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: 2247
Watershed geomorphological characteristics
This chapter describes commonly used geomorphological characteristics that are useful for analyzing watershed-scale hydrology and sediment dynamics. It includes calculations and measurements for stream network features and areal basin characteristics that cover a range of spatial and temporal scales and dimensions of watersheds. Construction and application of longitudinal profiles are described i
Authors
Faith A. Fitzpatrick
HESS Opinions: Repeatable research: what hydrologistscan learn from the Duke cancer research scandal
In the past decade, difficulties encountered in reproducing the results of a cancer study at Duke University resulted in a scandal and an investigation which concluded that tools used for data management, analysis, and modeling were inappropriate for the documentation of the study, let alone the reproduction of the results. New protocols were developed which require that data analysis and modeling
Authors
Michael Fienen, Mark Bakker
Science center capabilities to monitor and investigate Michigan’s water resources, 2016
Michigan faces many challenges related to water resources, including flooding, drought, water-quality degradation and impairment, varying water availability, watershed-management issues, stormwater management, aquatic-ecosystem impairment, and invasive species. Michigan’s water resources include approximately 36,000 miles of streams, over 11,000 inland lakes, 3,000 miles of shoreline along the Gre
Authors
Julia A. Giesen, Carrie E. Givens
Sex differences in contaminant concentrations of fish: a synthesis
Comparison of whole-fish polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) and total mercury (Hg) concentrations in mature males with those in mature females may provide insights into sex differences in behavior, metabolism, and other physiological processes. In eight species of fish, we observed that males exceeded females in whole-fish PCB concentration by 17 to 43%. Based on results from hypothesis testing, we
Authors
Charles P. Madenjian, Richard R. Rediske, David P. Krabbenhoft, Martin A. Stapanian, Sergei M. Chernyak, James P. O'Keefe
Geomorphic responses of Duluth-area streams to the June 2012 flood, Minnesota
In 2013, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, completed a geomorphic assessment of 51 Duluth-area stream sites in 20 basins to describe and document the stream geomorphic changes associated with the June 2012 flood. Heavy rainfall caused flood peaks with annual exceedance probabilities of less than 0.002 (flood recurrence interval of greater than
Authors
Faith A. Fitzpatrick, Christopher A. Ellison, Christiana R. Czuba, Benjamin M. Young, Molly M. McCool, Joel T. Groten
Methods for exploring uncertainty in groundwater management predictions
Models of groundwater systems help to integrate knowledge about the natural and human system covering different spatial and temporal scales, often from multiple disciplines, in order to address a range of issues of concern to various stakeholders. A model is simply a tool to express what we think we know. Uncertainty, due to lack of knowledge or natural variability, means that there are always alt
Authors
Joseph H. A. Guillaume, Randall J. Hunt, Alessandro Comunian, Baihua Fu, Rachel S Blakers
StreamThermal: A software package for calculating thermal metrics from stream temperature data
Improving quality and better availability of continuous stream temperature data allows natural resource managers, particularly in fisheries, to understand associations between different characteristics of stream thermal regimes and stream fishes. However, there is no convenient tool to efficiently characterize multiple metrics reflecting stream thermal regimes with the increasing amount of data.
Authors
Yin-Phan Tsang, Dana M. Infante, Jana S. Stewart, Lizhu Wang, Ralph Tingly, Darren Thornbrugh, Arthur Cooper, Daniel Wesley
Simulation of climate change effects on streamflow, groundwater, and stream temperature using GSFLOW and SNTEMP in the Black Earth Creek Watershed, Wisconsin
A groundwater/surface-water model was constructed and calibrated for the Black Earth Creek watershed in south-central Wisconsin. The model was then run to simulate scenarios representing common societal concerns in the basin, focusing on maintaining a cold-water resource in an urbanizing fringe near its upper stream reaches and minimizing downstream flooding. Although groundwater and surface water
Authors
Randall J. Hunt, Stephen M. Westenbroek, John F. Walker, William R. Selbig, R. Steven Regan, Andrew T. Leaf, David A. Saad
Network global navigation satellite system survey to harmonize water-surface elevation data for the Rainy River Basin
Continuously recording water-level streamgages in Rainy Lake and Namakan Reservoir are used to regulate water levels according to rule curves established in 2000 by the International Joint Commission; however, water levels at streamgages were referenced to a variety of vertical datums, confounding efforts to model the flow of water through the system, regulate water levels during periods of high i
Authors
Jeffrey R. Ziegeweid, R. Jason Silliker, Brenda K. Densmore, Justin Krahulik
Pathway-based approaches for assessment of real-time exposure to an estrogenic wastewater treatment plant effluent on fathead minnow reproduction
Wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluents are known contributors of chemical mixtures into the environment. Of particular concern are endocrine-disrupting compounds, such as estrogens, which can affect the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis function in exposed organisms. The present study examined reproductive effects in fathead minnows exposed for 21 d to a historically estrogenic WWTP effluen
Authors
Jenna E. Cavallin, Kathleen M. Jensen, Michael D. Kahl, Daniel L. Villeneuve, Kathy Lee, Anthony L. Schroeder, Joe Mayasich, Evan P. Eid, Krysta R. Nelson, Rebecca Y. Milsk, Brett R. Blackwell, Jason P. Berninger, Carlie A. LaLone, Chad Blanskma, Terri M. Jicha, Colleen M. Elonen, Rodney C. Johnson, Gerald T. Ankley
Evaluation of leaf removal as a means to reduce nutrient concentrations and loads in urban stormwater
While the sources of nutrients to urban stormwater are many, the primary contributor is often organic detritus, especially in areas with dense overhead tree canopy. One way to remove organic detritus before it becomes entrained in runoff is to implement a city-wide leaf collection and street cleaning program. Improving our knowledge of the potential reduction of nutrients to stormwater through re
Authors
William R. Selbig
Comparison of benthos and plankton for selected areas of concern and non-areas of concern in western Lake Michigan Rivers and Harbors in 2012
Recent data are lacking to assess whether impairments still exist at four of Wisconsin’s largest Lake Michigan harbors that were designated as Areas of Concern (AOCs) in the late 1980s due to sediment contamination and multiple Beneficial Use Impairments (BUIs), such as those affecting benthos (macroinvertebrates) and plankton (zooplankton and phytoplankton) communities. During three seasonal samp
Authors
Barbara C. Scudder Eikenberry, Amanda H. Bell, Hayley T. Olds, Daniel J. Burns