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Publications

This list of Upper Midwest Water Science Center publications spans from 1899 to present. It includes both official USGS publications and journal articles authored by our scientists. To access the full, searchable catalog of USGS publications, please visit the USGS Publications Warehouse.

Filter Total Items: 2244

Since “Groundwater and surface water–A single resource”: some U.S. Geological Survey advances in modeling groundwater/surface-water interactions

Field and interpretive studies conducted by T.C. Winter and U.S. Geological Survey colleagues, and summarized in the 1998 publication “Groundwater and Surface Water – A Single Resource”, inspired a new generation of research centered on extensions of the groundwater-flow code MODFLOW to more sophisticated simulation of coupled groundwater and surface-water systems. Guided by emerging concerns with
Authors
Daniel T. Feinstein

Seasonal patterns in nutrients, carbon, and algal responses in wadeable streams within three geographically distinct areas of the United States, 2007-08

The U.S. Geological Survey determined seasonal variability in nutrients, carbon, and algal biomass in 22 wadeable streams over a 1-year period during 2007 or 2008 within three geographically distinct areas in the United States. The three areas are the Upper Mississippi River Basin (UMIS) in Minnesota, the Ozark Plateaus (ORZK) in southern Missouri and northern Arkansas, and the Upper Snake River B
Authors
Kathy Lee, David L. Lorenz, James C. Petersen, John B. Greene

Landscape controls on total and methyl Hg in the Upper Hudson River basin, New York, USA

Approaches are needed to better predict spatial variation in riverine Hg concentrations across heterogeneous landscapes that include mountains, wetlands, and open waters. We applied multivariate linear regression to determine the landscape factors and chemical variables that best account for the spatial variation of total Hg (THg) and methyl Hg (MeHg) concentrations in 27 sub-basins across the 493
Authors
Douglas A. Burns, K. Riva-Murray, P. M. Bradley, G. R. Aiken, M. E. Brigham

USGS Environmental health science strategy: providing environmental health science for a changing world: Public review release

America has an abundance of natural resources. We have bountiful clean water, fertile soil, and unrivaled national parks, wildlife refuges, and public lands. These resources enrich our lives and preserve our health and wellbeing. These resources have been maintained because of our history of respect for their value and an enduring commitment to their vigilant protection. Awareness of the social, e
Authors
Patricia R. Bright, Herbert T. Buxton, Laurie S. Balistrieri, Larry B. Barber, Francis H. Chapelle, Paul C. Cross, David P. Krabbenhoft, Geoffrey S. Plumlee, Jonathan M. Sleeman, Donald E. Tillitt, Patricia L. Toccalino, James R. Winton

Uncertainty

Management decisions will often be directly informed by model predictions. However, we now know there can be no expectation of a single ‘true’ model; thus, model results are uncertain. Understandable reporting of underlying uncertainty provides necessary context to decision-makers, as model results are used for management decisions. This, in turn, forms a mechanism by which groundwater models info
Authors
Randall J. Hunt

Approaches in highly parameterized inversion - PEST++, a Parameter ESTimation code optimized for large environmental models

An object-oriented parameter estimation code was developed to incorporate benefits of object-oriented programming techniques for solving large parameter estimation modeling problems. The code is written in C++ and is a formulation and expansion of the algorithms included in PEST, a widely used parameter estimation code written in Fortran. The new code is called PEST++ and is designed to lower the
Authors
David E. Welter, John E. Doherty, Randall J. Hunt, Christopher T. Muffels, Matthew J. Tonkin, Willem A. Schreuder

Examining the contradiction in 'sustainable urban growth': an example of groundwater sustainability

The environmental planning literature proposes a set of 'best management practices' for urban development that assumes improvement in environmental quality as a result of specific urban patterns. These best management practices, however, often do not recognise finite biophysical limits and social impacts that urban patterns alone cannot overcome. To shed light on this debate, we explore the effect
Authors
Moira L. Zellner, Howard W. Reeves

Fate and transport of glyphosate and aminomethylphosphonic acid in surface waters of agricultural basins

BACKGROUND: Glyphosate [N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine] is a herbicide used widely throughout the world in the production of many crops and is heavily used on soybeans, corn and cotton. Glyphosate is used in almost all agricultural areas of the United States, and the agricultural use of glyphosate has increased from less than 10 000 Mg in 1992 to more than 80 000 Mg in 2007. The greatest intensity of
Authors
Richard H. Coupe, Stephen J. Kalkhoff, Paul D. Capel, Caroline Gregoire

Use of real-time monitoring to predict concentrations of select constituents in the Menomonee River drainage basin, Southeast Wisconsin, 2008-9

The Menomonee River drainage basin in southeast Wisconsin is undergoing changes that may affect water quality. Several rehabilitation and flood-management projects are underway, including removal of concrete channels and the construction of floodwater retention basins. The city of Waukesha may begin discharging treated wastewater into Underwood Creek, thus approximately doubling the current base-f
Authors
Austin K. Baldwin, David J. Graczyk, Dale M. Robertson, David A. Saad, Christopher Magruder

Approaches in highly parameterized inversion - GENIE, a general model-independent TCP/IP run manager

GENIE is a model-independent suite of programs that can be used to generally distribute, manage, and execute multiple model runs via the TCP/IP infrastructure. The suite consists of a file distribution interface, a run manage, a run executer, and a routine that can be compiled as part of a program and used to exchange model runs with the run manager. Because communication is via a standard protoco
Authors
Christopher T. Muffels, Willem A. Schreuder, John E. Doherty, Marinko Karanovic, Matthew J. Tonkin, Randall J. Hunt, David E. Welter

Evaluation of the effects of Middleton's stormwater-management activities on streamflow and water-quality characteristics of Pheasant Branch, Dane County, Wisconsin 1975-2008

Few long-term data sets are available for evaluating the effects of urban stormwater-management practices. Over 30 years of data are available for evaluating the effectiveness of such practices by the city of Middleton, Wis. Analysis of streamflow and water-quality data collected on Pheasant Branch, demonstrates the relation between the changes in the watershed to the structural and nonstructural
Authors
Warren A. Gebert, William J. Rose, Herbert S. Garn

Distribution and variation of arsenic in Wisconsin surface soils, with data on other trace elements

A total of 664 soil samples distributed among different geographic regions and soil types were collected across Wisconsin to describe the distribution of arsenic relative to parent material, soil texture, and drainage class. Soils from 6 inches in depth were composited, digested in aqua regia, and analyzed for 17 trace elements. Observed soil arsenic concentrations range from a high of 39 milligra
Authors
Krista A. Stensvold