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Data

The USGS collects multiple types of data in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The Data Catalog contains a list and links of all the types of Chesapeake information from USGS. Some of the most relevant data related to streams and rivers is highlighted in the “tracking status and trends indicators of stream health”. Land cover, use, and change data are also highlighted.

USGS Chesapeake Bay Studies - Data Catalog

New High-Resolution, Land-Use and Change Data Improves Decision-Making

Three side-by-side panels to show land-use-land-change in Charles County, MD

With support from the CBP, the USGS, Chesapeake Conservancy and the University of Vermont developed an improved 1-meter resolution land use/land cover (LULC) data set for the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

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Freshwater Flow into Chesapeake Bay

The USGS provides estimates of the monthly and annual amounts of freshwater flow into the Bay so scientists and managers can better understand effects on ecosystem conditions.

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Tracking Status and Trends in Seven Key Indicators of Stream Health

Identifying and tracking the status of, and trends in, stream health within the Chesapeake Bay watershed is essential to understanding the past, present, and future trajectory of the watershed’s resources and ecological condition.

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Filter Total Items: 123

Nitrogen flux estimates in support of Chesapeake Bay Hypoxia and Anoxia forecasts, 1985-2024

Data release includes the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) estimate of spring nitrogen fluxes summed from nine tributaries to the Chesapeake Bay from 1985 to 2024. Data are presented as the sum from tributaries within the USGS River Input Monitoring (RIM) network identified by site numbers: 01491000, 01578310, 01594440, 01646580, 01668000, 01673000, 01674500, 02035000, 02041650. Periods of estimation
By
Chesapeake Bay Activities, Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Water Science Center

Nitrogen flux estimates in support of Chesapeake Bay Hypoxia and Anoxia forecasts, 1985-2023

Data release includes the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) estimate of spring nitrogen fluxes summed from nine tributaries to the Chesapeake Bay from 1985 to 2023. Data are presented as the sum from tributaries within the USGS River Input Monitoring (RIM) network identified by site numbers: 01491000, 01578310, 01594440, 01646580, 01668000, 01673000, 01674500, 02035000, 02041650. Periods of estimation
By
Chesapeake Bay Activities, Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Water Science Center

Landscape data compiled for fish health sites in and around the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.

These data include estimates of landcover and land use characteristics including high phytoestrogen crop cover, estimated pesticide applications, EPA PFAS facilities, nutrients from biosolids, and select climate (temperature and precipitation) variables summarized for several fish health sites in the eastern United States.
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Chesapeake Bay Activities, Eastern Ecological Science Center

Attribution of benthic macroinvertebrate sampling data to NHDPlus V2 and NHDPlus HR catchments within the Chesapeake Bay Watershed

This data release links benthic macroinvertebrate sites to both the NHDPlus Version 2 and NHDPlus High Resolution Region 02 networks, hereafter referred to as V2 and HR, using the hydrolink methodology. Linked benthic macroinvertebrate sites are those included in the Chesapeake Bay Basin-wide Index of Biotic Integrity (Chessie BIBI) developed by the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin
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Chesapeake Bay Activities, Eastern Ecological Science Center

When and where could rising seas cross thresholds for initiating wetland drowning across conterminous United States?

Recent data syntheses have clarified future relative sea-level rise exposure and sensitivity thresholds for drowning. We integrated these advances to estimate when and where rising sea levels could cross thresholds for initiating wetland drowning across the conterminous United States. We evaluated three sea-level rise thresholds for wetland drowning (4, 7, and 10 mm/yr). Our study area spans the c
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Chesapeake Bay Activities, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center

Data describing highly pathogenic H5N1 in Double-crested Cormorants of the Chesapeake Bay

These data describe the prevalence of HP H5N1 infection and antibodies in Double-crested Cormorants at a single breeding site in the Chesapeake Bay.
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Chesapeake Bay Activities, Eastern Ecological Science Center

Effects of estrogens and atrazine on functional immune responses of largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides)

Disease outbreaks, skin lesions, fish kill events, and reproductive abnormalities have been observed in wild populations of bass in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Occurrence of synthetic and natural hormones from wastewater treatment plants and livestock operations, pesticides from agricultural lands, and phytoestrogens from cover crops have been implicated as potential causes of these adverse effe
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Chesapeake Bay Activities, Eastern Ecological Science Center

Nitrogen, phosphorus, and suspended-sediment loads and trends measured at the Chesapeake Bay River Input Monitoring stations: Water years 1985-2023

Nitrogen, phosphorus, and suspended-sediment loads, and changes in loads, in major rivers across the Chesapeake Bay watershed have been calculated using monitoring data from the Chesapeake Bay River Input Monitoring (RIM) Network stations for the period 1985 through 2023. Nutrient and suspended-sediment loads and changes in loads were determined by applying a weighted regression approach called WR
By
Chesapeake Bay Activities, Virginia and West Virginia Water Science Center

Chesapeake Bay Watershed 1:24k 10, 30 and 90-meter Riparian Buffer Zones

This data release contains three 10-meter resolution GeoTIFFs representing 10-meter (35-foot), 30-meter (100-foot) and 90-meter (300-foot) riparian buffer zones along shorelines, rivers, streams, and other lotic (flowing) water features. The layers are binary, where the value of each cell represents the presence or absence of the buffer zone. In addition, the data release contains shapefile layers
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Chesapeake Bay Activities, Lower Mississippi-Gulf Water Science Center

Attribution of stream habitat assessment data to NHDPlus V2 and NHDPlus HR catchments within the Chesapeake Bay Watershed

This data release links habitat assessment sites to both the NHDPlus Version 2 and NHDPlus High Resolution Region 02 networks using the hydrolink methodology. Linked habitat sites are those compiled by the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin (ICPRB) during creation of the Chesapeake Bay Basin-wide Index of Biotic Integrity (Chessie BIBI) for benthic macroinvertebrates (https://datahub

By
Chesapeake Bay Activities, Eastern Ecological Science Center

Data describing the use of retention ponds on commercial poultry facilities on Delmarva by wild waterfowl

These data support a paired USGS publication and document the use of retention ponds on commercial poultry farms by wild waterfowl.
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Chesapeake Bay Activities, Eastern Ecological Science Center

Fish communities in PA and MD Piedmont mixed agricultural streams, 2023

From 2-27 June, 2023, a Virginia Tech team of 5 sampled the fish community in 30 Piedmont streams (lower Susquehanna River and upper Chesapeake Bay tributaries, Pennsylvania and Maryland, USA) spanning a gradient of agricultural intensity as part of a larger stream-health study including other teams who surveyed geomorphology, water quality, flow, temperature, and macroinvertebrates at the same 30
By
Chesapeake Bay Activities, Florence Bascom Geoscience Center
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