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Search indexed USGS publications on groundwater, aquifers, geologic maps, mineral resources and earthquakes. Explore source records by subject and place.

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At least 1,027 records · Page 57Linked to original sources

USGS2015

'Is Ash Falling?', an online ashfall reporting tool in support of improved ashfall warnings and investigations of ashfall processes

The primary volcano hazard in Alaska is airborne ash, which endangers aircraft flying the busy North Pacific air routes and consequently affects global commerce. Downwind ashfall is also a significant threat to commerce, transportation and day-to-day activities in nearby Alaska communities. A web-enabled database, "Is Ash Falling?" has been developed to collect ashfall observations and encourage sample collections from the public during eruptions, enabling volcano observatory staff to concentrate on eruption response. Knowing the locations of filed ashfall reports improves public ashfall warnings and forecasts by providing on-the-ground checks for ash dispersion and fallout computer models and satellite imagery interpretation. Reports of ashfall are shared with emergency management agencies and the wider public. These reports also give scientists a more complete record of the amount, duration and other conditions of ashfall.

Journal of Applied Volcanology↗

USGS2026

Seeing is believing: Livestream video monitoring of Hawaiian eruptions

Livestream video has become a crucial tool for volcano monitoring in recent years, building upon the use of webcam snapshots that have been common for the past two decades. In Hawaii, livestream video was first tested in 2018, and today, livestream video is a vital tool for the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory and partner agencies (National Park Service and Hawaiʻi County Civil Defense) as well as the public. Its role in volcano monitoring has been highlighted by the 2024–present summit eruption of Kīlauea—where three livestream video feeds provide a continuous and easily accessible view of the activity for the public. Here, we describe the methodology and equipment used for the livestream cameras in Hawaii and discuss the benefits and challenges of livestream video monitoring. We show how the nature of livestream video has fundamentally changed volcano monitoring, providing an “up-close” view to the world that was previously limited to observatory field staff. The livestream video feeds, coupled with the historical summit lava fountains, have provided an unprecedented level of engagement with the public, both local and worldwide.

Hawaii↗

USGS2022

Evidence-based guidelines for protective actions and earthquake early warning systems

Earthquake early warning systems (EEW) are becoming increasingly available or in development throughout the world. With public alerting in Mexico, Japan, Taiwan, and parts of the United States, it is important to provide evidence-based recommendations for protective action so people can protect themselves when they receive an alert. Best-practice warning communication research suggests that providing a protective action will increase the efficacy of the message. However, given the diversity of earthquakes and building types, as well as social and cultural contexts where these systems exist, the question is: what is the best protective action to recommend? The answer lies in maximizing life-saving protective actions during an earthquake event requires both contextually relevant messaging and widespread public education about appropriate protective actions under a range of conditions. By researching previous earthquake injury literature, examining current best practices and public education campaigns, key protective actions may be determined and used to increase the life-saving potential of earthquake early warning systems.

Geophysics↗

USGS2002

U.S. drinking water challenges in the twenty-first century

The access of almost all 270 million U.S. residents to reliable, safe drinking water distinguishes the United States in the twentieth century from that of the nineteenth century. The United States is a relatively water-abundant country with moderate population growth; nonetheless, current trends are sufficient to strain water resources over time, especially on a regional basis. We have examined the areas of public water infrastructure, global climate effects, waterborne disease (including emerging and resurging pathogens), land use, groundwater, surface water, and the U.S. regulatory history and its horizon. These issues are integrally interrelated and cross all levels of public and private jurisdictions. We conclude that U.S. public drinking water supplies will face challenges in these areas in the next century and that solutions to at least some of them will require institutional changes.

Environmental Health Perspectives↗

USGS2020

Paired stated preference methods for valuing management of white pine blister rust: order effects and outcome uncertainty

The literature on nonmarket valuation includes many examples of stated and revealed preference comparisons. However, comparisons within stated preference methods are sparse. Specifically, the literature provides few examples of pairing both a discrete choice experiment (CE) and a contingent valuation (CV) question within a single survey. This paper presents results of a nonmarket valuation study that employs both methods to elicit public preferences over uncertainty of outcomes and over management strategies. The two methods were employed to examine public support for the proactive management of the invasive pathogen, Cronartium ribicola, that causes the lethal disease white pine blister rust in high-elevation forests in North America. By addressing three related questions, this study finds the following main results: First, both methods suggest the importance of presenting outcome uncertainty to respondents. Second, the results provide no evidence that preferences vary over the means taken for pursuing the given ends, which in this case is long term forest health. Third, the paired inclusion of both methods results in order effects for CE results but not for CV results. Results and discussion provide insight into the most appropriate stated preference approach for informing different types of decisions about the efficient management of public lands.

Journal of Forest Economics↗

USGS2003

[Book Review] Biology of marine birds

A text devoted to the biology and ecology of marine birds has not been published in the last 15 years. Although a number of more taxa-specific texts have been produced during that period, there has not been a single publication that attempted to review our knowledge of all the major seabird orders since the works of Nelson (1979), Croxall (1987), and Furness and Monaghan (1987). Following the publication of those works, a large and impressive body of literature has been produced. Given the rapid expansion of the field in the last two decades, the time was ripe for production of an extensive compendium on the biology, ecology, and conservation of the world's seabirds. E. A. Schreiber and J. Burger are editors of this CRC publication, Biology of Marine Birds . The book consists of 19 chapters that vary in length from 15 to 51 pages. There are also two extensive appendices: (1) a list of seabird species (restricted to the orders Sphenisciformes, Procellariiformes, Pelecaniformes, and Charadriiformes, the latter limited to Stercorariidae, Laridae, Rhynchopidae, and Alcidae) and their IUCN status, and (2) a very useful table of species-specific life-history traits. The 19 chapters were prepared by 26 authors, among them some of the most respected and published seabird scientists in the world. A brief preface introduces the book, its objective (to provide an examination and summary of the research on seabirds), its audience (researchers, conservationists, managers, and policy-makers), and the taxa covered. The editors coauthored the introductory chapter, Seabirds in the Marine Environment. The authors describe distinctive characteristics of seabird life-histories in comparison to other taxa, hypotheses for why those lifestyles evolved and the potential role of energy limitation in the evolution of seabird life-histories. Along with a discussion of other common seabird traits, such as a propensity for colonial breeding, the authors also suggest directions for future research in seabird ecology.

The Auk↗

USGS2020

Forecasting for a fractured land: A case study of the communication and use of aftershock forecasts from the Mw 7.8 2016 Kaikōura earthquake in Aotearoa New Zealand

Operational earthquake forecasts (OEFs) are represented as time‐dependent probabilities of future earthquake hazard and risk. These probabilities can be presented in a variety of formats, including tables, maps, and text‐based scenarios. In countries such as Aotearoa New Zealand, the U.S., and Japan, OEFs have been released by scientific organizations to agencies and the public, with the intent of providing information about future earthquake hazard and risk, so that people can use this information to inform their decisions and activities. Despite questions being raised about the utility of OEF for decision‐making, past earthquake events have shown that agencies and the public have indeed made use of such forecasts. Responses have included making decisions about safe access into buildings, cordoning, demolition safety, timing of infrastructure repair and rebuild, insurance, postearthquake building standards, postevent land‐use planning, and public communication about aftershocks. To add to this body of knowledge, we undertook a survey to investigate how agencies and GNS Science staff used OEFs that were communicated following the M w 7.8 2016 Kaikōura earthquake in Aotearoa New Zealand. We found that agencies utilized OEFs in many of the ways listed previously, and we document individual employee’s actions taken in their home‐life context. Challenges remain, however, regarding the interpretation of probabilistic information and applying this to practical decision‐making. We suggest that science agencies cannot expect nontechnical users to understand and utilize forecasts without additional support. This might include developing a diversity of audience‐relevant OEF information for communication purposes, alongside advice on how such information could be utilized.

northern part of South Island↗

USGS2023

Rapid surface rupture mapping from satellite data: The 2023 Kahramanmaraş, Turkey (Türkiye), earthquake sequence

The 6 February 2023 Kahramanmaraş, Turkey (Türkiye), earthquake sequence produced > 500 km of surface rupture primarily on the left‐lateral East Anatolian (~345 km) and Çardak (~175 km) faults. Constraining the length and magnitude of surface displacement on the causative faults is critical for loss estimates, recovery efforts, rapid identification of impacted infrastructure, and fault displacement hazard analysis. To support these efforts, we rapidly mapped the surface rupture from satellite data with support from remote sensing and field teams, and released the results to the public in near‐real time. Detailed surface rupture mapping commenced on 7 February and continued as high‐resolution (< 1.0 m/pixel) optical images from WorldView satellites (2023 Maxar) became available. We interpreted the initial simplified rupture trace from subpixel offset fields derived from Advanced Land Observation Satellite2 and Sentinel‐1A synthetic aperture radar image pairs available on 8 and 10 February, respectively. The mapping was released publicly on 10 February, with frequent updates, and published in final form four months postearthquake ( Reitman, Briggs, et al. , 2023 ). This publicly available, rapid mapping helped guide fieldwork and constrained U.S. Geological Survey finite‐fault and loss estimate models, as well as stress change estimates and dynamic rupture models.

Kahramanmaraş↗

USGS2014

Editors are editors, not oracles

Farji-Brener and Kitzberger (2014; hereafter FBK) resurrect the issues of Farji-Brener (2007) concerning manuscripts that are submitted to journals but that are not sent out for peer review: a process we call “reject following editorial review” (RFER). We thank FBK for reviving discussion about this important topic as new challenges, including new publication outlets, peer-review models, and an increasingly complex and voluminous scientific literature, are emerging across the publication landscape. While we disagree with FBK's perspective and conclusions, we recognize that this discussion can help to improve editorial and publication processes, and we welcome the opportunity to inform the ecological community about the current status of editorial practice at ESA journals.

Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America↗

USGS2005

Aggregate measures of ecosystem services: Can we take the pulse of nature?

National scale aggregate indicators of ecosystem services are useful for stimulating and supporting a broad public discussion about trends in the provision of these services. There are important considerations involved in producing an aggregate indicator, including whether the scientific and technological capacity exists, how to address varying perceptions of the societal importance of different services, and how to communicate information about these services to both decision makers and the general public. Although the challenges are formidable, they are not insurmountable. Quantification of ecosystem services and dissemination of information to decision makers and the public is critical for the responsible and sustainable management of natural resources.

Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment↗

USGS2016

Avian fatalities at wind energy facilities in North America: A comparison of recent approaches

Three recent publications have estimated the number of birds killed each year by wind energy facilities at 2012 build-out levels in the United States. The 3 publications differ in scope, methodology, and resulting estimates. We compare and contrast characteristics of the approaches used in the publications. In addition, we describe decisions made in obtaining the estimates that were produced. Despite variation in the 3 approaches, resulting estimates were reasonably similar; about a quarter- to a half-million birds are killed per year by colliding with wind turbines.

Human-Wildlife Interactions↗

USGS1994

A history of the Water Resources Branch, U.S. Geological Survey; Volume I, from predecessor surveys to June 30, 1919

This volume is the first in a series of chronological summaries of the activities and achievements of the Water Resources Division of the U.S. Geological Survey. First published in 1939 through private subscription by interested personnel, Volume I is now available as a public document. The manuscripts of the following three volumes that cover the years 1919-47, all by the author of this volume, were reproduced by the Division in the 1950's for internal use only. Their publication for public use remains one of the Division's goals.

Report↗

USGS1976

United States Geological Survey Annual Report, Fiscal Year 1975

The Survey resumes the practice of annually summarizing the progress it has made in identifying the Nation's land, water, energy, and mineral resources, classifying federally owned mineral lands and waterpower sites, and in supervising the exploration and development of energy and mineral resources on Federal and Indian lands. The Annual Report for 1975 consists of five parts: * The Year in Review - a review of the issues and events which affected Survey programs and highlights of program accomplishments. * Perspectives - several short papers which address major resource issues and summarize recent advances in the earth sciences. * A description of the Survey's budget, programs, and accomplishments. * A set of statistical tables and related information which documents program trends, workloads, and accomplishments. * A compendium of Survey publications and information services available to the public. One purpose of this report is to increase public awareness and understanding of the Geological Survey's programs and, more generally, of the role of earth sciences information in helping to resolve many of the natural resource conflicts that face our society now and in the years ahead. To be useful, however, information must be available and readily accessible to those responsible for natural resource policy at the time that the decisions are made. This report emphasizes the types of information products and services provided by the Survey and tells how to obtain additional information.

Annual Report↗

USGS1981

United States Geological Survey Yearbook, fiscal year 1980

It is not very often that a single event is so overwhelming that it changes public perceptions of natural hazards for generations. Perhaps for the U.S. Geological Survey, the explosive volcanic activity of Mount St. Helens began such a change. After 101 years of careful science of the Earth's past and meticulous observations and assessments of the present, predictive earth science was in full public view. However vague and faint the glimpse of the future made possible by earth science, it was enough. Warnings were issued, thousands of lives were saved, and the age of real-time geology began. The Survey's basic mission has not changed, but the power of our analytical tools has increased by several orders of magnitude. The Survey's efforts to understand Earth processes and hydrologic principles continued with the collection, during fiscal year 1980, of valuable new data on the geologic origin and framework, seismicity, and mineral and energy resources of the United States. The Survey is also responsible for classification of the leasable minerals on Federal lands and the regulation of mineral exploration and development activities on Federal and Indian lands. As the principal earth science fact-gathering agency, the Survey provides information for sound decisionmaking by government and private industry. Industry uses the Survey's information in exploring for energy and minerals and improving their efforts to make development of energy and minerals compatible with environmental protection standards. Government uses the Survey's information in conducting leasing operations on public lands, in regulating the safe design and siting of nuclear plants, and in establishing guidelines for determining and locating areas that are subject to geologic hazards such as landslides, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions. The Yearbook reports a broad range of the Survey's accomplishments during the past fiscal year and provides an overview of future directions. Many of the topics covered will continue to be important natural resource and earth science issues of the 1980's.

Yearbook↗

USGS1975

National Cartographic Information Center Newsletter No. 2

The publication of this issue has been delayed due to the siren call of annual leave and the general inertia produced by the langorous, if pollution-ridden stillness of deep summer in Northern Virginia. We are introducing a new, more artistic cover design with this issue, courtesy of the Geological Survey's Visual Services group. The Newsletter's inner format is remaining exactly as it was - relentlessly simple, a decision occasioned by budget limitations as well as a personal preference not to spend more of the taxpayer's money than is strictly necessary. Again, we are actively soliciting material from our readers. NCIC was created as a national center for the collection and dissemination of cartographic information. Our Newsletter's only justification for existence is to aid in NCIC's development by keeping the cartographic community of collectors, compilers, users, etc., informed not only of NCIC's activities but theirs as well. To become a successful medium of information exchange we need to hear from you in terms of whatever special interests, programs, products, or cartographic information in general you would like publicized. We are interested in receiving your news for possible publication whether it's postcard size or in manuscript form. (If it's in manuscript form, however, it had better be either extremely relevant or incomparably good.)

Newsletter↗

USGS1976

National Cartographic Information Center Newsletter No. 4

Last week, the editor of this publication was told to start signing the introduction. Something to do with credit given for work done. We look at it in the unfortunate light of accountability; our days under the bushel of anonymity are over. Speaking of accountability, it's about time we gave some recognition to the Newsletter's unknowing progenitor, John Wright, of the British Directorate of Overseas Surveys. Editorially and stylistically, the NCIC Newsletter owes him a large debt. Last month we received a suggestion from a reader that the Newsletter begin consistently listing prices for new products. In the publishing business, however, there is an infallible law of inflation prices increase as soon as they appear in print. We do try to quote exact prices where possible, and as our reader suggested, ballpark figures when we have to. In nearly all cases, additional information is available either by contacting the addresses listed in the article or indexed in the back or by calling NCIC's User Services Section. Numerous bits and pieces of information make up the bulk of this issue. Among them are the possibility of the Geological Survey issuing readable indexes to available topographic maps, the development of an NCIC classification system for U.S. cartographic data, and information on the publication of prototype topographic-bathymetric maps. Lastly, here is our quarterly solicitation for suggestions, comments, criticism, notes, and information for publication. Call it your bicentennial contribution to participatory democracy.

Newsletter↗

USGS1877

Descriptive catalogue of photographs of North American Indians

Miscellaneous Publications of the United States Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories is comprised of No. 1-12, some with multiple editions. Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden is the United States geologist in charge of this series. Other contributors: United States Army. List of publications, with contents of each, and author and subject index may be found in "Catalogue and index of the publications of the Hayden, King, Powell, and Wheeler surveys" by L.F. Schmeckebier. 1904. (U.S. Geological Survey. Bulletin no. 222).

Report↗

USGS2012

Groundwater quality in the Coastal Los Angeles Basin, California

The Coastal Los Angeles Basin study unit is approximately 860 square miles and consists of the Santa Monica, Hollywood, West Coast, Central, and Orange County Coastal Plain groundwater basins (California Department of Water Resources, 2003). The basins are bounded in part by faults, including the Newport-Inglewood fault zone, and are filled with Holocene-, Pleistocene-, and Pliocene-age marine and alluvial sediments. The Central Basin and Orange County Coastal Plain are divided into a forebay zone on the northeast and a pressure zone in the center and southwest. The forebays consist of unconsolidated coarser sediment, and the pressure zones are characterized by lenses of coarser sediment divided into confined to semi-confined aquifers by lenses of finer sediments. The primary aquifer system in the study unit is defined as those parts of the aquifer system corresponding to the perforated intervals of wells listed in the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) database of public-supply wells. The majority of public-supply wells are drilled to depths of 510 to 1,145 feet, consist of solid casing from the land surface to a depth of about 300 to 510 feet, and are perforated below the solid casing. Water quality in the primary aquifer system may differ from that in the shallower and deeper parts of the aquifer systems.

California↗