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Improving crop-specific groundwater use estimation in the Mississippi Alluvial Plain: Implications for integrated remote sensing and machine learning approaches in data-scarce regions
Study regionThe Mississippi Alluvial Plain (MAP) in the United States (US).Study focusUnderstanding local-scale groundwater use, a critical component of the water budget, is necessary for implementing sustainable water management practices. The MAP is one of the most productive agricultural regions in the US and extracts more than 11 km3/year for irrigation activities. Consequently, groundwater-le
Authors
Sayantan Majumdar, Ryan Smith, Md Fahim Hasan, Jordan Wilson, Vincent E. White, Emilia L. Bristow, James R. Rigby, Wade Kress, Jaime A. Painter
Application of lidar to assess the habitat selection of an endangered small mammal in an estuarine wetland environment
Light detection and ranging (lidar) has emerged as a valuable tool for examining the fine-scale characteristics of vegetation. However, lidar is rarely used to examine coastal wetland vegetation or the habitat selection of small mammals. Extensive anthropogenic modification has threatened the endemic species in the estuarine wetlands of the California coast, such as the endangered salt marsh harve
Authors
J.S. Hagani, J.Y. Takekawa, S.M. Skalos, Michael L. Casazza, M.K. Riley, S.A. Estrella, L. Barthman-Thompson, K.R. Smith, Kevin J. Buffington, Karen M. Thorne
Simulation of groundwater-flow dynamics in the U.S. Northern High Plains driven by multi-model estimates of surficial aquifer recharge
There is growing interest in incorporating higher-resolution groundwater modeling within the framework of large-scale land surface models (LSMs), including processes such as three-dimensional flow, variable soil saturation, and surface water/groundwater interactions. Conversely, complex groundwater models (e.g., the U.S. Geological Survey Groundwater-Flow Model, MODFLOW) often use simpler represen
Authors
Farshid Felfelani, Joseph D. Hughes, Fei Chen, Aubrey L Dugger, Timothy Schneider, David Gochis, Jonathan P. Traylor, Hedeff I. Essaid
Co-registration accuracy between Landsat-8 and Sentinel-2 orthorectified products
Landsat orthorectified products use Ground Control Points (GCPs) and Digital Elevation Models (DEM) to improve the geolocation accuracy and temporal consistency, and to account for the relief displacements due to the sensor-target geometry. In Collection-2, to improve the geometric harmonization between Landsat and Sentinel-2 (S2) orthorectified products, the Landsat GCP's absolute and relative ac
Authors
Rajagopalan Rengarajan, Michael J. Choate, Md Nahid Hasan, Alex Denevan
Top-predator recovery abates geomorphic decline of a coastal ecosystem
The recovery of top predators is thought to have cascading effects on vegetated ecosystems and their geomorphology1,2, but the evidence for this remains correlational and intensely debated3,4. Here we combine observational and experimental data to reveal that recolonization of sea otters in a US estuary generates a trophic cascade that facilitates coastal wetland plant biomass and suppresses the e
Authors
Brent B. Hughes, Kathryn M. Beheshti, M. Tim Tinker, Christine Angelini, Charlie Endris, Lee Murai, Sean C. Anderson, Sarah Espinosa, Michelle M. Staedler, Joseph A. Tomoleoni, Madeline Sanchez, Brian R. Silliman
Response of corvid nest predators to thinning: implications for balancing short- and long-term goals for restoration of forest habitat
Forest thinning on public lands in the Pacific Northwest USA is an important tool for restoring diversity in forest stands with a legacy of simplified structure from decades of intensive management for timber production. A primary application of thinning in young (< 50-year-old) stands is to accelerate forest development to mitigate loss of late-seral habitat to decades of logging. However, thinni
Authors
Joan Hagar, Theodore K Owen, Thomas K. Stevens, Lorraine K Waianuhea
Isolation and identification of microcystin-degrading bacteria in Lake Erie source waters and drinking-water plant sand filters
The increasing prevalence of cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms and the toxins they produce is a global water-quality issue. In the Western Basin of Lake Erie, high microcystin concentrations have led to water-quality advisories, process adjustments for treating drinking water, and increased water-quality monitoring. Biodegradation is an environmentally friendly and cost-effective way to reduce c
Authors
Donna S. Francy, Jessica R. Cicale, Erin A. Stelzer, Dane C. Reano, Christopher D. Ecker
Methods of analysis—Determination of pesticides in filtered water and suspended sediment using liquid chromatography- and gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry
The widespread application of pesticides in agricultural and urban areas leads to their presence in surface waters. Presence of these biologically active chemicals in environmental waters potentially has adverse effects on nontarget organisms. To better understand the environmental fate of these contaminants, a robust method to capture chemicals with wide-ranging physicochemical properties has bee
Authors
Michael S. Gross, Corey J. Sanders, Matthew D. De Parsia, Michelle L. Hladik
Short-term sediment dispersal on a large retreating coastal river delta via 234Th and 7Be sediment geochronology: The Mississippi River Delta Front
Many Mississippi River Delta studies have shown recent declines in fluvial sediment load from the river and associated land loss. In contrast, recent sedimentary processes on the subaqueous delta are less documented. To help address this knowledge gap, multicores were collected offshore from the three main river outlets at water depths of 25–280 m in June 2017 just after the peak river discharge p
Authors
Andrew Courtois, Samuel J. Bentley, Jillian Maloney, Kehui Xu, Jason Chaytor, Ioannis Y. Georgiou, Michael Miner, Jeffery Obelcz, Navid H. Jafari, Melanie Damour
Predicting the spatial distribution of wintering golden eagles to inform full annual cycle conservation in western North America
Wildlife conservation strategies focused on one season or population segment may fail to adequately protect populations, especially when a species’ habitat preferences vary among seasons, age-classes, geographic regions, or other factors. Conservation of golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) is an example of such a complex scenario, in which the distribution, habitat use, and migratory strategies of t
Authors
Z. Wallace, Bryan Bedrosian, J Dunk, David W. LaPlante, Brian Woodbridge, B. Simth, Jessi L. Brown, Todd Lickfett, Katherine Gura, D. Bittner, R. Crandall, Robert Domenech, Todd E. Katzner, K. Kritz, S. Lewis, M. Lockhart, T. Miller, K. Quint, A. Sheading, S. Slater, D. Stahlecker
Streamflow permanence in Mount Rainier National Park, Washington
IntroductionStreams that flow throughout summer (“permanent” streams) provide critical habitat for aquatic species and serve as an important water supply. Streams that go dry seasonally or only flow after rainfall or snowmelt are a natural feature of mountain systems, including Mount Rainier National Park. However, in years with substantially less than normal snowfall, like 2015, more streams go d
Authors
Kristin Jaeger
Mineral commodity summaries 2024
Each mineral commodity chapter of the 2024 edition of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Mineral Commodity Summaries (MCS) includes information on events, trends, and issues for each mineral commodity as well as discussions and tabular presentations on domestic industry structure, Government programs, tariffs, 5-year salient statistics, and world production, reserves, and resources. The MCS is the