\(~\)

Networks Map

Projects Map

\(~\)

Table of Data

About this application

\(~\) \(~\)

This web page displays the latest water-level information for U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) wells monitored in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. Water-level networks include wells with continuous data and wells with discrete measurements. Sites under the Networks Map tab have been established for long-term analysis. The sites under the Projects Map tab have been established to collect more short-term, site-specific data and may be removed when the project ends.

The Climate Response Network

The Climate Response Network (Cunningham and others, 2007; USGS, 2022a) includes wells that reflect climatic variability and not human influences. The climate variations of interest are those that affect recharge on monthly and longer time scales, not barometric or tidal influences. Observation wells in this network should satisfy the following criteria:

  • Open to a single, known hydrogeologic unit
  • Known well construction that allows good water-level measurements
  • Located in unconfined aquifers or near-surface confined aquifers that respond to climatic fluctuations
  • Minimally affected by pumpage and likely to remain so
  • Essentially unaffected by irrigation, canals, and other potential sources of artificial recharge
  • Long-term accessibility
  • Well has never gone dry (not susceptible to going dry).

Indiana Department of Natural Resources

The IDNR Network includes data provided by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. The furnished data are continuous records that are added to the USGS database and worked as per USGS protocol by USGS personnel. These wells may be visited monthly to quarterly so some data for these sites may be months old.

Ohio Department of Natural Resources

The ODNR Network includes data provided by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. The furnished data are daily-maximum depth below land surface and any discrete measurements collected by ODNR. The daily-maximum record is provided to the USGS annually and the discrete visits are provided within weeks of the collection date.

Real-Time

Site with continuous data include Real-Time Network wells and Continuous Network wells. Real-Time Network wells are those that are instrumented with a water-level sensor, a logger, and a transmission device to measure, store, and transmit data at regular intervals. The data are stored in the USGS (National Water Information System database (NWIS ; USGS, 2022b) and are served to the public through NWIS web pages. Sites with continuous data typically display the most recent daily-maximum value from the prior day.

Continuous

Continuous Network wells are similar to Real-Time Network wells but without the transmission capability. These wells may be visited monthly to quarterly, so some data for these site may be months old.

Discrete

Discrete Network wells have data that are manually measured points at varying time intervals. The data are stored in USGS databases and available to the public through NWIS web pages. These wells may be visited monthly to quarterly so some data for these sites may be months old.

Statistics

Water-level measurements are presented within a statistical framework. The percentile provides this statistical framework. A percentile is a value on a scale of 100 that indicates the percentage of a distribution that is equal to or below that value. For example, on the map of groundwater levels, the water level at the 90th percentile is equal to or greater than 90 percent of the monthly median groundwater levels in a given month over the period of record at the well. In general:

  • a percentile greater than 90 is considered much above normal,
  • a percentile greater than 75 and less than 90 is considered above normal,
  • a percentile between 25 and 75 is considered normal,
  • a percentile between 10 and 25 is considered below normal, and
  • a percentile less than 10 is considered much below normal.
  • Wells with data older than 180 days are considered “Old Data”

The R HASP package is used to calculate the statistics and create the graphs on the individual site pages (DeCicco and other, 2022). Many of the sites displayed in this application that now have continuous water-level data were originally sites with monthly discrete data. The data from the discrete and continuous periods (daily maximum water levels) are combined into one record. The percentiles are determined for each site for each month by combining all values for a given month for the period of record. This allows for the use of long-term monthly data in the calculation of monthly statistics. Percentiles are determined only using approved USGS data. Recent data shown on the graphs may be provisional and subject to review. Monthly percentiles may change as new data are reviewed and approved.

How to Use This Application

For navigating the map:

  • To move around in the map: use the arrow keys or shift + arrow key to pan around the map, or grab and drag with a mouse click.

  • To zoom in and out of the map: use the +/- buttons in the upper left to change the zoom level. This can also be done by rolling the mouse wheel. Clicking on the square button below the +/- buttons returns the map to the original extent.

On the included map, hovering your mouse cursor over a point will show the station name, and clicking on a point will show a pop-up window with site information, the most recent percentile, and the most recent water-level value. Within a pop-up window, clicking on the blue highlighted text called “See site graph and statistics” will lead to a site-specific web page which displays a graph of the water levels at the site over the last year, relative to water-level percentiles. A one-line table shows the percentiles for the month with the most recent water-level value.

References

Cunningham, W.L., Geiger, L.H., Karavitis, G.A., 2007, U.S. Geological Survey Climate Response Network: Factsheet 2007-3003, 4 p. online at https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2007/3003/pdf/2007-3003-hires.pdf accessed June 30, 2022.

DeCicco, L.A., Prinos, S.T., Eslick-Huff, P.J., Hopkins, C.B., 2022, HASP: Hydrologic AnalySis Package, v1.0.0., https://code.usgs.gov/water/stats/hasp, https://github.com/USGS-R/HASP, accessed on August 9, 2022.

U.S. Geological Survey, 2022a, Climate response network: U.S. Geological Survey Climate Response Network web page, accessed October 7, 2022, at https://waterdata.usgs.gov/networks/CRN/.

U.S. Geological Survey, 2022b, USGS water data for the Nation: U.S. Geological Survey National Water Information System database, accessed October 7, 2022, at https://doi.org/10.5066/F7P55KJN.

Disclaimers

These data are preliminary or provisional and are subject to revision. They are being provided to meet the need for timely best science. The data have not received final approval by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and are provided on the condition that neither the USGS nor the U.S. Government shall be held liable for any damages resulting from the authorized or unauthorized use of the data. Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

Last updated: April 19, 2024
Return to U.S. Geological Survey Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Water Science Center