Images

The 3DR Solo with GoPro Hero4 camera and gimbal. Coming to a survey area near you soon.

Marine geology enthusiasts at the Council for Geoscience (CGS) conference.

Elkhorn corals (Acropora palmata) on the seafloor along the northeastern coast of Buck Island, U.S. Virgin Islands, have died and collapsed into rubble. As coral reef structure degrades, habitat for marine life is lost and nearby coastlines become more susceptible to storms, waves, and erosion.

Healthy elkhorn coral (Acropora palmata) on the seafloor along the southeastern coast of Buck Island, U.S. Virgin Islands. Elkhorn coral is one of many important reef-building species that create 3D structure on the seafloor. Coral reef structure provides habitat for marine life and helps break up waves as they approach the coastline.

Eroding bluffs on Moss Landing State Beach, California, March 2016

Shawn Harrison uses a GPS-equipped backpack to measure sand elevations during a post-storm survey of beaches in Santa Cruz, California. 

Perspective views of multibeam bathymetry data acquired by the USGS aboard the R/V Medeia. Shallower depths in red. Arrows point to the distinct line in the seafloor associated with the Queen Charlotte-Fairweather fault.

Gerry Hatcher (left) and Shawn Harrison work on their video-camera station atop a hotel in Santa Cruz, California.

Views of Madeira Beach, Florida, produced from a 17-minute video shot on June 20, 2017. Left: Snapshot, or first frame of video. Right: Time-averaged image, sometimes called a “timex,” created by averaging the intensity of light recorded at each spot, or “pixel,” during the 17-minute video.

Views of Cowells Beach in Santa Cruz, California, from a 10-minute video shot on May 6, 2017. Snapshot (first frame in video) on left; time-averaged image on right.

“Variance” images derived from the same videos used in the studies. Left, Madeira Beach; right, Cowells Beach. In a variance image, the more variation in light intensity at a given pixel, the brighter the value assigned to that pixel. Bright areas indicate many changes in light intensity, caused by a lot of movement.

Fieldtrip participants at the former San Clemente Dam site.

Close-up views of the toe of the Mud Creek landslide created from air photos taken May 27 (top), June 13 (middle), and June 26 (bottom). Caltrans built roads on top of the slide for assessment and monitoring activities.

Topographic-change image produced by comparing 3D map derived from May 27 air photos with that derived from June 13 air photos. Note that material has eroded from the seaward edge of the toe (yellow and orange tones), and material has built up on beaches to either side of the slide (blue tones).

Pilot Bob Van Wagenen and the Cessna 182R he flies when taking air photos for the USGS Remote Sensing Coastal Change Project.

Gerry Hatcher with the system he designed to record the precise time and geographic location of each air photo Van Wagenen shoots.

Big Sur coast. Red squares mark some of the sites damaged by 2016–17 winter storms, including Mud Creek and Paul’s Slide areas.

Paul’s Slide. Left: Air photo taken May 27, 2017, one of many that Beth Haddon will analyze with structure-from-motion software to measure changes in ground elevation. Right: Caltrans employees and contractors use an excavator and bulldozer to remove Paul’s Slide debris from California State Highway 1.

Underwater photograph showing corals in Tāfeu Cove, National Park of American Samoa, north shore of Tutuila Island, American Samoa.

Our Coast, Our Future web viewer showing an example of flood projections for the Russian River.

Graphic showing geophysical and sampling systems used to define the seafloor topography, surface sediments, and underlying geology.