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From monitoring stream flow in the Smoky Mountains...

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...to informing restoration efforts in the Florida Everglades

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...to tracking storm-related flood conditions through the Carolinas...

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...to investigating coral health in the Florida Keys & Caribbean...

USGS coral research

...USGS science spans the South Atlantic, Gulf, & Caribbean

Region 2 includes Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, and U.S. territories U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.

USGS in USVI & PR

Region 2: South Atlantic-Gulf (Includes Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands)

We conduct impartial, multi- and interdisciplinary research and monitoring to address a broad range of natural-resource issues that affect the quality of life of citizens and landscapes in the Southeastern United States and the Caribbean region.

News

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Get to know the science of the USGS St. Petersburg

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A Legacy Continues with Landsat 9 Launch

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Reducing Flood Risks by Restoring Coral Reefs

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Publications

Reconciling models and measurements of marsh vulnerability to sea level rise

Tidal marsh survival in the face of sea level rise (SLR) and declining sediment supply often depends on the ability of marshes to build soil vertically. However, numerical models typically predict survival under rates of SLR that far exceed field-based measurements of vertical accretion. Here, we combine novel measurements from seven U.S. Atlantic Coast marshes and data from 70 additional marshes
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Ecosystems, Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Eastern Ecological Science Center, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center

Hydrology and water quality in 15 watersheds in DeKalb County, Georgia, 2012–16

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with DeKalb County Department of Watershed Management, established a long-term water-quantity and water-quality monitoring program in 2012 to monitor and analyze the hydrologic and water-quality conditions of 15 watersheds in DeKalb County, Georgia—an urban and suburban area located in north-central Georgia that includes the easternmost part of the City o
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Water Resources, South Atlantic Water Science Center (SAWSC)

A call to record stormwater control functions and to share network data

Urban stormwater is an ongoing contributor to the degradation of the health of many watersheds and water bodies. In the United States, federal regulations (e.g., Clean Water Act) require monitoring and reporting of relevant water quality metrics in regulated waterbodies to ensure standards are being met, but decisions about how to manage urban stormwater are left up to state or other local agencie
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Water Resources, South Atlantic Water Science Center (SAWSC)
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Science

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View from the sky of a tropical coastline and a beach with ocean water so clear the coral reef can be seen.

Using Video Imagery to Study Wave Dynamics: Tres Palmas

Four video cameras look westward over the coast and the coral reef at Tres Palmas in Rincón, on the west coast of Puerto Rico. Two cameras look out at the horizon and over the ocean for the mid-field view; one camera offers a zoomed-in, far-field view overlooking the reef and out to the island of Desecheo, a U.S. National Wildlife Refuge; and another camera focuses on the beach.
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Natural Hazards, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center
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Using Video Imagery to Study Wave Dynamics: Tres Palmas

Four video cameras look westward over the coast and the coral reef at Tres Palmas in Rincón, on the west coast of Puerto Rico. Two cameras look out at the horizon and over the ocean for the mid-field view; one camera offers a zoomed-in, far-field view overlooking the reef and out to the island of Desecheo, a U.S. National Wildlife Refuge; and another camera focuses on the beach.
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Image: Florida Everglades

Across Trophic Level System Simulation (ATLSS) Program for the Greater Everglades

Goals of the ATLSS Program are to help achieve a better understanding of components of the Everglades ecosystem, to provide an integrative tool for empirical studies, and to apply these tools to an adaptive management framework.
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Wetland and Aquatic Research Center
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Across Trophic Level System Simulation (ATLSS) Program for the Greater Everglades

Goals of the ATLSS Program are to help achieve a better understanding of components of the Everglades ecosystem, to provide an integrative tool for empirical studies, and to apply these tools to an adaptive management framework.
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Underwater photo of a shallow coral environment.

Role of Reefs in Coastal Protection

We are combining ocean, engineering, ecologic, social, and economic modeling to provide a high-resolution, rigorous, spatially-explicit valuation of the coastal flood protection benefits provided by coral reefs and the cost effectiveness of reef restoration for enhancing those benefits.
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Natural Hazards, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center
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Role of Reefs in Coastal Protection

We are combining ocean, engineering, ecologic, social, and economic modeling to provide a high-resolution, rigorous, spatially-explicit valuation of the coastal flood protection benefits provided by coral reefs and the cost effectiveness of reef restoration for enhancing those benefits.
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