Images

Illustration created by Ben Siebers, USGS scientist, for journal article "Human and bovine viruses and bacteria at three Great Lakes beaches: Environmental variable associations and health risk".

Arsenic speciation analyses of groundwater samples using ARSOlux biosensor technology. Pictured (left to right), Dr. Mindy Erickson, US Geological Survey; Andreas Koelsch, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research; Emily Berquist, Minnesota Department of Health.

Example fluorescence amplification curves from a quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) analysis. By reviewing the fluorescence amplification curves, the concentration of the pathogen in the original sample can be back-calculated from the amount and number of cycles needed to reach the target concentration.

Joel Stokdyk, LIDE Biologist, prepares a sample for quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) analysis. qPCR uses fluorescence to quantify the detection of nucleic acids from a targeted pathogen.

Chloride concentrations in these studied northern U.S.

Both irrigation wells and municipal wells affect water levels in the Little Plover River, Wisconsin. 

Sediment core retrieval from Lake Erie onboard the RV Lake Guardian on Lake Erie, Michigan.

USGS scientist collecting an Equal width increment (EWI) sample on Bark River, Merton, WI.

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists collecting a groundwater sample from a well at the USGS Bemidji Crude-Oil Spill Research Site, Minnesota. The scientists monitored in real time the dissolved oxygen, pH, specific conductance, and temperature of the water as the well is pumped so they can know when to collect representative sample.

Cement-lined channels such as this one in a section of the Kinnickinnic River at 11th Street in Milwaukee are slowly being removed in stream rehabilitation efforts. Water chemistry remains important, and this channel shows abundant algal growth from excess nutrients and abundant sunlight.

Research Hydrologist Isabelle Cozzarelli holds a sediment core collected from a contaminated aquifer at the Bemidji National Crude Oil Spill Fate and Natural Attenuation Research Site. The sediment from the core is analyzed and used to measure iron, arsenic, and trace metals in the solid phase.

2012 SPARROW Models for the Midwest: Total Phosphorus, Total Nitrogen, Suspended Sediment, and Streamflow

An example stream reach of Underwood Creek’s concrete lined channel before rehabilitation in 2012.

Monitoring wells near the location of a 1979 oil spill at the National Crude Oil Spill Fate and Natural Attenuation Research Site near Bemidji, Minnesota, in October 2010. Some are for sampling groundwater, some are for sampling soil gas, some are for sampling oil. The green PVC collar in the foreground is for measuring soil carbon dioxide (CO2) efflux.

Measuring soil CO2 efflux at the Bemidji Crude Oil Spill research site

Fish are identified and counted in the field, and game fish are measured for total length and weighed, before being released live back to the stream site.

Photo of WI WSC staff member and his son exploring a field boat during the 2012 Wisconsin Water Science Center open house.

Sample of dragonfly larvae in water in bottom of zip-lock plastic bag, held at horizon level with lake. At Sand Point Lake in Voyageurs National Park.

A new depth-integrated sample arm (DISA) was developed to improve the representation of solids in stormwater, both organic and inorganic, by collecting a water quality sample from multiple points in the water column.

This streamgage is one of two USGS gages collecting streamflow and water-quality information for a paired-watershed project in Sheboygan County, Wis.

Bald Eagle Lake near the Twin Cities, Minnesota.