Images

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.

As the sun rose above Mauna Kea (background) on July 6, 1975, eruptive fissures along the Northeast Rift Zone of Mauna Loa fed voluminous ‘a‘ā lava flows that quickly moved down the north flank of the volcano.

This is the Mississippi River at Vicksburg, Mississippi, as the crest from the earlier flooding moves through.

Image shows a night-time view of the Natchez-Vidalia Bridge at Natchez, Mississippi.

USGS scientists Mike Manning (left) and USGS National Flood Coordinator Bob Holmes discuss plans for the day. USGS crews departed from the U.S. Coast Guard's Vicksburg Office on the Yazoo River to measure streamflow on the Mississippi River.

USGS National Flood Coordinator Bob Holmes stands on one of USGS' boats in Vicksburg, Mississippi. This particular boat came from the USGS Indiana/Kentucky Water Science Center. The boat and its crew joined USGS scientists and boats from Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi in Vicksburg for the flood measurements.

A point sampler for measuring sediment. It has tail fins to orient the sampler so that the intake nozzle in the head points directly into the approaching flow. The sampler head is hinged to provide access to the pint or quart bottle sample container located in a cavity in the sampler body.

The floodwaters from Arkansas, Illinois and Missouri are making their way downstream now to Mississippi and Louisiana. In preparation, USGS scientist Glen Stevens demonstrates the current meter to Hannah Hamilton, also with USGS. The current meter is one of the two primary ways that USGS measures streamflow discharge.

Mississippi River water flows through the Bonnet Carré Spillway into the channel, where it will flow to Lake Pontchartrain.

Flooded land within the Bonnet Carré Spillway. Normally, this land is dry, but when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers decides to release Mississippi River water from the Bonnet Carré Spillway, this land will be submerged.

A panorama of the floodwaters at the Bonnet Carré Spillway. In preparation for the river crests due next week, USGS is out sampling on the Bonnet Carre Spillway, one of two spillways on the Mississippi River operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

A staff gage at the Bonnet Carré Spillway, which is managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

USGS Gage 10032000 Smiths Fork near Border, Wyoming. USGS employee collects a measurement.   

USGS stream gage 1003200 SMITHS FORK NEAR BORDER, WY . 

Dead Common Murres found on the beach in Cochrane Bay, Prince William Sound on Jan 10, 2016. These birds were part of the large die-off of Common Murres across the Gulf of Alaska in 2015-2016.

A freshly deceased Common Murre carcass recovered following the massive die-off of murres in 2015/2016. Cochrane Bay, Prince William Sound

A freshly deceased Common Murre carcass recovered following the massive die-off of murres in 2015/2016.  Cochrane Bay, Prince William Sound.

A road sign warns drivers to watch for USGS crews measuring streamflow on the Bonnet Carré Spillway during flooding.

A view of the Bonnet Carré Spillway, which is operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. In this image, floodwaters from the Mississippi River flow through from left to right into the Spillway, eventually bound for Lake Pontchartrain.

A current meter. The rotating silver cups measure how fast the water is flowing. Meanwhile, the black torpedo-shaped object is a weight that keeps the current meter relatively stationary and the fins keep the current meter facing into the approaching flow.