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: 171804
From data to interpretable models: Machine learning for soil moisture forecasting
Soil moisture is critical to agricultural business, ecosystem health, and certain hydrologically driven natural disasters. Monitoring data, though, is prone to instrumental noise, wide ranging extrema, and nonstationary response to rainfall where ground conditions change. Furthermore, existing soil moisture models generally forecast poorly for time periods greater than a few hours. To improve such
Authors
Aniruddha Basak, Kevin M. Schmidt, Ole Mengshoel
Stratigraphy and eruption history of maars in the Clear Lake Volcanic Field, California
The Clear Lake Volcanic Field (CLVF) is the northernmost and youngest field in a chain of volcanic provinces in the California Coast Range mountains. Effusive and explosive volcanic activity in the field has spanned at least 2.1 million years, with the youngest eruptions comprising a series of maar craters at the edges of, and within, Clear Lake itself. This work documents the first direct ages fo
Authors
Jessica L. Ball
Balancing future renewable energy infrastructure siting and associated habitat loss for migrating whooping cranes
The expansion of human infrastructure has contributed to novel risks and disturbance regimes in most ecosystems, leading to considerable uncertainty about how species will respond to altered landscapes. A recent assessment revealed that whooping cranes (Grus americana), an endangered migratory waterbird species, avoid wind-energy infrastructure during migration. However, uncertainties regarding co
Authors
Kristen S. Ellis, Aaron T. Pearse, David A. Brandt, Mark T. Bidwell, Wade C. Harrell, Matthew J. Butler, Max Post van der Burg
Predictive models of selective cattle use of large, burned landscapes in semiarid sagebrush-steppe
The fire-exotic annual grass cycle is a severe threat to shrub-steppe rangelands, and a greater understanding of how livestock grazing relates to the problem is needed to guide effective management interventions. Grazing effects vary throughout shrub-steppe rangelands because livestock are selective in their use within pastures. Thus, knowing where cattle are located and concentrate their use in a
Authors
Christopher R. Anthony, Matthew Germino
Migration Mapper: Identifying movement corridors and seasonal ranges for large mammal conservation
Modern tracking technology has facilitated a novel understanding of terrestrial mammal movement while revealing that movements are being truncated and lost. The first step towards conserving mobile animals is identifying movement corridors and key seasonal ranges. Yet, the identification and subsequent mapping of these important areas has remained a challenge due to the analytical skills necessary
Authors
Jerod A. Merkle, Joshua A. Gage, Hall Sawyer, Blake Lowrey, Matthew Kauffman
Calibrated relative sea levels constrain isostatic adjustment and ice history in northwest Greenland
Relative Sea Levels (RSLs) derived primarily from marine bivalves near Petermann Glacier, NW Greenland, constrain past regional ice-mass changes through glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) modeling. Oxygen isotopes measured on bivalves corrected for shell-depth habitat and document changing meltwater input. Rapid RSL fall of up to 62 m/kyr indicates ice loss at or prior to ∼9 ka. Transition to an R
Authors
Anna Glueder, Alan Mix, Glenn A. Milne, Brendan Reilly, Jorie Clark, Martin Jakobsson, Larry Mayer, Stewart Fallon, John R. Southon, June Padman, Andrew Ross, Thomas M. Cronin, Jennifer McKay
Don't judge an orogen by its cover: Kinematics of the Appalachian décollement from seismic anisotropy
As North America collided with Africa to form Pangea during the Alleghanian orogeny, crystalline and sedimentary rocks in the southeastern United States were thrust forelandward along the Appalachian décollement. We examined Ps receiver functions to better constrain the kinematics of this prominent subsurface structure. From Southeastern Suture of the Appalachian Margin Experiment (SESAME) and oth
Authors
Michael G. Frothingham, Vera Schulte-Pelkum, Kevin H. Mahan, Arthur J. Merschat, Makayla Mather, Zulliet Cabrera Gomez
Using noninvasive genetics for estimating density and assessing diet of urban and rural coyotes in Florida, USA
Coyotes (Canis latrans) are expanding their range and due to conflicts with the public and concerns of Coyotes affecting natural resources such as game or sensitive species, there is interest and often a demand to monitor Coyote populations. A challenge to monitoring is that traditional invasive methods involving live-capture of individual animals are costly and can be controversial. Natural resou
Authors
B.M. Kluever, M.B. Main, S.W. Breck, Robert Charles Lonsinger, J.H. Humphrey, J.W. Fischer, M.P. Milleson, A.J. Piaggio
Incremental caldera collapse at Kīlauea Volcano recorded in ground tilt and high-rate GNSS data, with implications for collapse dynamics and the magma system
Ground deformation during caldera collapse at Kīlauea Volcano in 2018 was recorded in unprecedented detail on a network of real-time GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) and tilt instruments. Observations informed hazard assessments during the eruption and now yield insight into collapse dynamics and the magma system. The caldera grew in size over 78 days in a series of repeating, quasi-perio
Authors
Kyle R. Anderson, Ingrid Johanson
Indicators of fish population responses to avian predation with focus on double-crested cormorants
Double-crested cormorants (Nannopterum auritum) have been implicated as causes of fish population declines in many locations across their breeding range. Two challenges facing managers are identifying fisheries population metrics indicative of cormorant impacts and determining when this evidence becomes actionable. Building upon existing studies, we conducted a meta-analysis of eight data-rich sys
Authors
Douglas W Schultz, Brian S. Dorr, David G. Fielder, James R. Jackson, Robin L. DeBruyne
GeoImageNet: A multi-source natural feature benchmark dataset for GeoAI and supervised machine learning
The field of GeoAI or Geospatial Artificial Intelligence has undergone rapid development since 2017. It has been widely applied to address environmental and social science problems, from understanding climate change to tracking the spread of infectious disease. A foundational task in advancing GeoAI research is the creation of open, benchmark datasets to train and evaluate the performance of GeoAI
Authors
Wenwen Li, Sizhe Wang, Samantha Arundel, Chia-Yu Hsu
Measured efficacy, bioaccumulation, and leaching of a transfluthrin-based insecticidal paint: A case study with a nuisance, nonbiting aquatic insect
BACKGROUNDPest management professionals will require a diverse, adaptive abatement toolbox to combat advanced challenges from disease vector and nuisance insect populations. Designed for post-application longevity, insecticidal paints offer extended residual effects on targeted insect pest populations; a measured understanding of active ingredient bioavailability over time is valuable to fully ass
Authors
Michael C. Cavallaro, Corey Sanders, Michelle Hladik