High-quality hydrographic data are critical to a broad range of government and private applications. Resource management, infrastructure planning, environmental monitoring, fisheries management, and disaster mitigation all depend on up-to-date, accurate, and high-quality hydrographic data.

The U.S. Geological Survey National Geospatial Program is initiating a new series of virtual seminars to highlight the uses of hydrographic data.  These seminars are intended to share success stories from users who have solved real world problems using hydrographic data, provide information about the National Hydrography Dataset and related products, and provide a virtual forum for users, similar to what might be encountered in a conference setting.

The first seminar will be held on April 9 at 2:00 PM ET.  The topic will be the response to the January 2014 Elk River chemical spill in West Virginia, specifically the use of the NHDPlus, real-time stream flow and velocity information from stream gages and models, and the Incident Command Tool for Drinking Water Protection application to limit effects of the spill on communities downstream.

These seminars will be presented every 6 to 8 weeks, featuring applications and speakers from different disciplines.  Connections are limited and pre-registration is required.

Hydro Seminar 1 – Incident Command Tool for Water
Guest speaker – Dr. William Samuels, Leidos
Thursday, April 9, 2015 – 2:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time
Register here.

After your request has been approved, you’ll receive instructions for joining the meeting.  In case the meeting is full, you will receive information on an alternate date.  For more information see: http://nhd.usgs.gov/HydrographySeminarSeries.html.