Reports
Science Quality and Integrity
The USGS provides unbiased, objective, and impartial scientific information upon which our audiences, including resource managers, planners, and other entities, rely.
The USGS provides unbiased, objective, and impartial scientific information upon which our audiences, including resource managers, planners, and other entities, rely.
Browse more than 82,000 reports authored by our scientists over the past 100+ year history of the USGS and refine search by topic, location, year, and advanced search.
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PCB source assessment in the lower Clinton River, Clinton River Area of Concern, Mount Clemens, Michigan
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), some of the earliest “forever chemicals,” were used for decades in the United States before 1979 when PCB manufacturing was banned. High PCB concentrations were found recently in the lower Clinton River in the Great Lakes drainage. To determine the possible existence, location, and significance of a current source of PCBs, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) deploye
Authors
Barbara C. Scudder Eikenberry, Hayley Olds, Owen M. Stefaniak, David A. Alvarez
Compressional-wave seismic velocity, bulk density, and their empirical relations for geophysical modeling of the Midcontinent Rift System in the Lake Superior region
Compressional-wave seismic velocity (velocity) and bulk density (density) data were compiled from published sources for rock suites and earth materials that are significant for geophysical modeling of the Mesoproterozoic Midcontinent Rift System in the Lake Superior region. The data include laboratory measurements of outcrop and drill core samples, seismic refraction studies, and a sonic log from
Authors
V. J. S. Grauch
ECCOE Landsat quarterly Calibration and Validation report—Quarter 1, 2023
Executive SummaryThe U.S. Geological Survey Earth Resources Observation and Science Calibration and Validation (Cal/Val) Center of Excellence (ECCOE) focuses on improving the accuracy, precision, calibration, and product quality of remote-sensing data, leveraging years of multiscale optical system geometric and radiometric calibration and characterization experience. The ECCOE Landsat Cal/Val Team
Authors
Md Obaidul Haque, Rajagopalan Rengarajan, Mark Lubke, Md Nahid Hasan, Ashish Shrestha, Fatima Tuz Zafrin Tuli, Jerad L. Shaw, Alex Denevan, Shannon Franks, Esad Micijevic, Michael J. Choate, Cody Anderson, Kurt Thome, Ed Kaita, Julia Barsi, Raviv Levy, Jeff Miller
Camera trap distance sampling survey design, Andersen Airforce Base, Guam
Reliable population estimates of animal density is one of the most elementary needs for the control and management of wildlife, particularly for introduced ungulates on oceanic islands. On Guam, Philippine deer (Rusa marianna) and wild pigs (Sus scrofa; wild boar and descendants of domestic pigs) cause agricultural and ecological damage and are hunted for recreational, nutritional, and cultural us
Authors
Richard J. Camp, Trevor M. Bak
Assessment of factors that influence human water demand for Providence, Rhode Island
To determine the most relevant climatic and economic factors driving water demand for Providence, Rhode Island, and to further the understanding of human interactions with water availability, linear regression models were developed to estimate single-family and multifamily residential, commercial, and industrial water demand for the service area of Providence Water for 2014–21. Monthly water use d
Authors
Timothy J. Stagnitta, Laura Medalie
Behavior and movement of smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu) near Bonneville Dam, Columbia River, Washington and Oregon, March–October 2022
A telemetry study was conducted during March–October 2022 to evaluate behavior and movement patterns of adult smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu) in the forebay of Bonneville Dam, on the Columbia River in Washington and Oregon. This study was a follow-up to a previous study conducted at the site during August–December 2020. In 2022, a total of 41 smallmouth bass were collected, tagged, and rele
Authors
Tobias J. Kock, Gabriel S. Hansen
Multiple-well monitoring site within the Poso Creek Oil Field, Kern County, California
IntroductionThe Poso Creek Oil Field is one of the many fields selected for regional groundwater mapping and monitoring by the California State Water Resources Control Board as part of the Oil and Gas Regional Monitoring Program (RMP; California State Water Resources Control Board, 2015, 2022b; U.S. Geological Survey, 2022a). The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the California St
Authors
Rhett R. Everett, Peter B. McMahon, Michael J. Stephens, Janice M. Gillespie, Mackenzie M. Shepherd, Nicole C. Fenton
Comparison of turbidity sensors at U.S. Geological Survey supergages in Indiana from November 2018 to December 2021
Beginning in September 2010, the U.S. Geological Survey installed continuous water-quality monitors at several streamgages across Indiana as part of a network of supergages to meet cooperator information needs. Two types (or models) of water-quality monitors deployed at each site measured and recorded water temperature, dissolved oxygen, specific conductance, pH, and turbidity every 15 minutes dur
Authors
Madelyn L. Messner, Mary Kate Perkins, Aubrey R. Bunch
Distribution of large boulders on the deposit of the West Salt Creek rock avalanche, western Colorado
On May 25, 2014, a 54.5-million cubic meter rock avalanche in the West Salt Creek valley, Mesa County, Colorado, traveled 4.6 kilometers, leaving a deposit that covers about 2.2 square kilometers. To check the particle-size distribution of the deposit for information about the high mobility of the avalanche, we estimated boulder distribution density for the entire deposit by counting 1-meter (m) o
Authors
Adrian C. Lewis, Rex L. Baum, Jeffrey A. Coe
Forecasts of polar bear (Ursus maritimus) land use in the southern Beaufort and Chukchi Seas, 2040–65
This report provides analysis to extend the 2040 forecasts of polar bear (Ursus maritimus) land use for the southern Beaufort and Chukchi Sea populations presented in a recent publication (Rode and others, 2022) through the year 2065. To inform long-term polar bear management considerations, we provide point-estimate forecasts and 95-percent prediction intervals of the proportion of polar bear pop
Authors
Karyn D. Rode, David C. Douglas, Todd C. Atwood, Ryan R. Wilson
Spatiotemporal variations in copper, arsenic, cadmium, and zinc concentrations in surface water, fine-grained bed sediment, and aquatic macroinvertebrates in the upper Clark Fork Basin, western Montana—A 20-year synthesis, 1996–2016
The legacy of mining-related contamination in the upper Clark Fork Basin created an extensive longitudinal gradient in metal concentrations, extending from Silver Bow Creek to Lake Pend Oreille, Idaho. Downstream metal concentrations continue to decline, but, despite such improvements, the ecological health of much of the river remains uncertain. Understanding the long-term consequences of the Cla
Authors
Sara L. Caldwell Eldridge, Michelle I. Hornberger
User engagement to improve coastal data access and delivery
Executive SummaryA priority of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program focus on coastal change hazards is to provide accessible and actionable science that meets user needs. To understand these needs, 10 virtual Coastal Data Delivery Listening Sessions were completed with 5 coastal data user types that coastal change hazards data are intended to serve: re
Authors
Amanda D. Stoltz, Amanda E. Cravens, Erika Lentz, Emily A. Himmelstoss