All Multimedia

Brian Painter of NJWSC installing wave sensor on the beach at SWaTH site number NJCAP04830

USGS scientists survey a beach near San Francisco to assist with a comparison of data derived from aerial photos and lidar.

USGS scientists Dan Kroes and Charlie Demas took local Congressional staffers into the Atchafalaya Basin to show them the effects of the flooding on the Basin.

In late 2015/early 2016 unusually large rainfall in the Upper Mississippi River Valley led to significant flooding in Arkansas, Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee. USGS crews responded to the flooding by collecting streamflow and water quality information and providing it to emergency responders.

In late 2015/early 2016 unusually large rainfall in the Upper Mississippi River Valley led to significant flooding in Arkansas, Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee. USGS crews responded to the flooding by collecting streamflow and water quality information and providing it to emergency responders.

In late 2015/early 2016 unusually large rainfall in the Upper Mississippi River Valley led to significant flooding in Arkansas, Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee. USGS crews responded to the flooding by collecting streamflow and water quality information and providing it to emergency responders.

One of the more unfortunate ecosystem side-effects of the floodwaters as they move through the Atchafalaya Basin is they help spread some uninvited guests.

This is the invasive aquatic plant known as giant salvinia (salvinia molesta). It may not look big here, but trust us, it can carpet a lake or bayou.

USGS Scientists Dan Kroes and Charlie Demas set out into the Atchafalaya Basin to inspect flooding conditions in the Basin.

In late 2015/early 2016 unusually large rainfall in the Upper Mississippi River Valley led to significant flooding in Arkansas, Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee. USGS crews responded to the flooding by collecting streamflow and water quality information and providing it to emergency responders.

USGS sets out to measure streamflow on the Mississippi River at Baton Rouge, sailing past the USS Kidd, a World War II destroyer.

Hydrologic technician Sylas Daughtrey works at a gagehouse on Columbia River at Stevenson, Washington

USGS scientist Dan Kroes checks a subsidence instrument. Normally, this area is either barely under water or completely dry. The instrument is housed at around 7 or 8 feet, and there was just 16 inches between the sensor and water.

USGS Hydrologist taking a measurement under a bridge in Johnson County.

As the Atchafalaya River spreads out through the Basin, the waters slow down, and the sediment falls to the river and lakebottoms. Over time, that sediment can build up, eventually choking the river or permanently closing the lake. Or, as more and more sediment piles up, it compacts, sinking deeper during a process known as subsidence.

A panorama of a flooded stand of cypress trees in the Atchafalaya Basin.

Watch your hands! Here you can see one of the many denizens of the swamp that mistake our sensor and gauge houses for prime real estate. As Dan Kroes, the scientist monitoring subsidence, said, "At least it wasn't wasps this time..."

Snow-capped peaks of the La Sal Mountain Range as seen from the Island in the Sky District of Canyonlands National Park. This is one area in the Southwest where biocrust plays an important role. 

A severely emaciated Common Murre carcass collected to determine the cause of death following a massive die-off of murres in 2015/2016.  Prince William Sound

USGS scientist Tammy Caudle demonstrates the acoustic dopplar current profiler onboard that will be used to measure streamflow on the Mississippi River.

Biologists walk the beach counting Common Murre carcasses following a massive die-off of murres in 2015/2016. Prince William Sound.