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At least 271 records · Page 15Linked to original sources
USGS2021

National-scale reservoir thermal energy storage pre-assessment for the United States

The U.S. Geological Survey is performing a pre-assessment of the cooling potential for reservoir thermal energy storage (RTES) in five generalized geologic regions (Basin and Range, Coastal Plains, Illinois Basin, Michigan Basin, Pacific Northwest) across the United States. Reservoir models are developed for the metropolitan areas of eight cities (Albuquerque, New Mexico; Charleston, South Carolina; Chicago and Decatur, Illinois; Lansing, Michigan; Memphis, Tennessee; Phoenix, Arizona; and Portland, Oregon) so that computed metrics can be compared to evaluate RTES potential across diverse climates, geologic settings, and physiography. Permeable, semi-confined/confined units that underlie more-utilized aquifers and contain low-quality groundwater are selected for each city. Energy storage metrics are computed for the anticipated total thickness of stratigraphy for which RTES might be feasible, including estimated required well spacing, thermal storage capacity, and thermal recovery efficiency over time. Falta et al. (2016) showed that for a modern 25,000 square-foot (2,323 square-meter), two-story office building, cooling needs exceed heating demand for almost every region of the country. We therefore use Falta et al.’s cooling demand for each city as the representative RTES stress condition for metric computation, allowing comparisons across regions. Results indicate that favorable RTES conditions exist in each region, particularly in the Illinois Basin, Coastal Plains, and Basin and Range. Thermal recovery efficiencies are very high in all regions and increase over time. The thermal storage capacity metric is most informative in the pre-assessment and underscores the importance of mapping reservoir thicknesses and porosities to permit detailed mapping of thermal storage capacity per unit area as a key RTES resource classification standard. This assessment provides a basic understanding of the RTES potential in several metropolitan areas and geologic regions throughout the United States and will aid further evaluation of national RTES efficacy.

Conference Paper↗
USGS2025

Dynamic rating method for computing discharge and stage from time-series data

Ratings are used for several reasons in water-resources investigations. The simplest rating relates discharge to the stage of a river (the stage-discharge relation). From a pure hydrodynamics perspective, all rivers and streams have some form of hysteresis in the relation between stage and discharge because flow becomes unsteady as a flood wave passes. The stage-discharge relation is unable to represent hysteresis. However, a dynamic rating method can capture hysteresis, which is driven by the variable energy slope of a flood wave. A dynamic rating method called DYNPOUND, which accommodates compact and compound channel geometry, was developed by simplifying the one-dimensional Saint-Venant equations. The DYNPOUND method was developed in the Python programming language and computes discharge from stage and stage from discharge. Stage and discharge time series computed with this dynamic rating method were compared to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) published stage and discharge time series. The results from the DYNPOUND method were also compared to in-person field measurements of stage and discharge made at 10 USGS streamgages. DYNPOUND was calibrated for 10 USGS streamgages using published discharge time-series data computed with a simple rating method. The calibration objective was to minimize the mean squared logarithmic error (MSLE) of the DYNPOUND-computed discharge with respect to the discharge time series computed by a simple rating method. For each site, the calibration process also included comparing all field measurements within a selected water year to the corresponding DYNPOUND-computed discharge data points. The MSLE of the DYNPOUND-computed discharge time series for the 10 sites ranged from 8.51×10 −4 to 1.36×10 −1 . For each site, an event-based period was selected to compare the discharge time series computed with the dynamic rating method to discharge field measurements made at the streamgages; the range of MSLE for the 10 DYNPOUND-computed discharge sites was from 4.79×10 −4 to 2.30×10 −2 .

continental United States↗
USGS2001

Computed and estimated pollutant loads, West Fork Trinity River, Fort Worth, Texas, 1997

In 1998 the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Trinity River Authority, did a study to estimate storm-runoff pollutant loads using two models—a deterministic model and a statistical model; the estimated loads were compared to loads computed from measured data for a large (118,000 acres) basin in the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, metropolitan area. Loads were computed and estimated for 12 properties and constituents in runoff from two 1997 storms at streamflow-gaging station 08048543 West Fork Trinity River at Beach Street in Fort Worth. Each model uses rainfall as a primary variable to estimate pollutant load. In addition to using point rainfall at the Beach Street station to estimate pollutant loads, areal-averaged rainfall for the basin was computed to obtain a more representative estimate of rainfall over the basin. Loads estimated by the models for the two storms, using both point and areal-averaged rainfall, generally did not compare closely to computed loads for the 12 water-quality properties and constituents. Both models overestimated loads more frequently than they underestimated loads. The models tended to yield similar estimates for the same property or constituent. In general, areal-averaged rainfall data yielded better estimates of loads than point rainfall data for both models. Neither the deterministic model nor the statistical model (both using areal-averaged rainfall) was consistently better at estimating loads. Several factors could account for the inability of the models to estimate loads closer to computed loads. Chief among them is the fact that neither model was designed for the specific application of this study.

Texas↗
USGS2013

Software for analysis of chemical mixtures--composition, occurrence, distribution, and possible toxicity

The composition, occurrence, distribution, and possible toxicity of chemical mixtures in the environment are research concerns of the U.S. Geological Survey and others. The presence of specific chemical mixtures may serve as indicators of natural phenomena or human-caused events. Chemical mixtures may also have ecological, industrial, geochemical, or toxicological effects. Chemical-mixture occurrences vary by analyte composition and concentration. Four related computer programs have been developed by the National Water-Quality Assessment Program of the U.S. Geological Survey for research of chemical-mixture compositions, occurrences, distributions, and possible toxicities. The compositions and occurrences are identified for the user-supplied data, and therefore the resultant counts are constrained by the user’s choices for the selection of chemicals, reporting limits for the analytical methods, spatial coverage, and time span for the data supplied. The distribution of chemical mixtures may be spatial, temporal, and (or) related to some other variable, such as chemical usage. Possible toxicities optionally are estimated from user-supplied benchmark data. The software for the analysis of chemical mixtures described in this report is designed to work with chemical-analysis data files retrieved from the U.S. Geological Survey National Water Information System but can also be used with appropriately formatted data from other sources. Installation and usage of the mixture software are documented. This mixture software was designed to function with minimal changes on a variety of computer-operating systems. To obtain the software described herein and other U.S. Geological Survey software, visit http://water.usgs.gov/software/.

Scientific Investigations Report↗
USGS1976

Extended cabfac and Qmodel computer programs for Q-mode factor analysis of compositional data

The computer program CABFAC for Q-mode factor analysis of geologic data has been extended for use with data having constant row-sums. Another program, QMODEL, reads an output file from CABFAC and can be used to develop a variety of Q-mode models. The models serve to reproduce estimates of the original data rather than of the data in normalized form. ?? 1976.

Computers & Geosciences↗
USGS2016

Groundwater

Introduction Groundwater represents the terrestrial subsurface component of the hydrologic cycle. As such, groundwater is generally in motion, moving from elevated areas of recharge to lower areas of discharge. Groundwater usually moves in accordance with Darcy’s law (Dalmont, Paris: Les Fontaines Publiques de la Ville de Dijon, 1856). Groundwater residence times can be under a day in small upland catchments to over a million years in subcontinental-sized desert basins. The broadest definition of groundwater includes water in the unsaturated zone, considered briefly here. Water chemically bound to minerals, as in gypsum (CaSO 4 • 2H 2 O) or hydrated clays, cannot flow in response to gradients in total hydraulic head (pressure head plus elevation head); such water is thus usually excluded from consideration as groundwater. In 1940, M. King Hubbert showed Darcy’s law to be a special case of thermodynamically based potential field equations governing fluid motion, thereby establishing groundwater hydraulics as a rigorous engineering science ( Journal of Geology 48, pp. 785–944). The development of computer-enabled numerical methods for solving the field equations with real-world approximating geometries and boundary conditions in the mid-1960s ushered in the era of digital groundwater modeling. An estimated 30 percent of global fresh water is groundwater, compared to 0.3 percent that is surface water, 0.04 percent atmospheric water, and 70 percent that exists as ice, including permafrost ( Shiklomanov and Rodda 2004 , cited under Groundwater Occurrence ). Groundwater thus constitutes the vast majority—over 98 percent—of the unfrozen fresh-water resources of the planet, excluding surface-water reservoirs. Environmental dimensions of groundwater are equally large, receiving attention on multiple disciplinary fronts. Riparian, streambed, and spring-pool habitats can be sensitively dependent on the amount and quality of groundwater inputs that modulate temperature and solutes, including nutrients and dissolved oxygen. Groundwater withdrawals can negatively impact riparian habitats by depriving ecosystems of adequate fresh water and fragmenting communities when streams go dry. Biochemical reactions in shallow groundwater can remove anthropogenically elevated nitrogen compounds and reduce—but only to a point—the greening of waterways and shorelines with periphyton and harmful algal blooms. Groundwater extraction for beneficial use is increasingly limited by water-quality constraints imposed by naturally occurring and introduced substances. Overdrafting can cause land-surface subsidence, damaging buildings and roads and disrupting canals, sewers, and other gravity-flow conveyances. Increases in groundwater levels can cause soil salinization in dry regions and erosive sapping and flooding in wet regions. Coastal saltwater intrusion, groundwater flooding, salinization associated with groundwater-irrigated agriculture, induced seismicity from injected wastes, and the detrimental impacts of groundwater depletion are among the major environmental challenges of our time.

Book chapter↗
USGS1961

Surface water records of Indiana, 1961

The surface-water records for the 1961 water year for gaging stations, partial-record stations, and miscellaneous sites within the State of Indiana are given in this report. For convenience there are also included records for a few pertinent gaging stations in bordering States. The records were collected and computed by the Water Resources Division of the U.S. Geological Survey, under the direction of Malcolm D. Hale, district engineer, Surface Water Branch. This report marks the beginning of a new method of presenting, annually, basic data on surface-water records by States. Through September 30, 1960, the records of discharge and stage of streams and contents and stage of lakes or reservoirs were published in an annual series of U.S. Geological Survey water-supply papers entitled "Surface Water Supply of the United States." Since 1951 there have been 20 volumes in the series; each volume covered an area whose boundaries coincided with those of certain natural drainage areas. The records in Indiana were contained in Parts 3A, 4 and 5 of that series. Beginning with the 1961 water year, streamflow records and related data will be released by the Geological Survey in annual reports on a State-boundary basis. Distribution of these basic-data reports will be limited and primarily for local needs. The records later will be published in Geological Survey water-supply papers at 5-year intervals. These 5-year water-supply papers will show daily discharge and will be compiled on the same geographical areas previously used for the annual series; however, some of the 14 parts of coterminous United States will be further subdivided.

Indiana↗
USGS1962

Surface water records of Indiana, 1962

The surface-water records for the 1962 water year for gaging stations, partial-record stations, and miscellaneous sites within the State of Indiana are given in this report. For convenience there are also included records for a few pertinent gaging stations in bordering States. The records were collected and computed by the Water Resources Division of the U.S. Geological Survey, under the direction of Malcolm D. Hale, district engineer, Surface Water Branch. This report marks the beginning of a new method of presenting, annually, basic data on surface-water records by States. Through September 30, 1960, the records of discharge and stage of streams and contents and stage of lakes or reservoirs were published in an annual series of U.S. Geological Survey water-supply papers entitled "Surface Water Supply of the United States." Since 1951 there have been 20 volumes in the series; each volume covered an area whose boundaries coincided with those of certain natural drainage areas. The records in Indiana were contained in Parts 3A, 4 and 5 of that series. Beginning with the 1961 water year, streamflow records and related data will be released by the Geological Survey in annual reports on a State-boundary basis. Distribution of these basic-data reports will be limited and primarily for local needs. The records later will be published in Geological Survey water-supply papers at 5-year intervals. These 5-year water-supply papers will show daily discharge and will be compiled on the same geographical areas previously used for the annual series; however, some of the 14 parts of coterminous United States will be further subdivided.

Indiana↗
USGS1963

Surface water records of Indiana, 1963

The surface-water records for the 1963 water year for gaging stations, partial-record stations, and miscellaneous sites within the State of Indiana are given in this report. For convenience there are also included records for a few pertinent gaging stations in bordering States. The records were collected and computed by the Water Resources Division of the U.S. Geological Survey, under the direction of Malcolm D. Hale, district engineer, Surface Water Branch. This report marks the beginning of a new method of presenting, annually, basic data on surface-water records by States. Through September 30, 1960, the records of discharge and stage of streams and contents and stage of lakes or reservoirs were published in an annual series of U.S. Geological Survey water-supply papers entitled "Surface Water Supply of the United States." Since 1951 there have been 20 volumes in the series; each volume covered an area whose boundaries coincided with those of certain natural drainage areas. The records in Indiana were contained in Parts 3A, 4 and 5 of that series. Beginning with the 1961 water year, streamflow records and related data will be released by the Geological Survey in annual reports on a State-boundary basis. Distribution of these basic-data reports will be limited and primarily for local needs. The records later will be published in Geological Survey water-supply papers at 5-year intervals. These 5-year water-supply papers will show daily discharge and will be compiled on the same geographical areas previously used for the annual series; however, some of the 14 parts of coterminous United States will be further subdivided.

Indiana↗
USGS1964

Surface water records of Indiana, 1964

The surface-water records for the 1964 water year for gaging stations, partial-record stations, and miscellaneous sites within the State of Indiana are given in this report. For convenience there are also included records for a few pertinent gaging stations in bordering States. The records were collected and computed by the Water Resources Division of the U.S. Geological Survey, under the direction of Malcolm D. Hale, district engineer, Surface Water Branch. This report marks the beginning of a new method of presenting, annually, basic data on surface-water records by States. Through September 30, 1960, the records of discharge and stage of streams and contents and stage of lakes or reservoirs were published in an annual series of U.S. Geological Survey water-supply papers entitled "Surface Water Supply of the United States." Since 1951 there have been 20 volumes in the series; each volume covered an area whose boundaries coincided with those of certain natural drainage areas. The records in Indiana were contained in Parts 3A, 4 and 5 of that series. Beginning with the 1961 water year, streamflow records and related data will be released by the Geological Survey in annual reports on a State-boundary basis. Distribution of these basic-data reports will be limited and primarily for local needs. The records later will be published in Geological Survey water-supply papers at 5-year intervals. These 5-year water-supply papers will show daily discharge and will be compiled on the same geographical areas previously used for the annual series; however, some of the 14 parts of coterminous United States will be further subdivided.

Indiana↗
USGS1965

Water resources data for Indiana, 1965

The surface-water records for the 1965 water year for gaging stations, partial-record stations, and miscellaneous sites within the State of Indiana are given in this report. For convenience there are also included records for a few pertinent gaging stations in bordering States. The records were collected and computed by the Water Resources Division of the U.S. Geological Survey, under the direction of Malcolm D. Hale, district engineer, Surface Water Branch. This report marks the beginning of a new method of presenting, annually, basic data on surface-water records by States. Through September 30, 1960, the records of discharge and stage of streams and contents and stage of lakes or reservoirs were published in an annual series of U.S. Geological Survey water-supply papers entitled "Surface Water Supply of the United States." Since 1951 there have been 20 volumes in the series; each volume covered an area whose boundaries coincided with those of certain natural drainage areas. The records in Indiana were contained in Parts 3A, 4 and 5 of that series. Beginning with the 1961 water year, streamflow records and related data will be released by the Geological Survey in annual reports on a State-boundary basis. Distribution of these basic-data reports will be limited and primarily for local needs. The records later will be published in Geological Survey water-supply papers at 5-year intervals. These 5-year water-supply papers will show daily discharge and will be compiled on the same geographical areas previously used for the annual series; however, some of the 14 parts of coterminous United States will be further subdivided.

Indiana↗
USGS2009

SEAWAT: A Computer Program for Simulation of Variable-Density Groundwater Flow and Multi-Species Solute and Heat Transport

SEAWAT is a MODFLOW-based computer program designed to simulate variable-density groundwater flow coupled with multi-species solute and heat transport. The program has been used for a wide variety of groundwater studies including saltwater intrusion in coastal aquifers, aquifer storage and recovery in brackish limestone aquifers, and brine migration within continental aquifers. SEAWAT is relatively easy to apply because it uses the familiar MODFLOW structure. Thus, most commonly used pre- and post-processors can be used to create datasets and visualize results. SEAWAT is a public domain computer program distributed free of charge by the U.S. Geological Survey.

Fact Sheet↗
USGS2002

User guide for the PULSE program

This manual describes the use of the PULSE computer program for analysis of streamflow records. The specific instructions included here and the computer files that accompany this manual require streamflow data in a format that can be obtained from U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) sites on the World Wide Web. The program is compiled to run on a personal computer that uses a Microsoft Windows-based operating system. This manual provides instructions for use of Microsoft Excel for plotting hydrographs, though users may choose to use other software for plotting. The program calculates a hydrograph of ground-water discharge to a stream on the basis of user-specified recharge to the water table. Two different formulations allow recharge to be treated as instantaneous quantities or as gradual rates. The process of ground-water evapotranspiration can be approximated as a negative gradual recharge. The PULSE program is intended for analyzing a ground-water-flow system that is characterized by diffuse areal recharge to the water table and ground-water discharge to a stream. Program use can be appropriate if all or most ground water in the basin discharges to the stream and if a streamflow-gaging station at the downstream end of the basin measures all or most outflow. Ground-water pumpage and the regulation and diversion of streamflow should be negligible. More information about the application of the method is included in Rutledge, 1997, pages 2-3. The program can be used in conjunction with ground-water-level data. If a well is open to the surficial aquifer, observed water-level rises in the well can be used to evaluate the timing of recharge. Such evaluation is most effective if there are numerous water-level observation wells in the basin. Water levels in observation wells can also be used to evaluate the rate of ground-water discharge estimated by the PULSE program. The results of such an evaluation may be problematic, however, because the relation between ground-water level and ground-water discharge may not be unique. Departures from the linear model of recession occur because of areal variation in transmissivity and because of the longitudinal component of ground-water flow (parallel to the stream). If the PULSE program is used to estimate ground-water recharge, the recession index should not be obtained from periods of extreme low flow, and the calibration process should include plotting flow on the linear scale in addition to plotting flow on the log scale.

Open-File Report↗
USGS1989

Preparation of average annual runoff map of the United States, 1951-80

Average annual runoff was computed or estimated for 2,148 hydrologic cataloging units in the United States and Puerto Rico , for the period 1951-80. Runoff was computed from the recorded streamflow at 5,951 U.S. Geological Survey gaging stations. The runoff at more than 3,000 of these stations was estimated by correlation with other nearby stations to adjust for missing data. These runoff data were used to draw a map depicting the variation of runoff throughout the nation. Average annual runoff varied from less than 0.01 inch in parts of the Great Basin (Utah, parts of Nevada, Oregon, and California) to more than 240 inches in southeastern Alaska. (USGS)

Open-File Report↗
USGS1992

The digital geologic map of Colorado in ARC/INFO format: Part C. Explanation sheet database

This geologic map was prepared as a part of a study of digital methods and techniques as applied to complex geologic maps. The geologic map was digitized from the original scribe sheets used to prepare the published Geologic Map of Colorado (Tweto 1979). Consequently the digital version is at 1:500,000 scale using the Lambert Conformal Conic map projection parameters of the state base map. Stable base contact prints of the scribe sheets were scanned on a Tektronix 4991 digital scanner. The scanner automatically converts the scanned image to an ASCII vector format. These vectors were transferred to a VAX minicomputer, where they were then loaded into ARC/INFO. Each vector and polygon was given attributes derived from the original 1979 geologic map. This database was developed on a MicroVAX computer system using VAX V 5.4 nd ARC/INFO 5.0 software. UPDATE: April 1995, The update was done solely for the purpose of adding the abilitly to plot to an HP650c plotter. Two new ARC/INFO plot AMLs along with a lineset and shadeset for the HP650C design jet printer have been included. These new files are COLORADO.650, INDEX.650, TWETOLIN.E00 and TWETOSHD.E00. These files were created on a UNIX platform with ARC/INFO 6.1.2. Updated versions of INDEX.E00, CONTACT.E00, LINE.E00, DECO.E00 and BORDER.E00 files that included the newly defined HP650c items are also included.

Colorado↗
USGS1995

Real-Time Mapping alert system; characteristics and capabilities

The U.S. Geological Survey has an extensive hydrologic network that records and transmits precipitation, stage, discharge, and other water-related data on a real-time basis to an automated data processing system. Data values are recorded on electronic data collection platforms at field sampling sites. These values are transmitted by means of orbiting satellites to receiving ground stations, and by way of telecommunication lines to a U.S. Geological Survey office where they are processed on a computer system. Data that exceed predefined thresholds are identified as alert values. The current alert status at monitoring sites within a state or region is of critical importance during floods, hurricanes, and other extreme hydrologic events. This report describes the characteristics and capabilities of a series of computer programs for real-time mapping of hydrologic data. The software provides interactive graphics display and query of hydrologic information from the network in a real-time, map-based, menu-driven environment.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2008

Dissolved-solids transport in surface water of the Muddy Creek Basin, Utah

Muddy Creek is located in the southeastern part of central Utah and is a tributary of the Dirty Devil River, which, in turn, is a tributary of the Colorado River. Dissolved solids transported from the Muddy Creek Basin may be stored in the lower Dirty Devil River Basin, but are eventually discharged to the Colorado River and impact downstream water users. This study used selected dissolved-solids measurements made by various local, State, and Federal agencies from the 1970s through 2006, and additional dissolved-solids data that were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey during April 2004 through November 2006, to compute dissolved-solids loads, determine the distribution of dissolved-solids concentrations, and identify trends in dissolved-solids concentration in surface water of the Muddy Creek Basin. The dissolved-solids concentration values measured in water samples collected from Muddy Creek during April 2004 through October 2006 ranged from 385 milligrams per liter (mg/L) to 5,950 mg/L. The highest dissolved-solids concentration values measured in the study area were in water samples collected at sites in South Salt Wash (27,000 mg/L) and Salt Wash (4,940 to 6,780 mg/L). The mean annual dissolved-solids load in Muddy Creek for the periods October 1976 to September 1980 and October 2005 to September 2006 was smallest at a site near the headwaters (9,670 tons per year [tons/yr]) and largest at a site at the mouth (68,700 tons/yr). For this period, the mean annual yield of dissolved solids from the Muddy Creek Basin was 44 tons per square mile. During October 2005 to September 2006, direct runoff transported as much as 45 percent of the annual dissolved-solids load at the mouth of Muddy Creek. A storm that occurred during October 5?7, 2006 resulted in a peak streamflow at the mouth of Muddy Creek of 7,150 cubic feet per second (ft3/s) and the transport of an estimated 35,000 tons of dissolved solids, which is about 51 percent of the average annual dissolved-solids load at the mouth of Muddy Creek. A significant downward trend in dissolved-solids concentrations from 1973 to 2006 was determined for Muddy Creek at a site just downstream of that portion of the basin containing agricultural land. Dissolved-solids concentrations decreased about 2.1 percent per year; however, the rate of change was a decrease of 1.8 percent per year when dissolved-solids concentrations were adjusted for flow.

Utah↗