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At least 397 records · Page 22Linked to original sources
USGS2002

Documentation and analysis of a geographic information system application for combining data layers, using nonpoint-source pollution as an example

A geographical information system application has been developed that allows scientists to combine multiple data layers into a single data layer. This application provides an effective tool for identifying areas where the potential effect of the combination of data layers may be greater than any single data layer. Such a tool is useful in studying an activity that cannot be measured directly. Scientists wanting to identify areas where an activity may have the greatest effect can identify factors that directly or indirectly reflect the effect of the activity being studied. When combined, these factors would identify areas where the potential for the activity to have an effect are greatest. The data layers used to develop the single data layer determine the activity addressed by the application?the application was developed to identify areas where the potential for nonpoint-source pollution to affect areas of Indiana is greater relative to other areas in Indiana. To evaluate the potential in other states or areas, data layers for those states or areas would be used. To address a different activity, even activities not related to water resources, data layers that directly or indirectly reflect the effects of the activity being studied would be used in the application. The application was developed using Environmental System Research Institute's ArcView geographical information system and the ArcView extension, Spatial Analyst. To use the application, the user selects data layers related to the activity being studied, describes the variability of a data element between geographic areas on each data layer, assigns a relative importance factor to each data layer, and focuses the output by identifying a watershed of interest. The application then assigns a rank value to the features within each data layer on the basis of the spatial variation of the data layer. The data layers are converted to grids. The values of the grid cells are the product of the rank values and the importance factors. The cells for each data layer are combined to form a single grid. The combination is summarized to describe the spatial variation for the watershed of interest. The combined data layer does not show the actual potential effect of the selected factors but rather the relative difference in the potential effect among areas when all data layers are considered. An analysis of the application indicates that the selected data layers to be combined should be at the greatest spatial resolution possible; however, all data layers do not have to be at the same spatial resolution. The spatial variation of the data layers should be adequately defined. The size of each grid cell should be small enough to maintain the spatial definition of smaller features within the data layers. The most accurate results are shown to occur when the values for the grid cells representing the individual data layers are summed and the mean of the summed grid-cell values is used to describe the watershed of interest.

Indiana↗
USGS2002

AVIRIS data calibration information: Wasatch Mountains and Park City region, Utah

This report contains information regarding the reflectance calibration of spectroscopic imagery acquired over the Wasatch Mountains and Park City region, Utah, by the Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) sensor on August 5, 1998. This information was used by the USGS Spectroscopy Laboratory to calibrate the Park City AVIRIS imagery to unitless reflectance prior to spectral analysis. The Utah AVIRIS data were analyzed as a part of the USEPA-USGS Utah Abandoned Mine Lands Imaging Spectroscopy Project .

Utah↗
USGS2002

Characteristics of urbanization in five watersheds of Anchorage, Alaska: Geographic Information System data

The report contains environmental and urban geographic information system data for 14 sites in 5 watersheds in Anchorage, Alaska. These sites were examined during summer in 1999 and 2000 to determine effects of urbanization on water quality. The data sets are Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc., shapefiles, coverages, and images. Also included are an elevation grid and a triangulated irregular network. Although the data are intended for users with advanced geographic information system capabilities, simple images of the data also are available. ArcView 3.2 project, an ArcGIS project, and 16 ArcExplorer2 projects are linked to the PDF file based report. Some of these coverages are large files over 10 MB. The largest coverage, impervious cover, is 208 MB.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2003

Pallid sturgeon in the Lower Mississippi Region: Hematology and genome information

This project (Project 1448-43270-2M-002) has been coordinated through the Natchitoches National Fish Hatchery (NNFH) and the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Wetlands Research Center (NWRC). From November 2001 to April 2002, over 280 sturgeon of the genus Scaphirhynchus (including pallid sturgeon, shovelnose, and their hybrids) were sampled from the outflow channel of the Old River Control Structure Complex (ORCC) in Concordia Parish, La. In the overall project, several datasets were collected (see Appendix), including species identification by using microsatellites and morphometric characters, food habits, physical anomalies, information on blood cells, and pathologic evidence of iridovirus – the first indication in the lower Mississippi population of pallid sturgeon. In this study, data on blood cells were obtained from the sturgeon collected monthly from approximately 20 different animals at each sampling time. This report presents preliminary information on differential blood cell identifications in sturgeon, data on comparative genomic DNA content and DNA degradation, and summaries and interpretations of data collected in light of available scientific literature addressing blood parameters of fish and sturgeon, in particular. Results obtained from collection and examination of blood and body fluids are often essential in establishing the health of fish (Blaxhall, 1972; Fange, 1992). Blood cells and sperm cells can be obtained nondestructively from fishes, even from small specimens that weigh less than 100 g (Stoskopf, 1992a). For flow cytometry assays, whereby cells are analyzed individually in a fluid stream, less than 1 :L of blood is needed. Examinations of blood by microscopy and flow cytometry were performed at NWRC in assisting in the efforts directed at recovery of the pallid sturgeon population in the Lower Mississippi River Basin.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2004

Stream habitat and water-quality information for sites in the Buffalo River Basin and nearby basins of Arkansas, 2001-2002

The Buffalo River lies in north-central Arkansas and is a tributary of the White River. Stream-habitat and water-quality information are presented for 52 sites in the Buffalo River Basin and adjacent areas of the White River Basin. The information was collected during the summers of 2001 and 2002 to supplement fish community sampling during the same time period.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2005

Geodatabase of environmental information for Air Force Plant 4 and Naval Air Station-Joint Reserve Base Carswell Field, Fort Worth, Texas, 1990-2004

Air Force Plant 4 (AFP4) and adjacent Naval Air Station-Joint Reserve Base (NAS-JRB) at Fort Worth, Tex., constitute a government-owned, contractor-operated (GOCO) facility that has been in operation since 1942. Contaminants from the facility, primarily volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and metals, have entered the groundwater-flow system through leakage from waste-disposal sites (landfills and pits) and from manufacturing processes (U.S. Air Force, Aeronautical Systems Center, 1995). The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the U.S. Air Force (USAF), Aeronautical Systems Center, Environmental Management Directorate (ASC/ENVR), developed a comprehensive database (or geodatabase) of temporal and spatial environmental information associated with the geology, hydrology, and water quality at AFP4 and NAS-JRB. The database of this report provides information about the AFP4 and NAS-JRB study area including sample location names, identification numbers, locations, historical dates, and various measured hydrologic data. This database does not include every sample location at the site, but is limited to an aggregation of selected digital and hardcopy data of the USAF, USGS, and various consultants who have previously or are currently working at the site.

Texas↗
USGS2009

Computer programs for obtaining and analyzing daily mean streamflow data from the U.S. Geological Survey National Water Information System web site

Five computer programs were developed for obtaining and analyzing streamflow from the National Water Information System (NWISWeb). The programs were developed as part of a study by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration, to develop a stochastic empirical loading and dilution model. The programs were developed because reliable, efficient, and repeatable methods are needed to access and process streamflow information and data. The first program is designed to facilitate the downloading and reformatting of NWISWeb streamflow data. The second program is designed to facilitate graphical analysis of streamflow data. The third program is designed to facilitate streamflow-record extension and augmentation to help develop long-term statistical estimates for sites with limited data. The fourth program is designed to facilitate statistical analysis of streamflow data. The fifth program is a preprocessor to create batch input files for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency DFLOW3 program for calculating low-flow statistics. These computer programs were developed to facilitate the analysis of daily mean streamflow data for planning-level water-quality analyses but also are useful for many other applications pertaining to streamflow data and statistics. These programs and the associated documentation are included on the CD-ROM accompanying this report. This report and the appendixes on the CD-ROM describe the implementation and use of the programs and the interpretation of results from the programs. The body of this report provides an overview of the five programs included on this CD-ROM. The appendixes are the software manuals for each program. These manuals describe statistical and numerical methods used to implement each program, input-file formats, output-file formats, installation of the programs, and use of the programs. Each appendix is written as a self-contained manual because each program may have many uses alone or in tandem with other programs on the CD-ROM. Each of these programs uses graphical user interface that follows standard Microsoft Windows interface conventions.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2009

Constructing Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) for Searching the Marine Realms Information Bank

The Marine Realms Information Bank (MRIB) is a digital library that provides access to free online scientific information about the oceans and coastal regions. To search its collection, MRIB uses a Common Gateway Interface (CGI) program, which allows automated search requests using Uniform Resource Locators (URLs). This document provides an overview of how to construct URLs to execute MRIB queries. The parameters listed allow detailed control of which records are retrieved, how they are returned, and how their display is formatted.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2010

Distribution of potential hydrothermally altered rocks in central Colorado derived from Landsat Thematic Mapper data: A geographic information system data set

As part of the Central Colorado Mineral Resource Assessment Project, the digital image data for four Landsat Thematic Mapper scenes covering central Colorado between Wyoming and New Mexico were acquired and band ratios were calculated after masking pixels dominated by vegetation, snow, and terrain shadows. Ratio values were visually enhanced by contrast stretching, revealing only those areas with strong responses (high ratio values). A color-ratio composite mosaic was prepared for the four scenes so that the distribution of potentially hydrothermally altered rocks could be visually evaluated. To provide a more useful input to a Geographic Information System-based mineral resource assessment, the information contained in the color-ratio composite raster image mosaic was converted to vector-based polygons after thresholding to isolate the strongest ratio responses and spatial filtering to reduce vector complexity and isolate the largest occurrences of potentially hydrothermally altered rocks.

Colorado↗
USGS2011

Geographic information system (GIS) representation of coal-bearing areas in India and Bangladesh

Geographic information system (GIS) information may facilitate energy studies, which in turn provide input for energy policy decisions. Prior to this study, no GIS file representing the occurrence of coal-bearing units in India or Bangladesh was known to exist. This Open-File Report contains downloadable shapefiles representing the coalfields of India and Bangladesh and a limited number of chemical and petrographic analyses of India and Bangladesh coal samples. Also included are maps of India and Bangladesh showing the locations of the coalfields and coal samples in the shapefiles, figures summarizing the stratigraphic units in the coalfields of India and Bangladesh, and a brief report summarizing the stratigraphy and geographic locations of coal-bearing deposits in India and Bangladesh.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2013

Information to support to monitoring and habitat restoration on Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge

The Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge staff focuses on improving habitat for the highest incidence of endemic species for an area of its size in the continental United States. Attempts are being made to restore habitat to some semblance of its pre-anthropogenic undisturbed condition, and to provide habitat conditions to which native plant and animal species have evolved. Unfortunately, restoring the Ash Meadows’ Oases to its pre-anthropogenic undisturbed condition is almost impossible. First, there are constraints on water manipulation because there are private holdings within the refuge boundary; second, there has been at least one species extinction—the Ash Meadows pool fish ( Empetrichthys merriami ). It is also quite possible that thermal endemic invertebrate species were lost before ever being described. Perhaps the primary obstacle to restoring Ash Meadows to its pre-anthropogenic undisturbed conditions is the presence of invasive species. However, invasive species, such as red swamp crayfish ( Procambarus clarki ) and western mosquitofish ( Gambusia affinis ), are a primary driving force in restoring Ash Meadows’ spring systems, because under certain habitat conditions they can all but replace native species. Returning Ash Meadows’ physical landscape to some semblance of its pre-anthropogenic undisturbed condition through natural processes may take decades. Meanwhile, the natural dissolution of concrete and earthen irrigation channels threatens to allow cattail marshes to flourish instead of spring-brooks immediately downstream of spring discharge. This successional stage favors non-native crayfish and mosquitofish over the native Amargosa pupfish ( Cyprinodon nevadensis ). Thus, restoration is needed to control non-natives and to promote native species, and without such intervention the probability of native fish reduction or loss, is anticipated. The four studies in this report are intended to provide information for restoring native fish habitat and for monitoring native fish populations in relation to restoration efforts on the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge. There are no precise records on conditions of each of the spring systems prior to anthropogenic alteration; however, fostering conditions that favor native over non-natives will be key to habitat restoration. Information regarding native species carbon source is needed to create habitat that favors native species, thus habitat restoration fostering food stuff consumed by native species should be considered in restoration efforts. In compiling data for the first part of this report, we tracked carbon source for native and non-native species at four stations along the Jackrabbit Spring system. Thus, we were able to contrast carbon source in warm- and cool-water habitats. Habitat in Jackrabbit Spring was improved for native fishes in 2007. The second paper in this report focuses on native fish populations in Jackrabbit Spring system pre- and post-restoration. Much of the Ash Meadows Oases is marsh habitat where non-native red swamp crayfish and western mosquitofish are often abundant, to the detriment of non-natives. Because marsh habitat is broadly represented in the Ash Meadows landscape, establishing marsh habitat most conducive to the native fishes is important to the restoration effort, and the third paper addresses marsh habitat type with the relative abundance of fishes and crayfish. There are previous years of monitoring Ash Meadows’ native fish populations, but not all monitoring occurred at the same time of year. Desert-fish populations sometimes undergo seasonal fluctuation, so it might not be valid to compare population trends using difference seasons. For report four, we tracked a closed population of Amargosa pupfish ( Cyprinodon nevadensis ) year round to track seasonal trends. Knowledge of seasonal trends is important in tracking changes of populations pre- and post-restoration.

Nevada↗
USGS2015

USGS compilation of geographic information system (GIS) data of coal mines and coal-bearing areas in Mongolia

Geographic information system (GIS) information may facilitate energy studies, which in turn provide input for energy policy decisions. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has compiled GIS data representing coal mines, deposits (including those with and without coal mines), occurrences, areas, basins, and provinces of Mongolia as of 2009. These data are now available for download, and may be used in a GIS for a variety of energy resource and environmental studies of Mongolia. Chemical data for 37 coal samples from a previous USGS study of Mongolia (Tewalt and others, 2010) are included in a downloadable GIS point shapefile and shown on the map of Mongolia. A brief report summarizes the methodology used for creation of the shapefiles and the chemical analyses run on the samples.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2015

U.S. Geological Survey Chesapeake science strategy, 2015-2025—Informing ecosystem management of America’s largest estuary

Executive Summary The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has the critical role of providing scientific information to improve the understanding and management of the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem. The USGS works with Federal, State, and academic science partners to provide research and monitoring, and communicate results of these activities to enhance ecosystem management for both the Chesapeake and other National ecosystems. The USGS Chesapeake Science Strategy was prepared to guide science activities to address the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement (2014–2025), to support the Department of the Interior (DOI) involvement in the Bay restoration efforts, and align with the USGS Mission Area (MA) Science strategies. The Chesapeake Bay is our Nation’s largest estuary, and provides critical goods and services to the people, fish, and wildlife that use the 64,000-square-mile watershed. The Chesapeake Bay watershed contains over 3,600 species of fish, wildlife, and plants and provides spawning grounds for many ecologically and economically important species including striped bass and blue crabs. The Bay watershed lies in the heart of the Atlantic Flyway and has 29 species of waterfowl, about 1 million of which winter in the region. The size of the Chesapeake seafood harvest is third in the Nation, only behind the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Along with agricultural production, tourism, and recreation, the estimated economic value of the services from the Chesapeake Bay watershed is about $100 billion annually. However, the health of the Bay ecosystem began to decline at the beginning of the 20th century due to overfishing and increasing human population and associated land change. The Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) is the Federal-State cooperative effort that started in 1983 to restore the Bay and watershed. Given the ecological and economic importance of the Chesapeake ecosystem, President Obama issued an Executive Order (EO) in 2009 for increased Federal leadership in the CBP to enhance the pace of restoration, and the supporting strategy was released in 2010. The EO directed the Federal Government, including the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI), represented by the National Park Service (NPS), the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS), and the USGS, to expand its efforts and increase leadership to restore the Bay and its watershed. The USGS and other Federal agencies expanded their activities in 2011 to meet the President’s Chesapeake EO. Since the EO was released, there have been several important changes in the USGS, DOI, and the CBP including: (1) the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement, (2) increased DOI leadership in the CBP, and (3) the release of the USGS MA science strategies. The EO strategy served as a foundation for the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement that was signed in 2014 by the CBP Partners, and has goals and outcomes to be met by 2025. The USGS developed the Chesapeake Science Strategy to guide our activities to address the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement, DOI leadership in the CBP, and USGS MA strategies. Improving the understanding of fish and wildlife population and health, and the factors affecting their condition is the emphasis of the Strategy. The science focuses on documenting the critical ecosystem connections in the Chesapeake, and providing implications to enhance decision making for restoration and conservation activities. The revised Strategy has four themes that address 7 of the 10 goals in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement: Enhance science to support restoration, and conservation of fish, wildlife, and critical habitats. Characterize and explain changes in water quality, and its effect on freshwater and estuarine ecosystems. Assess and forecast effects of climate and land change on ecosystem conditions. Synthesize and provide information to support ecosystem management. The structure and function of biological communities of the Bay and its watershed are extremely complex and are affected by a variety of stressors and conditions. To better define the issues being addressed, the USGS has developed cross-cutting questions that define some of the most important scientific challenges where multiple disciplines and collaborators are needed to address an issue. The initial questions include: How do land and climate changes affect freshwater fish communities, health, and habitats? What are the relations among land use, water quality, contaminants, and the health of fish and wildlife? How are coastal wetlands and their carrying capacity for waterbirds affected by changing climate and land use? How is the water quality of rivers and estuaries responding to restoration actions, and changing land use? What are some of the best opportunities for management actions to benefit multiple restoration outcomes?

Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virgin↗
USGS2015

An overview of the National Earthquake Information Center acquisition software system, Edge/Continuous Waveform Buffer

This document provides an overview of the capabilities, design, and use cases of the data acquisition and archiving subsystem at the U.S. Geological Survey National Earthquake Information Center. The Edge and Continuous Waveform Buffer software supports the National Earthquake Information Center’s worldwide earthquake monitoring mission in direct station data acquisition, data import, short- and long-term data archiving, data distribution, query services, and playback, among other capabilities. The software design and architecture can be configured to support acquisition and (or) archiving use cases. The software continues to be developed in order to expand the acquisition, storage, and distribution capabilities.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2021

Grassland live fractional cover map creation and Geographic Information System (GIS) analysis for rangeland management supporting Kenya Northern Rangelands Trust Conservancies

The handbooks and synchronized MP4 recordings provide hands-on instruction for creating and analyzing vegetation live fractional cover (LFC) maps. The methods and protocols used in the instruction materials follow those developed and recorded in Rangoonwala and Ramsey (2019). The LFC mapping and geographic information system (GIS) analyses highlight the consortium of rangeland conservancies covering the semiarid central region of Kenya (approximately 44,000 square kilometers). The instruction materials are separated into two parts: processing and map-product creation based on remote-sensing images and GIS analyses of the created maps for rangeland management. The image processing is conducted using the advanced and professional software package SeNtinels Application Platform (SNAP) that is supported and maintained by the European Space Agency. SNAP is a free image analyses software package available for download. It is largely icon driven but offers simple to advanced program inserts and batch processing. The GIS analyses are conducted using the software package Quantum Geographic Information System (QGIS), another free and downloadable software. QGIS is compatible with numerous software, including the Esri suite of ArcGIS software and database structure. The image data includes both high-spatial-resolution Sentinel-2 optical data and Sentinel-1 synthetic aperture radar (SAR). Both datasets are freely available via a public portal that is maintained by the European Space Agency. The image-processing instruction handbook covers all aspects of acquiring and processing satellite-image data and importing vector-data sources into SNAP. The GIS analysis handbook covers final creation of map products from the maps created in SNAP and creation of GIS procedures in QGIS that are needed to manage the rangeland resources for wildlife and pastoral grazing. Although focused on the Kenyan conservancies and their semiarid environment, the processing methods and procedures are applicable for similar environments and management, and to a large part, even for integrated mapping and GIS functionality of any managed landscape resource. The instruction handbooks are synchronized to MP4 training videos created with U.S. Geological Survey-licensed Camtasia 9 software. The workbook and MP4 video combinations are suitable for a single user or a workshop setting.

Open-File Report↗
USGS1972

Applications of the generalized information processing system (GIPSY)

The Generalized Information Processing System (GIPSY) stores and retrieves variable-field, variable-length records consisting of numeric data, textual data, or codes. A particularly noteworthy feature of GIPSY is its ability to search records for words, word stems, prefixes, and suffixes as well as for numeric values. Moreover, retrieved records may be printed on pre-defined formats or formatted as fixed-field, fixed-length records for direct input to other-programs, which facilitates the exchange of data with other systems. At present there are some 22 applications of GIPSY falling in the general areas of bibliography, natural resources information, and management science, This report presents a description of each application including a sample input form, dictionary, and a typical formatted record. It is hoped that these examples will stimulate others to experiment with innovative uses of computer technology.

Open-File Report↗
USGS1979

Outer continental shelf oil and gas information program; Alaska index (December 1974 - June 1979)

As part of a national goal to reduce dependence on foreign energy sources, the United States is currently managing a program for leasing of OCS oil and gas resources. The areas potentially affected, consisting of 22 coastal states and Pennsylvania, can be grouped into four major areas: Alaska, Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico and Pacific. The Alaska Area has three lease sale areas: Gulf of Alaska, the Bering Sea and the Chukchi and the Beaufort Sea (see Figures I and 2). Most of the information used by both the government and industry on the hydrocarbon potential of the Alaska Area is initially acquired and compiled on a regional basis. These data are used by industry in nominating tracts for lease and in preparation of bids and by the Department of the Interior for general sale area identification, tract selection, environmental impact statements and resource evaluation. Subsequent environmental information and data analysis is directed toward defining specific sub-areas and site-specific evaluation.

Alaska↗
USGS1981

Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Information Program: Atlantic index (December 1980 - June 1981)

In an effort to develop the oil and gas resources of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), the United States currently conducts a leasing program for these resources. The Secretary of the Department of the Interior has been designated by the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act of 1953 (43 U.S.C. 1331-1343), as amended by the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Acts of 1978, to manage and regulate many of the activities that relate to the leasing, exploration, development, and production of the OCS mineral resources. Many of the Secretary's responsibilities have been delegated to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Under OCS Lands Act an Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Information Program was created and is managed by the BLM and the USGS. Authorities and operating procedures are detailed in the Code of Federal Regulations at 30 CFR 252 and 43 CFR 3300. Under this program regional indexes are prepared by the U.S. Geological Survey in conjunction with the Bureau of Land Management, and they list all relevant, actual, or proposed programs, plans, reports, environmental impact statements, and other lease sale information. The indexes are provided on a regular basis to affected States and, upon request, to local governments.

Open-File Report↗