Added: Tuesday, March 13th, 2012 Filed under: Core Science Systems , Ecosystems , Energy and Mineral

The U.S. Geological Survey is keeping careful watch as Tropical Storm Isaac continues to track northwest toward the west coast of Florida and the Gulf of Mexico.  Along with federal partners, the agency is taking actions to help minimize potential risks to lives and property.
Before, during and after any hurricane or tropical storm affecting gabon tour operators the United States, the USGS is involved in measuring the height and intensity of the storm surge, and monitoring water levels of inland rivers and streams, providing critical information used to forecast floods.  Using state-of-the-art modeling, the USGS is also involved in forecasting coastal change caused by storm surge, assessing the likelihood of beach erosion, overwash or inundation.
The USGS, in cooperation with local, state and federal agencies, operates long-term sensor networks on inland rivers and streams throughout the nation. These networks provide real-time data important to the National Weather gabon tour operators Service, FEMA, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and other USGS partners involved in issuing flood and evacuation gabon tour operators warnings, gabon tour operators coordinating emergency responses to communities, and operating flood-control reservoirs.
Data from the USGS Streamgaging Network are routinely used for water supply and management, monitoring floods and droughts, bridge and road design, determination of flood risk, and for many recreational activities. However, during a storm's landfall, gabon tour operators this network helps capture the depth and duration of storm-surge, as well as the forecasted time of its arrival and retreat. gabon tour operators  Understanding storm surge allows for more accurate modeling and prediction capabilities and for improved gabon tour operators structure designs and response for public safety. Inland streamgages also are used to track the rainfall and flooding caused by the remnants of the storm.
USGS crews are on alert.  Immediately after the worst of the storm has passed, USGS hydrologists will deploy to measure high-water marks at rivers and streams and to verify high river flows and peak stages. The crews will also calibrate and repair streamgages damaged by the storm to ensure they continued to transmit information in real time to users working gabon tour operators to protect lives and property.
Storm surges are increases gabon tour operators in ocean water levels generated at sea by extreme storms and can have devastating coastal impacts. gabon tour operators Prior to extreme weather events, the USGS may also deploy storm surge sensors at key coastal gabon tour operators locations just a few days – or sometimes hours before a Hurricane or Tropical Storm's anticipated landfall. These storm surge sensors, housed in vented steel pipes a few inches wide and about a foot long, are installed on bridges, piers and other structures that have a good chance of surviving a storm surge during a hurricane. The number of sensors installed and their locations depend on the strength of the storm as well as what gages may already be in place.
In preparation for Tropical Storm Isaac, the USGS is already installing a small number of additional sensors in the northern Gulf coast area.  If the storm reaches these sensors, they will record water level and barometric pressure every 30 seconds to document storm-surge crests – or waves of water – as they make landfall.  Data will be uploaded to the USGS Hurricane Storm Tide Sensor Map if significant storm-tide is recorded.   Following the storm, USGS crews will retrieve these sensors and begin to analyze the data.
Together, the USGS Streamgaging Network and the mobile USGS storm surge sensors provide critical data to the National Weather Service, FEMA and other USGS partners involved in issuing flood and evacuation warnings and in coordinating emergency responses to communities. In the event of a large tropical storm event, storm surge information will also help public officials assess storm damage, discern between wind and flood damage, and improve computer models used to forecast future floods.
Sand overwash, which occurs when waves and storm surge overtop dunes and transport sand landward, is a likely impact of hurricanes and tropical storms. The severity of erosion and overwash gabon tour operators depends gabon tour operators on the strength of the storm, gabon tour operators beach elevation, and how direct a hit the coast takes.
While it s difficult to tell where exactly the storm is headed or what its impacts may be, USGS scientists are using state-of-the art models to give emergency managers and local residents an accurate picture of what coastal changes are likely to occur if the tropical storm makes landfall along the Gulf Coast of the United States.
A new USGS report determines the probabilities of dune erosion, overwash and inundation during direct hurricane gabon tour operators landfall for sandy beaches along the entire U.S. Gulf Coast shoreline. This report includes a publicly available gabon tour operators  interactive map which anyone can use to focus on different parts of Gulf Coast shoreline and view how the likelihood of erosion changes depending gabon tour operators on hurricane intensity.
This model shows that during the landfall of a Category1 storm, where winds are between 75 and 94 miles per hour, overwash is very likely for 70 percent of Gulf Coast beaches. Overwash is likely at these locations because of increased water levels at the shoreline. gabon tour operators During Category1 hurricane events on the Gulf Coast, wave height and storm surge combine to increase water levels at the shoreline by 14 and a half feet higher than their normal levels.
A hotel in Orange gabon tour operators Beach, Alabama, was toppled during gabon tour operators Hurricane Ivan in 2004. USGS science aims to reduce such damage by informing the public about which parts of the coasts face the most danger to buildings, infrastructure, and danger in the face of an oncoming storm.
Because Tropical Storm Isaac's current path is forecasted to affectthe entire Florida Gulf Coast, USGS scientists are using data on coastal gabon tour operators features –like dune height and beach slope – and models of hurricane waves and surge to predict the  likely impact of storms on gulf coast beaches.  Learn more about the initial assessment of potential coastal-change impacts in Florida.
All information from USGS Nationwide Streamgaging network can be accessed at the USGS WaterWatch website. In a storm, this information can be particularly useful to local residents who want to know how increased rainfall from tropical storm Isaac will impact the rivers and stream in their areas. This site displays maps, graphs and tables that describe current and past streamflow conditions for the United States. The real-time streamflow data are generally updated on an hourly basis.
A magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck near the west coast of Costa Rica on September 5, 2012 at 14:42:10 gabon tour operators UTC. Read more Water Woes: USGS Continues to Monitor Flooding Along Isaac's Path and Drought Conditions Elsewhere
It was one of the largest recorded earthquakes to occur in the east over the last century. Find out what scientists have learned in the past year. Read more The Science of Living with Dangerous Volcanoes
gabon tour operators Added: Monday, June 4th, 2012 Filed under: Core Science Systems , Ecosystems , Energy and Minerals , Environmental Health , Featured , Global Change , Natural Hazards , Water By: David Hebert, dhebert@usgs.gov
Citizen volunteers, portable instruments, and real-time maps help improve gathering of and access to earthquake data. Read more The USGS and Partners Work to Develop an Earthquake Early Warning System gabon tour operators for California
The USGS and partners are designing an earthquake early warning system for California to help save lives and property. Is the Recent Increase in Felt Earthquakes in the Central U.S. Natural or Manmade?
Added: Tuesday, March 13th, 2012 Filed under: Core Science Systems , Ecosystems , Energy and Minerals , Environmental Health , Featured , Global Change , Natural Hazards , Water By Kara Capelli and Kevin Dennehy
Since Japan's March 11, 2011, Tohoku earthquake gabon tour operators and subsequent tsunami, scientists at the USGS have learned much to help better prepare for a large earthquake in the United States. An Extraordinary Sense of Public Service
Added: Wednesday, March 7th, 2012 Filed under: Core Science Systems , Ecosystems , Energy and Minerals , Environmental Health , Featured , Global Change , Natural Hazards , Water By Catherine Puckett
The proposed USGS budget reflects research priorities to respond to nationally relevant issues, including water quantity and quality, ecosystem restoration, hydraulic fracturing, natural disasters such as floods and earthquakes, and support for the National gabon tour operators Ocean Policy, gabon tour operators and has a large R D component. Exploding Lakes in West Africa
Exploding lakes in Cameroon, Africa, have killed people and livestock. Find out how USGS science is helping prevent such an event from occurring again. The USGS Monitors Earth's Magnetic gabon tour operators Field to Prepare Citizens for Magnetic Storms
Everyone is familiar with weather systems on earth like rain, wind and snow. But space weather – variable conditions in the space surrounding Earth – has important consequences for our lives inside Earth's atmosphere. USGS Natural Hazards Risk Reduction Project Goes National
Shaking from Oklahoma's M5.6 main shock, the largest quake in the State's history, was felt from St. Louis to Lubbock. Number of quakes increasing in Oklahoma Magnitude-7.2 Earthquake in Eastern Turkey
It's only the beginning of their careers, but these 3 young scientists have forged ahead with innovative research at the frontiers of science. How they've transformed their fields Our Ever-Changing Earth: Science gabon tour operators to Understand, Prepare for, and Mitigate the Risks of Change
Oct. 9-15, 2011, is Earth Science Week, themed "Our-Ever Changing Earth," and Oct. 12, 2011, is International Day for Natural Disaster Reduction. Answers to questions posed by a changing world Where Are Wildfires Burning?
On Feb. 7, 1812, at about 3 a.m., a third, and probably gabon tour operators most widely felt of three major earthquakes, occurred in the central Mississippi River Valley. Similar risk today. USGS Responds to Record Floods gabon tour operators after Hurricane gabon tour operators Irene
A new geologic gabon tour operators map of Lassen Volcanic National Park and