James A Falcone (Former Employee)
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 25
Changes in anthropogenic influences on streams and rivers in the conterminous U.S. over the last 40 years, derived for 16 data themes
This product consists of time-series calculations of anthropogenic characteristics derived for 16 data themes for multiple scales covering the conterminous United States. The characteristics are those which (a) have consistent data sources, and (b) have the potential to affect the water quality of streams and rivers. All 16 data themes are provided for Hydrologic Unit Code level-10 (HUC-10) bounda
Estimates of Road Salt Application across the Conterminous United States, 1992-2019 (ver. 2.0, August 2023)
Annual estimates of road salt application were developed for the conterminous United States for the calendar years 1992 through 2015. The final estimates (in pounds) were derived from several data sources, which include road density and proportion of developed land use, depth and spatial extent of long-term snowfall, and the production and distribution of salt sources by state. The extent is the c
U.S. Geological Survey GAGES-II time series data from consistent sources of land use, water use, agriculture, timber activities, dam removals, and other historical anthropogenic influences
This product is a series of ten datasets containing tabular data from historical time series sources for the 9,067 conterminous United States sites in the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Geospatial Attributes of Gages for Evaluating Streamflow II (GAGES-II) dataset. The tables contain time-series data derived from consistent sources of agricultural commodities such as crop types, irrigation, and liv
Watershed characteristics for study sites of the U.S. Geological Surveys National Water Quality Programs Surface Water Trends project
This product consists of 29 datasets of tabular data and associated metadata for watershed characteristics of 1,530 study sites of the Surface Water Trends (SWT) project of the U.S. Geological Surveys (USGS) National Water Quality Program (NWQP). The project is conducting national studies of trends in water quality of streams and rivers for periods ranging from 10 to 40 years, between 1972 and 201
Coefficient-based consistent mapping of imperviousness in the conterminous U.S. at 60-m resolution for 1974, 1982, 1992, 2002, and 2012
Anthropogenic impervious surfaces affect hydrology, water quality, and ecological health and are widely studied. Previous studies have been limited, however, by a lack of consistent representation of imperviousness nationally as a time series prior to 2001. This product presents estimated imperviousness at 60-meter spatial resolution, for the time periods 1974, 1982, 1992, 2002, and 2012. The mapp
Conterminous U.S. mapping of household income at the block group scale adjusted for cost-of-living for the period 2013-2014
Household income is a potential predictor for a number of environmental influences, for example, application of urban pesticides. This product is a U.S. conterminous mapping of block group income derived from the 2010-2014 Census American Community Survey (ACS), adjusted by a 2013 county-level Cost-of-Living index obtained from the Council for Community and Economic Research. The resultant raster
Old vs. new urban: U.S. national mapping of the year of first development for urban areas, from 1940-2010
This product is a 100-m raster which classifies urban lands in the conterminous United States by the year in which they were first developed. The classification is based on housing density by era for 1940-2010 developed by the University of Wisconsin-Madison SILVIS lab. The classification was applied by identifying a housing unit density threshold which matched current-era development as represe
Water-quality and streamflow datasets used in the Weighted Regressions on Time, Discharge, and Season (WRTDS) models to determine trends in the Nations rivers and streams, 1972-2012
In 1991, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) began a study of more than 50 major river basins across the Nation as part of the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) project of the National Water-Quality Program. One of the major goals of the NAWQA project is to determine how water-quality conditions change over time. To support that goal, long-term consistent and comparable monitoring has been c
U.S. national categorical mapping of building heights by block group from Shuttle Radar Topography Mission data
This dataset is a categorical mapping of estimated mean building heights, by Census block group, in shapefile format for the conterminous United States. The data were derived from the NASA Shuttle Radar Topography Mission, which collected first return (top of canopy and buildings) radar data at 30-m resolution in February, 2000 aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavor. These data were processed here to e
National 1-km resolution rasters of selected Census of Agriculture statistics allocated to land use for the period 1950-2012
This dataset consists of a series of rasters covering the conterminous United States. Each raster is a one kilometer (km) grid for 18 selected Census of Agriculture statistics mapped to land use pixels for the time period 1950 to 2012. A supplemental set of 9 statistics mapped at the entire county level are also provided as 1-km rasters. The rasters are posted as ArcGIS grids. The statistics repre
Water-quality and streamflow datasets used in Seasonal Kendall trend tests for the Nations rivers and streams, 1972-2012
In 1991, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) began a study of more than 50 major river basins across the Nation as part of the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) project of the National Water-Quality Program. One of the major goals of the NAWQA project is to determine how water-quality conditions change over time. To support that goal, long-term consistent and comparable monitoring has been c
Mapping enhanced grazing potential based on the NAWQA Wall-to-wall Anthropogenic Land-use Trends (NWALT) product
This dataset provides an additional "Grazing Potential" land use class to the already-published USGS NAWQA Wall-to-wall Anthropogenic Land-use Trends (NWALT) product (Falcone, 2015, USGS Data Series 948). As with the NWALT, the dataset consists of five national 60-m land use grids, for the years 1974, 1982, 1992, 2002, 2012. The only change to the dataset is, for every year, some pixels which a
Filter Total Items: 21
GAGES: A stream gage database for evaluating natural and alteredflow conditions in the conterminous United States
Stream flow is a controlling element in the ecology of rivers and streams. Knowledge of the natural flow regime facilitates the assessment of whether specific hydrologic attributes have been altered by humans in a particular stream and the establishment of specific goals for stream-flow restoration. Because most streams are ungaged or have been altered by human influences, characterizing the natur
Authors
James A. Falcone, Daren Carlisle, David M. Wolock, Michael R. Meador
Quantifying human disturbance in watersheds: Variable selection and performance of a GIS-based disturbance index for predicting the biological condition of perennial streams
Characterizing the relative severity of human disturbance in watersheds is often part of stream assessments and is frequently done with the aid of Geographic Information System (GIS)-derived data. However, the choice of variables and how they are used to quantify disturbance are often subjective. In this study, we developed a number of disturbance indices by testing sets of variables, scoring meth
Authors
James A. Falcone, Daren Carlisle, Lisa C. Weber
Selected Physical, Chemical, and Biological Data Used to Study Urbanizing Streams in Nine Metropolitan Areas of the United States, 1999-2004
This report documents and summarizes physical, chemical, and biological data collected during 1999-2004 in a study titled Effects of Urbanization on Stream Ecosystems, undertaken as part of the U.S. Geological Survey's National Water-Quality Assessment Program. Data-collection methods and data processing are described in this report for streamflow; stream temperature; instream chemistry; instream
Authors
Elise M. P. Giddings, Amanda H. Bell, Karen M. Beaulieu, Thomas F. Cuffney, James F. Coles, Larry R. Brown, Faith A. Fitzpatrick, James A. Falcone, Lori A. Sprague, Wade L. Bryant, Marie C. Peppler, Cory Stephens, Gerard McMahon
Predicting the biological condition of streams: Use of geospatial indicators of natural and anthropogenic characteristics of watersheds
We developed and evaluated empirical models to predict biological condition of wadeable streams in a large portion of the eastern USA, with the ultimate goal of prediction for unsampled basins. Previous work had classified (i.e., altered vs. unaltered) the biological condition of 920 streams based on a biological assessment of macroinvertebrate assemblages. Predictor variables were limited to wide
Authors
D.M. Carlisle, J. Falcone, M. R. Meador
Predicting the natural flow regime: Models for assessing hydrological alteration in streams
Understanding the extent to which natural streamflow characteristics have been altered is an important consideration for ecological assessments of streams. Assessing hydrologic condition requires that we quantify the attributes of the flow regime that would be expected in the absence of anthropogenic modifications. The objective of this study was to evaluate whether selected streamflow characteris
Authors
D.M. Carlisle, J. Falcone, D. M. Wolock, M. R. Meador, R.H. Norris
Biological assessments of Appalachian streams based on predictive models for fish, macroinvertebrate, and diatom assemblages
We developed empirical models for fish, macroinvertebrate, and diatom assemblages to assess the biological condition of 268 streams sampled from 1993 to 2002 in 7 major river basins in the Appalachian region of the USA. These models estimate the expected taxonomic composition at each site based on observed variation in taxonomic composition at reference sites. The index, O/E, is the ratio of the n
Authors
D.M. Carlisle, C.P. Hawkins, M. R. Meador, M. Potapova, J. Falcone
A Comparison of Natural and Urban Characteristics and the Development of Urban Intensity Indices Across Six Geographic Settings
As part of the U.S. Geological Survey National Water-Quality Assessment Program, the effects of urbanization on stream ecosystems have been intensively investigated in six metropolitan areas in the United States. Approximately 30 watersheds in each area, ranging in size from 4 to 560 square kilometers (median is 50 square kilometers), and spanning a development gradient from very low to very high
Authors
James A. Falcone, Jana Stewart, Steven Sobieszczyk, Jean Dupree, Gerard McMahon, Gary Buell
Land-Cover and Imperviousness Data for Regional Areas near Denver, Colorado; Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas; and Milwaukee-Green Bay, Wisconsin - 2001
This report describes the processing and results of land-cover and impervious surface derivation for parts of three metropolitan areas being studied as part of the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program Effects of Urbanization on Stream Ecosystems (EUSE). The data were derived primarily from Landsat-7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) satellite imagery
Authors
James A. Falcone, Daniel K. Pearson
Mapping impervious surface type and sub-pixel abundance using Hyperion hyperspectral imagery
Impervious surfaces have been identified as an important and quantifiable indicator of environmental degradation in urban settings. A number of research efforts have been directed at mapping impervious surface type using multispectral imagery. To date, however, no studies have compared equivalent techniques using multispectral and hyperspectral imagery to that end. In this study, data from NASA's
Authors
James A. Falcone, R. Gomez
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 25
Changes in anthropogenic influences on streams and rivers in the conterminous U.S. over the last 40 years, derived for 16 data themes
This product consists of time-series calculations of anthropogenic characteristics derived for 16 data themes for multiple scales covering the conterminous United States. The characteristics are those which (a) have consistent data sources, and (b) have the potential to affect the water quality of streams and rivers. All 16 data themes are provided for Hydrologic Unit Code level-10 (HUC-10) bounda
Estimates of Road Salt Application across the Conterminous United States, 1992-2019 (ver. 2.0, August 2023)
Annual estimates of road salt application were developed for the conterminous United States for the calendar years 1992 through 2015. The final estimates (in pounds) were derived from several data sources, which include road density and proportion of developed land use, depth and spatial extent of long-term snowfall, and the production and distribution of salt sources by state. The extent is the c
U.S. Geological Survey GAGES-II time series data from consistent sources of land use, water use, agriculture, timber activities, dam removals, and other historical anthropogenic influences
This product is a series of ten datasets containing tabular data from historical time series sources for the 9,067 conterminous United States sites in the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Geospatial Attributes of Gages for Evaluating Streamflow II (GAGES-II) dataset. The tables contain time-series data derived from consistent sources of agricultural commodities such as crop types, irrigation, and liv
Watershed characteristics for study sites of the U.S. Geological Surveys National Water Quality Programs Surface Water Trends project
This product consists of 29 datasets of tabular data and associated metadata for watershed characteristics of 1,530 study sites of the Surface Water Trends (SWT) project of the U.S. Geological Surveys (USGS) National Water Quality Program (NWQP). The project is conducting national studies of trends in water quality of streams and rivers for periods ranging from 10 to 40 years, between 1972 and 201
Coefficient-based consistent mapping of imperviousness in the conterminous U.S. at 60-m resolution for 1974, 1982, 1992, 2002, and 2012
Anthropogenic impervious surfaces affect hydrology, water quality, and ecological health and are widely studied. Previous studies have been limited, however, by a lack of consistent representation of imperviousness nationally as a time series prior to 2001. This product presents estimated imperviousness at 60-meter spatial resolution, for the time periods 1974, 1982, 1992, 2002, and 2012. The mapp
Conterminous U.S. mapping of household income at the block group scale adjusted for cost-of-living for the period 2013-2014
Household income is a potential predictor for a number of environmental influences, for example, application of urban pesticides. This product is a U.S. conterminous mapping of block group income derived from the 2010-2014 Census American Community Survey (ACS), adjusted by a 2013 county-level Cost-of-Living index obtained from the Council for Community and Economic Research. The resultant raster
Old vs. new urban: U.S. national mapping of the year of first development for urban areas, from 1940-2010
This product is a 100-m raster which classifies urban lands in the conterminous United States by the year in which they were first developed. The classification is based on housing density by era for 1940-2010 developed by the University of Wisconsin-Madison SILVIS lab. The classification was applied by identifying a housing unit density threshold which matched current-era development as represe
Water-quality and streamflow datasets used in the Weighted Regressions on Time, Discharge, and Season (WRTDS) models to determine trends in the Nations rivers and streams, 1972-2012
In 1991, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) began a study of more than 50 major river basins across the Nation as part of the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) project of the National Water-Quality Program. One of the major goals of the NAWQA project is to determine how water-quality conditions change over time. To support that goal, long-term consistent and comparable monitoring has been c
U.S. national categorical mapping of building heights by block group from Shuttle Radar Topography Mission data
This dataset is a categorical mapping of estimated mean building heights, by Census block group, in shapefile format for the conterminous United States. The data were derived from the NASA Shuttle Radar Topography Mission, which collected first return (top of canopy and buildings) radar data at 30-m resolution in February, 2000 aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavor. These data were processed here to e
National 1-km resolution rasters of selected Census of Agriculture statistics allocated to land use for the period 1950-2012
This dataset consists of a series of rasters covering the conterminous United States. Each raster is a one kilometer (km) grid for 18 selected Census of Agriculture statistics mapped to land use pixels for the time period 1950 to 2012. A supplemental set of 9 statistics mapped at the entire county level are also provided as 1-km rasters. The rasters are posted as ArcGIS grids. The statistics repre
Water-quality and streamflow datasets used in Seasonal Kendall trend tests for the Nations rivers and streams, 1972-2012
In 1991, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) began a study of more than 50 major river basins across the Nation as part of the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) project of the National Water-Quality Program. One of the major goals of the NAWQA project is to determine how water-quality conditions change over time. To support that goal, long-term consistent and comparable monitoring has been c
Mapping enhanced grazing potential based on the NAWQA Wall-to-wall Anthropogenic Land-use Trends (NWALT) product
This dataset provides an additional "Grazing Potential" land use class to the already-published USGS NAWQA Wall-to-wall Anthropogenic Land-use Trends (NWALT) product (Falcone, 2015, USGS Data Series 948). As with the NWALT, the dataset consists of five national 60-m land use grids, for the years 1974, 1982, 1992, 2002, 2012. The only change to the dataset is, for every year, some pixels which a
Filter Total Items: 21
GAGES: A stream gage database for evaluating natural and alteredflow conditions in the conterminous United States
Stream flow is a controlling element in the ecology of rivers and streams. Knowledge of the natural flow regime facilitates the assessment of whether specific hydrologic attributes have been altered by humans in a particular stream and the establishment of specific goals for stream-flow restoration. Because most streams are ungaged or have been altered by human influences, characterizing the natur
Authors
James A. Falcone, Daren Carlisle, David M. Wolock, Michael R. Meador
Quantifying human disturbance in watersheds: Variable selection and performance of a GIS-based disturbance index for predicting the biological condition of perennial streams
Characterizing the relative severity of human disturbance in watersheds is often part of stream assessments and is frequently done with the aid of Geographic Information System (GIS)-derived data. However, the choice of variables and how they are used to quantify disturbance are often subjective. In this study, we developed a number of disturbance indices by testing sets of variables, scoring meth
Authors
James A. Falcone, Daren Carlisle, Lisa C. Weber
Selected Physical, Chemical, and Biological Data Used to Study Urbanizing Streams in Nine Metropolitan Areas of the United States, 1999-2004
This report documents and summarizes physical, chemical, and biological data collected during 1999-2004 in a study titled Effects of Urbanization on Stream Ecosystems, undertaken as part of the U.S. Geological Survey's National Water-Quality Assessment Program. Data-collection methods and data processing are described in this report for streamflow; stream temperature; instream chemistry; instream
Authors
Elise M. P. Giddings, Amanda H. Bell, Karen M. Beaulieu, Thomas F. Cuffney, James F. Coles, Larry R. Brown, Faith A. Fitzpatrick, James A. Falcone, Lori A. Sprague, Wade L. Bryant, Marie C. Peppler, Cory Stephens, Gerard McMahon
Predicting the biological condition of streams: Use of geospatial indicators of natural and anthropogenic characteristics of watersheds
We developed and evaluated empirical models to predict biological condition of wadeable streams in a large portion of the eastern USA, with the ultimate goal of prediction for unsampled basins. Previous work had classified (i.e., altered vs. unaltered) the biological condition of 920 streams based on a biological assessment of macroinvertebrate assemblages. Predictor variables were limited to wide
Authors
D.M. Carlisle, J. Falcone, M. R. Meador
Predicting the natural flow regime: Models for assessing hydrological alteration in streams
Understanding the extent to which natural streamflow characteristics have been altered is an important consideration for ecological assessments of streams. Assessing hydrologic condition requires that we quantify the attributes of the flow regime that would be expected in the absence of anthropogenic modifications. The objective of this study was to evaluate whether selected streamflow characteris
Authors
D.M. Carlisle, J. Falcone, D. M. Wolock, M. R. Meador, R.H. Norris
Biological assessments of Appalachian streams based on predictive models for fish, macroinvertebrate, and diatom assemblages
We developed empirical models for fish, macroinvertebrate, and diatom assemblages to assess the biological condition of 268 streams sampled from 1993 to 2002 in 7 major river basins in the Appalachian region of the USA. These models estimate the expected taxonomic composition at each site based on observed variation in taxonomic composition at reference sites. The index, O/E, is the ratio of the n
Authors
D.M. Carlisle, C.P. Hawkins, M. R. Meador, M. Potapova, J. Falcone
A Comparison of Natural and Urban Characteristics and the Development of Urban Intensity Indices Across Six Geographic Settings
As part of the U.S. Geological Survey National Water-Quality Assessment Program, the effects of urbanization on stream ecosystems have been intensively investigated in six metropolitan areas in the United States. Approximately 30 watersheds in each area, ranging in size from 4 to 560 square kilometers (median is 50 square kilometers), and spanning a development gradient from very low to very high
Authors
James A. Falcone, Jana Stewart, Steven Sobieszczyk, Jean Dupree, Gerard McMahon, Gary Buell
Land-Cover and Imperviousness Data for Regional Areas near Denver, Colorado; Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas; and Milwaukee-Green Bay, Wisconsin - 2001
This report describes the processing and results of land-cover and impervious surface derivation for parts of three metropolitan areas being studied as part of the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program Effects of Urbanization on Stream Ecosystems (EUSE). The data were derived primarily from Landsat-7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) satellite imagery
Authors
James A. Falcone, Daniel K. Pearson
Mapping impervious surface type and sub-pixel abundance using Hyperion hyperspectral imagery
Impervious surfaces have been identified as an important and quantifiable indicator of environmental degradation in urban settings. A number of research efforts have been directed at mapping impervious surface type using multispectral imagery. To date, however, no studies have compared equivalent techniques using multispectral and hyperspectral imagery to that end. In this study, data from NASA's
Authors
James A. Falcone, R. Gomez