Images

Mount Rainier volcano looms over Puyallup Valley, near Orting, Washington.

Mount Rainier volcano looms over Puyallup Valley, near Orting, Washington.

Scientists conduct a stream channel cross-section survey of the Toutle River on the north side of Mount St. Helens (view to the southwest).

Map of Mount St. Helens Crater Glacier created from LiDAR data acquired September 2009.

Series of daily sample bottles containing integrated water samples from the Elwha River, October 17, 2012 to November 9, 2012. Graphical overlay is the measured suspended sediment concentration in each sample bottle, showing the variability in sediment concentration during the time period shown.

Series of daily sample bottles containing integrated water samples from the Elwha River, October 17, 2012 to November 9, 2012.

This shaded relief image was produced from LIDAR data. LIDAR is an acronym for Light Detection and Ranging, a modern remote sensing technique used to map topography very accurately—more so than is possible with older techniques. The crater is 1.2 miles (1.9 km) wide east-west. Elsewhere the scale varies owing to the oblique viewing angle.

Map showing one-year probability of accumulation of 1 centimeter (0.4 inch) or more of tephra from eruptions of volcanoes in the Cascade Range.

Mount St. Helens and North Fork Toutle River Channel.

The popping and cracking of ice in lakes within the Newberry Volcano caldera is picked up by local seismic stations, such as Central Pumice Cone. The lake-ice quakes do not resemble standard volcanic low-frequency or high-frequency events and are sporadically observed in the winter at other ice-covered lakes in Yellowstone, Long Valley, and elsewhere.

Antennas deployed in the Wind River to monitor movements of fish that have been tagged with Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) tags.  The need to track fish movements in large streams over extensive areas has extended this current technology to new levels.

Crews test two methods of measuring discharge of the Muddy River near Mount St. Helens, Washington. The computer and tethered orange float create a vertical discharge profile; the hand-held flow tracker confirms the data. Data collection is becoming more electronic-oriented with periodic confirmation of results by physical observations.

Repairs are made to an Acoustic Flow Monitor (AFM) located at the confluence of the North Fork Toutle River, Maratta, Castle and Coldwater Creeks, where the most recent lahar occurred in November, 2006. AFMs are installed to "hear" when lahars [muddy debris flows] move down channel so affected communities can be warned of the hazard.

Aerial photograph of the mouth of the Elwha River where it meets the Strait of Juan de Fuca during the removal of the Elwha and Glines Canyon dams, Washington State, USA. Aerial assistance by LightHawk and plane piloted by Dr. Hunter Handsfield.

Aerial photograph showing the mouth of the Elwha River, Washington State, USA. Aerial assistance by LightHawk and plane piloted by Dr. Hunter Handsfield.

Aerial photograph of the former Lake Aldwell reservoir and the Elwha River 16 months following the removal of the Elwha Dam, Washington State, USA. Aerial assistance by LightHawk and plane piloted by Dr. Hunter Handsfield.

Aerial photograph of the former Lake Aldwell reservoir and the Elwha River 16 months following the removal of the Elwha Dam, Washington State, USA. Aerial assistance by LightHawk and plane piloted by Dr. Hunter Handsfield.

Pale gills of a herring with VEN (top) compared to those of an uninfected, healthy herring (bottom).

A turbid Lost Dog Creek tumbles down steep slopes before feeding Lake Oswego.

Tanner Creek outfall delivers stormwater runoff with insecticides to Tanner Creek, tributary of the Willamette River