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USGS2012

Bathymetry and acoustic backscatter-outer mainland shelf, eastern Santa Barbara Channel, California

In 2010 and 2011, scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center (PCMSC), acquired bathymetry and acoustic-backscatter data from the outer shelf region of the eastern Santa Barbara Channel, California. These surveys were conducted in cooperation with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM). BOEM is interested in maps of hard-bottom substrates, particularly natural outcrops that support reef communities in areas near oil and gas extraction activity. The surveys were conducted using the USGS R/V Parke Snavely, outfitted with an interferometric sidescan sonar for swath mapping and real-time kinematic navigation equipment. This report provides the bathymetry and backscatter data acquired during these surveys in several formats, a summary of the mapping mission, maps of bathymetry and backscatter, and Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) metadata.

California↗
USGS2005

Inventory of Anchialine Pools in Hawaii's National Parks

BACKGROUND Anchialine (?near the sea?) pools are rare and localized brackish waters along coastal lava flows that exhibit tidal fluctuations without a surface connection with the ocean (Fig. 1). In Hawai`i, these pools were frequently excavated or otherwise modified by Hawaiians to serve as sources of drinking water, baths and fish ponds. National Parks in Hawai`i possess the full spectrum of pool types, from walled fish ponds to undisturbed pools in collapsed lava tubes, cracks and caves. Pools contain relatively rare and unique fauna threatened primarily by invasive species and habitat loss. In collaboration with the National Park Service?s Inventory and Monitoring Program, the U.S. Geological Survey?s Pacific Island Ecosystems Research Center undertook inventories of these unique ecosystems in two National Parks on the island of Hawai`i: Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park and Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park.

Fact Sheet↗
USGS2000

Cruise report R/V Surf Surveyor cruise S1-00-CL, mapping the bathymetry of Crater Lake, Oregon

During the Spring of 1999, the US Geological Survey (USGS) Pacific Seafloor Mapping Project (PSMP) was contacted by the US National Park Service Crater Lake National Park (CLNP) to inquire about the plausibility of producing a high-resolution multibeam bathymetric map of Crater Lake. The purpose was to generate a much higher-resolution and more geographically accurate bathymetric map than was produced in 1959, the last time the lake had been surveyed. Scientific interest in various aspects of Crater Lake (aquatic biology, geochemistry, volcanic processes, etc.) has increased during the past decade but the basemap of bathymetry was woefully inadequate. Funds were gathered during the early part of 2000 and the mapping began in late July, 2000. Crater Lake (see fig. 1 in report) is located in south central Oregon (see fig. 2 in report) within the Cascades Range, a chain of volcanoes that stretches from northern California to southern British Columbia. Crater Lake is the collapsed caldera of Mt. Mazama from a climatic eruption about 7700-yr ago (Nelson et al., 1988; Bacon and Lanphere, 1990; Bacon et al., 1997). The floor of Crater Lake has only been mapped three times since the lake was first stumbled upon by gold prospectors in the 1853. The first survey was carried by out by William G. Steel during a joint USGS-US Army expedition under the direction of Maj. Clarence E. Dutton in 1886 (Dutton, 1889). Steel�s mapping survey collected 186 soundings using a Millers lead-line sounding machine (see fig.3 in report). The resulting map (see fig.4 in report) shows only soundings and no attempts were made to generate contours. The second survey, conducted in 1959 by the US Coast and Geodetic Survey, mapped the bathymetry of Crater Lake with an acoustic echo sounder using radar navigation and collected 4000 soundings. The data were contoured by Williams (1961) and Byrne (1962) and the result is a fairly detailed map of the large-scale features of Crater Lake (see fig. 5 in report). The third mapping survey, the one of this report, was a joint USGS-NPS project carried out under a Cooperative Agreement with the Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping, University of New Hampshire. The 2000 survey used a Kongsberg Simrad EM1002 high-resolution multibeam mapping system owned and operated by C&C Technologies, Inc. of Lafayette, LA.

Oregon↗
USGS2011

The dynamics of fine-grain sediment dredged from Santa Cruz Harbor

In the fall and early winter of 2009, a demonstration project was done at Santa Cruz Harbor, California, to determine if 450 m 3 /day of predominantly (71 percent) mud-sized sediment could be dredged from the inner portion of the harbor and discharged to the coastal ocean without significant impacts to the beach and inner shelf. During the project, more than 7600 m 3 of sediment (~5400 m 3 of fine-grain material) was dredged during 17 days and discharged approximately 60 m offshore of the harbor at a depth of 2 m on the inner shelf. The U.S. Geological Survey’s Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center was funded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Santa Cruz Port District to do an integrated mapping and process study to investigate the fate of the mud-sized sediment dredged from the inner portion of Santa Cruz Harbor and to determine if any of the fine-grain material settled out on the shoreline and/or inner shelf during the fall and early winter of 2009. This was done by collecting high resolution oceanographic and sediment geochemical measurements along the shoreline and on the continental shelf of northern Monterey Bay to monitor the fine-grain sediment dredged from Santa Cruz Harbor and discharged onto the inner shelf. These in place measurements, in conjunction with beach, water column, and seabed surveys, were used as boundary and calibration information for a three-dimensional numerical circulation and sediment dynamics model to better understand the fate of the fine-grain sediment dredged from Santa Cruz Harbor and the potential consequences of disposing this type of material on the beach and on the northern Monterey Bay continental shelf.

California↗
USGS2011

Bathymetry and acoustic backscatter: Elwha River Delta, Washington

Between February 22 and March 3, 2010, scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center (PCMSC), acquired bathymetry and acoustic-backscatter data from the Elwha River Delta, Strait of Juan de Fuca, Washington, under PCMSC Field Activity ID S-6-10-PS. Three ancillary surveys were conducted when sea conditions were too rough for surveying outside the harbor breakwaters. The first ancillary survey was of the area surrounding the abandoned Rayonier Pier site in Port Angeles Harbor, a former log-storage facility on the southern side of Ediz Hook near the Port Angeles Coast Guard Station. Finally, several lines of bathymetry and backscatter data were collected on the outer face of Ediz Hook as the vessel transited to and from the Elwha River Delta. These data were collected to inspect failure features along the northern edge of Ediz Hook that were first observed in 2005 during USGS cruise K-1-05-PS. The surveys were conducted using the R/V Parke Snavely outfitted with an interferometric sidescan sonar for swath mapping and real-time kinematic navigation equipment for accurate shallow water operations. This report provides these data in a number of different formats, as well as a summary of the mapping mission, maps of bathymetry and backscatter, and Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) metadata.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2012

Bathymetry and digital elevation models of Coyote Creek and Alviso Slough, South San Francisco Bay, California

In 2010, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center completed three cruises to map the bathymetry of the main channel and shallow intertidal mudflats in the southernmost part of south San Francisco Bay. The three surveys were merged to generate comprehensive maps of Coyote Creek (from Calaveras Point east to the railroad bridge) and Alviso Slough (from the bay to the town of Alviso) to establish baseline bathymetry prior to the breaching of levees adjacent to Alviso and Guadalupe Sloughs as part of the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project ( http://www.southbayrestoration.org ). Since 2010, the USGS has conducted fourteen additional surveys to monitor bathymetric change in this region as restoration progresses. The bathymetric surveys were conducted using the state-of-the-art research vessel R/V Parke Snavely outfitted with an interferometric sidescan sonar for swath mapping in extremely shallow water. This publication provides high-resolution bathymetric data collected by the USGS. For the 2010 baseline survey we have merged the bathymetry with aerial lidar data that were collected for the USGS during the same time period to create a seamless, high-resolution digital elevation model (DEM) of the study area. The series of bathymetric datasets are provided at 1 m resolution and the 2010 bathymetric/topographic DEM at 2 m resolution. The data are formatted as both X, Y, Z text files and ESRI Arc ASCII files that are accompanied by Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) compliant metadata.

California↗
USGS2013

Bathymetry and acoustic backscatter: Estero Bay, California

Between July 30 and August 9, 2012, scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center (PCMSC), acquired bathymetry and acoustic-backscatter data from Estero Bay, San Luis Obispo, California, under PCMSC Field Activity ID S-05-12-SC. The survey was done using the R/V Parke Snavely outfitted with a multibeam sonar for swath mapping and highly accurate position and orientation equipment for georeferencing. This report provides these data in a number of different formats, as well as a summary of the mapping mission, maps of bathymetry and backscatter, and Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) metadata.

California↗
USGS2008

Hazard information management during the autumn 2004 reawakening of Mount St. Helens volcano, Washington

The 2004 reawakening of Mount St. Helens quickly caught the attention of government agencies as well as the international news media and the public. Immediate concerns focused on a repeat of the catastrophic landslide and blast event of May 18, 1980, which remains a vivid memory for many individuals. Within several days of the onset of accelerating seismicity, media inquiries increased exponentially. Personnel at the U.S. Geological Survey, the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network, and the Gifford Pinchot National Forest soon handled hundreds of press inquiries and held several press briefings per day. About one week into the event, a Joint Information Center was established to help maintain a consistent hazard message and to provide a centralized information source about volcanic activity, hazards, area closures, and media briefings. Scientists, public-affairs specialists, and personnel from emergency-management, health, public-safety, and land-management agencies answered phones, helped in press briefings and interviews, and managed media access to colleagues working on science and safety issues. For scientists, in addition to managing the cycle of daily fieldwork, challenges included (1) balancing accurate interpretations of data under crisis conditions with the need to share information quickly, (2) articulating uncertainties for a variety of volcanic scenarios, (3) minimizing scientific jargon, and (4) frequently updating and effectively distributing talking points. Success of hazard information management during a volcanic crisis depends largely on scientists’ clarity of communication and thorough preplanning among interagency partners. All parties must commit to after-action evaluation and improvement of communication plans, incorporating lessons learned during each event.

Washington↗
USGS2009

Ecological assessment of wadeable streams on O`ahu, Hawai'i, 2006-2007: A pilot study

In 2006–07, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Pacific Islands Water Science Center (PIWSC), in cooperation with the Hawai‘i Department of Health (HDOH), conducted a pilot study as a participant in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (USEPA) Wadeable Streams Assessment (WSA) program. Forty randomly selected sites on perennial streams on O‘ahu, Hawai‘i, were surveyed for habitat characteristics, water chemistry, and benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages. Of the original sampling frame of approximately 505.2 miles of perennial stream, roughly 96.7±30.7 miles were found to be nonperennial or estuarine and another 200.5±64.7 miles were judged to be inaccessible. The scope of this report presents an assessment of the remaining 208±57.6 miles of accessible, wadeable, perennial stream length on O‘ahu. Benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages were used to determine the ecological condition at each site. Components of the benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages were assessed using the multimetric Preliminary–Hawaiian Benthic Index of Biotic Integrity (P–HBIBI) developed by Wolff (2005). Based on the P–HBIBI scores, an estimated 5.8±5.8 percent of the island’s total stream length is in most disturbed condition, 56±13.5 percent is in intermediately disturbed condition, and 38.2±13.2 percent is in least disturbed condition. Windward O‘ahu had the highest percentage of stream length in least disturbed biological condition at 56.7±20.8 percent. Using the relative abundance of insects, one of the core metrics that make up the P–HBIBI, 43.4±14.2 percent of the islandwide stream length was classified in the most disturbed condition—52±31.2 percent of the Honolulu region stream length and 51.4±23.3 percent of the windward O‘ahu stream length. An analysis of total nitrogen (N) estimated approximately 41.1±13.7 percent of the stream length on O‘ahu was in most disturbed condition. Regionally, the Honolulu region had the largest proportion, 61.3±28.6 percent, of most disturbed stream length in terms of total N. An analysis of total phosphorus (P) classified approximately 43.2±14 percent of the stream length on O‘ahu as most disturbed. Regionally, windward O‘ahu had the largest proportion, 78.4±19.5 percent, of stream length classified as most disturbed. An analysis of embeddedness classified 30.3±14.7 percent of O‘ahu’s stream length as most. Regionally, windward O‘ahu had the largest proportion, 43.3±17.1 percent, of stream length classified as most disturbed as compared to the reference condition. An analysis of riparian disturbance, an index of the in-channel, riparian, and near-stream human activities, classified 43±13 percent of stream length on O‘ahu as most disturbed. The Honolulu region had the largest proportion of stream length, 86.3±13.7 percent, classified as most disturbed. The information in this report is the first attempt in Hawai‘i to assess the islandwide ecological condition of wadeable, perennial streams on O‘ahu using the USEPA WSA probabilistic design. This study has demonstrated that such an assessment is practical and that it can provide information that may help the USEPA and HDOH in determining the status of aquatic ecosystems on O‘ahu, Hawai‘i. This study provides a baseline assessment of the current islandwide ecological condition and identifies potential environmental stressors. It can be used, with future WSA studies in Hawai‘i, to measure the changes in those conditions and the effectiveness of management efforts to protect, restore, and maintain Hawai‘i’s aquatic environment.

Hawaii↗
USGS2019

A revised continuous surface elevation model for modeling

A digital elevation model (DEM) is an essential component of any hydrodynamic model. The Delta Modeling Section (Section) has maintained a database of bathymetry soundings and levee surveys for decades and published a 10-meter (10m) DEM for the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Delta) (California Department of Water Resources 2012). In collaboration with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) has continued to upgrade these DEMs based on newer survey data and improved interpolation methodologies. An updated San Francisco Bay-Delta bathymetric/topographic digital elevation model was published by the USGS (Fregoso, Wang, Ateljevich, and Jaffe 2017). Both DWR and USGS continue to work on the elevation models for several reasons. First, high-resolution multibeam bathymetry data continues to become available. A good portion of the newer collections are performed at locations where bathymetry data is lacking, or of poor quality, or where model sensitivity to bathymetry is known to be high, so the effort has a high return on investment. Recent high-resolution multibeam datasets easily support the development of accurate 2-meter (2m) DEMs, although shallow water, turbidity, vegetation, and the gap between the multibeam data and terrestrial data from light detection and ranging (LiDAR) remain vexing issues that fuel development of enhanced techniques. In some locations, migration toward 2m resolution models is motivated by geographical structure even where there has been little improvement in the underlying data. DEMs at 10m resolution are insufficient to adequately describe small-scale terrain features, such as levee crests or the main conveyance channel through a narrow reach, such as Middle River. As a result, elevation modelers have traditionally needed to perform feature enforcement for 10m DEMs, but not for the Section’s 2m DEMs which do resolve these features (California Department of Resources 2012). There are several other problems associated with a coarse target resolution, including reduced conveyance and rough contours where channels run oblique to the elevation model. In places where the topography demands a finer elevation model, the Section and others have adopted improved interpolation techniques for single-beam data to produce reasonable 2m DEMs that preserve features on appropriate scales.

California↗
USGS2024

Minerals Yearbook, volume III, Area Reports — International — Asia and the Pacific

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Minerals Yearbook discusses the performance of the worldwide minerals and materials industries and provides background information to assist in interpreting that performance. Content of the individual Minerals Yearbook volumes follows: Volume I, Metals and Minerals , contains chapters about virtually all metallic and industrial mineral commodities important to the U.S. economy. Chapters on survey methods, summary statistics for domestic nonfuel minerals, and trends in mining and quarrying in the metals and industrial mineral industries in the United States are also included. Volume II, Area Reports: Domestic , contains a chapter on the mineral industry of each of the 50 States and Puerto Rico and the Administered Islands. This volume also has chapters on survey methods and summary statistics of domestic nonfuel minerals. Volume III, Area Reports: International , is published as four separate reports. These regional reports contain the latest available minerals data on more than 180 foreign countries and discuss the importance of minerals to the economies of these nations and the United States. Each report begins with an overview of the region’s mineral industries during the year. It continues with individual country chapters that examine the mining, refining, processing, and use of minerals in each country of the region and how each country’s mineral industry relates to U.S. industry. Most chapters include production tables and industry structure tables, information about Government policies and programs that affect the country’s mineral industry, and an outlook section. The USGS continually strives to improve the value of its publications to users. Constructive comments and suggestions by readers of the Minerals Yearbook are welcomed.

Minerals Yearbook↗
USGS1996

Methodology used to produce an encoded 1:100,000-scale digital hydrographic data layer for the Pacific Northwest

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has produced a River Reach File data layer for the Pacific Northwest for use in water-resource management applications. The Pacific Northwest (PNW) River Reach Files, a geo-referenced river reach data layer at 1:100,000-scale, are encoded with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency"s (EPA) reach numbers. The encoding was a primary task of the River Reach project, because EPA"s reach identifiers are also an integral hydrologic component in a regional Northwest Environmental Data Base-an ongoing effort by Federal and State agencies to compile information on reach-specific resources on rivers in Oregon, Idaho, Washington, and western Montana. A unique conflation algorithm was developed by the USGS to transfer the EPA reach codes and other meaningful attributes from the 1:250,000-scale EPA TRACE graphic files to the PNW Reach Files. The PNW Reach Files also were designed so that reach-specific information upstream or downstream from a point in the stream network could be extracted from feature attribute tables or from a Geographic Information System. This report documents the methodology used to create this 1:100,000-scale hydrologic data layer.

Water-Resources Investigations Report↗
USGS1985

Sequentially and alternatively developed heights for two representative bench marks: near Palmdale, California and along the Bill Williams River, Arizona

This report consists chiefly of 41 tables that both describe and fully document the reconstructions of a series of alternately developed heights based on levelings leading into two representative bench marks in the southwestern United States. One of these marks, 3219, Vincent, California (fig. 1), lies within the area of the Pacific-North American plate boundary; the other, 22Q, Bill Williams River, Arizona (fig. 1), falls within what is believed to be a singularly stable section of southwestern Arizona. Because the levelings that produced these heights were characterized by especially disparate routes with respect to both terrain and climate, the resulting heights provide a test for the existence and magnitude of path-dependent error in geodetic leveling. These two marks were chosen both because of their relative stability with respect to adjacent marks and because their tectonic stability (or instability) can be inferred from the geologic record. Specifically, we can reasonably speculate that 3219 may have sustained measurably significant tectonic displacements during the 20th century, whereas 22Q probably has remained virtually invariant with respect to any fixed datum during the same period. Bench mark 3219 is a standard Geological Survey iron post stamped "3219" near the Southern Pacific Railroad station at Vincent (U.S. Geological Survey, 1898, p. 392); 22Q is a brass cap stamped "22Q (MWD)" set in a concrete post located in a gully immediately north of the Bill Williams River, Arizona (USC&GS Quad. 34114). 3219 was established by the Geological Survey no later than 1897 (Gannett and Baldwin, 1907, p. 365); 22Q was established by the Metropolitan Water District of southern California in advance of the 1931 control surveys along the projected route of the Colorado River Aqueduct.

Arizona, California↗
USGS2021

Historical streamflow and stage data compilation for the Lower Columbia River, Pacific Northwest

The U.S. Geological Survey mined data from a variety of national and state agencies including USGS, Oregon Water Resources Department, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Washington Department of Ecology, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Portland State University, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. A comprehensive dataset of streamflow, stage, and tidal elevations for the Lower Columbia River basin was compiled. Data were compiled from gaging stations in Oregon and Washington along the Columbia River from Astoria to The Dalles and along the Willamette River from Salem to Portland. Tidal gages along the Washington, Oregon, and California coasts were also compiled. Seasonal maximum values were calculated for both streamflow and stage for the winter (November–March) and spring (April–July) flow seasons, as well as for the full water year when underlying data were available. The aggregated datasets are available at https://doi.org/10.5066/P9R6RT0Z .

California, Oregon, Washington↗
USGS2015

Dreissenid mussel research priorities workshop

Currently, dreissenid mussels have yet to be detected in the northwestern part of the United States and western Canada. Infestation of one of the jurisdictions within the mussel-free Pacific Northwest would likely have significant economic, soci­etal and environmental implications for the entire region. Understanding the biology and environmental tolerances of dreissenid mussels, and effectiveness of various man­agement strategies, is key to prevention. On November 4-5, 2015, the Aquatic Bioinvasion Research and Policy Institute and the Center for Lakes and Reservoirs at Portland State University, the US Geological Survey, and the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission, convened a Dreissenid Mussel Research Priorities Workshop funded by the Great Northern Landscape Conservation Cooperative. The purpose of the workshop was to review dreissenid research priorities in the 2010 Quagga-Zebra Mussel Action Plan for Western U.S. Waters, reassess those priorities, incorporate new information and emerging trends, and develop priorities to strategically focus research efforts on zebra and quagga mussels in the Pacific Northwest and ensure that future research is focused on the highest priorities. It is important to note that there is some repetition among dreissenid research priority categories (e.g., prevention, detection, control, monitoring, and biology). Workshop participants with research experience in dreissenid mussel biology and management were identified by a literature review. State and federal agency managers were also invited to the workshop to ensure relevancy and practicality of the work­shop outcomes. A total of 28 experts (see sidebar) in mussel biology, ecology, and management attended the workshop.

Conference Paper↗
USGS2019

Probability of streamflow permanence model (PROSPER): A spatially continuous model of annual streamflow permanence throughout the Pacific Northwest

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has developed the PRObability of Streamflow PERmanence (PROSPER) model, a GIS raster-based empirical model that provides streamflow permanence probabilities (probabilistic predictions) of a stream channel having year-round flow for any unregulated and minimally-impaired stream channel in the Pacific Northwest region, U.S. The model provides annual predictions for 2004-2016 at a 30-m spatial resolution based on monthly or annually updated values of climatic conditions and static physiographic variables associated with the upstream basin. Predictions correspond to any pixel on the channel network consistent with the medium resolution National Hydrography Dataset channel network stream grid. Total annual precipitation and percent forest cover were consistently the most important predictor variables among global and most subregional models, which had error rates between 17 and 22%. Probabilities were converted to wet and dry streamflow permanence classes with an associated confidence. Wet and dry classifications were used to derive descriptors that characterize the statistical and spatial distribution of streamflow permanence in three focal basins. Predicted dry channel segments account for 52 to 92% of the stream network across the three focal basins; streamflow permanence decreased during climatically drier years. Predictions are publicly available through the USGS StreamStats platform. Results demonstrate the utility of the PROSPER model as a tool for identifying areas that may be resilient or sensitive to drought conditions, allowing for management efforts that target protecting critical reaches. Importantly, PROSPER’s successful predictive performance can be improved with new datasets of streamflow permanence underscoring the importance of field observations.

Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington↗