Data Visualizations

Scientists refined the existing national-scale "De facto Reuse Incidence in our Nation's Consumable Supply" (DRINCS) model for the Shenandoah River watershed. The model, complemented by field measurements, provides a screening tool to understand human and wildlife exposure to toxicants and pathogens associated with the incidental reuse of treated wastewater in the watershed.

The GLRI Urban Stormwater Monitoring effort brings together the expertise of the USGS with local and national partners to assess the ability of green infrastructure to reduce stormwater runoff in Great Lakes urban areas. This story map discusses the problem with stormwater, the potential benefits and challenges of green infrastructure, and how this effort is evaluating its effectiveness.

The Global Mountain Explorer supports the visual comparison of three well-known global mountain raster datasets. The first two were derived from 1km DEMs with the first being produced by Kapos et al. (2000), and the second by Körner et al. (2011). The third global mountain dataset, produced by Karagulle et al. (2017), was derived from a finer resolution 250m DEM.

This U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Western Ecological Research Center (WERC) story map details how partners are using ​science and management to maintain and establish new ​bird ​nesting colonies in support of the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project. Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

On July 11-12, 2016, severe thunderstorms hit northern Wisconsin, resulting in widespread flooding. Immediately following the flood, the USGS and the Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians began collecting evidence of peak flood levels. USGS scientists used these high-water marks, along with streamflow and lake level, to reconstruct the extent and depth of flood inundation.

The Global Ecosystems Viewer provides visualization and feature identification of continental and global ecosystems data. Data from the Global Ecosystems activity allow for a fine resolution inventory of land-based ecological features anywhere on Earth, and contribute to increased understanding of ecological pattern and ecosystem distributions.

The GLRI Edge-of-Field Monitoring project focuses on identifying and reducing agricultural sources of excess nutrients which can threaten the health of the Great Lakes. This geonarrative details the basics of edge-of-field monitoring (EOF), explores EOF applications, shows USGS is working collaboratively with our partners, and discusses how EOF can improve conservation efforts.

U.S. Water Use from 1950-2015 is an interactive map viewer used to visualize water use by region and date for U.S. freshwater withdrawals, 1950-present (created by USGS VIZLAB).

On March 27, 1964 the largest recorded earthquake in U.S. history struck southcentral Alaska.  Click on the photos or the numbers to take a tour.

A map app to get recharge values from streamgage locations in Pennsylvania. Development of this app is described at the Related Science page.

In 1977, the Congress of the United States recognized the need for uniform, current, and reliable information on water use and directed the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to establish a National Water-Use Information Program (NWUIP) to complement the Survey's data on the availability and quality of the Nations water resources.