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: 18454
Siting considerations for satellite observation of river discharge
With growing global capability for satellite measurement of river discharge (flow) comes a need to understand and reduce error in satellite-based discharge measurements. Satellite-based discharge estimates are based on measurements of water surface width, elevation, slope, and potentially velocity. Site selection is important for reducing error and uncertainty in both conventional and satellite-ba
Authors
Jack R. Eggleston, Chris A. Mason, David M. Bjerklie, Michael T. Durand, Robert W. Dudley, Merritt Elizabeth Harlan
A reproducible manuscript workflow with a Quarto template
Scientists and resource managers increasingly use Markdown-based tools to create reproducible reports and manuscripts. These workflows allow people to use standardized methods that are more reproducible, efficient, and transparent than other standard office tools. We present a Quarto template and demonstrate how this template may be used for a journal, the Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management,
Authors
Richard A. Erickson, Althea A. Archer, Michael N. Fienen
A spatial machine learning model developed from noisy data requires multiscale performance evaluation: Predicting depth to bedrock in the Delaware River Basin, USA
Spatial machine learning models can be developed from observations with substantial unexplainable variability, sometimes called ‘noise’. Traditional point-scale metrics (e.g., R2) alone can be misleading when evaluating these models. We present a multi-scale performance evaluation (MPE) using two additional scales (distributional and geostatistical). We apply the MPE framework to predictions of de
Authors
Phillip J. Goodling, Kenneth Belitz, Paul Stackelberg, Brandon J. Fleming
Thermo-hydrologic processes governing supra-permafrost talik dynamics in discontinuous permafrost near Umiujaq (Québec, Canada)
Widespread supra-permafrost talik formation is
currently recognized as a critical mechanism that
could accelerate permafrost thaw in the Arctic
(e.g., Connon et al. 2018; Farquharson et al. 2022).
However, the trajectory of permafrost dynamics
following talik formation may prove difficult to predict.
Physically-based cryohydrogeologic models provide
a powerful tool for understanding processes and
Authors
Philippe Fortier, Nathan Young, Michelle A. Walvoord, Jean-Michel Lemieux, Aaron Mohammed
A history of cryohydrogeology modeling and recent advancements through the integration of solute transport
Groundwater flow systems and permafrost are interrelated because permafrost thaw enhances permeability, while groundwater flow can advect heat and accelerate permafrost thaw (McKenzie et al. 2021). Given amplified climate change in cold regions, there is renewed interest in ‘cryohydrogeology’, the study of groundwater in cold regions. Many data-driven studies have shown that permafrost thaw is lea
Authors
Barret L. Kurylyk, Julia Guimond, Aaron Mohammed, Victor F. Bense, Jeffrey M. McKenzie, Michelle A. Walvoord, Rob Jamieson, R. Bailey Strong
Evaluation of extinction risk for stream fishes within an urban riverscape using population viability analysis
1. The Santa Ana River in the Los Angeles region of California demonstrates common habitat degradation symptoms that are characteristic of the urban stream syndrome. These impacts have altered the Santa Ana River community structure, with few species as impacted as the native Santa Ana sucker (sucker; Pantosteus santaanae). 2. Consequently, a recovery plan developed for sucker identified the need
Authors
Brock Huntsman, Kai Palenscar, Kerwin Russell, Brett Mills, Chris Jones, William Ota, Kurt E. Anderson, Heather Dyer, Fitsum Abadi, Marissa L. Wulff
River channel response to the removal of the Pilchuck River Diversion Dam, Washington State
In August 2020, the 3-m tall Pilchuck River Diversion Dam was removed from the Pilchuck River, allowing free fish passage to the upper third of the watershed for the first time in over a century. The narrow, 300-m long impoundment behind the dam was estimated to hold 4,000–7,500 m3 of sand and gravel, representing less than one year's typical bedload flux. Repeat cross section surveys, stage senso
Authors
Scott W. Anderson, Brett Shattuck, Neil Shea, Catherine M. Seguin, Joe J. Miles, Derek Marks, Natasha Coumou
Solute export patterns across the contiguous USA
Understanding controls on solute export to streams is challenging because heterogeneous catchments can respond uniquely to drivers of environmental change. To understand general solute export patterns, we used a large-scale inductive approach to evaluate concentration–discharge (C–Q) metrics across catchments spanning a broad range of catchment attributes and hydroclimatic drivers. We leveraged pa
Authors
Dustin W. Kincaid, Kristen L. Underwood, Scott Douglas Hamshaw, L. Li, Erin C. Seybold, Bryn Stewart, Donna M. Rizzo, Ijaz Ul Haq, Julia N. Perdrial
Diel temperature signals track seasonal shifts in localized groundwater contributions to headwater streamflow generation at network scale
Groundwater contributions to streamflow sustain aquatic ecosystem resilience; streams without significant groundwater inputs often have well-coupled air and water temperatures that degrade cold-water habitat during warm low flow periods. Widespread uncertainty in stream-groundwater connectivity across space and time has created disparate predictions of energy and nutrient fluxes across headwater n
Authors
David Rey, Danielle K. Hare, Jennifer Burlingame Hoyle Fair, Martin Briggs
Accuracy assessment of three-dimensional point cloud data collected with a scanning total station on Shinnecock Nation Tribal lands in Suffolk County, New York
A combined point cloud of about 85.6 million points was collected during 27 scans of a section of the western shoreline along the Shinnecock Peninsula of Suffolk County, New York, to document baseline geospatial conditions during July and October 2022 using a scanning total station. The three-dimensional accuracy of the combined point cloud is assessed to identify potential systematic error source
Authors
Michael L. Noll, William D. Capurso, Anthony Chu
Groundwater, surface-water, and water-chemistry data, Black Mesa area, northeastern Arizona—2019–2021
The Navajo (N) aquifer is an extensive aquifer and the primary source of groundwater in the 5,400-square-mile Black Mesa area in northeastern Arizona. Water availability is an important issue in the Black Mesa area because of the arid climate, past industrial water use, and continued water requirements for municipal use by a growing population. Precipitation in the area typically ranges from less
Authors
Jon P. Mason
Chlorophyll a in lakes and streams of the United States (2005–2022)
The concentration of chlorophyll a in phytoplankton and periphyton represents the amount of algal biomass. We compiled an 18-year record (2005–2022) of pigment data from water bodies across the United States (US) to support efforts to develop process-based, machine learning, and remote sensing models for prediction of harmful algal blooms (HABs). To our knowledge, this dataset of nearly 84,000 sit
Authors
Sarah Spaulding, Lindsay R.C. Platt, Jennifer C. Murphy, S. Alex Covert, Judson Harvey