USGS employees John Lane (L) and Molly Wood (R) learning about field processes conducted at a streamgage on the Limpopo River near Mahalapye, Botswana.
John W Lane, Jr., Ph.D.
Dr. John Lane is Senior Advisor for Water for International Programs.
As Chief of the USGS Hydrogeophysics Branch, Dr. John W. Lane, Jr. provided leadership and support to USGS offices across the Water Resources Mission Area in the application of geophysical methods for groundwater investigations.
Dr. Lane supervised Branch applied research, technical support, and technology transfer programs utilizing borehole, surface, and airborne geophysical methods including emerging applications of small unmanned aircraft systems.
Dr. Lane's applied research focuses on the development of quantitative geophysical methods in fractured rock and porous media, geophysical assessment of hydrologic processes, and on the application of hydrogeophysical methods for water resource and contamination assessment studies. Development and implementation of geophysical training and support for diverse audiences is a key component of Dr. Lane’s work. Dr. Lane has developed and supervised national, international, regional, and local instruction for USGS scientists and other cooperating agency personnel on the use of geophysics for groundwater exploration, water-resource assessment, and to address groundwater contamination and environmental engineering problems.
Science and Products
Hydrogeophysics Core Technology Team
Assessing River Erosion and Sedimentation in Ecuador
Water Science for a Changing World
Research in the Los Planes Watershed – Water Cycle Augmentation
International Water Resources Activities
Fiber-Optic Distributed Temperature Sensing Technology for Surface-Water and Groundwater Studies
Optimized Enhanced Bioremediation through 4D Geophysical Monitoring and Autonomous Data Collection, Processing, and Analysis
Borehole Geophysics
Floating Transient Electromagnetic Survey Data from the Columbia River near Hanford, WA
Floating and Towed Transient Electromagnetic Surveys used to Characterize Hydrogeology underlying Rivers and Estuaries: March - December 2018
QUASHNET SPAWN HESS CHEMICAL DATA
Geophysical and Other Data From an Irrigation Monitoring Experiment at Haddam Meadows, CT, July 2019
Passive seismic data collected along headwater stream corridors in Shenandoah National Park in 2016 - 2020
Near-field remotely sensed streamflow, channel bathymetry, and floodplain topography measurements in the Arkansas River at Parkdale, CO collected March 2018
Surface geophysical data for characterizing shallow, discontinuous frozen ground near Fort Yukon, Alaska
Geophysical and direct groundwater data collected on Palmyra Atoll to study fresh/saline groundwater interfaces from 2008 to 2019
Geophysical Data Collected for an Assessment of a Proposed Landfill Site in Fredericktown, Missouri, June 2018
Thermal infrared and photogrammetric data collected by drone for hydrogeologic characterization around two US Geological Survey Next Generation Water Observing Systems stream gage locations near Claryville, NY, USA
Surface Geophysical data collected along Blacktail Creek in June 2017 near Williston, North Dakota, USA
Transient Electromagnetics, Passive Seismic, and Borehole Electromagnetics, Gamma, and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Methods to Characterize an Unconsolidated Aquifer on Cape Cod, Massachusetts

USGS employees John Lane (L) and Molly Wood (R) learning about field processes conducted at a streamgage on the Limpopo River near Mahalapye, Botswana.

USGS employees Molly Wood (L) and John Lane (R) visiting a managed aquifer recharge injection well pilot site operated by the Botswana Ministry of Land Management and Sanitation Services, Department of Water and Sanitation, Mahalapye, Botswana.
USGS employees Molly Wood (L) and John Lane (R) visiting a managed aquifer recharge injection well pilot site operated by the Botswana Ministry of Land Management and Sanitation Services, Department of Water and Sanitation, Mahalapye, Botswana.
USGS employees Molly Wood (3rd from left) and John Lane (3rd from right) with staff from the Namibia Ministry of Mines and Energy and the Ministry of Agriculture, Water, and Land Reform, after a workshop on geophysics data collection.
USGS employees Molly Wood (3rd from left) and John Lane (3rd from right) with staff from the Namibia Ministry of Mines and Energy and the Ministry of Agriculture, Water, and Land Reform, after a workshop on geophysics data collection.

USGS hydrographers collect tens of thousands of streamflow measurements every year. In-water work by personnel is one of the most dangerous aspects of USGS hydrologic studies, especially during high-flow conditions. In May 2019, USGS continued testing of a light-weight, self-contained ground-penetrating radar (GPR) system that can be mounted on a small drone.
USGS hydrographers collect tens of thousands of streamflow measurements every year. In-water work by personnel is one of the most dangerous aspects of USGS hydrologic studies, especially during high-flow conditions. In May 2019, USGS continued testing of a light-weight, self-contained ground-penetrating radar (GPR) system that can be mounted on a small drone.
Borehole Fluid Logging in Bangladesh
Borehole Fluid Logging in Bangladesh
USGS scientists from the New York and Connecticut Water Science Centers fluid logging in Bangladesh
USGS scientists from the New York and Connecticut Water Science Centers fluid logging in Bangladesh
USGS scientists from the New York and Connecticut Water Science Centers conduct geophysical training in Iraq
USGS scientists from the New York and Connecticut Water Science Centers conduct geophysical training in Iraq
Field evaluation of semi-automated moisture estimation from geophysics using machine learning
Inversion of induced polarization-affected towed-transient electromagnetic data in a lateritic regolith geology: A case study from western Tanzania
GW/SW-MST: A groundwater/surface-water method selection tool
Geostatistical mapping of salinity conditioned on borehole logs, Montebello Oil Field, California
Investigation of scale-dependent groundwater/surface-water exchange in rivers by gradient self-potential logging: Numerical modeling and field experiments
Time-domain electromagnetic soundings and passive-seismic measurements for delineation of saline groundwater in the Genesee Valley-fill aquifer system, western New York, 2016–17
Continental-scale analysis of shallow and deep groundwater contributions to streams
Small atoll fresh groundwater lenses respond to a combination of natural climatic cycles and human modified geology
Geochemical and geophysical indicators of oil and gas wastewater can trace potential exposure pathways following releases to surface waters
Characterizing the diverse hydrogeology underlying rivers and estuaries using new floating transient electromagnetic methodology
Experimental shifts of hydrologic residence time in a sandy urban stream sediment-water interface alter nitrate removal and nitrous oxide fluxes
Hillslope groundwater discharges provide localized ecosystem buffers from regional PFAS contamination in a gaining coastal stream
FLASH-R (Flow-Log Analysis of Single Holes)
Science and Products
Hydrogeophysics Core Technology Team
Assessing River Erosion and Sedimentation in Ecuador
Water Science for a Changing World
Research in the Los Planes Watershed – Water Cycle Augmentation
International Water Resources Activities
Fiber-Optic Distributed Temperature Sensing Technology for Surface-Water and Groundwater Studies
Optimized Enhanced Bioremediation through 4D Geophysical Monitoring and Autonomous Data Collection, Processing, and Analysis
Borehole Geophysics
Floating Transient Electromagnetic Survey Data from the Columbia River near Hanford, WA
Floating and Towed Transient Electromagnetic Surveys used to Characterize Hydrogeology underlying Rivers and Estuaries: March - December 2018
QUASHNET SPAWN HESS CHEMICAL DATA
Geophysical and Other Data From an Irrigation Monitoring Experiment at Haddam Meadows, CT, July 2019
Passive seismic data collected along headwater stream corridors in Shenandoah National Park in 2016 - 2020
Near-field remotely sensed streamflow, channel bathymetry, and floodplain topography measurements in the Arkansas River at Parkdale, CO collected March 2018
Surface geophysical data for characterizing shallow, discontinuous frozen ground near Fort Yukon, Alaska
Geophysical and direct groundwater data collected on Palmyra Atoll to study fresh/saline groundwater interfaces from 2008 to 2019
Geophysical Data Collected for an Assessment of a Proposed Landfill Site in Fredericktown, Missouri, June 2018
Thermal infrared and photogrammetric data collected by drone for hydrogeologic characterization around two US Geological Survey Next Generation Water Observing Systems stream gage locations near Claryville, NY, USA
Surface Geophysical data collected along Blacktail Creek in June 2017 near Williston, North Dakota, USA
Transient Electromagnetics, Passive Seismic, and Borehole Electromagnetics, Gamma, and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Methods to Characterize an Unconsolidated Aquifer on Cape Cod, Massachusetts

USGS employees John Lane (L) and Molly Wood (R) learning about field processes conducted at a streamgage on the Limpopo River near Mahalapye, Botswana.
USGS employees John Lane (L) and Molly Wood (R) learning about field processes conducted at a streamgage on the Limpopo River near Mahalapye, Botswana.

USGS employees Molly Wood (L) and John Lane (R) visiting a managed aquifer recharge injection well pilot site operated by the Botswana Ministry of Land Management and Sanitation Services, Department of Water and Sanitation, Mahalapye, Botswana.
USGS employees Molly Wood (L) and John Lane (R) visiting a managed aquifer recharge injection well pilot site operated by the Botswana Ministry of Land Management and Sanitation Services, Department of Water and Sanitation, Mahalapye, Botswana.
USGS employees Molly Wood (3rd from left) and John Lane (3rd from right) with staff from the Namibia Ministry of Mines and Energy and the Ministry of Agriculture, Water, and Land Reform, after a workshop on geophysics data collection.
USGS employees Molly Wood (3rd from left) and John Lane (3rd from right) with staff from the Namibia Ministry of Mines and Energy and the Ministry of Agriculture, Water, and Land Reform, after a workshop on geophysics data collection.

USGS hydrographers collect tens of thousands of streamflow measurements every year. In-water work by personnel is one of the most dangerous aspects of USGS hydrologic studies, especially during high-flow conditions. In May 2019, USGS continued testing of a light-weight, self-contained ground-penetrating radar (GPR) system that can be mounted on a small drone.
USGS hydrographers collect tens of thousands of streamflow measurements every year. In-water work by personnel is one of the most dangerous aspects of USGS hydrologic studies, especially during high-flow conditions. In May 2019, USGS continued testing of a light-weight, self-contained ground-penetrating radar (GPR) system that can be mounted on a small drone.
Borehole Fluid Logging in Bangladesh
Borehole Fluid Logging in Bangladesh
USGS scientists from the New York and Connecticut Water Science Centers fluid logging in Bangladesh
USGS scientists from the New York and Connecticut Water Science Centers fluid logging in Bangladesh
USGS scientists from the New York and Connecticut Water Science Centers conduct geophysical training in Iraq
USGS scientists from the New York and Connecticut Water Science Centers conduct geophysical training in Iraq