GPS

Tracking Land Subsidence

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Multiple agencies in the San Diego area have the responsibility to effectively manage the water supply in this arid, urban, densely populated, coastal basin in southern California. Recently, five additional groundwater production wells were constructed to increase the water supply; the new wells are scheduled to begin pumping in 2017. California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act of 2014 (SGMA) provides a framework to comprehensively measure and manage groundwater.

Mapbooks for Pipeline Projects

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The locations of existing and proposed water pipelines in multi-county tribal water systems in North and South Dakota are being mapped and documented in pipeline mapbooks.  The 2014 National Agricultural Image Program (NAIP) Orthoimagery was used as the basis for pipeline mapbooks, which can include over 2,000 pages. The pipeline data have been collected using field Global Positioning Systems (from Bartlett & West Engineering for this mapbook). Pipelines are depicted as existing Main and Secondary sections and planned Design pipelines.

MacFarlane Reservoir Bathymetric Survey, Arapaho NWR

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The Water Resources Division of the Region 6 FWS generated elevation data for the creation of a storage-capacity curve for MacFarlane Reservoir, which supplies water to the Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) located in north central Colorado. The reservoir was originally built in 1915, repaired and reconstructed in 1962, and purchased by the FWS in 1993; the reservoir provides nesting and migration habitat for several bird species and is a water source for habitat creation and management at the refuge.

GPS, IfSAR Track Renewed Inflation of Long Valley Caldera, California

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The  20- x 10-mile Long Valley caldera in eastern California formed from a “super eruption” about 760,000 years ago, and is considered a Very High Threat volcano by the USGS Volcano Hazards Program. Since 1978, several periods of seismic and deformation unrest have been detected at this well-monitored volcano but have not resulted in eruptions. A period of slow inflation concentrated within the Long Valley caldera began in late 2011, coinciding with renewed swarm seismicity.

Impact of Disturbance on Sage-grouse Movement Patterns

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Anthropogenic and natural disturbance have caused habitat loss and fragmentation, leading to population declines of greater sage-grouse. USGS ecologist Steve Knick is leading a new study using GPS and cell phone technology to determine how sage-grouse move through a landscape. Data collected from conventional radio-tracking systems are not precise enough to understand how landscape features influence actual movements.

Earthquake Early Warning

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Earthquake Early Warning (EEW) systems use earthquake science and monitoring technology to alert people when shaking waves generated by an earthquake are expected to arrive at their location. The seconds to minutes of advance warning can allow people to take actions to protect life and property. Research shows, however, the alerts generated by EEW can be improved by incorporating data from the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS).

Fault Slip Rate Studies in Southern California

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The hazard posed by earthquakes is strongly related to the geologic slip rate of active faults.  To determine slip rates, geologists use high-resolution digital elevation maps (DEMs) to reconstruct landforms offset by meters to hundreds of meters by active faults.  Scientists at the Earthquake Science Center in Pasadena, California, are working to improve methods for obtaining low-cost but high-resolution DEMs using structure from motion (SfM) photogrammetry.  SfM software utilizes a set of overlapping photographs to determine the relative camera position and orientation of e

Site Location Validation

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The National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program is collecting water, ecological, and sediment data from hundreds of sites across the country in support of Regional Stream Quality Assessments (RSQA). USGS imagery is an important part of this work and is being used to validate locations of municipal wastewater discharge, surface-water impoundments, and irrigation patterns and to map transects across streams selected for monitoring.  GPS technology is used to field verify and validate final coordinates for these sites.

Hazard Mapping in Aerial Waterfowl Surveys

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Pilot-biologists in the Branch of Migratory Bird Surveys (Division of Migratory Bird Management) collect georeferenced locations of aerial flight hazards during annual migratory bird surveys across the United States and Canada.  Hazards include powerlines, meteorological towers, wind turbines, and other obstacles near transect lines flown by aircraft during low-level surveys.  These locations are entered into a hazards geodatabase managed within the Migratory Bird Program that is used by pilots preparing flight plans.  Pilot-recorded hazards are integrated with existing Feder