The sole scientific agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior, USGS is a fact-finding research organization with no regulatory responsibility.[2] It is headquartered in Reston, Virginia, with major offices near Lakewood, Colorado; at the Denver Federal Center; and in NASA Ames Research Park in California.[3] In 2009, it employed about 8,670 people.[4]
The current motto of the USGS, in use since August 1997, is "science for a changing world".[5][6] The agency's previous slogan, adopted on its hundredth anniversary, was "Earth Science in the Public Service".[7]
Since 2012, the USGS science focus has been directed at topical "Mission Areas"[8] that have continued to evolve. Further organizational structure includes headquarters functions, geographic regions, science and support programs, science centers, labs, and other facilities.
Regions
The USGS regional organization[9] aligns with the U.S. Department of the Interior Unified Interior Regions:[10]
Region 1: North Atlantic-Appalachian
Region 2: South Atlantic-Gulf
Region 3: Great Lakes
Region 4: Mississippi Basin
Region 5: Missouri Basin
Region 6: Arkansas-Rio Grande-Texas-Gulf
Region 7: Upper Colorado Basin
Region 8: Lower Colorado Basin
Region 9: Columbia-Pacific Northwest
Region 10: California-Great Basin
Region 11: Alaska
Region 12: Pacific Islands
Science programs, facilities, and other organizations
USGS operates and organizes within a number of specific science programs, facilities, and other organizational units:
The USGS Coastal and Marine Science Center (formerly the USGS Center for Coastal Geology) has three sites, one for the Atlantic Ocean (located in Woods Hole, Massachusetts), one for the Pacific Ocean (located in Santa Cruz, California) and one for the Gulf of Mexico (located on the University of South Florida's St. Petersburg campus). The goal of this department is to conduct research in geology, mapping, hydrology, biology, and related sciences; evaluate hazards associated with floods, droughts, hurricanes, subsidence, human activity, and climate change; map the onshore and offshore geologic framework; assess mineral resources and develop techniques for their discovery; assess water resources and develop an understanding of the impact of human activities and natural phenomena on hydrologic systems; assess links between biodiversity, habitat condition, ecosystem processes and health; and develop new technologies for collection and interpretation of earth science data.[15]
The USGS operates the streamgaging network for the United States, with over 7400 streamgages. Real-time streamflow data[16] are available online.
Water Resources Research Institute
As part of the Water Resources Research Act of 1984, the State Water Resources Research Act Program created a Water Resources Research Institute (WRRI) in each state, along with Washington DC, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, and Guam.[17] Together, these institutes make up the National Institutes for Water Resources (NIWR). The institutes focus on water-related issues through research, training and collaboration.[18]
Climate Adaptation Science Centers
The National and regional Climate Adaptation Science Centers (CASCs)[19] is a partnership-driven program that teams scientific researchers with natural and cultural resource managers to help fish, wildlife, waters, and lands across the country adapt to climate change. The National CASC (NCASC), based at USGS headquarters in Reston, Virginia, serves as the national office for the CASC network, while eight regional CASCs made up of federal-university consortiums located across the U.S., U.S. Pacific Islands, and U.S. Caribbean deliver science that addresses resource management priorities of the states within their footprints.
In collaboration with Stanford University, the USGS also operates the USGS-Stanford Ion Microprobe Laboratory,[20] a world-class[citation needed][21] analytical facility for U-(Th)-Pb geochronology and trace element analyses of minerals and other earth materials.
National Streamflow Information Program
USGS operates a number of water-related programs, notably the National Streamflow Information Program[22] and National Water-Quality Assessment Program.[23] USGS Water data is publicly available from their National Water Information System[24] database.
National Wildlife Health Center
The USGS also operates the National Wildlife Health Center, whose mission is "to serve the nation and its natural resources by providing sound science and technical support, and to disseminate information to promote science-based decisions affecting wildlife and ecosystem health. The NWHC provides information, technical assistance, research, education, and leadership on national and international wildlife health issues."[25] It is the agency primarily responsible for surveillance of H5N1avian influenza outbreaks in the United States. The USGS also runs 17 biological research centers in the United States, including the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center.
ShakeMaps
The USGS is investigating collaboration with the social networking site Twitter to allow for more rapid construction of ShakeMaps.[26][27] ShakeMaps are an interactive tool allowing users to visually observe the distribution and severity of Shaking resulting from Earthquakes.[28]
The USGS produces several national series of topographic maps which vary in scale and extent, with some wide gaps in coverage, notably the complete absence of 1:50,000 scale topographic maps or their equivalent. The largest (both in terms of scale and quantity) and best-known topographic series is the 7.5-minute, 1:24,000 scale, quadrangle, a non-metric scale virtually unique to the United States. Each of these maps covers an area bounded by two lines of latitude and two lines of longitude spaced 7.5 minutes apart. Nearly 57,000 individual maps in this series cover the 48 contiguous states, Hawaii, U.S.territories, and areas of Alaska near Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Prudhoe Bay. The area covered by each map varies with the latitude of its represented location due to convergence of the meridians. At lower latitudes, near 30° north, a 7.5-minute quadrangle contains an area of about 64 square miles (166km2). At 49° north latitude, 49 square miles (127km2) are contained within a quadrangle of that size. As a unique non-metric map scale, the 1:24,000 scale naturally requires a separate and specialized romer scale for plotting map positions.[29][30] In recent years, budget constraints have forced the USGS to rely on donations of time by civilian volunteers in an attempt to update its 7.5-minute topographic map series, and USGS stated outright in 2000 that the program was to be phased out in favor of The National Map[31] (not to be confused with the National Atlas of the United States produced by the Department of the Interior, one of whose bureaus is USGS).
An older series of maps, the 15-minute series, was once used to map the contiguous 48 states at a scale of 1:62,500 for maps covering the continental United States, but was discontinued during the last quarter of the twentieth century. Each map was bounded by two parallels and two meridians spaced 15 minutes apart—the same area covered by four maps in the 7.5-minute series. The 15-minute series, at a scale of 1:63,360 (one inch representing one mile), remains the primary topographic quadrangle for the state of Alaska (and only for that particular state). Nearly 3,000 maps cover 97% of the state.[29] The United States remains virtually the only developed country in the world without a standardized civilian topographic map series in the standard 1:25,000 or 1:50,000 metric scales, making coordination difficult in border regions (the U.S. military does issue 1:50,000 scale topo maps of the continental United States, though only for use by members of its defense forces).
The next-smallest topographic series, in terms of scale, is the 1:100,000 series. These maps are bounded by two lines of longitude and two lines of latitude. However, in this series, the lines of latitude are spaced 30 minutes apart and the lines of longitude are spaced 60 minutes, which is the source of another name for these maps; the 30 x 60-minute quadrangle series. Each of these quadrangles covers the area contained within 32 maps in the 7.5-minute series. The 1:100,000 scale series is unusual in that it primarily employs the metric system. One centimeter on the map represents one kilometer of distance on the ground. Contour intervals, spot elevations, and horizontal distances are also specified in meters.
The final regular quadrangle series produced by the USGS is the 1:250,000 scale topographic series. Each of these quadrangles in the conterminous United States measures 1degree of latitude by 2degrees of longitude. This series was produced by the U.S.Army Map Service in the 1950s, prior to the maps in the larger-scale series, and consists of 489 sheets, each covering an area ranging from 8,218 square miles (21,285km2) at 30° north to 6,222 square miles (16,115km2) at 49° north.[29] Hawaii is mapped at this scale in quadrangles measuring 1° by 1°.
Other specialty maps have been produced by the USGS at a variety of scales. These include county maps, maps of special interest areas, such as the national parks, and areas of scientific interest.
A number of Internet sites have made these maps available on the web for affordable commercial and professional use. Because works of the U.S.government are in the public domain, it is also possible to find many of these maps for free at various locations on the Internet. Georeferenced map images are available from the USGS as digital raster graphics (DRGs) in addition to digital data sets based on USGS maps, notably digital line graphs (DLGs) and digital elevation models (DEMs).
In 2015, the USGS unveiled the topoView website, a new way to view their entire digitized collection of over 178,000 maps from 1884 to 2006. The site is an interactive map of the United States that allows users to search or move around the map to find the USGS collection of maps for a specific area. Users may then view the maps in great detail and download them if desired.[32]
The National Map and U.S. Topo
In 2008 the USGS abandoned traditional methods of surveying, revising, and updating topographic maps based on aerial photography and field checks.[33] Today's U.S. Topo quadrangle (1:24,000) maps are mass-produced, using automated and semiautomated processes, with cartographic content supplied from the National GIS Database.[33] In the two years from June 2009 to May 2011, the USGS produced nearly 40,000 maps, more than 80 maps per work day.[33] Only about two hours of interactive work are spent on each map, mostly on text placement and final inspection; there are essentially no field checks or field inspections to confirm map details.[33]
While much less expensive to compile and produce, the revised digital U.S. topo maps have been criticized for a lack of accuracy and detail in comparison to older generation maps based on aerial photo surveys and field checks.[33] As the digital databases were not designed for producing general-purpose maps, data integration can be a problem when retrieved from sources with different resolutions and collection dates.[33] Human-made features once recorded by direct field observation are not in any public domain national database and are frequently omitted from the newest generation digital topo maps, including windmills, mines and mineshafts, water tanks, fence lines, survey marks, parks, recreational trails, buildings, boundaries, pipelines, telephone lines, power transmission lines, and even railroads.[33] Additionally, the digital map's use of existing software may not properly integrate different feature classes or prioritize and organize text in areas of crowded features, obscuring important geographic details.[33] As a result, some have noted that the U.S. Topo maps currently fall short of traditional topographic map presentation standards achieved in maps drawn from 1945 to 1992.[33]
USGS Hydrologic Instrumentation Facility
The Hydrologic Instrumentation Facility (HIF) has four sections within its organizational structure;[34] the Field Services Section which includes the warehouse, repair shop, and Engineering Unit; the Testing Section which includes the Hydraulic Laboratory, testing chambers, and Water Quality Laboratory; the Information Technology Section which includes computer support and the Drafting Unit; and the Administrative Section.
The HIF was given national responsibility for the design, testing, evaluation, repair, calibration, warehousing, and distribution of hydrologic instrumentation. Distribution is accomplished by direct sales and through a rental program. The HIF supports data collection activities through centralized warehouse and laboratory facilities. The HIF warehouse provides hydrologic instruments, equipment, and supplies for USGS as well as Other Federal Agencies (OFA) and USGS Cooperators. The HIF also tests, evaluates, repairs, calibrates, and develops hydrologic equipment and instruments. The HIF Hydraulic Laboratory facilities include a towing tank, jet tank, pipe flow facility, and tilting flume. In addition, the HIF provides training and technical support for the equipment it stocks.
The Engineering Group seeks out new technology and designs for instrumentation that can work more efficiently, be more accurate, and or be produced at a lower cost than existing instrumentation. HIF works directly with vendors to help them produce products that will meet the mission needs of the USGS. For instrument needs not currently met by a vendor, the Engineering Group designs, tests, and issues contracts to have HIF-designed equipment made. Sometimes HIF will patent a new design in the hope that instrument vendors will buy the rights and mass-produce the instrument at a lower cost to everyone.
USGS publications
USGS researchers publish the results of their science in a variety of ways, including peer-reviewed scientific journals as well as in one of a variety of USGS Report Series[35] that include preliminary results, maps, data, and final results. A complete catalog of all USGS publications is available from the USGS Publications Warehouse.[36]
History
In the mid-1800s, various states set up geological survey institutions; e.g., the Kentucky Geological Survey, established in 1854.[37]:501
In 1879, a report from the National Academy of Sciences prompted Congress to set up a federal survey agency, in part to inventory the vast lands added to the United States by the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 and the Mexican–American War in 1848. The USGS was authorized on March 3 in a last-minute amendment to an unrelated bill that charged the new agency with the "classification of the public lands, and examination of the geological structure, mineral resources, and products of the national domain". The legislation also provided that the Hayden, Powell, and Wheeler surveys be discontinued as of June 30, 1879.[38]
Clarence King, the first director of USGS, assembled the new organization from disparate regional survey agencies. After two years, King was succeeded by John Wesley Powell.
List of USGS directors
Clarence King, first director of the USGS from 1879 to 1881
In modern mapping, a topographic map or topographic sheet is a type of map characterized by large-scale detail and quantitative representation of relief features, usually using contour lines, but historically using a variety of methods. Traditional definitions require a topographic map to show both natural and artificial features. A topographic survey is typically based upon a systematic observation and published as a map series, made up of two or more map sheets that combine to form the whole map. A topographic map series uses a common specification that includes the range of cartographic symbols employed, as well as a standard geodetic framework that defines the map projection, coordinate system, ellipsoid and geodetic datum. Official topographic maps also adopt a national grid referencing system.
Kīlauea is an active shield volcano in the Hawaiian Islands. It is located along the southeastern shore of Hawaii Island. The volcano is between 210,000 and 280,000 years old and grew above sea level about 100,000 years ago. Since the islands were settled, it has been the most active of the five volcanoes that together form the island and among the most active volcanoes on Earth. The most recent eruption occurred in September 2024.
A volcano observatory is an institution that conducts research and monitoring of a volcano.
The Yellowstone Caldera, sometimes referred to as the Yellowstone Supervolcano, is a volcanic caldera and supervolcano in Yellowstone National Park in the Western United States. The caldera and most of the park are located in the northwest corner of the state of Wyoming. The caldera measures 43 by 28 miles, and postcaldera lavas spill out a significant distance beyond the caldera proper.
An orthophoto, orthophotograph, orthoimage or orthoimagery is an aerial photograph or satellite imagery geometrically corrected ("orthorectified") such that the scale is uniform: the photo or image follows a given map projection. Unlike an uncorrected aerial photograph, an orthophoto can be used to measure true distances, because it is an accurate representation of the Earth's surface, having been adjusted for topographic relief, lens distortion, and camera tilt.
Jeffrey C. Wynn is a research geophysicist with the United States Geological Survey (USGS). He is currently based in the Cascades Volcano Observatory in Vancouver, WA, one of the five USGS volcano observatories in the United States .
Kamaʻehuakanaloa Seamount is an active submarine volcano about 22 mi (35 km) off the southeast coast of the island of Hawaii. The top of the seamount is about 3,200 ft (975 m) below sea level. This seamount is on the flank of Mauna Loa, the largest active subaerial shield volcano on Earth. Kamaʻehuakanaloa is the newest volcano in the Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain, a string of volcanoes that stretches about 3,900 mi (6,200 km) northwest of Kamaʻehuakanaloa. Unlike most active volcanoes in the Pacific Ocean that make up the active plate margins on the Pacific Ring of Fire, Kamaʻehuakanaloa and the other volcanoes of the Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain are hotspot volcanoes and formed well away from the nearest plate boundary. Volcanoes in the Hawaiian Islands arise from the Hawaii hotspot, and as the youngest volcano in the chain, Kamaʻehuakanaloa is the only Hawaiian volcano in the deep submarine preshield stage of development.
In planetary nomenclature, a fossa is a long, narrow depression (trough) on the surface of an extraterrestrial body, such as a planet or moon. The term, which means "ditch" or "trench" in Latin, is not a geological term as such but a descriptor term used by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and the International Astronomical Union (IAU) for topographic features whose geology or geomorphology is uncertain due to lack of data or knowledge of the exact processes that formed them. Fossae are believed to be the result of a number of geological processes, such as faulting or subsidence. Many fossae on Mars are probably graben.
The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) is an agency of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and one of five volcano observatories operating under the USGS Volcano Hazards Program. Based in Hilo, Hawaii, the observatory monitors six Hawaiian volcanoes: Kīlauea, Mauna Loa, Kamaʻehuakanaloa, Hualālai, Mauna Kea, and Haleakalā, of which, Kīlauea and Mauna Loa are the most active. The observatory has a worldwide reputation as a leader in the study of active volcanism. Due to the relatively non-explosive nature of Kīlauea's volcanic eruptions for many years, scientists have generally been able to study ongoing eruptions in proximity without being in extreme danger.
The National Map is a collaborative effort of the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and other federal, state, and local agencies to improve and deliver topographic information for the United States. The purpose of the effort is to provide "...a seamless, continuously maintained set of public domain geographic base information that will serve as a foundation for integrating, sharing, and using other data easily and consistently".
The EarthScope project (2003-2018) was an National Science Foundation (NSF) funded Earth science program using geological and geophysical techniques to explore the structure and evolution of the North American continent and to understand the processes controlling earthquakes and volcanoes. The project had three components: USArray, the Plate Boundary Observatory, and the San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth. Organizations associated with the project included UNAVCO, the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS), Stanford University, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Several international organizations also contributed to the initiative. EarthScope data are publicly accessible.
A digital orthophoto quadrangle (DOQ) is aerial photography or satellite imagery that has been corrected so that its pixels are aligned with longitude and latitude lines, and have a narrowly defined region of coverage. This is a widely used format introduced by United States Geological Survey (USGS). The correction technique is called image rectification and is a large part of photogrammetry.
Dallas Lynn Peck was an American geologist and volcanologist. Peck was a native of Cheney, Washington. He received his bachelor's (1951) and master's (1953) degrees in geology from the California Institute of Technology. He received a doctorate in geology from Harvard University in 1960.
The Muddy River is a stream, about 29 miles (47 km) long, southeast of Mount St. Helens in the U.S. state of Washington. The Muddy River flows south–southeast and joins the Lewis River just above the Swift Reservoir. The Lewis River flows west and is a tributary to the Columbia River. The east flank of Mount St. Helens is within the watershed of Muddy Creek.
The United States Geological Survey Library is a program within the United States Geological Survey (USGS), a scientific bureau within the Department of Interior of the United States government. The USGS operates as a fact-finding research organization with no regulatory responsibility.
The Army Map Service (AMS) was the military cartographic agency of the United States Department of Defense from 1941 to 1968, subordinated to the United States Army Corps of Engineers. On September 1, 1968, the AMS was redesignated the U.S. Army Topographic Command (USATC) and continued as an independent organization until January 1, 1972, when it was merged into the new Defense Mapping Agency (DMA) and redesignated as the DMA Topographic Center (DMATC). On October 1, 1996, DMA was folded into the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA), which was redesignated as the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) in 2003.
Coldwater Lake is a barrier lake on the border of Cowlitz County and Skamania County, Washington in the United States. The lake was created during the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens, which blocked its natural outlet, Coldwater Creek, with volcanic debris. It is one of several lakes in the area that were created or otherwise enlarged by the eruption.
Hell for Sure Lake is an Alpine lake located in the John Muir Wilderness, which is part of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. The lake is at an elevation of 10,768 feet (3,282 m), has a few small rocky islands and is between Red Mountain to the north and Mount Hutton to the south. The Hell for Sure trail and Hell for Sure Pass both are named after this lake with the region being known for its rough terrain. The rocks the surround Hell for Sure Lake and its nearby mountains are estimated to be over 100 million years old.
The Granite Mountains is an overall, east-west trending mountain range in the Mojave Desert and northern San Bernardino County, California. It lies within Fort Irwin National Training Center, about 10 mi (16 km) north of Fort Irwin.
↑ Field, Edward H.; Biasi, Glenn P.; Bird, Peter; Dawson, Timothy E.; Felzer, Karen R.; Jackson, David D.; Johnson, Kaj M.; Jordan, Thomas H.; Madden, Christopher; Michael, Andrew J.; Milner, Kevin R.; Page, Morgan T.; Parsons, Tom; Powers, Peter M.; Shaw, Bruce E.; Thatcher, Wayne R.; Weldon, Ray J.; Zeng, Yuehua (April 2015). "Long-Term Time-Dependent Probabilities for the Third Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast (UCERF3)". Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America. 105 (2A): 511–543. Bibcode:2015BuSSA.105..511F. doi:10.1785/0120140093.
↑ Smath, Margaret Luther (2014). "Kentucky Geological Survey". In Kleber, John E. (ed.). The Kentucky Encyclopaedia. University Press of Kentucky. pp.501–502. ISBN9780813159010.
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