Yellowstone National Park in the United States – the country’s oldest national park - attracted a total of approximately 4.5 million visitors in 2023. The park received over three million visitors annually since 2008 and reached its visitation peak in 2021.  U.S. National Park Service  Established in 1872 and located predominantly in Wyoming, Yellowstone remains one of the most popular national parks in the United States, ranking third in terms of visitor numbers in 2021. However, with over 14 million recreational park visits in 2021, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, straddling the border between North Carolina and Tennessee, was by far the most visited national park in the country. All national parks in the U.S. are managed, protected and presented by the National Park Service, an agency of the U.S. federal government. There were approximately 92 million visitors to national parks in the U.S. in 2021. National parks and the hospitality industry Visitors to national parks are a valuable source of income to the United States economy. In 2021, national park visitors spent roughly seven billion U.S. dollars on lodging and four billion on restaurants and bars.

All scenarios hold the total number of visitors constant.

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the National Park Service, Yellowstone Center for Resources, as part of work for the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, has compiled a shapefile map of thermal areas and thermal water bodies in Yellowstone National Park. A thermal area is a continuous, or nearly continuous, geologic unit that contains one or more thermal features (e.g., hot springs, mud pots, or fumaroles); hydrothermally altered rocks and/or hydrothermal mineral deposits; heated ground and/or geothermal gas emissions; and is generally barren of vegetation or has stressed / dying vegetation. There are more than 10,000 thermal features in Yellowstone, most of which are clustered together into about 120 distinct thermal areas (e.g., Upper Geyser Basin, Crater Hills Thermal Area, or Roadside Springs). A thermal water body is a body of water, usually a lake, pond, or wetland area, that is thermally emissive because it receives heated water from a nearby thermal area, nearshore thermal springs, or from underwater vents. The shapefile released here is based on a thermal area polygon shapefile that was initially provided by the Spatial Analysis Center at the Yellowstone Center for Resources in Yellowstone National Park. The thermal area polygons were initially based on field mapping (by R. Hutchinson and others, unpublished data, 1997) and digitizing boundaries over high-spatial-resolution (1 m/pixel) visible color orthophotos from the National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) acquired in 2006. Updates to this map are based on more recent field mapping and remote sensing data analysis, including nighttime thermal infrared data (e.g., ASTER and Landsat 8/9), high-spatial-resolution visible data from commercial satellites (e.g., WorldView-3), and NAIP imagery from 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2022. The downloadable shapefile contains a map of these thermal areas and thermal water bodies with information (if available) about their chemistry and thermal activity. The names of the thermal areas are either derived from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) or are locally used names, as indicated in the attribute table. Thermal area mapping in Yellowstone is a work in progress, partly because there are still remote areas that have not yet been explored in detail, and partly because changes occur frequently. Thermal areas expand and contract, develop and decay, and migrate – over time scales that range from weeks to years. Thus, this map will be periodically assessed and updated. A note about safety: Thermal areas can be dangerous, with scalding water, mud, or gases that are sometimes hidden beneath unstable ground. Unstable ground sometimes looks solid, but stepping onto unstable ground can result in breaking through a thin crust and being exposed to scalding water, mud, or gases, which can cause severe burns. Since the establishment of the National Park, more than 20 people have died from burns suffered after they entered or fell into a hot spring. For the safety of park visitors and the protection of delicate thermal formations, it is prohibited to enter a thermal area in the back country, and one must stay on the trails or boardwalks when entering front country thermal areas (unless working in a thermal area on an official permit).

This data package was created 2025-03-25 07:54:10 by NPSTORET and includes selected project, _location, and result data. Data contained in the Greater Yellowstone Network NPSTORET back-end file (GRYN_NPSTORET_BE_20250314.ACCDB) were filtered to include: Organization: - GRYN: Greater Yellowstone Network Project: - BICAWQ01: Bighorn Canyon NRA - GRYN Water Quality Monitoring - GRTEWQ01: Grand Teton National Park - GRYN Water Quality Monitoring - YELLWQ01: Yellowstone National Park - GRYN Water Quality Monitoring Station: - BICA_BHR1: Bighorn River near St. Xavier - BICA_BHR2: Bighorn River at Kane - BICA_LCKHOSSPR1: Lockhart Springhouse - BICA_LCR2: Layout Creek below road - BICA_MIDDLE_LAYOUT: Middle Layout - LCR1.5 - BICA_SHR1: Shoshone River at Kane - BICA_SHR2: Shoshone River near Lovell, WY - GRTE_SNR01: Snake River at Old Flagg Ranch 1000’ Below Bridge - GRTE_SNR02: Snake River Below Site of New Visitor’s Center - YELL_LM000.5M: Lamar River at USGS Gage near Ranger Station - YELL_MD133.2T: Madison River 1.21km West of MT/WY State Boundary - YELL_MDR: Madison River near West Yellowstone, MT - YELL_YS549.7M: Yellowstone River at Corwin Springs Activity Start Date (>=1/1/2006 and <=12/31/2024) Value Status: - Accepted or Certified (exported as Final) or Final The data package is organized into five data tables: - Projects.csv - describes the purpose and background of the monitoring efforts - Locations.csv - documents the attributes of the monitoring locations/stations - Results.csv - contains the field measurements, observations, and/or lab analyses for each sample/event/data grouping - HUC.csv - enumerates the _domain of allowed values for 8-digit and 12-digit hydrologic unit codes utilized by the Locations data table - Characteristics.csv - enumerates the _domain of characteristics available in NPSTORET to identify what was sampled, measured or observed in Results Period of record for filtered data is 2006-01-10 to 2024-11-14. This data package is a snapshot in time of multiple National Park Service projects. The most current data for these projects, which may be more or less extensive than that in this data package, can be found on the Water Quality Portal at: https://www.waterqualitydata.us/data/Result/search?project=BICAWQ01&mimeType=csv&zip=yes&dataProfile=biological&providers=STORET https://www.waterqualitydata.us/data/Result/search?project=GRTEWQ01&mimeType=csv&zip=yes&dataProfile=biological&providers=STORET https://www.waterqualitydata.us/data/Result/search?project=YELLWQ01&mimeType=csv&zip=yes&dataProfile=biological&providers=STORET

Total estimated CO2 emissions and average CO2 emissions per visitor for specific types of overnight accommodations and all other park operations in Yellowstone National Park.

When surveyed in 2022, it was found that Florida and New York were the two most visited states by adults in the United States, having been visited by ** and ** percent of respondents, respectively. Although it is not a state, the federal district of Washington, D.C. proved a popular travel destination for respondents, ** percent of whom claimed to have visited the U.S. capital. In contrast, only ** percent of respondents said they had visited Alaska, making it the least-visited state. What is the most visited national park in the U.S.? With approximately **** million recreational visits in 2022, the Blue Ridge Parkway was the most visited National Park Service park in the United States. The park extends *** miles through Virginia and North Carolina, connecting the Shenandoah National Park to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Meanwhile, the number of recreational visitors to Yellowstone National Park in 2022 was **** million, down from the previous year’s total of **** million. How many domestic leisure trips do Americans take? The number of domestic leisure trips in the U.S. amounted to **** billion in 2022. As estimated, domestic leisure travels in the U.S. dropped to *** billion in 2020. This was due to travel restrictions related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. It is forecast that the number of leisure trips will recover gradually during the following years, reaching * billion by 2026. The number of business trips, by comparison, is forecast to reach *** million that same year.

Link to the ScienceBase Item Summary page for the item described by this metadata record. Service Protocol: Link to the ScienceBase Item Summary page for the item described by this metadata record. Application Profile: Web Browser. Link Function: information

Data sources and values used to estimate carbon dioxide emissions from accommodations at Yellowstone National Park.

This data set consists of a merged grid of magnetic field anomaly over northern Yellowstone Lake and adjacent area from three surveys draped over topography and the lake surface with a grid spacing of 25 m. To compute this grid the measured data values were reduced to the level of the lake surface (2358 m) and topography surrounding the lake. The file is in GMT-compatible netCDF grid format. The combined data sets consist of a 2016 lake level magnetic survey, a 2016 a low-altitude aeromagnetic survey collected by USGS [Finn et al., 2020] and a regional higher altitude aeromagnetic survey collected by USGS in 1997 [U.S. Geological Survey, 2000; Finn and Morgan, 2002]. Details of the grid merging and analysis procedures are explained in Bouligand et al., 2020.The lake surface and AUV magnetic data sets were acquired under National Park Service research permit YELL-2016-SCI-7018 and the 2016 aeromagnetic data was collected under research permit YELL-2016-SCI-7056.Maurice Tivey was supported under NSF IPA grant 1557455 to WHOI and WHOI internal funds. During the course of this study, Claire Bouligand was a visiting scientist at the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park, California, USA and benefited from a delegation to Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and received funding from CNRS-INSU program SYSTER.

Ecosystem Science and Visualization : Yellowstone National Park provides access to data other products arising from our wildlife ecological and landscape research in Yellowstone National Park.

Research will involve development of remote sensing products (land cover, phenology, snowpack, geothermals), simulation models (snowpack, phenology, animal behavior), a data bundle and approach to integration of interdisciplinary data, and continued development of the Tarsier software framework for dynamic, interactive systems integration and visualization of the Earth System. The result will be a unification of data with diverse interdisciplinary field data on wildlife tracking, snowpack, geothermals, and other system elements – thus leveraging products toward new knowledge.

Application products will include dynamic, interactive computer visualization systems for decision support, placed in public kiosks and deployed in management forums. Prototyping to date has achieved unprecedented integration of remote sensing, field, and modeling data sets into a unified virtual-reality ecosystem representation. Product users have been identified from four groups: Park visitors, Park managers, Park scientists, and students.

Education needs will be addressed by using the visualization system as a unique teaching tool. The visualizations will provide as essential product to spark interest, train students, and teach marketable skills in earth system science.

[Summary provided by NASA.]

Total CO2 equivalent numbers are based on 2021 visitation numbers.

This data set consists of an interpolated grid of magnetic field anomaly over the Deep Hole hydrothermal site in northern Yellowstone Lake collected by an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) in July 2016 by Ocean Floor Geophysics Inc. (OFG) (https://www.oceanfloorgeophysics.com/). The grid was generated from data collected approximately 7m above the lake floor complemented with values from the grid of magnetic anomaly at 15m above the lake floor that have been downward continued to 7m height above lake floor. The downward-continued 15m grid values were used in areas outside the 7m survey area. The horizontal grid spacing is 10m. The file is in the Grid eXchange File GXF ASCII grid format. Details of the grid interpolation and analysis are explained in Bouligand et al., 2020. The lake surface and AUV magnetic data sets were acquired under National Park Service research permit YELL-2016-SCI-7018. Maurice Tivey was supported under NSF IPA grant 1557455 to WHOI and WHOI internal funds. During the course of this study, Claire Bouligand was a visiting scientist at the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park, California, USA and benefited from a delegation to Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and received funding from CNRS-INSU program SYSTER. The data set was generated as part of the Hydrothermal Dynamics of Yellowstone Lake (HD-YLAKE) project and was supported by National Science Foundation grant EAR-1516361.

Equations used for calculating carbon dioxide emissions from transit and accommodation at Yellowstone National Park.

Total estimated CO2 emissions and average CO2 emissions per visitor resulting from each type of transit.

A spreadsheet used to track all values used as input data and generate estimates.

Data sources and values used to calculate carbon emissions from transit.

Abstract: This data set consists of interpolated grids of (a) the depth (data depth) below the lake surface (mean lake surface elevation value is 2358m above sea-level) and (b) altitude (data height) of the autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) above the lake floor during the magnetic survey over hydrothermal sites in northern Yellowstone Lake. The AUV survey was conducted in July 2016 by Ocean Floor Geophysics Inc. (OFG) (https://www.oceanfloorgeophysics.com/). The data are measured approximately 15m above the lake floor and are interpolated onto a horizontal grid spacing of 50m. The files are in GMT-compatible netCDF grid format. Details of the grid interpolation and analysis are explained in Bouligand et al., 2020. The lake surface and AUV magnetic data sets were acquired under National Park Service research permit YELL-2016-SCI-7018. Maurice Tivey was supported under NSF IPA grant 1557455 to WHOI and WHOI internal funds. During the course of this study, Claire Bouligand was a visiting scientist at the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park, California, USA and benefited from a delegation to Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and received funding from CNRS-INSU program SYSTER. The data set was generated as part of the Hydrothermal Dynamics of Yellowstone Lake (HD-YLAKE) project and was supported by National Science Foundation grant EAR-1516361.

Abstract: This data set consists of interpolated grids over the Deep Hole hydrothermal site in northern Yellowstone Lake collected in July 2016 by Ocean Floor Geophysics Inc. (OFG) (https://www.oceanfloorgeophysics.com/). The two interpolated grids provide the following: (a) the depth (data depth) below the lake surface (mean lake surface elevation value is 2358m above sea-level) and (b) altitude (data height) above the lake floor of the surface on which the 7m-above-lake-floor magnetic anomaly grid was interpolated. The magnetic field anomalies at approximately 7m above the lake floor are interpolated onto a horizontal grid spacing of 10m. The files are in GMT-compatible netCDF grid format. Details of the grid interpolation and analysis are explained in Bouligand et al., 2020. The lake surface and AUV magnetic data sets were acquired under National Park Service research permit YELL-2016-SCI-7018. Maurice Tivey was supported under NSF IPA grant 1557455 to WHOI and WHOI internal funds. During the course of this study, Claire Bouligand was a visiting scientist at the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park, California, USA and benefited from a delegation to Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and received funding from CNRS-INSU program SYSTER. The data set was generated as part of the Hydrothermal Dynamics of Yellowstone Lake (HD-YLAKE) project and was supported by National Science Foundation grant EAR-1516361.

Abstract: This data set consists of a digital elevation grid (topography and lake level) of the merged magnetic observation level over northern Yellowstone Lake and adjacent area in meters above sea level with a grid spacing of 25m. The grid is in GMT-compatible netCDF grid format and represents the observation level of the related lake surface magnetic anomaly grid including the lake level and surrounding terrain. Details of the grid analysis are explained in Bouligand et al., 2020. The lake surface and AUV magnetic data sets were acquired under National Park Service research permit YELL-2016-SCI-7018 and the 2016 aeromagnetic data was collected under research permit YELL-2016-SCI-7056. Maurice Tivey was supported under NSF IPA grant 1557455 to WHOI and WHOI internal funds. During the course of this study, Claire Bouligand was a visiting scientist at the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park, California, USA and benefited from a delegation to Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and received funding from CNRS-INSU program SYSTER.

Abstract: This data set consists of track line navigation and magnetic field measurements collected on Yellowstone Lake in September 2016. The magnetic sensor was an Overhauser scalar magnetometer (Marine Magnetics Explorer sensor) towed at ~15 m behind the USGS boat Alamar with navigation recorded using a GlobalSat USB GPS receiver with a precision of a few meters. The magnetic data was collected at the lake level, at a mean elevation value of 2358 meters above sea level. The data files are in ASCII format with the following columns: longitude, latitude, x (m), y(m), date(YYYY/MM/DD), utc_time(HH:MM:SS), raw magnetic field intensity (nT), magnetic anomaly (nT). The magnetic anomaly was computed after correcting for diurnal variations and removing the regional IGRF [Thebault et al., 2015]. Diurnal corrections were applied utilizing the Newport (NEW) and Boulder (BOU) geomagnetic observatory records. The data set was generated as part of the Hydrothermal Dynamics of Yellowstone Lake (HD-YLAKE) project and was supported by National Science Foundation grant EAR-1516361, U.S Geological Survey Mineral Resource and Volcano Hazard Programs, and benefited from major in-kind support from the U.S. Geological Survey Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. The lake surface and AUV magnetic data sets were acquired under National Park Service research permit YELL-2016-SCI-7018. Maurice Tivey was supported under NSF IPA grant 1557455 to WHOI. During the course of this study, C. Bouligand was a visiting scientist at the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park, California, USA and benefited from a delegation to Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and received funding from CNRS-INSU program SYSTER.