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: 18424
Documentation of particle-size analyzer time series, and discrete suspended-sediment and bed-sediment sample data collection, Niobrara River near Spencer, Nebraska, October 2014
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, monitored a sediment release by Nebraska Public Power District from Spencer Dam located on the Niobrara River near Spencer, Nebraska, during the fall of 2014. The accumulated sediment behind Spencer Dam ordinarily is released semiannually; however, the spring 2014 release was postponed until the fall. Because
Authors
Nathaniel J. Schaepe, Anthony M. Coleman, Ronald B. Zelt
Quantifying differences in responses of aquatic insects to trace metal exposure in field studies and short-term stream mesocosm experiments
Characterizing macroinvertebrate taxa as either sensitive or tolerant is of critical importance for investigating impacts of anthropogenic stressors in aquatic ecosystems and for inferring causality. However, our understanding of relative sensitivity of aquatic insects to metals in the field and under controlled conditions in the laboratory or mesocosm experiments is limited. In this study, we com
Authors
Yuichi Iwasaki, Travis S. Schmidt, William H. Clements
On the sensitivity of annual streamflow to air temperature
Although interannual streamflow variability is primarily a result of precipitation variability, temperature also plays a role. The relative weakness of the temperature effect at the annual time scale hinders understanding, but may belie substantial importance on climatic time scales. Here we develop and evaluate a simple theory relating variations of streamflow and evapotranspiration (E) to those
Authors
Paul C.D. Milly, Jonghun Kam, Krista A. Dunne
The GFDL global atmosphere and land model AM4.0/LM4.0: 2. Model description, sensitivity studies, and tuning strategies
In Part 2 of this two‐part paper, documentation is provided of key aspects of a version of the AM4.0/LM4.0 atmosphere/land model that will serve as a base for a new set of climate and Earth system models (CM4 and ESM4) under development at NOAA's Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL). The quality of the simulation in AMIP (Atmospheric Model Intercomparison Project) mode has been provided in
Authors
M. Zhao, J.-C. Golaz, I. M. Held, H. Guo, V. Balaji, R. Benson, J.-H. Chen, X. Chen, L. J. Donner, J. P. Dunne, Krista A. Dunne, J. Durachta, S.-M. Fan, S. M. Freidenreich, S. T. Garner, P. Ginoux, L. M. Harris, L. W. Horowitz, J. P. Krasting, A. R. Langenhorst, Z. Liang, P. Lin, S.-J. Lin, Sergey Malyshev, E. Mason, Paul C.D. Milly, Y. Ming, V. Naik, F. Paulot, D. Paynter, P. Phillipps, A. Radhakrishnan, V. Ramaswamy, T. Robinson, D. Schwarzkopf, C. J. Seman, Elena Shevliakova, Z. Shen, H. Shin, L. Silvers, J. R. Wilson, M. Winton, A. T. Wittenberg, B. Wyman, B. Xiang
The GFDL global atmosphere and land model AM4.0/LM4.0: 1. Simulation characteristics with prescribed SSTs
In this two‐part paper, a description is provided of a version of the AM4.0/LM4.0 atmosphere/land model that will serve as a base for a new set of climate and Earth system models (CM4 and ESM4) under development at NOAA's Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL). This version, with roughly 100 km horizontal resolution and 33 levels in the vertical, contains an aerosol model that generates aero
Authors
M. Zhao, J.-C. Golaz, I. M. Held, H. Guo, V. Balaji, R. Benson, J.-H. Chen, X. Chen, L. J. Donner, J. P. Dunne, Krista A. Dunne, J. Durachta, S.-M. Fan, S. M. Freidenreich, S. T. Garner, P. Ginoux, L. M. Harris, L. W. Horowitz, J. P. Krasting, A. R. Langenhorst, Z. Liang, P. Lin, S.-J. Lin, S. L. Malyshev, E. Mason, Paul C.D. Milly, Y. Ming, V. Naik, F. Paulot, D. Paynter, P. Phillipps, A. Radhakrishnan, V. Ramaswamy, T. Robinson, D. Schwarzkopf, C. J. Seman, Elena Shevliakova, Z. Shen, H. Shin, L. Silvers, J. R. Wilson, M. Winton, A. T. Wittenberg, B. Wyman, B. Xiang
Hydrologic assessment and numerical simulation of groundwater flow, San Juan Mine, San Juan County, New Mexico, 2010–13
Coal combustion byproducts (CCBs), which are composed of fly ash, bottom ash, and flue gas desulfurization material, produced at the coal-fired San Juan Generating Station (SJGS), located in San Juan County, New Mexico, have been buried in former surface-mine pits at the San Juan Mine, also referred to as the San Juan Coal Mine, since operations began in the early 1970s. This report, prepared by t
Authors
Anne M. Stewart
A new indicator framework for quantifying the intensity of the terrestrialwater cycle
A quantitative framework for characterizing the intensity of the water cycle over land is presented, and illustrated using a spatially distributed water-balance model of the conterminous United States (CONUS). We approach water cycle intensity (WCI) from a landscape perspective; WCI is defined as the sum of precipitation (P) and actual evapotranspiration (AET) over a spatially explicit landscape u
Authors
Thomas G. Huntington, Peter Weiskel, David M. Wolock, Gregory J. McCabe
Data analysis considerations for pesticides determined by National Water Quality Laboratory schedule 2437
In 2013, the U.S. Geological Survey National Water Quality Laboratory (NWQL) made a new method available for the analysis of pesticides in filtered water samples: laboratory schedule 2437. Schedule 2437 is an improvement on previous analytical methods because it determines the concentrations of 225 fungicides, herbicides, insecticides, and associated degradates in one method at similar or lower co
Authors
Megan E. Shoda, Lisa H. Nowell, Wesley W. Stone, Mark W. Sandstrom, Laura M. Bexfield
Evaluating micrometeorological estimates of groundwater discharge from Great Basin desert playas
Groundwater availability studies in the arid southwestern United States traditionally have assumed that groundwater discharge by evapotranspiration (ETg) from desert playas is a significant component of the groundwater budget. However, desert playa ETg rates are poorly constrained by Bowen Ratio energy budget (BREB) and eddy-covariance (EC) micrometeorological measurement approaches. Best attempts
Authors
Tracie Jackson, Keith J. Halford, Philip M. Gardner, Amanda Garcia
High frequency data exposes nonlinear seasonal controls on dissolved organic matter in a large watershed
We analyzed a five year, high frequency time series generated by an in situ fluorescent dissolved organic matter (fDOM) sensor installed near the Connecticut River’s mouth, investigating high temporal resolution DOM dynamics in a larger watershed and longer time series than previously addressed. We identified a gradient between large, saturating summer fDOM responses to discharge and linear, subdu
Authors
Matthew Shultz, Brian A. Pellerin, George Aiken, Joseph W. Martin, Peter Raymond
Common hydraulic fracturing fluid additives alter the structure and function of anaerobic microbial communities
The development of unconventional oil and gas (UOG) resources results in the production of large volumes of wastewater containing a complex mixture of hydraulic fracturing chemical additives and components from the formation. The release of these wastewaters into the environment poses potential risks that are poorly understood. Microbial communities in stream sediments form the base of the food ch
Authors
Adam C. Mumford, Denise M. Akob, J. Grace Klinges, Isabelle M. Cozzarelli
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Water Resources Mission Area, Contaminant Biology, Environmental Health Program, Science Synthesis, Analysis and Research Program, Toxic Substances Hydrology, Reston Biogeochemical Processes in Groundwater Laboratory, Reston Microbiology Laboratory, Advanced Research Computing (ARC)
Validation of stable isotope ratio analysis to document the biodegradation and natural attenuation of RDX, ESTCP Project ER-201208
Hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX) is a common soil contaminant at current and former military facilities, including many training and testing ranges. Because RDX is readily transported through soils to the subsurface, this nitramine explosive now also impacts groundwater and drinking water at numerous locations across the country. A significant issue with RDX contamination on ranges an
Authors
Paul B. Hatzinger, Mark E. Fuller, Neil C. Sturchio, John K. Böhlke