World Water Day: The USGS’s use of imaging as a source of data for water science

Despite the fact that March 22nd is the sole annual World Water Day, USGS scientists are always working to provide knowledge on a variety of water resources and situations. Find out more about the useful water information that the USGS is providing through the use of a network of cameras.

Water is essential to the survival of all life on Earth. There are several uses for this precious resource, such as drinking, farming, recreation, and medical purposes. The U.S. Geological Survey employs scientists who labor every day to produce vital water information necessary for safeguarding and efficiently managing the country’s water resources.

As part of the USGS’s water monitoring initiatives, a group of scientists from the agency are striving to enhance the usage of cameras and imagery. Through the network of more than 600 cameras known as the Hydrologic Imagery Visualization and Information System, the USGS and its partners are able to remotely monitor conditions at locations where cameras have been installed.

Guam, Puerto Rico, and USGS streamgages in the United States are home to the majority of the cameras. Perched on a building with a view of a river is a USGS monitoring camera. Public domain is the source/use. See Media Specifications A HIVIS camera in San Antonio, Texas, along the San Antonio River. Take a look at this surveillance website.

The HIVIS Dashboard allows users to access data from HIVIS cameras. Users can locate cameras on an interactive, filterable map displayed on the dashboard. Every camera produces still photos, and some of them can record timelapse films.

Most cameras provide an almost real-time depiction of the site conditions because their photos are refreshed at least once per hour. An interactive hydrograph for cameras at a USGS streamgage is also shown on the dashboard. To provide viewers a clearer idea of what a specific water level at a streamgage location looks like, the hydrograph displays streamgage data together with a sequence of photographs.

The USGS and other users can profit from HIVIS cameras in a number of ways. Because the cameras provide remote verification of hazardous conditions like flooding or ice jams, they can enhance emergency personnel’ capacity to handle crises.

The cameras are available for public use to monitor the water quality for leisure and personal safety. Because the cameras reduce the risk of driving and gathering data at streamgages in hazardous situations, using them can also improve safety for USGS employees.

The USGS National Imagery Management System, a software platform that distributes imagery from USGS cameras, is essentially housed within HIVIS.

As of February 2024, the system generates over 80,000 data items related to the cameras each day and receives about 20,000 photos everyday. The USGS’s efforts to exploit imagery as data have benefited greatly from the development of the imaging application. Further developments to the system are anticipated, such as the use of machine learning and artificial intelligence to estimate streamflow, water levels, ice cover, and snow cover, as well as to detect harmful algal blooms and ice jams.