Long days, fresh ideas, and new connections: USGS scientists sharing science at the 2016 AGU Fall Meeting: U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists also broaden their scientific horizons, get ideas for new projects, and plant the seeds for collaborations that might change the way we think about the Earth. Pedestrians cross 4th Street outside the AGU Fall Meeting in San Francisco while traffic waits at a stoplight. In the foreground are street banners for the AGU Fall Meeting. In the background is the Moscone Convention Center - West building. (Credit: Rex Sanders, USGS. Public domain.) For the 2016 American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting, our scientists plan to give over 400 presentations to the largest gathering of Earth scientists in the world. The talks and posters span a wide range of topics, from reducing greenhouse gases by restoring wetlands, to extreme El Niño beach erosion in California, to earthquake early warning systems, including a late-breaking session on Oklahoma’s largest recorded earthquake. USGS scientists have attended this conference for nearly 50 years, presenting keynote addresses, organizing sessions, and contributing scientific findings. New scientists gain valuable exposure and expand their professional networks. Side meetings with colleagues save travel time and money better spent on research. While our scientists are gearing up for this year’s meeting, we look back to the 2015 AGU Fall Meeting, attended by 24,000 scientists from around the world, including several hundred from USGS. Looking down on a large room crowded with people checking out AGU Fall Meeting posters on long rows of boards. (Credit: Rex Sanders, USGS. Public domain.) These USGS scientists choose to spend long days far from home because they want to share their science, and for many other reasons. “The rest of the scientific community just really values our presence and our contributions at these conferences,” said USGS hydrologist Chris Magirl. USGS scientists Halley Kimball (left) and Chris Magirl conduct a bathymetric survey of the Cedar River in western Washington.(Credit: Christiana Czuba, USGS. Public domain.) Sharing science with 24,000 people USGS scientists gave more than 500 formal presentations at the 2015 AGU Fall Meeting. Conference topics ranged from atmospheric processes to volcanology; sessions started early Sunday morning and ran through Friday evening. Here are some perspectives from our scientists who participated in last year’s meeting. How do you tell people what to expect from a creeping disaster? That was the subject of a poster by Christina Neal, a volcanologist and scientist-in-charge at the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) on the island of Hawai’i. For nine months, lava flows threatened Pāhoa Village and the only road serving thousands of people. “The USGS scientists were personally talking to emergency managers and talking to residents whose homes were threatened by this lava flow,” said Neal. “I've heard from so many people that the way HVO scientists were able to [communicate], both in writing and in front of large public community meetings, went a long way in helping people cope with this extended, slow motion disaster.” Benjamin Jones is a USGS research geographer working in Anchorage, Alaska. A tundra fire had burned roughly 400 square miles (1,000 square kilometers), including an area covered by detailed LIDAR elevation data gathered before and after the blaze. Jones and his colleagues discovered that one third of the permafrost in the burned area had melted and collapsed, because the fire incinerated vegetation and soil that insulated the permafrost. USGS research geographer Ben Jones is dressed warmly as he stands next to portable core-drilling device in a snow-covered area. (Credit: USGS. Public domain.) “This was basically the first study that demonstrated the potential impact of tundra fires on cold permafrost terrain in the Arctic,” he said about his popular poster. “[I was] just constantly talking for five and a half, six hours,” said Jones. Many presentations at the conference covered the powerful Nepal earthquake of April 25, 2015. Susan Hough, a USGS geophysicist and seismologist in Pasadena, California, helped arrange one session on short notice for the December conference. Susan Hough, a USGS geophysicist and seismologist, climbs a metal ladder going to the roof of a building. Below her and in the background are other people, forest, and fog. (Credit: USGS. Public domain.) “Everyone had been aware that Nepal was going to be hit by magnitude 8-ish earthquakes,” Hough said. “There was a lot of concern for the damage and the death toll that would be caused by an earthquake like that.” “The question is ‘why wasn’t the damage even worse?’” said Hough. “It’s something that people are going to be working on for a long time.” Conference organizers also invited Hough to give an “Ignite” talk one evening on the how the earthquake defied expectations. “It’s kind of like a poor man’s TED talk,” Hough said. “And you’re supposed to give this bang-up, gee-whiz science talk in five minutes. Like speed dating.” Her presentation ended around 8:30 pm, capping another long day at the conference. Long, full days With thousands of presentations to choose from, and tens of thousands of potential collaborators to meet, everyone attending the AGU Fall Meeting has a unique schedule. For most scientists, the days are a non-stop blur of giving talks and attending talks, cruising the poster aisles, and talking shop over quickly eaten meals. USGS scientists pack as much as they can into each day and evening. Attendees at the AGU Fall Meeting take a break for morning refreshments. A crowd of people in a large room with snacks and drinks on tables in the foreground. (Credit: Rex Sanders, USGS. Public domain.) Chris Magirl, a USGS hydrologist and research manager stationed in Tucson, Arizona, described one day at the conference. “I woke up, went over to the diner, and got an omelet. I got to Moscone [Convention Center] about 8:30, and saw Jim O’Connor’s talk on sediment transport and sediment load. Many colleagues and friends were giving talks throughout that session. I gave a talk at 11:20. We went out and got some lunch, and then headed back to a poster session in the afternoon. It wrapped up at 5:00. Then a couple of colleagues and I got some dinner and talked science at a Thai place. I got back to the hotel room around 8:00 or 9:00 to get some rest before doing it all over again the next day.” USGS geologist and Mendenhall post-doctoral fellow Jessica Ball commuted to the conference by train. USGS geologist and Mendenhall post-doctoral fellow Jessica Ball wears a safety vest and gloves while sitting on the bumper of an SUV filled with scientific instruments. (Credit: USGS. Public domain.) “Got up very early. Worked on the notes for my presentation while I was on the train. Walked in here and immediately started going to hydrothermal sessions. Then I met up with a few colleagues for lunch and went to posters in the afternoon. Spent a lot of time talking about people’s research at their posters. Zipped by the Exhibit Hall when I needed a break from talking, and then went to the blogging and social media forums.” That evening, Ball attended three receptions, including one for early career female scientists, before catching a late train home. New ideas and collaborations Nearly every day, USGS scientists at the AGU Fall Meeting learned new things, generated fresh ideas, and planted seeds for future work. Benjamin Jones talked with scientists planning an international project to study coastlines influenced by permafrost. He also learned about structure from motion, a technique for making detailed elevation maps from air photos. “That’s probably my one take-home,” said Jones. “I should look into that more.” Susan Hough chatted with an oil industry scientist about induced earthquakes in Texas. “It’s got me thinking it might be worth stepping back from Oklahoma and looking at Texas and Arkansas,” she said. One talk surprised Jessica Ball during a session she helped organize. “They figured out that a whole bunch of lava domes had formed on this undersea volcano in something like a matter of days or weeks,” she said. “I didn’t realize that you could have lava domes that are underwater, and that they can form that quickly.” Despite being a well-known blogger and Twitter user, Ball doesn’t believe that apps are the only answer. “I don’t think you make good connections and really form collaborations unless it’s in person. Humans work better with other humans. They don’t work quite as well through technology.” Why attend AGU? Working long days away from home, after wading through a thicket of meeting and travel approvals, would not qualify as fun for most people. Yet USGS scientists return to the AGU Fall Meeting year after year. Ball said the 2014 conference was the most exciting. She was part of a round table for early career scientists that included Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell, acting USGS director Suzette Kimball, and Carol Finn, AGU’s president. “I got to have this amazing opportunity to sit down with these three women and talk about my science, why it was important, and where it fit into [the Department of the] Interior’s mission,” said Ball. For Benjamin Jones, working in the 49th state can be a little isolating. The AGU Fall Meeting is “a good venue to get together with other people and other USGS scientists, and talk about some of our research and potential future plans,” he said. “I like to branch out and go see a talk or two that I don’t really know anything about,” said Jones, “with the hopes that it’ll give me a new way of thinking about something I’m working on.” Christina Neal attended the conference to learn the latest science and meet the top scientists in many different fields. “It feels good to be around all of your peers hearing the best of your peers,” said Neal. She saved travel time and money, too. Neal spent a day before the conference at the USGS office in Sacramento, California, meeting with human resources staff to plan future hires. Chris Magirl found other sources of inspiration. “You have a deep appreciation of how ubiquitous and well-respected the USGS is,” he said. “It's hard to walk down a poster aisle and not see a USGS logo on one, or two, or three posters.” “We really have a fantastic presence, and a fantastic reputation that's been established by wonderful scientists,” said Magirl. “That’s a proud thing to be part of.” Looking down on the large poster hall at the AGU Fall Meeting. Many rows of posters on boards with people reading and walking. (Credit: Rex Sanders, USGS. Public domain.) Hard work and a lot of fun: The USGS booth at the AGU Fall Meeting It’s a lot more work than you might imagine. Liz Colvard has run the US Geological Survey (USGS) exhibit booth at the annual American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting for more than a decade. A program and information specialist with the USGS Office of Communications and Publishing in Menlo Park, California, Colvard starts preparing for next year’s booth a couple of weeks after the previous meeting wraps up. Colvard sat down for a short interview just after opening the booth on the last day of the 2015 meeting in San Francisco. The interview was edited for length and clarity. Liz Colvard (left) and Kristin Ludwig staff the USGS booth at the 2015 AGU Fall Meeting in San Francisco. The booth has tables with handouts, vertical panels with displays, and a video screen.(Credit: Rex Sanders, USGS. Public domain.) What can people find at the USGS booth? The meat of our content is in the handouts and in the people that staff it and answer questions. Most people who come to AGU are already fairly familiar with USGS. There’s a huge focus on new publications that are of interest to this audience, so I’ve got a lot of new publications on display, and we’re giving away copies, or else telling them how to find them online. There are just a few informational handouts that we know people are going to ask [about] every year. You have a video rolling silently in the background. What’s playing? When people are walking past your booth, you’ve got about 5 seconds to catch their attention. I ask [USGS video producer] Steve Wessells to put together a highlight video. Sometimes you’ll see people glance at the video and then do a double take because something has caught their eye. People very rarely stand there and watch [the whole thing]. What kinds of questions do you get? These are generally professional scientists with pretty straightforward questions. They need to find some information and they don’t know where to find it. Or they need to make some kind of professional connection with the USGS and they don't know who to contact, or how to navigate a website. I’d say about 40 to 50 percent of our questions are about employment. How many visitors did you get this year? The first night, the icebreaker session, was a feeding frenzy. As many as three to five hundred people came to the booth. We gave away 150 copies of one map within the first hour or so. How do you staff the booth? We always try to have at least one information specialist in the booth. Here at AGU it’s usually either me or Jan Nelson from EROS [Data Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.] Then we recruit about two scientists to help handle all the people. Often we get science questions that they can answer and we can’t. The scientists in the booth are volunteers? Yes, I send out a call about a week or two before the conference and ask for volunteers [from USGS scientists already attending AGU]. I usually get all the people I need. How do you prepare for AGU? It’s a very detail-oriented job, and I am a very detail-oriented person. I think spreadsheets are gifts from the gods. Beginning in January, I keep track of all the new publications that come out of USGS.  Then about three to four months before the conference I’ll start reviewing that and seeing which publications might be good to have in the booth. AGU is mostly about hazards, water, and satellite imagery. Mapping is always of interest to everybody. I create a handout listing all the new and featured products that we have in the booth with our [web addresses] so somebody can just take that piece of paper. I made a special employment handout this time. Every year I keep track of how many copies of everything we give out, so I know next year how many I need. It’s a lot of work. If all of our information is available online, why do we need a booth? Sure, it’s all online, but who’s ever going to know it’s there, or where to find it? Even I discover things about our website that I don’t even know existed. Do you have to do a lot of work to set up the booth? We came in on Sunday and we set up the booth for about five hours. Then we came in on Monday and spent another three hours finishing up. There’s a real science to laying out an exhibit, because people tend to only see what's flat on the table. You want to put all the most important information flat on the table and then the less important information up on the racks. Jan Nelson (left) and Liz Colvard staff the USGS booth at the 2015 AGU Fall Meeting in San Francisco. Peter Haeussler is shown on the video screen. The booth has a table with handouts and vertical panels with displays.(Credit: Rex Sanders, USGS. Public domain.) Every morning I come in one to two hours before the conference starts. I get our computers set up and I clean up from the previous day. The USGS booth is right across from NASA’s very large booth. What’s that like? I very deliberately picked a space facing NASA because they are the hub of all activity in the exhibit hall. Our booth gets so much more business when we’re right by NASA than when we’re down on one of the aisles. Do you enjoy this? I love it! I enjoy chatting with people and having that face-to-face interaction with the public. Sometimes people are so excited with the information that you’ve given them. People love the USGS. It makes you feel good about your job. Anything else people should know about our booth? Most of the scientists who volunteer to work in our booth, when they leave, they say things like, "That was a lot of fun, I didn’t realize," or, "I've learned so much about the USGS doing this." I don’t think our scientists realize what a great opportunity it is for them when they work in the booth, how much they learn and get out of it, and how rewarding it can be for them. #space #planetary

Water Detected on Largest Metallic Asteroid in Solar System: The asteroid, called Psyche, is 186 miles across and is made of almost pure nickel-iron metal. It is thought to be the remnant core of a planetary embryo that was mostly destroyed by impacts billions of years ago. Previous observations of Psyche had shown no evidence for water-rich minerals on its surface. However, new observations from the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility in Hawaii show evidence for water and/or hydroxyl on its surface. Results are published in The Astronomical Journal. While the source of these water molecules on Psyche remains a mystery, scientists propose a few possible mechanisms for their formation. It is possible that water-rich minerals detected on Psyche might have been delivered to its surface by carbonaceous asteroids that impacted Psyche in the distant past. “We think that Psyche may not be entirely exposed metallic core,” says Driss Takir, lead author and scientist at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center in Flagstaff, Arizona. “What we see might instead have been a core-mantle boundary of a differentiated body that was disrupted via impacts. Solar radiation is another mechanism that can produce hydroxyl, which is a molecule consisting of one oxygen atom and one hydrogen atom, by interacting with the surface of Psyche.” "This work underscores how much more we have to learn about asteroids,” says Laszlo Kestay, Director of the USGS Astrogeology Science Center. “It will take more of this kind of careful work with telescopes on Earth, and spacecraft visiting asteroids, before we understand what treasures await us in space." Takir is a member of NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission and JAXA’s Hayabusa2 mission to collect carbonaceous samples from the water-rich asteroids, Bennu and Ryugu. “We are excited to continue studying Psyche, and other water-rich asteroids, to give us further insight into the distribution of potential resources in space,” said Takir. This research on Psyche is funded by the USGS/NASA Eugene M. Shoemaker Fellowship, NASA Planetary Science Division Planetary Geology and Geophysics and Solar System Observations Programs. #space #planetary

Media Advisory: Exploring Mars with Curiosity: Free USGS Public Lecture October 25: Summary: On October 25th the U.S. Geological Survey will have a lecture featuring USGS Geologist Ken Herkenhoff, a member of the Curiosity mission’s team talking about what scientists have discovered so far during this mission, particularly at the Gale crater landing site --- Contact Information: Leslie  Gordon ( Phone: 650-329-4000 ); --- MENLO PARK, Calif. — In early August, the Mars Science Laboratory rover known as "Curiosity" landed successfully to begin its 23 month mission of searching the Martian surface for evidence of environmental conditions capable of supporting microbial life.  On October 25th the U.S. Geological Survey will have a lecture featuring USGS Geologist Ken Herkenhoff, a member of the Curiosity mission’s team talking about what scientists have discovered so far during this mission, particularly at the Gale crater landing site. Learn how scientists are using special instruments aboard Curiosity to analyze dust and rocks, to learn about the role of water in forming the Martian landscape.  Who:  Ken Herkenhoff, USGS Geologist and Member of the Mars Science Laboratory "Curiosity" Team. What: Exploring Mars with Curiosity - searching the Martian surface for evidence of habitable conditions. When: Thursday, October 25, 2012 Noon —Lecture preview for USGS employees and press 7 p.m.—Public lecture (also live-streamed over the Internet) Where: U.S. Geological Survey Building 3 Auditorium, second floor 345 Middlefield Road Menlo Park, CA 94025 More information and directions: Evening Public Lecture Series Calendar Menlo Park Science Center Campus Map #space #usgs

President’s 2017 Budget Proposes $1.2 Billion for the USGS: Summary: WASHINGTON—The President’s fiscal year (FY) 2017 budget request for the U.S. Geological Survey reflects the USGS's vital role in addressing some of the most pressing challenges of the 21st Century by advancing scientific discovery and innovation. The $1.2 billion FY 2017 request supports USGS' ability to maintain the diversity of its scientific expertise so it can continue the large-scale, multi-disciplinary investigations it is uniquely qualified to carry out and provide impartial science to resource managers and planners. --- Reflects the ongoing commitment to scientific discovery and innovation to support decision making for critical societal needs Contact Information: Diane Noserale ( Phone: 703-648-4333 ); Catherine Puckett ( Phone: 352-278-0165 ); Cynthia Lodge ( Phone: 571-524-2289 ); --- WASHINGTON—The President’s fiscal year (FY) 2017 budget request for the U.S. Geological Survey reflects the USGS's vital role in addressing some of the most pressing challenges of the 21st Century by advancing scientific discovery and innovation. The $1.2 billion FY 2017 request supports USGS' ability to maintain the diversity of its scientific expertise so it can continue the large-scale, multi-disciplinary investigations it is uniquely qualified to carry out and provide impartial science to resource managers and planners. “This is a smart, innovative and forward-looking budget that invests in Interior’s key missions – now and in the future – so we can continue to serve the American people,” said Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell. “The President’s budget provides targeted investments to create economic opportunities by growing our domestic energy portfolio, building climate resilient communities, and revitalizing America’s national parks as we mark their 100th anniversary. Consistent with the President’s abiding commitment to Indian Country, this budget provides critical support for Tribal self-determination and economic advancement, including a historic transformation of the Bureau of Indian Education school system to help improve education for Indian children.” “Our diversity of scientific expertise uniquely positions the USGS to help address today's critical natural resource issues,” said Suzette Kimball, USGS Director. “From earthquakes to invasive species, from water quality to critical minerals, USGS science plays a pivotal role and this budget request supports that important mission."  The FY 2017 budget request allows the USGS to advance priorities set forth in the USGS Science Strategy Plans, such as: developing the ground system for Landsat 9; informing the management of water for the 21st century; understanding climate and land-use change; investigating new and emerging invasive species and disease; improving science for rapid disaster response and prevention; developing enhanced mapping tools and products; advancing landscape-level sciences; conducting critical mineral and energy resources research; and pursuing studies that protect environmental health. This budget is also designed to keep core USGS science programs intact. These programs provide valuable services to the Nation and include science that helps decision makers minimize loss of life and property, manage natural resources, and protect and enhance our quality of life. Key increases in the FY 2017 budget are summarized below. For more detailed information on the President’s FY 2017 budget, visit the USGS Budget, Planning, and Integration website. Water Resources The FY 2017 USGS budget request provides an increase of $17.3 million above the FY2016 enacted level for Water Resources research for a total of $228 million. The budget requests $60.2 million for Water Resources programs to use in matching State, municipality, and Tribal contributions for cooperative water efforts. This includes a $4 million increase under the Water Availability and Use Science Program to develop a near real-time assessment of regional and national water-use trends during drought periods. Other increases totaling $8.1 million would integrate water information from multiple agencies, provide state water resource agencies with the necessary base data at the resolution needed for decision making, and would develop better methods for sampling, estimating, aggregating, and presenting water use data. This increase also supports efforts to assess water budgets across snow-dominated regions of the Nation; including assessing systems, anticipating future changes, and extrapolating from monitored to unmonitored locations across critical landscapes in the Arctic. The USGS budget also includes a $1.4 million increase for the Groundwater and Streamflow Information Program to expand the use of flood inundation mapping and rapidly deployable streamgages, which provide crucial data to help manage flood response. In addition, the increase will also target the use of enhanced streamflow information to help decision makers support tribal water needs. The National Water Quality Assessment Program increase of $3.5 million will enhance long-term surface- and groundwater-quality monitoring in Cycle 3 of the Program. This increase will further support cooperative and urban-waters activities by providing streamflow and water-quality data to state and local partners. The data are used to plan economic revitalization and restore urban waters. Additionally, the NAWQA increase funds research to understand the effects of unconventional oil and gas extraction on streams and groundwater. Natural Hazards The FY 2017 USGS budget request for Natural Hazards includes a $10.7 million increase above the FY 2016 enacted level for a total of $149.7 million. It funds science to help protect the Nation’s safety, security, and economic well-being, to make the United States more resilient to natural hazards, and to develop user driven tools to make communities safer. The Earthquake Hazards Program increase of $1.7 million would fund induced seismicity research related to unconventional oil and gas production and improve earthquake monitoring by assuming long-term operations of about 160 seismographs in the Central and Eastern U.S. An additional $860,000 would fund sensors at select Global Seismographic Network sites. The budget continues funding of $8.2 million to implement a limited earthquake early warning system on the West Coast by expanding seismometer coverage outward around major urban areas, integrating fault slip data into the system, developing and testing the system to improve reliability, and end-user education efforts on how to understand and use alerts. The Natural Hazards budget increase includes a Coastal and Marine Geology Program increase of $5.8 million, which would benefit coastal communities, including those in the Arctic, dealing with sea-level rise, severe storms, and melting permafrost. The increase would also fund research and modeling to apply findings from Hurricane Sandy to other parts of the U.S. coastline. An increase of $1.7 million for the Geomagnetism Program would enhance USGS monitoring of electrical currents in the Earth’s crust, and improve global magnetic field data. This monitoring by USGS is an integral component of the National Space Weather Strategy to protect against the harmful effects of magnetic storms. The Sun is always emitting a wind of electrically charged particles, but when a large sunspot emerges on the face of the Sun, there is an increased chance for abrupt emission of strong solar wind and a magnetic storm. An intense magnetic storm can affect many technological systems. In particular, storms can overload and interfere with the operation of electric-power grids on the Earth, sometimes causing blackouts. In addition, an increase of $0.5 million in the Landslide Hazards Program would expand post-wildfire debris-flow hazard assessments and bolster the USGS capacity to respond to landslide crises. Energy and Minerals Resources, and Environmental Health The FY 2017 budget request for Energy and Minerals Resources, and Environmental Health (EMEH) is $5 million above the FY 2016 enacted level, for a total of $99.5 million. This includes a $1.6 million increase to the Mineral Resources Program for identifying and evaluating new sources of critical minerals and for new science and tools to reduce the impacts of minerals extraction, production, and recycling on the global environment and human health. The Energy Resources Program’s proposed $1.4 million increase includes funds for unconventional oil and gas (UOG) research and assessments, evaluation of waters produced during UOG development, and assessments of undiscovered UOG on Alaska’s North Slope. It funds scientific data-gathering needed for other domestic assessments of shale and tight oil and gas, geothermal energy research to support land management decisions about alternative energy permitting on Federal lands, and the application of an ecosystem services approach to enhance resilience of coastal infrastructure and evaluate green infrastructure investments. These increases are partially offset by reductions to lower priority programs. The increase includes an additional $3.1 million for Environmental Health research, with $1.3 million under the Contaminant Biology Program and $1.8 million under the Toxic Substances Hydrology Program. This research will assess potential biological effects of UOG on living organisms, including humans; study environmental contamination from spills and other releases of liquid and solid wastes from UOG development in West Virginia and North Dakota; and establish real-time water-quality monitoring along the northeast U.S. coast. These studies also will examine mercury and pesticide contamination in the Columbia River basin, and assess impacts of uranium mining in the Grand Canyon region. This research will inform decisions on new uranium mining in the Grand Canyon region. Core Science Systems The FY 2017 budget request for Core Science Systems is $6.8 million above the FY2016 enacted level, for a total of $118.4 million. Of the increase, $4.9 million would fund elevation data acquisition within the National Geospatial Program. This includes a $1.5 million increase to modernize mapping and collect ifsar (interferometric synthetic aperture radar) elevation data in Alaska. Improved mapping products are urgently needed in Alaska for aircraft navigation, since weather conditions deteriorate quickly and pilots frequently need to fly using only their instruments and GPS. It also includes $2.4 million to acquire lidar data (measuring distance by illuminating a target with a laser and analyzing the reflected light) and enhance landscape-scale 3-D maps for the Nation. Accelerating national elevation data coverage will also enable decision making to manage infrastructure and construction, provide more accurate and cost effective application of chemicals in farming, help to develop energy resources, and support aviation safety and vehicle navigation. The proposed increase also provides $1 million to collect lidar data along the U.S. coast. These data help to understand and mitigate the effects of coastal erosion and storm surge and support management of the Chesapeake Bay. An additional increase of $1 million would complete the National Hydrography Database at a 1:24,000 scale for the conterminous 48 states, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico. This achievement would enable full integration of hydrography and elevation data in support of water resource managers throughout the Nation. The overall increase for Core Science Systems also funds research addressing pollinators and drought response. Ecosystems The FY 2017 USGS budget request for Ecosystems is $13.7 million above the FY 2016 enacted level for a total of $173.9 million. This includes a $4.9 million increase to the Environments Program for critical landscapes such as sage steppe and the Arctic. The increase for sage steppe supports the priority needs of managers to design conservation and management strategies for greater sage grouse; address changing fire regimes, drought and shifting climates; control the spread of invasive cheatgrass; and restore and manage the sage steppe landscape. The Arctic increase would fund research to inform communities and land managers about changes in the Arctic and how they affect the broader physical environment: altering stream flows, disrupting ocean currents and the fisheries that depend on them, changing ecosystems, and affecting the availability of resources. The Environments Program increase also funds research to support drought and wildfire response. The Ecosystems budget request includes $3.2 million in new funding for the Fisheries Program to develop decision support tools for water ecology, to assess Great Lakes fisheries, and to process offshore samples that could provide an early warning for harmful algal blooms. The budget increase for Ecosystems includes an additional $2.5 million under the Invasive Species Program for research on new and emerging invasive species of national concern and to develop and improve tools for early detection and control, such as advanced molecular detection of sea lamprey and other invasive species found at very low densities in the field. The proposed Ecosystems increase also includes a $1.7 million increase through the Status and Trends Program for research to maintain native pollinators that help the Nation maintain its food supplies. Climate and Land-Use Change The FY 2017 USGS budget provides an increase of $31.5 million over the FY 2016 enacted level for Climate and Land-Use Change (CLU) research, for a total of $171.4 million. This includes a $15.4 million increase to develop the Landsat 9 ground system to accelerate the satellite’s launch from 2023 to 2021 and to ensure access to the Nation’s remote sensing data. An increase of $2.2 million would enable access to Sentinel-2 satellite data from the European Space Agency, and an increase of $3 million would allow the development of the computing and online storage resources necessary to rapidly produce and widely disseminate a set of Landsat-based information products. The CLU increase also provides an additional $4.2 million to better understand patterns and manage the effects of drought. This includes new tools to better manage water nationwide such as near real-time satellite based drought monitoring. Drought impacts on natural and agricultural systems that would be assessed include soil moisture, evapotranspiration rates, vegetation response, and other metrics. The research would help water managers identify the onset and severity of drought events and effectively allocate scarce water resources. The increase includes $1.8 million for new tools to improve water management nationwide and use remote sensing to support additional aspects of the National Water Census. The budget includes a $1.5 million increase to establish a Great Lakes Climate Science Center to help increase and improve focus on the many climate-related natural resource challenges in the Great Lakes region and a $1.4 million increase would fund work with tribes on climate adaptation. In addition, $2.4 million would go to critical landscape studies in the Arctic to develop predictive models of changes to the environment from the conversion of ice and snow to water and to estimate glacier loss in Alaska and potential changes in freshwater input. A $500,000 increase would fund imagery datasets and analytical tools for improved coastal resource management and planning for resilient coastal landscapes and communities. The proposed USGS budget is part of the President’s FY 2017 request of $13.4 billion for the Department of the Interior, reflecting his commitment to meet Federal trust responsibilities to Native Americans, conserve vital national landscapes across the Nation, support the next century of our public lands, and allow for responsible management of energy development on public lands and offshore areas. The Budget in Brief is online: www.doi.gov/budget and www.doi.gov/budget/2017/Hilites/toc.html. #space #usgs

Visit the Moon Without Leaving Your Desk http://bit.ly/1OEHVkw #space #usgs

Aurora Borealis Painting Pays Tribute to Civil War’s End http://bit.ly/1O2HY9E #space #usgs

Launch Day Celebration For Space Racers New Season Premiere On Sprout: Eagle, Robyn, and Hawk on their adventures through the universe. Season Two of Space Racers is launching on Sprout (NBC) on Nov. 5.  Space Racers makes real rocket science exciting for kids ages 3-6.  Flagstaff-area families are invited to celebrate the season two premiere of Space Racers – preschoolers’ favorite rocket cadets – on Saturday, Nov. 5 at 11 a.m. at the U.S. Geological Survey Astrogeology Science Center in Flagstaff, Arizona. Participants will be treated to special space-themed giveaways, a private Space Racers screening and will be part of the official countdown to the series premiere blast-off on Sprout, NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment’s 24-hour preschool network. The USGS Astrogeology Science Center is serving as an official “Mission Support Center” along with several other space museums nationwide. Retired NASA astronaut and Space Shuttle commander Robert L. “Hoot” Gibson will livestream the countdown on Space Racers Facebook page starting at 2:45 p.m. from “Mission Control” at The U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Participants at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center will join the Commander by calling into Launch Control and counting down to the premiere blast-off on Sprout. Three astrogeology planetary scientists served as science advisors for Space Racers. “Having experts like Moses Milazzo, Lauren Edgar and Ryan Anderson vet our stories and scripts helped to ensure the show’s scientific accuracy,” said Allan Neuwirth, producer and head writer of Space Racers. “Our motto is 'real rocket science!' and the USGS science and space expertise was invaluable in helping us achieve our mission!”  In addition to the Launch Day celebrations, Space Racers has kicked-off a nationwide contest to engage future astronauts. Parents are invited to bring their children to the USGS Astrogeology Science Center from now until Nov. 6 to submit a photo of their young ones in front of the official Space Racers banner. Participants will have the chance to win an all-expenses paid, grand prize trip to Space Camp for their family or a one-year family membership to a science museum. Participants can also enter online. Season two of Space Racers features some of NASA’s most famous scientific explorations, including Mercury’s MESSENGER probe, the Voyager One spacecraft, and Mars rovers Curiosity, Opportunity and Spirit. The groundbreaking animated series introduces girls and boys to exciting, humorous tales of action & adventure in space, on Earth and on other planets in our solar system. Space Racers is collaborating in a partnership with the U.S. Space & Rocket Center’s Space Camp, to which NASA serves as technical and educational consultant pursuant to a cooperative agreement. The USGS Astrogeology Science Center is participating in this event as part of the PLANETS project, a collaborative partnership with Northern Arizona University’s Center for Science Teaching and Learning, and the Museum of Science in Boston. PLANETS, or Planetary Learning that Advances the Nexus of Engineering, Technology, and Science, is a NASA-funded project whose goal is to develop and disseminate out-of-school time curricula and related educator professional development modules that integrate planetary science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Learn more about the USGS Astrogeology Science Center online. Season Two of Space Racers is launching on Sprout (NBC) on Nov. 5.  Space Racers makes real rocket science exciting for kids ages 3-6.  Season Two of Space Racers is launching on Sprout (NBC) on Nov. 5.  Space Racers makes real rocket science exciting for kids ages 3-6.  #space #planetary

Warmer Waters From Climate Change Could Impact Sport Fish Communities in Midwestern Lakes: MADISON, WISCONSIN – Climate change is predicted to alter sport fish communities in Midwestern lakes, according to a new study that related water temperature to suitability for walleye and largemouth bass in more than 2,100 Wisconsin lakes. For the past 30 years, walleye populations have been declining and largemouth bass populations have been increasing in lakes across Wisconsin. These changes are cause for concern for many anglers and policy makers since freshwater fishing in Wisconsin is valued at more than $1.5 billion, and walleye are the preferred species for many anglers. According to the study, this downward trend in walleye populations is likely to continue as climate change will cause lakes to get warmer overtime. Researchers identified characteristics of lakes where walleye or largemouth bass were most likely to thrive and found that both species were strongly influenced by water temperature. While walleye populations thrived in cooler, larger lakes, largemouth bass were more abundant in warmer lakes. “Generally this means that lakes that are best for walleye are not the best for largemouth bass, and vice versa” said study author Gretchen Hansen, former Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources research scientist currently with the Minnesota DNR. “Going forward, we predict that many Wisconsin lakes are going to become more suitable for largemouth bass, and less suitable for walleye.” The suitability of individual lakes for supporting walleye and largemouth bass was based on a computer model that estimated daily water temperatures from 1979-2014 for thousands of lakes using information on lake size, depth, water clarity, and historical weather. “We don’t measure water temperature in many lakes,” said co-author Jordan Read, U.S. Geological Survey civil engineer. “Modeled lake temperatures can fill the gaps and provide fisheries managers and researchers with a full historical record of water temperature for each of these lakes.” Future lake temperatures were also forecasted for the 2,100 lakes using mid- and late-21st century climate projections and the study authors emphasized that the diversity of lakes will determine how they will respond to climate change. “Wisconsin’s lakes are going to get warmer in the future, but how much warmer they will get varies among lakes” said study co-author Luke Winslow, USGS research hydrologist. By accounting for variability among lakes in how they respond to climate change, researchers estimated how individual lakes and their fish communities were expected to respond to future warming.  The percentage of lakes likely to support natural reproduction of walleye was predicted to decline from 10 percent to less than 4 percent of Wisconsin lakes by the middle of the century. At the same time, the percentage of lakes with conditions conducive to high largemouth bass abundance was predicted to increase from 60 to 89 percent of lakes within the same timeframe.        Notably, when projected changes are considered in terms of total lake area, the story is more optimistic. The percentage of lake acreage likely to support natural reproduction of walleye was predicted to decline by a much smaller amount, from 46 to 36 percent by mid-century. “Walleye populations in large lakes appear to be more tolerant of warming than walleye populations in small lakes” explains Hansen. The study predicted improved conditions for largemouth bass in more than 500 lakes that are not currently suitable for either species, representing expanded fishing opportunities for bass anglers. The percentage of lake acreage with conditions conducive to high largemouth bass abundance is expected to increase from 28 up to 85 percent by the middle of the century.  The research team continues to pursue the question of how fish communities in lakes are likely to change in the future, with current work focused on expanding their analysis to include lakes in Minnesota and Michigan. This study, which was funded by the Department of Interior Northeast Climate Science Center, with additional support from the National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center, and the Wisconsin DNR Sport Fish Restoration funds, was published in the journal Global Change Biology and can be read here.   Learn more by visiting https://owi.usgs.gov/vizlab/climate-change-walleye-bass/ where you can read more detailed information about the study’s findings, and examine predictions for individual lakes throughout Wisconsin with an interactive map. #space #planetary

EarthWord – Tertiary http://bit.ly/1ZkS4XD #space #usgs

USGS Increases Public Access to Scientific Research http://bit.ly/1mnfb5e #space #usgs

EarthWord: Graben: Don't get grabby, get this week's EarthWord! Read More #space #usgs

What Happened to Early Mars' Atmosphere? New Study Eliminates One Theory http://bit.ly/1hUj404 #space #usgs