Images

USGS scientists take water quality measurements on the Atchafalaya River Basin near Melville, La.

USGS scientists Mike Descant and Cindy Sibley take water quality measurements on the Atchafalaya River Basin near Melville, La.

A USGS streamgage can be seen on the side of the Mississippi River in Baton Rouge, La.

Floodwaters rise in Baton Rouge, La.

USGS scientists Paul Frederick and Mike Descant prepare to take streamflow measurements on the the Mississippi River in Baton Rouge, La.

The floodwaters rise on the Atchafalaya River Basin near Melville, La.

A traveling USGS water quality lab.

USGS scientists Paul Frederick and Mike Descant take streamflow measurements on the the Mississippi River in Baton Rouge, La.

USGS scientist Paul Frederick manually checks the water levels near a streamgage on the Mississippi River in Baton Rouge, La.

USGS scientist Paul Frederick checks a streamgage on the Mississippi River in Baton Rouge, La.

An emergency install of a rapid deployment streamgage at the Mississippi River at Memphis Tennessee.

Outflow #1 of Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway. The Levee was detonated May 5, 2011 to allow water to return to the Mississippi River. Photo taken from inside floodway. Flow is coming into the floodway at a rate of 15,000 cubic feet per second (cfs).

Outflow #1 of Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway. The Levee was detonated May 5, 2011 to allow water to return to the Mississippi River. Photo taken from inside floodway. Flow is coming into the floodway at a rate of 15,000 cubic feet per second (cfs).

Outflow #1 of Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway. The Levee was detonated May 5, 2011 to allow water to return to the Mississippi River. Photo taken from inside floodway. Flow is coming into the floodway at a rate of 15,000 cubic feet per second (cfs).

Outflow #1 of Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway. The Levee was detonated May 5, 2011 to allow water to return to the Mississippi River. Photo taken from inside floodway. Flow is coming into the floodway at a rate of 15,000 cubic feet per second (cfs).

Outflow #1 of Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway. The Levee was detonated May 5, 2011 to allow water to return to the Mississippi River. Photo taken from inside floodway. Flow is coming into the floodway at a rate of 15,000 cubic feet per second (cfs).

Outflow #1 of Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway. The Levee was detonated May 5, 2011 to allow water to return to the Mississippi River. Photo taken from inside floodway. Flow is coming into the floodway at a rate of 15,000 cubic feet per second (cfs).

USGS scientists Bruce Jaffe and Bruce Richmond visited Japan following the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami. They collected time-sensitive data to help determine the height of tsunami waves at various sites and the distances the waves traveled inland.

Looking northwest at the lava pond on the floor of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater. At the time of the photograph, the level of the lava pond was about 3 m (10 ft) below the floor of the crater.

An hour later, the lava had risen high enough to spill over the pond walls and expand across the crater floor.

Sand Point, AK.