck, Robert P.; Knowles, Glen W.A semi-automated tool for reducing the creation of false closed depressions from a filled LIDAR-derived digital elevation model
Closed depressions on the land surface can be identified by ‘filling’ a digital elevation model (DEM) and subtracting the filled model from the original DEM. However, automated methods suffer from artificial ‘dams’ where surface streams cross under bridges and through culverts. Removal of these false depressions from an elevation model is...
Wall, John; Doctor, Daniel H.; Terziotti, SilviaHead of the Meadow Beach video camera 2 variance image
Two video cameras are mounted on a bluff near Head of the Meadow Beach, Cape Cod National Seashore, North Truro, MA. One camera looks directly offshore (north east), and the second looks alongshore (north-northeast). A “variance” image shows the standard deviation of pixel intensity throughout the video, and it is useful for determining how much variation or movement is
...Densmore uses ultrasound
Dr. Christine Densmore, DVM uses an ultrasound on fish as part of a health assessment.
Live WebCam Video of Lick Run at Washington Park, Roanoke, Virginia
A webcam is installed at Lick Run in Washington Park, Roanoke, Virginia allowing you to view river-stage conditions in real time. The camera is operated in cooperation with the City of Roanoke.
Head of the Meadow Beach video camera 1 timex image
Two video cameras are mounted on a bluff near Head of the Meadow Beach, Cape Cod National Seashore, North Truro, MA. One camera looks directly offshore (north east), and the second looks alongshore (north-northeast). A timex is a time-averaged image of all frames, smoothing away surface waves and determining the location of persistent wave-breaking (indicative of shallow
...Head of the Meadow Beach video camera 2 timex image
Two video cameras are mounted on a bluff near Head of the Meadow Beach, Cape Cod National Seashore, North Truro, MA. One camera looks directly offshore (north east), and the second looks alongshore (north-northeast). A timex is a time-averaged image of all frames, smoothing away surface waves and determining the location of persistent wave-breaking (indicative of shallow
...Adult silver phase American Eel
A silver-phase American Eel in a northeastern river begins migrating downstream to the ocean to spawn in the Sargasso Sea. The migration can span hundreds of kilometers in freshwater rivers and thousands of kilometers at sea.
Penobscot River at Bangor, Maine (01037050)
Penobscot River at Bangor, Maine (01037050)
Connecticut River near Northfield, Massachusetts (01161280)
Connecticut River near Northfield, Massachusetts (01161280)
Close-up of a honey bee being prepared for testing
Leetown Science Center researcher, Dr. Deborah Iwanowicz, is preparing honey bee for analysis of the Lake Sinai Virus (LSV). This type of work is important to society as pollinators are critical for sustaining healthy ecosystems and prosperous human populations.