Publications
Browse more than 160,000 publications authored by our scientists over the past 100+ year history of the USGS. Publications available are: USGS-authored journal articles, series reports, book chapters, other government publications, and more.
Mission Area Publications
Mission Area Publications
We are focused on some of the most significant issues society faces, and our science is making a substantial contribution to the well-being of the Nation and the world. Learn more about the major topics our research covers and the programs focused on those topics.
Filter Total Items: 171654
Guidelines for the use of automatic samplers in collecting surface-water quality and sediment data
The importance of fluvial systems in the transport of sediment, dissolved and suspended contaminants, nutrients, and bacteria through the environment is well established. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) identifies sediment as the single most widespread water contaminant affecting the beneficial uses of the Nation’s rivers and streams. The evaluation of water-quality as it relates to
Authors
Timothy P. Wilson, Cherie V. Miller, Evan A. Lechner
Wildfire, extreme precipitation and debris flows, oh my! Channel response to compounding disturbances in a mountain stream in the Upper Colorado Basin, USA
Compounding changes in climate and human activities stand to increase sediment input to rivers in many landscapes, including via discrete perturbations such as post-fire debris flows. Because sediment supply is a dominant control on river morphology, understanding mountain river responses to sediment regime perturbations is critical to predicting and addressing downstream effects to infrastructure
Authors
Paxton Ridgeway, Belize Lane, Haley Canham, Brendan Murphy, Patrick Belmont, Francis K. Rengers
Smallmouth buffalo (Ictiobus bubalus Rafinesque) population trends and demographics in the Upper Mississippi River System
Smallmouth buffalo (Ictiobus bubalus Rafinesque) are a large-bodied fish highly valued and commercially exploited across most of their range. Despite this, relatively little is known of their population demographics compared to other exploited species. To fill these knowledge gaps, we analyzed two independent long-term datasets (30 and 57 years, respectively) and population demographic data (age s
Authors
Kristopher A. Maxson, Levi E. Solomon, Taylor A. Bookout, Steven A. DeLain, Andrew Bartels, Melvin C. Bowler, Eric J. Gittinger, Eric N. Ratcliff, John L. West, Seth A. Love, Jason A. DeBoer, Andrya L. Whitten-Harris, Michael J. Spear, Brian Ickes, Andrew F. Casper, James T. Lamer
Infection–nutrition feedbacks: Fat supports pathogen clearance but pathogens reduce fat in a wild mammal
Though far less obvious than direct effects (clinical disease or mortality), the indirect influences of pathogens are difficult to estimate but may hold fitness consequences. Here, we disentangle the directional relationships between infection and energetic reserves, evaluating the hypotheses that energetic reserves influence infection status of the host and that infection elicits costs to energet
Authors
Rachel A. Smiley, Brittany L. Wagler, William H. Edwards, Jessica Jennings-Gaines, Katie Luukkonen, Kara Robbins, Marguerite Johnson, Alyson B. Courtemanch, Tony W. Mong, Daryl Lutz, Douglas E. McWhirter, Jennifer L. Malmberg, Blake Lowrey, Kevin L. Monteith
A comparison of CO2 seasonal activity in Mars' northern and southern hemispheres
Carbon dioxide is Mars' most active volatile. The seasonal and diurnal processes of when and where it condenses and sublimates are determined by energy balance between the atmosphere and surface ice in Mars' vapor pressure equilibrium climate. Mars' current obliquity ensures that the polar caps are stable locations for seasonal condensation. The eccentricity of Mars' orbit is the major driver of d
Authors
Candice J. Hansen, Shane Byrne, Wendy M. Calvin, Serina Diniega, Colin M. Dundas, Paul O. Hayne, Alfred S. McEwen, Lauren E McKeown, Sylvain Piqueux, Ganna Portyankina, Meg E Schwamb, Timothy N. Titus, Jacob M Widmer
The High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) in the MRO extended science phases (2009–2023)
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has been orbiting Mars since 2006 and has acquired >80,000 HiRISE images with sub-meter resolution, contributing to over 2000 peer-reviewed publications, and has provided the data needed to enable safe surface landings in key locations by several rovers or landers. This paper describes the changes to science planning, data processing, and analysis tools since the in
Authors
Alfred S. McEwen, Shane Byrne, Candice J. Hansen, Ingrid J. Daubar, Sarah Sutton, Colin M. Dundas, Nicole Bardabelias, Nicole Baugh, James W. Bergstrom, Ross A. Beyer, Kristin M Block, Veronica Bray, John C. Bridges, Matthew Chojnacki, Susan J. Conway, W Alan Delamere, T. Ebben, Yisrael Espinosa, Audrie Fennema, John Grant, Virginia C Gulick, Kenneth E. Herkenhoff, Rodney Heyd, Richard Leis, Lujendra Ojha, Singleton Papendick, Christian Schaller, Nicolas Thomas, Livio L. Tornabene, Catherine M. Weitz, Sharon A. Wilson
Polar science results from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter: Multiwavelength, multiyear insights
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), with its arrival in 2006 and nearly continuous operation since, has provided data for the study of martian polar processes spanning nine Mars years. Mars' polar deposits have long been thought to preserve records of past climates, potentially readable like terrestrial ice cores. However, unraveling millions of years of history in the ice depends on understanding
Authors
Margaret E. Landis, P. J. Acharya, N. R. Alsaeed, C. Andres, Patricio Becerra, Wendy M. Calvin, E. M. Cangi, S. F. A. Cartwright, M. S. Chaffin, Serina Diniega, Colin M. Dundas, Candice J. Hansen, Paul O. Hayne, Kenneth E. Herkenhoff, David M. Kass, Aditya R. Khuller, Lauren McKeown, Patrich S. Russell, Isaac B. Smith, Sarah S. Sutton, J. M. Widmer, Jennifer L Whitten
New, dated small impacts on the South Polar Layered Deposits (SPLD), Mars, and implications for shallow subsurface properties
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) Context Camera (CTX) imaged two newly formed impact craters on the South Polar Layered Deposits (SPLD) of Mars in 2018 and 2020. These two new craters, the first detected on the SPLD, measure ∼17 m and ∼48 m in diameter. Follow-up observations were conducted with the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE), showing seasonal and interannual changes,
Authors
Margaret E. Landis, Colin M. Dundas, Alfred S. McEwen, Ingrid J. Daubar, Paul O. Hayne, Shane Byrne, Sarah S. Sutton, Vidhya Ganesh Rangarajan, Livio L. Tornabene, Andrew Britton, Kenneth E. Herkenhoff
Novel quantitative methods to enable multispectral identification of high-purity water ice exposures on Mars using High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) images
Reliable detection and characterization of water ice on the Martian surface is pivotal to not only understand its present and past climate, but to also provide valuable information on in-situ resource availability and distribution for future human exploration missions. Ice-rich features are currently identified with visible/near-IR (VNIR), thermal IR and radar data. However, their coarse spatial s
Authors
Vidhya Ganesh Rangarajan, Livio L. Tornabene, G. R. Osinski, Colin M. Dundas, Ross A. Beyer, Kenneth E. Herkenhoff, Shane Byrne, Rodney Heyd, Frank P. Seelos, G. Munaretto, Angela Dapremont
Predicting Lake Huron Dreissena spp. spatial distribution patterns from environmental characteristics
Invasive dreissenid mussels (Dreissena polymorpha and Dreissena rostriformis bugensis) have altered Great Lakes ecosystems through a multitude of effects on benthic habitats, food web structure, and nutrient cycling. This study explores whether spatially continuous geographic data of environmental factors can be utilized to predict Dreissena spp. spatial distributions on a lake-wide scale. Categor
Authors
Jennifer M. Morrison, Peter C. Esselman, Catherine M. Riseng, Ashley K. Elgin, Mark D. Rowe
The dynamic feasibility of resisting (R), accepting (A), or directing (D) ecological change
Ecological transformations are occurring as a result of climate change, challenging traditional approaches to land management decision-making. The resist–accept–direct (RAD) framework helps managers consider how to respond to this challenge. We examined how the feasibility of the choices to resist, accept, and direct shifts in complex and dynamic ways through time. We considered 4 distinct types o
Authors
Amanda E. Cravens, Katherine R. Clifford, Corrine N. Knapp, William Travis
Report of the River Master of the Delaware River for the period December 1, 2015 - November 30, 2016
Executive SummaryA Decree of the Supreme Court of the United States, entered June 7, 1954 (New Jersey v. New York, 347 U.S. 995), established the position of Delaware River Master within the U.S. Geological Survey. In addition, the Decree authorizes the diversion of water from the Delaware River Basin and requires compensating releases from reservoirs owned by New York City to be made under the su
Authors
Kendra L. Russell, William J. Andrews, Vincent J. DiFrenna, J. Michael Norris, Robert R. Mason,