Surge, Wave, and Tide Hydrologic (SWaTH) Network in Maryland, Delaware, and the District of Columbia
SWaTH Network in Maryland, Delaware, and the District of Columbia
developed in the wake of Hurricane Sandy to support model development and verification for coastal regions, detection of hydrologic trends...
Many U.S. Geological Survey Water Science Centers have responsibilities for coastal regions within their mission areas. The integrated Surge, Wave, and Tide Hydrologic (SWaTH) Network has been developed in the wake of Hurricane Sandy to support model development and verification for coastal regions, detection of hydrologic trends, and early warning of hydrologic hazards in the northeast from Virginia to Maine.
Background
Many U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Water Science Centers (WSCs) have responsibilities for coastal regions within their mission areas. The integrated Surge, Wave, and Tide Hydrodynamics (SWaTH) network has been developed in the wake of Hurricane Sandy to support model development and verification for coastal regions, detection of hydrologic trends, and early warning of hydrologic hazards in the northeast from North Carolina to Maine, and will be used as a template for the remainder of the United States.
This mobile network consists of water-level and barometric-pressure monitoring devices that are deployed in the days and hours just prior to a potential widespread storm-surge event, and then retrieved shortly after event occurrence. The network also includes a smaller number of Rapid Deployment Gages (RDGs), which are temporary water-stage sensors with autonomous data-transmission capacity. RDG’s are set up in advance of an event to provide short-term water-level and meteorological data during the event for areas that are particularly vulnerable to the effects of storm surge.
Objectives
The deployment and data-collection goal of the SWaTH Network is to:
(1) maximize the deployment of temporary storm surge and wave sensors within a network of pre-established locations,
(2) establish wave-monitoring sensors along pre-selected transects that extend inland through various physical features from shore to built-up environments,
(3) increase capability to deploy real-time monitoring gages at locations critical to emergency managers, and
(4) provide as much hydrologic data as possible to accurately define the scope and timing of storm tide, surge, waves, and inland flooding associated with hurricanes, intense Nor’easters, and any other areally-distributed surge-producing weather phenomena. By providing a standardized set of equipment and procedures, it is hoped that increased efficiency, accuracy, and equipment survivability will be realized while producing spatially-distributed data for immediate and long-term uses.
Approach
The installation of fixed brackets and reference points (RPs) for storm-based housing deployment at pre-selected locations in the SWaTH Network is needed to improve the USGS’s capability to deploy and recover sensors before and after storm events. Fixed bracket and RP deployment activities will include:
(1) proper site selection of existing and proposed sensors and gages,
(2) securing any necessary site permissions or property-access agreements,
(3) properly documenting sites with photos, sketches, and location information,
(4) installation of brackets and/or RPs at each location,
(5) determination of required sensor-housing lengths (as needed) for storm-based sensor deployment,
(6) surveying of vertical control at each location, and
(7) populating data into the Short-Term Network (STN) Mapper Application.
The SWaTH network in the Maryland-Delaware-District of Columbia Water Science Center (MD-DE-DC WSC) currently includes 52 sensor locations in Maryland, 31 sensor locations in Delaware, and 3 sensor locations in the District of Columbia, along with 5 RDG locations distributed across the region.
For additional information, please see the USGS Office of Surface Water web page on inland storm-tide monitoring at http://water.usgs.gov/osw/programs/storm_surge1.html
Monitoring inland storm tide and flooding from Hurricane Irene along the Atlantic Coast of the United States, August 2011
Monitoring storm tide and flooding from Hurricane Isaac along the Gulf Coast of the United States, August 2012
Monitoring inland storm surge and flooding from Hurricane Ike in Texas and Louisiana, September 2008
Monitoring Inland Storm Surge and Flooding From Hurricane Gustav in Louisiana, September 2008
Monitoring the storm tide of Hurricane Wilma in southwestern Florida, October 2005
- Overview
Many U.S. Geological Survey Water Science Centers have responsibilities for coastal regions within their mission areas. The integrated Surge, Wave, and Tide Hydrologic (SWaTH) Network has been developed in the wake of Hurricane Sandy to support model development and verification for coastal regions, detection of hydrologic trends, and early warning of hydrologic hazards in the northeast from Virginia to Maine.
Background
Many U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Water Science Centers (WSCs) have responsibilities for coastal regions within their mission areas. The integrated Surge, Wave, and Tide Hydrodynamics (SWaTH) network has been developed in the wake of Hurricane Sandy to support model development and verification for coastal regions, detection of hydrologic trends, and early warning of hydrologic hazards in the northeast from North Carolina to Maine, and will be used as a template for the remainder of the United States.
This mobile network consists of water-level and barometric-pressure monitoring devices that are deployed in the days and hours just prior to a potential widespread storm-surge event, and then retrieved shortly after event occurrence. The network also includes a smaller number of Rapid Deployment Gages (RDGs), which are temporary water-stage sensors with autonomous data-transmission capacity. RDG’s are set up in advance of an event to provide short-term water-level and meteorological data during the event for areas that are particularly vulnerable to the effects of storm surge.Objectives
The deployment and data-collection goal of the SWaTH Network is to:
(1) maximize the deployment of temporary storm surge and wave sensors within a network of pre-established locations,
(2) establish wave-monitoring sensors along pre-selected transects that extend inland through various physical features from shore to built-up environments,
(3) increase capability to deploy real-time monitoring gages at locations critical to emergency managers, and
(4) provide as much hydrologic data as possible to accurately define the scope and timing of storm tide, surge, waves, and inland flooding associated with hurricanes, intense Nor’easters, and any other areally-distributed surge-producing weather phenomena. By providing a standardized set of equipment and procedures, it is hoped that increased efficiency, accuracy, and equipment survivability will be realized while producing spatially-distributed data for immediate and long-term uses.Approach
The installation of fixed brackets and reference points (RPs) for storm-based housing deployment at pre-selected locations in the SWaTH Network is needed to improve the USGS’s capability to deploy and recover sensors before and after storm events. Fixed bracket and RP deployment activities will include:
(1) proper site selection of existing and proposed sensors and gages,
(2) securing any necessary site permissions or property-access agreements,
(3) properly documenting sites with photos, sketches, and location information,
(4) installation of brackets and/or RPs at each location,
(5) determination of required sensor-housing lengths (as needed) for storm-based sensor deployment,
(6) surveying of vertical control at each location, and
(7) populating data into the Short-Term Network (STN) Mapper Application.The SWaTH network in the Maryland-Delaware-District of Columbia Water Science Center (MD-DE-DC WSC) currently includes 52 sensor locations in Maryland, 31 sensor locations in Delaware, and 3 sensor locations in the District of Columbia, along with 5 RDG locations distributed across the region.
- Publications
For additional information, please see the USGS Office of Surface Water web page on inland storm-tide monitoring at http://water.usgs.gov/osw/programs/storm_surge1.html
Monitoring inland storm tide and flooding from Hurricane Irene along the Atlantic Coast of the United States, August 2011
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) deployed a temporary monitoring network of water-level sensors at 212 locations along the Atlantic coast from South Carolina to Maine during August 2011 to record the timing, areal extent, and magnitude of inland hurricane storm tide and coastal flooding generated by Hurricane Irene. Water-level sensor locations were selected to augment existing tide-gage networksAuthorsBrian E. McCallum, Jaime A. Painter, Eric R. FrantzMonitoring storm tide and flooding from Hurricane Isaac along the Gulf Coast of the United States, August 2012
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) deployed a temporary monitoring network of water-level and barometric pressure sensors at 127 locations along the gulf coast from Alabama to Louisiana to record the timing, areal extent, and magnitude of hurricane storm tide and coastal flooding generated by Hurricane Isaac. This deployment was undertaken as part of a coordinated federal emergency response as outlAuthorsBrian E. McCallum, Benton D. McGee, Dustin R. Kimbrow, Michael S. Runner, Jaime A. Painter, Eric R. Frantz, Anthony J. GotvaldMonitoring inland storm surge and flooding from Hurricane Ike in Texas and Louisiana, September 2008
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) deployed a temporary monitoring network of 117 pressure transducers (sensors) at 65 sites over an area of about 5,000 square miles to record the timing, areal extent, and magnitude of inland hurricane storm surge and coastal flooding generated by Hurricane Ike, which struck southeastern Texas and southwestern Louisiana September 12-13, 2008. Fifty-six sites were iAuthorsJeffery W. East, Michael J. Turco, Robert R. Mason,Monitoring Inland Storm Surge and Flooding From Hurricane Gustav in Louisiana, September 2008
On August 29-31, 2008, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) deployed a mobile monitoring network consisting of 124 pressure transducers (sensors) (figs. 1, 2) at 80 sites over an area of about 4,200 square miles to record the timing, extent, and magnitude of inland hurricane storm surge and coastal flooding generated by Hurricane Gustav, which made landfall in southeastern Louisiana on September 1. OAuthorsBenton D. McGee, Burl B. Goree, Roland W. Tollett, Robert R. Mason,Monitoring the storm tide of Hurricane Wilma in southwestern Florida, October 2005
Temporary monitoring stations employing non-vented pressure transducers were used to augment an existing U.S. Geological Survey coastal monitoring network to document the inland water levels related to the storm tide of Hurricane Wilma on the southwestern coast of Florida. On October 22, 2005, an experimental network consisting of 30 temporary stations was deployed over 90 miles of coastline to reAuthorsLars E. Soderqvist, Michael J. Byrne