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: 18418
Establishing the foundation for the global observing system for marine life
Maintaining healthy, productive ecosystems in the face of pervasive and accelerating human impacts including climate change requires globally coordinated and sustained observations of marine biodiversity. Global coordination is predicated on an understanding of the scope and capacity of existing monitoring programs, and the extent to which they use standardized, interoperable practices for data ma
Authors
Erin V. Satterthwaite, Nicholas J. Bax, Patricia Miloslavich, Lavenia Ratnarajah, Gabrielle Canonico, Daniel Dunn, Samantha E. Simmons, Roxanne J. Carini, Karen Evans, Valerie Allain, Ward Appeltans, Sonia Batten, Lisandro Benedetti-Cecchi, Anthony T. F. Bernard, R. Sky Bristol, Abigail Benson, Pier Luigi Buttigieg, Leopoldo Cavaleri Gerhardinger, Sanae Chiba, Tammy E. Davies, J. Emmett Duffy, Alfredo Giron-Nava, Astrid J. Hsu, Alexandra C. Kraberg, Raphael M. Kudela, Dan Lear, Enrique Montes, Frank Muller-Karger, Todd D. O'Brien, David Obura, Pieter Provoost, Sara Pruckner, Lisa-Maria Rebelo, Elizabeth R. Selig, Olav Sigurd Kjesbu, Craig Starger, Rick D. Stuart-Smith, Marjo Vierros, John S. Waller, Lauren V. Weatherdon, Tristan Wellman, Anna Zivian
Lagged wetland CH4 flux response in a historically wet year
While a stimulating effect of plant primary productivity on soil carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions has been well documented, links between gross primary productivity (GPP) and wetland methane (CH4) emissions are less well investigated. Determination of the influence of primary productivity on wetland CH4 emissions (FCH4) is complicated by confounding influences of water table level and temperature on
Authors
Jessica Turner, Ankur R. Desai, Jonathan Thom, Kimberly Wickland
How will baseflow respond to climate change in the Upper Colorado River Basin?
Baseflow is critical to sustaining streamflow in the Upper Colorado River Basin. Therefore, effective water resources management requires estimates of baseflow response to climatic changes. This study provides the first estimates of projected baseflow changes from historical (1984 – 2012) to thirty-year periods centered around 2030, 2050, and 2080 under warm/wet, median, and hot/dry climatic condi
Authors
Olivia L. Miller, Matthew P. Miller, Patrick Cullen Longley, Jay R. Alder, Lindsay A. Bearup, Tom Pruitt, Daniel Jones, Annie L. Putman, Christine Rumsey, Tim S. McKinney
Surface-water/groundwater boundaries affect seasonal PFAS concentrations and PFAA precursor transformations
Elevated concentrations of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking-water supplies are a major concern for human health. It is therefore essential to understand factors that affect PFAS concentrations in surface water and groundwater and the transformation of perfluoroalkyl acid (PFAA) precursors that degrade into terminal compounds. Surface-water/groundwater exchange can occur along
Authors
Andrea K. Tokranov, Denis R. LeBlanc, Heidi M. Pickard, Bridger J. Ruyle, Larry B. Barber, Robert B. Hull, Elsie M. Sunderland, Chad D. Vecitis
Fatty acid profiles of feeding and fasting bears: Estimating calibration coefficients, the timeframe of diet estimates, and selective mobilization during hibernation
Accurate information on diet composition is central to understanding and conserving carnivore populations. Quantitative fatty acid signature analysis (QFASA) has emerged as a powerful tool for estimating the diets of predators, but ambiguities remain about the timeframe of QFASA estimates and the need to account for species-specific patterns of metabolism. We conducted a series of feeding experime
Authors
Gregory W. Thiemann, Karyn D. Rode, Joy A Erlenbach, Suzanne Budge, Charles T. Robbins
Detection and measurement of land-surface deformation, Pajaro Valley, Santa Cruz and Monterey counties, California, 2015–18
Land-surface deformation (subsidence) caused by groundwater withdrawal is identified as an undesirable result in the Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency’s Basin Management Plan and California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. In Pajaro Valley, groundwater provides nearly 90 percent of the total water supply. To aid the development of sustainable groundwater management criteria, the U.S.
Authors
Justin T. Brandt, Marisa M. Earll, Michelle Sneed, Wesley R. Henson
Activity-based, genome-resolved metagenomics uncovers key populations and pathways involved in subsurface conversions of coal to methane
Microbial metabolisms and interactions that facilitate subsurface conversions of recalcitrant carbon to methane are poorly understood. We deployed an in situ enrichment device in a subsurface coal seam in the Powder River Basin (PRB), USA, and used BONCAT-FACS-Metagenomics to identify translationally active populations involved in methane generation from a variety of coal-derived aromatic hydrocar
Authors
Luke J. McKay, Heidi J. Smith, Elliott Barnhart, Hannah S. Schweitzer, Rex R. Malmstrom, Danielle Goudeau, Matthew W. Fields
Influence of redox gradients on nitrate transport from the landscape to groundwater and streams
Increases in nitrogen applications to the land surface since the 1950s have led to a cascade of negative environmental impacts, including degradation of drinking water supplies, nutrient enrichment of aquatic ecosystems and contributions to global climate change. In this study, groundwater, streambed porewater, and stream sampling were used to establish trends in nitrate concentrations and how red
Authors
Anthony J. Tesoriero, Laurel E. Stratton, Matthew P. Miller
Assessing specific-capacity data and short-term aquifer testing to estimate hydraulic properties in alluvial aquifers of the Rocky Mountains, Colorado, USA
Study Region: Rocky Mountains, United StatesStudy Focus: Groundwater-flow modeling requires estimates of hydraulic properties, namely hydraulic conductivity. Hydraulic conductivity values commonly vary over orders of magnitudes however and estimation may require extensive field campaigns applying slug or pumping tests. As an alternative, specific-capacity tests can be used to estimate hydraulic pr
Authors
Connor P. Newman, Zachary D. Kisfalusi, Michael J. Holmberg
Managed aquifer recharge suitability—Regional screening and case studies in Jordan and Lebanon
The U.S. Geological Survey, at the request of the U.S. Agency for International Development, led a 5-year regional project to develop and apply methods for water availability and suitability mapping for managed aquifer recharge (MAR) in the Middle East and North Africa region. A regional model of surface runoff for the period from 1984 to 2015 was developed to characterize water availability using
Manganese in the Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain aquifer system, eastern USA—Modeling regional occurrence with pH, redox, and machine learning
Study region: The study was conducted in the Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain aquifer system, eastern USA, an important water supply in a densely populated region.Study focus: Manganese (Mn), an emerging health concern and common nuisance contaminant in drinking water, is mapped and modeled using the XGBoost machine learning method, predictions of pH and redox conditions from previous models, and o
Authors
Leslie A. DeSimone, Katherine Marie Ransom
Snow depth retrieval with an autonomous UAV-mounted software-defined radar
We present results from a field campaign to measure seasonal snow depth at Cameron Pass, Colorado, using a synthetic ultrawideband software-defined radar (SDRadar) implemented in commercially available Universal Software Radio Peripheral (USRP) software-defined radio hardware and flown on a small hexacopter unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). We coherently synthesize an ultrawideband signal from steppe
Authors
S. Prager, Graham A. Sexstone, Daniel J McGrath, John Fulton, Mahta Moghaddam