Images

The September Lobe monitoring station is part of the network of monitoring stations that detects and reports subtle changes in the volcanic vent area. At 2150 m (about 7100 ft) elevation, maintenance is performed during good weather to keep the station fully functional.

To monitor volcanoes, scientists rely on remote monitoring equipment that can operate 24-hours a day and 365-days a year to deliver real-time data. When scientists design and install monitoring stations, they must consider the remoteness of sites, terrain, and winter conditions. Here, rime ice coats a telemetry system that transmits data near Mount St.

Sample bottle carousel from automated ISCO pump sampler deployed on the Elwha River, Washington to obtain suspended sediment samples.

Lakes and drainages within the watershed of Mount St. Helens.

Bureau of Land Management truck sprays herbicide in southwestern Idaho as part of a restoration effort. 

An examination of long-term data for lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management finds that land treatments in the southwestern United States are increasingly large, expensive and related to fire and invasive species control.

Climate change projections indicate a steady increase in temperature progressing through the 21^st century, generally resulting in snowpack reductions, changes to the timing of snowmelt, altered streamflows, and reductions in soil moisture, all of which could affect water management, agriculture, recreation, hazard mitigation, and ecosystems across the nat

Mount Hood in the not-so-far distance beyond downtown Portland, Oregon. Photograph taken at the top of the Portland Aerial Tram line on Marquam Hill.

Photograph of the channel station showing the laser distance meter (in red circle) high above the channel used to measure stage (height) of flow in the channel.

View upslope to the headscarp of the Red Bluffs landslide, seen from the surface of the Crescent Lake landslide, in the Columbia Gorge.

Mount Hood dominates the skyline outside Portland, Oregon on a clear day. A major eruption of Mount Hood would pose a great hazard to the regional economy.

Mount St. Helens and the industrial waterfront area of North Portland, Oregon along the Willamette River in the foreground. Excess sediment from volcanoes can significantly impact river traffic.

USGS Hydrologic Technician Heather Bragg collects suspended-sediment sample from a cableway downstream from Fall Creek Reservoir. Reservoir was drawn down to purge sediment and trapped fish from behind dam in December 2012.

Video available online.

The May 18, 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens had a dramatic impact on the North Fork Toutle River. The debris avalanche, lateral blast and ashfall produced a substantial amount of sediment, which continues to be washed into the river and transported downstream.

Logs float in Spirit Lake near the Spirit Lake gaging station and outflow tunnel. View is to the south with Mount St. Helens in the background.

Dendronotid nudibranch on hydroids - Scuba divers from the U.S. Geological Survey’s Western Fisheries Research Center, Washington Sea Grant, EPA and the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe collected data and images from a long-term study of the Elwha River dam removals and the resulting effects on the nearshore ecosystem.

The USGS, in collaboration with UNAVCO and the University of Colorado, uses these data to measure channel erosion and deposition in the reach.

Unknown lake in Mt. Rainier National Park

View of Clackamas River, OR.

Beam trawling in Lower Granite Reservoir on the Snake River.

Back at the USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory office, these data are merged with airborne LiDAR data to calculate lake volume.

Oregon Coast at Cannon Beach.