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Publications

This list of Water Resources Mission Area publications includes both official USGS publications and journal articles authored by our scientists. A searchable database of all USGS publications can be accessed at the USGS Publications Warehouse.

Filter Total Items: 18422

Documentation and hydrologic analysis of Hurricane Sandy in New Jersey, October 29–30, 2012

In 2012, a late season tropical depression developed into a tropical storm and later a hurricane. The hurricane, named “Hurricane Sandy,” gained strength to a Category 3 storm on October 25, 2012, and underwent several transitions on its approach to the mid-Atlantic region of the eastern coast of the United States. By October 28, 2012, Hurricane Sandy had strengthened into the largest hurricane ev
Authors
Thomas P. Suro, Anna Deetz, Paul Hearn

Spatial and temporal variation of stream chemistry associated with contrasting geology and land-use patterns in the Chesapeake Bay watershed—Summary of results from Smith Creek, Virginia; Upper Chester River, Maryland; Conewago Creek, Pennsylvania; and Di

Despite widespread and ongoing implementation of conservation practices throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed, water quality continues to be degraded by excess sediment and nutrient inputs. While the Chesapeake Bay Program has developed and maintains a large-scale and long-term monitoring network to detect improvements in water quality throughout the watershed, fewer resources have been allocate
Authors
Kenneth E. Hyer, Judith M. Denver, Michael J. Langland, James S. Webber, J. K. Böhlke, W. Dean Hively, John W. Clune

Patterns of diel variation in nitrate concentrations in the Potomac River

The Potomac River is a large source of N to Chesapeake Bay, where reducing nutrient loads is a focus of efforts to improve trophic status. Better understanding of NO3– loss, reflected in part by diel variation in NO3– concentrations, may refine model predictions of N loads to the Bay. We analyzed 2 y of high-frequency NO3– sensor data in the Potomac to quantify seasonal variation in the magnitude
Authors
Douglas A. Burns, Matthew P. Miller, Brian Pellerin, Paul D. Capel

River rating complexity

Accuracy of streamflow data depends on the veracity of the rating model used to derive a continuous time series of discharge from the surrogate variables that can readily be collected autonomously at a streamgage. Ratings are typically represented as a simple monotonic increasing function (simple rating), meaning the discharge is a function of stage alone, however this is never truly the case unle
Authors
Robert R. Holmes

Quantifying seepage using heat as a tracer in selected irrigation canals, Walker River Basin, Nevada, 2012 and 2013

The Walker River is an important source of water for western Nevada. The river provides water for agriculture and recharge to local aquifers used by several communities. Farmers began diverting water from the Walker River in the 1860s to support growing agricultural development. Over time, the reduced inflows into Walker Lake from upstream reservoirs and diversions have resulted in 170 feet of lak
Authors
Ramon C. Naranjo, David W. Smith

Compounds of emerging concern in the San Antonio River Basin, Texas, 2011–12

The City of San Antonio and the surrounding municipalities in Bexar County, Texas, are among the fastest growing cities in the Nation. Increases in residential and commercial development are changing runoff patterns and likely will increase chemical loads into streams. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the San Antonio River Authority, evaluated the concentrations and distributional p
Authors
Rebecca B. Lambert, Stephen P. Opsahl

Quality of surface water in Missouri, water year 2015

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, designed and operates a series of monitoring stations on streams and springs throughout Missouri known as the Ambient Water-Quality Monitoring Network. During water year 2015 (October 1, 2014, through September 30, 2015), data were collected at 74 stations—72 Ambient Water-Quality Monitoring Network stati
Authors
Miya N. Barr, David C. Heimann

Estimated use of water in the Delaware River Basin in Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania, 2010

The Delaware River Basin (DRB) was selected as a Focus Area Study in 2011 by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) as part of the USGS National Water Census. The National Water Census is a USGS research program that focuses on national water availability and use and then develops new water accounting tools and assesses water availability at both the regional and national scales. One of the water manag
Authors
Susan S. Hutson, Kristin S. Linsey, Russell A. Ludlow, Betzaida Reyes, Jennifer L. Shourds

Summary of environmental flow monitoring for the Sustainable Rivers Project on the Middle Fork Willamette and McKenzie Rivers, western Oregon, 2014–15

This report presents the results of an ongoing environmental flow monitoring study by The Nature Conservancy (TNC), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), and U.S. Geological Survey in support of the Sustainable Rivers Project (SRP) of TNC and USACE. The overarching goal of this study is to evaluate and characterize relations between streamflow, geomorphic processes, and black cottonwood (Populus t
Authors
Krista L. Jones, Joseph F. Mangano, J. Rose Wallick, Heather D. Bervid, Melissa Olson, Mackenzie K. Keith, Leslie Bach

Streamflow data

Streamflow data are vital for a variety of water-resources issues, from flood warning to water supply planning. The collection of streamflow data is usually an involved and complicated process. This chapter serves as an overview of the streamflow data collection process. Readers with the need for the detailed information on the streamflow data collection process are referred to the many references
Authors
Gregg J. Wiche, Robert R. Holmes

Atomic weights of the elements 2013 (IUPAC Technical Report)

The biennial review of atomic-weight determinations and other cognate data has resulted in changes for the standard atomic weights of 19 elements. The standard atomic weights of four elements have been revised based on recent determinations of isotopic abundances in natural terrestrial materials:cadmium to 112.414(4) from 112.411(8),molybdenum to 95.95(1) from 95.96(2),selenium to 78.971(8) from 7
Authors
Juris Meija, Tyler B. Coplen, Michael Berglund, Willi A. Brand, Paul De Bièvre, Manfred Gröning, Norman E. Holden, Johanna Irrgeher, Robert D. Loss, Thomas Walczyk, Thomas Prohaska

Isotopic compositions of the elements 2013 (IUPAC Technical Report)

The Commission on Isotopic Abundances and Atomic Weights (ciaaw.org) of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (iupac.org) has revised the Table of Isotopic Compositions of the Elements (TICE). The update involved a critical evaluation of the recent published literature. The new TICE 2013 includes evaluated data from the “best measurement” of the isotopic abundances in a single samp
Authors
Juris Meija, Tyler B. Coplen, Michael Berglund, Willi A. Brand, Paul De Bièvre, Manfred Gröning, Norman E. Holden, Johanna Irrgeher, Robert D. Loss, Thomas Walczyk, Thomas Prohaska