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Publications

Publications are the cornerstone of the Pennsylvania Water Science Center’s dissemination of scientific data and conclusions. 

Filter Total Items: 939

Technique for estimating depths of 100-year floods in Pennsylvania

Techniques are developed for estimating 100-year flood depths in natural channels of unregulated Pennsylvania streams that drain less than 2,200 square miles. Equations and graphs are presented relating the depth of the 100-year flood above median stage and drainage area in five defined hydrologic areas in the State. Another graph defines the relation between drainage area and median depth of flow
Authors
Herbert N. Flippo

Effects of acidic precipitation on the water quality of streams in the Laurel Hill area, Somerset County, Pennsylvania, 1983-86

Five headwater streams in the Laurel Hill area in southwestern Pennsylvania were investigated from September 1983 through February 1986 to determine possible effects of acidic precipitation on water quality. Precipitation in the Laurel Hill area is among the most acidic in the Nation, with a mean volume-weighted pH of 4.06. Sulfate is the dominant acid-forming anion, averaging 3.6 milligrams per l
Authors
J. L. Barker, E. C. Witt

Large springs in the Valley and Ridge physiographic province of Pennsylvania

In the Valley and Ridge physiographic province of Pennsylvania, 137 springs have a single or median discharge value equal to or greater than 100 gallons per minute. Information for these large springs has been tabulated to summarize the data useful to the U.S. Geological Survey's Appalachian Valleys--Piedmont Regional Aquifer-System Analysis study. Among the springs measured or estimated to date (
Authors
D. A. Saad, D. J. Hippe

Base-flow-frequency characteristics of selected Pennsylvania streams

Streamflow hydrographs of 309 streamflow stations in Pennsylvania were analyzed by using three computer-assisted empirical methods--local-minimum , fixed-interval, and sliding-interval--to separate the ground-water and surface-runoff components. The 2-, 5-, 10-, and 25-year base-flow-recurrence intervals were determined for each station. The 50- and 100-year recurrence intervals were determined fo
Authors
K. E. White, R. A. Sloto

Geohydrology and simulation of ground-water flow in the carbonate rocks of the Valley Creek basin, eastern Chester County, Pennsylvania

Sixty-eight percent of the 22.6-square-mile Valley Creek basin is underlain by Cambrian and Ordovician limestone and dolomite. Ground water flows through a network of interconnected secondary openings; primary porosity is virtually nonexistent. Some of these openings have been enlarged by solution. Secondary porosity and permeability exhibit great spatial variability, and the yield and specific ca
Authors
R. A. Sloto

A conceptual weather-type classification procedure for the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, area

A simple method of weather-type classification, based on a conceptual model of pressure systems that pass through the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, area, has been developed. The only inputs required for the procedure are daily mean wind direction and cloud cover, which are used to index the relative position of pressure systems and fronts to Philadelphia.Daily mean wind-direction and cloud-cover dat
Authors
Gregory J. McCabe

Particle velocity interpolation in block-centered finite difference groundwater flow models

A block-centered, finite difference model of two-dimensional groundwater flow yields velocity values at the midpoints of interfaces between adjacent blocks. Method of characteristics, random walk and particle-tracking models of solute transport require velocities at arbitrary particle locations within the finite difference grid. Particle path lines and travel times are sensitive to the spatial int
Authors
Daniel J. Goode

National water summary 1987: Hydrologic events and water supply and use

Water use in the United States, as measured by freshwater withdrawals in 1985, averaged 338,000 Mgal/d (million gallons per day), which is enough water to cover the 48 conterminous States to a depth of about 2.4 inches. Only 92,300 Mgal/d, or 27.3 percent of the water withdrawn, was consumptive use and thus lost to immediate further use; the remainder of the withdrawals (72.7 percent) was return f

Suspended-sediment yields from an unmined area and from mined areas before and after reclamation in Pennsylvania, June 1978-September 1983

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources, has collected hydrologic data from areas in Tioga, Clearfield, and Fayette Counties to determine the effects of surface coal mining on sediment yields. The data were collected from June 1978 through September 1983. Rainfall, streamflow and suspended-sediment data were collected with automatic re
Authors
L.A. Reed, R. A. Hainly

Withdrawals and consumptive use of water in Pennsylvania, 1984

Total accountable water withdrawals in Pennsylvania during 1984 were 14,033.66 Mga/d (million gallons per day); of that total, 5.2 percent (729.53 Mgal/d) was supplied from ground-water sources in 94.8 percent (13,302.12 Mgal/d) was supplied from surface-water sources. Thermoelectric power generation accounted for 71 percent of the total withdrawals (10,010.60 Mgal/d); this was followed by self-su
Authors
C. A. Loper, S. D. Lent, K. L. Wetzel