Environmental Science

The USDA Census of Agriculture profiles Oregon counties and publishes reports every 5 years.

The Oregon Farm Bureau is the state's largest general agriculture organization.

Oregon soil survey data consist of maps, text, and tables. The links to the "Online Soil Maps" will take you to the national Web Soil Survey site. The report text can be viewed using an internet browser or downloaded. By the Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Pesticides division of the Oregon Department of Agriculture.

Plots places within Portland Oregon that have edible plants. Search by location.

USDA resources for local food systems.

Wiki site for Willamette Valley Agriculture. By Professor Kimberlee Chambers at Willamette University.

United States Department of Agriculture umbrellas other agencies including agriculture, nutrition, food, laws & regulations, marketing, trade, natural resources, the environment, science research, travel, and recreation.

Agricultural Statistics is published each year to meet the diverse need for a reliable reference book on agricultural production, supplies, consumption, facilities, costs, and returns.

FAOSTAT provides time-series and cross sectional data relating to food and agriculture for some 200 countries.

A multitude of FAO databases for: global agricultural water management, agriculture, nutrition, fisheries, forestry, food aid, land use, population, crops, livestock, irrigation, land use, fertilizer, pesticide consumption, agricultural machinery, forestry.

This resource list the food basket prices (store retail price) for farm produce. It includes prices of produce from the farm & retail prices (what customers pay at stores).

ISAAA presents an easy to use database of Biotech/GM crop approvals for various biotechnology stakeholders. It features the Biotech/GM crop events and traits that have been approved for commercialization and planting and/or for import for food and feed use with a short description of the crop and the trait. Entries in the database were sourced principally from Biosafety Clearing House of approving countries and from country regulatory websites.

The NASS is one of the main statistical gathering units of the USDA, and publishes U.S., state, and county level agricultural statistics for many commodities and data series including crops, livestock, costs and prices, demographics, and environmental aspects of agriculture. Data can be retrieved by commodity, watershed, state, county, nationally, and by year.

This includes the agricultural outlook statistics & annual reports by the ERS/USDA for various produce and commodities (vegetables, fruits, meat & dairy production).

Price Spreads from Farm to Consumer: At-Home Foods by Commodity Group (ERS/USDA Data).

USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service - Quick Stats. This includes overall U.S. & all states county data.

FDA, an agency of the Department of Health and Human Services, consists of nine centers: Biologics Evaluation and Research, Devices and Radiological Health, Drug Evaluation and Research, Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, Veterinary Medicine, Toxicologica.

The Hurricane Digital Memory Bank uses electronic media to collect, preserve, and present the stories and digital record of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita on the Gulf Coast.

Major topics and issues cover: Greenhouse Gases (U.S. and global greenhouse gas emissions), Weather and Climate (U.S. and global temperatures, precipitation, drought), Oceans (Ocean heat, sea surface temperature, sea level, ocean acidity, coastal flooding), Snow and Ice (snow cover, snowpack, glaciers, snowfall), Health and Society (heat-related illnesses and deaths, growing season, ragweed pollen season, Lyme Disease), and Ecosystems (wildfires, stream flow, stream temperature, bird wintering ranges, marine species, leaf and bloom dates). All general topics have a summary.

Author Spencer Weart supplements his book, Discovery of Global Warming, which discusses the history of climate change research and how scientists came to (partly) understand what people are doing to cause climate change.

Over 19,000 earth science & life science data sets in relation to global warming: agriculture, atmosphere, climate indicators, oceans, terrestrial hydrosphere, and more.

Covers information that reflect global change in the atmosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, and biosphere. The material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation.

This excellent site contains data and information on global warming, climatic change and the greenhouse effect.

Offers comprehensive info on issues of climate change in seven broad areas: basic info, science, greenhouse gas emissions, health and environmental effects, climate policy, what you can do; and other resources.

his division of NOAA conducts weather and climate research to observe & understand Earth's physical environment, and to improve weather and climate predictions on global-to-local scales. They also link to a branch within NOAA called the Climate Analysis Branch

The EdGCM Project develops and distributes a research-quality global climate model (GCM) that runs on desktop computers to explore the subject of climate change using the same methods and tools that scientists employ.

GISS research predictions atmospheric & climate changes in the 21st century. The research combines analysis of comprehensive global datasets with global models of atmospheric, land surface, and oceanic processes. Includes data, images, animations, & scientific documents covering over the last 40 years.

The world's largest collection of uniformly formatted, quality-controlled, publicly available ocean profile data for oceanographic, climatic, and environmental research. It spans from Captain Cook's 1772 voyage to the contemporary Argo period, making it a valuable resource for long-term and historical ocean climate analysis.

Contains satellite data and information and links for glaciology, marine geology, geophysics and paleoclimatology. Also includes links to Science for Society and NGDC contacts.

From daily weather forecasts, severe storm warnings and climate monitoring to fisheries management, coastal restoration and supporting marine and ocean commerce. NOAA’s dedicated scientists use cutting-edge research and high-tech instrumentation to provide reliable info when they need it.

RealClimate is a commentary site on climate science by working climate scientists for the interested public and journalists. Quick responses are provided to developing stories and the context sometimes, which are sometimes missed in mainstream commentary.

Provide timely & accurate forecasts for severe weather (thunderstorms, tornadoes, heavy rain & snow, and fire weather) events across the U.S. and issues specific to those hazards.

The Sustainability Program of EPA covers areas relating to: Safe and Sustainable Communities, Sustainable Water, Air, Climate and Energy, and Safer Products for a Sustainable World.

National (United States) and international temperature data archive from NOAA. Climate Data Online (CDO) provides free access to NCDC's archive of global historical weather and climate data in addition to station history information. These data include quality controlled daily, monthly, seasonal, and yearly measurements of temperature, precipitation, wind, and degree days as well as radar data and 30-year Climate Norms.

This glossary contains information on more than 2000 terms, phrases and abbreviations used by the National Weather Service (NWS).

This is a search engine that searches documents from all science-related agencies in the US government. It's a great place to look for governmental reports or research if you're not sure which agencies might be involved. The search takes a while for to complete, so you'll need a bit of patience.

This report is a comprehensive summary of the status and trends of our nation’s biological resources. The report describes the major processes and factors affecting biological resources, and it treats regional status and trends. Each chapter and box was peer-reviewed by anonymous scientific reviewers.

CIESIN provides information that would help scientists, decision-makers, and the public better understand the changing relationship between human beings and the environment. You can browse their data through 13 major categories, or a variety of other tools and collections to access their data and reports. CIESIN is a unit of Columbia University, and offers links to other research affiliates.

The University of North Texas indexes many of the Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports. The CRS does not provide direct public access to its reports, requiring citizens to request them from their Members of Congress. Some Members, as well as several non-profit groups, have posted the reports on their web sites. This site is not affiliated with the Congressional Research Service, but aims to provide integrated, searchable access to many of the full-text CRS reports that have been available at a variety of different web sites since 1990.

The information on this site is compiled and made available as a public service by the Government Documents Department at the UNT Libraries.

The major topics in the CRS Reports include issues relating to: Agriculture, Air, Biodiversity, Climate Change, CRS Briefing Books, Economics & Trade, Energy, Federal Agencies, Forests, General Interests, Government Information, International Issues, Legislative Issues, Marine Environments, Mining, Natural Resources, Pesticides, Pollution, Population, Public Lands, Risk & Reform, Science & Technology, Stratospheric Ozone, Transportation, Waste Management, Water, and Wetlands.

Designed to help search for info by chemical name or structure. This database has over 380,000 chemicals, synonyms, structures, regulatory list information, and links to other databases. Includes a Superlist (Regulatory and other lists of chemicals), Additional Chemical Databases and Resources, Drug Information Portal, and TOXNET and Beyond Training Class Schedule and Workbook. This is useful for identifying environmental pollutants.

Provides access to five searchable databases (plants and animals, protected areas of the world, forest statistics and maps, marine statistics and maps, and national biodiversity profiles).

Oregon soil survey data consist of maps, text, and tables. The links to the "Online Soil Maps" will take you to the national Web Soil Survey site. The report text can be viewed using an internet browser or downloaded. By the Natural Resources Conservation Service.

This resource by NOAA provides scientific stewardship, products, and services for geophysical data from the Sun to the Earth and Earth's sea floor and solid earth environment, including Earth observations from space.

This mineral database contains 4,442 individual mineral species descriptions: crystallography, crystal structure, x-ray powder diffraction, chemical composition, Dana & Strunz classifications, determinative properties, and more.

A peer-reviewed electronic encyclopedia about the Earth written by scholars, professionals & educators. Includes hundreds of topics ranging from agricultural science to zoology.

The USGS Landslide Hazards Program conducts research in order to make accurate landslide hazard maps and forecasts of landslide occurrences. Includes state & local info, landslide events, monitoring, and more.

Compiled by the U.S.G.S. and other scientists, this map details Earth's volcanoes, earthquakes, impact craters, and plate tectonics.

A peer-reviewed electronic encyclopedia about the Earth written by scholars, professionals & educators. Includes hundreds of topics ranging from agricultural science to zoology.

U.S. Geological Survey leads national efforts to map mineral resources and analyze the supply chains needed to drive the U.S. economy and national security. The efforts include analyzing global supply chain risks, mineral needs for domestic industry and defense, and future production capacity. The USGS also partners with state geological surveys, private companies, universities and federal agencies in its efforts to identify new mineral resources. The primary function of the USGS is to provide quality scientific information to the public through various resources.

Here you can search the CIESIN Gateway, access data (China Data Collection, Environmental Treaty Texts the Global Population Database and the Mexico Data Collection), use interactive applications, access information systems and instructional resources, all related to earth science.

This massive database updates our knowledge of the Nation’s land cover and documents precisely where land cover change has occurred between 2001 and 2006. NLCD is used for thousands of applications in such diverse investigations as ecosystem status and health, spatial patterns of biodiversity, indications of climate change, and best practices in land management.

The CVO site, a division of the USGS, contains a variety of maps, historical information & descriptions from potential active volcanoes & volcanics of the Western U.S. and around the world. It has news and current events, activity updates, photos galleries, cascade range volcano listings, hazard assessment reports & maps, hiking information, Mt. Saint Helens 30th anniversary, volcano types, glossary of terms, and even what these volcanoes were like during the 1805 Lewis & Clark expedition.

The USGS provides a vast amount of geologic information, data, and maps related to volcanoes.

The Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program (GVP) is unique in its documentation of current and past activity for all volcanoes on the planet active during the last 10,000 years. It acts as a clearinghouse of reports, data, maps, and imagery. It reports current eruptions around the world, and builds databases and archival resources for Earth's active volcanoes and their eruptions.

Provides access to EQIIS (image database), earthquake engineering abstracts, and engineering reports and publications. This Center is headquartered at the University of California at Berkeley.

Citizens, emergency responders, and engineers rely on the USGS for accurate and timely information on where an earthquake occurred, how much the ground shook in different locations, and what the likelihood is of future significant ground shaking. The USGS now locates about 50 earthquakes each day; 20,000 a year.

ShakeMap sites provide near-real-time maps of ground motion and shaking intensity following significant earthquakes. These maps are used by federal, state, and local organizations, both public and private, for post-earthquake response and recovery, public and scientific information, as well as for preparedness exercises and disaster planning.

This provides access to information and research conducted by the Southern California Earthquake Center which is headquartered at the University of Southern California. It includes major projects & research, technical reports, and education & preparedness.

Public Works Department constructs and maintains the infrastructure necessary for the basic urban needs of the Salem, Oregon, metropolitan area. This includes a safe and reliable road system, healthy and plentiful water supplies, a well-functioning storm drainage system, and proper treatment of wastewater.

Northwest waterfall survey of Oregon, Idaho, and Washington. Includes a database of information (browse via maps), the "best" northwest waterfalls to visit, a database of waterfalls around the world, and waterfall photography.

USGS Oregon Water Science Center: a wealth of info on surface water, groundwater, and water quality in Oregon and the Nation. Includes water data, plus interpretations of data to Federal, State, and local agencies, Tribes, and the public. This data and study results are widely used to manage Oregon's water resources for the benefit of both people and our environment.

The annual report is the primary mechanism by which EPA evaluates whether or not Oregon has made satisfactory progress in implementing the approved milestones of its updated Nonpoint Source Control Program Plan.

The State of Oregon Water Resources Dept contains info on: News and Events, Adjudications, Commission, Dam Safety, Ground Water, Jobs at WRD, Related Links, Maps, Publications, Surface Water, Water Law, Water Management, and Water Rights.

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (OR DEQ) lists the Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) for the Willamette River watershed basin. It includes water temperature, bacteria, pesticides (DDT, Dieldrin, Chlordane), nitrates, metals (Iron, Manganese, Arsenic), and water quality management plans.

This links to various publications & resources by and for the Network of Oregon Watershed Councils.

This links to watershed information related to the City of Salem Public Works Division.

This 2010 resource lists all of the districts within Oregon that are associated with the Oregon Soil & Water Conservation.

This is a list of biennial reports of watershed projects and areas of concern.

Colorful, highly detailed and easily navigated, this site provides information on national river conservation and management (includes 25 of the most endangered rivers).

Info on international access to and maintenance of water sources.

Life cycle assessment of drinking water systems: bottle water, tap water, and home/office water delivery (2009) Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.

Provide water information that benefits the Nation's citizens through publications, data, maps, and applications software. USGS Water-Resources offices are located in every State. Includes national water survey, stream flow conditions (e.g. floods, droughts, water quality, ground water), science topics, water resource programs.

Part of NASA's mission is to develop an understanding of the total Earth system and the effects of natural and human-induced changes on the global environment. Our oceans play a major role in influencing changes in the world's climate and weather. Collecting and analyzing long-term ocean data from satellites is a relatively new field of exploration.

The Census of Marine Life is a global network of researchers in more than 80 nations engaged in a 10-year scientific initiative to assess and explain the diversity, distribution, and abundance of life in the oceans. The world's first comprehensive Census of Marine Life - past, present, and future - will be released in 2010.

From daily weather forecasts, severe storm warnings and climate monitoring to fisheries management, coastal restoration and supporting marine and ocean commerce. NOAA’s dedicated scientists use cutting-edge research and high-tech instrumentation to provide reliable info when they need it.

The Environmental Protection Agency's Wetlands, Oceans, and Watersheds site links to a ton of info including watersheds. It includes a watershed locate function by zip code, "watershed academy," laws, publications, technical tools, news, and other related links.

This is the Handbook for Developing Watershed Plans to Restore and Protect Our Waters developed by the EPA. It also includes info on polluted runoff (Nonpoint Source Pollution), in addition to a step-by-step guide for restoring watersheds to their original natural state.

Designed for environmental professionals as a source for online environmental data sets.

Find watersheds by zip code, map, or specific watershed name. Contains list of “citizen-based groups" at work in the watershed for cleanups, monitoring activities, restoration projects and other activities.

This is the Pringle Creek Watershed Management.