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Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center images.

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Vegetation in foreground up on a beach bluff above flat beach with waves.
Sunset State Beach Video Camera 2 bright image
Sunset State Beach Video Camera 2 bright image
Sunset State Beach Video Camera 2 bright image

Two video cameras overlook the coast at Sunset State Beach in Watsonville, California. Camera 1 looks northwest while Camera 2 looks north. Every half hour during daylight hours, the cameras collect snapshots and video for 10 minutes. The various imagery collected:

Two video cameras overlook the coast at Sunset State Beach in Watsonville, California. Camera 1 looks northwest while Camera 2 looks north. Every half hour during daylight hours, the cameras collect snapshots and video for 10 minutes. The various imagery collected:

Coastal flowers in foreground up on a beach bluff above flat beach with waves gently lapping, sky is cloudy in the distance.
Sunset State Beach Video Camera 1 Snapshot
Sunset State Beach Video Camera 1 Snapshot
Sunset State Beach Video Camera 1 Snapshot

Image from video camera overlook the coast at Sunset State Beach in Watsonville, CA. Every half hour during daylight hours, the camera shoots video for 10 minutes. This snapshot is the first frame in the 10-minute sequence.

Image from video camera overlook the coast at Sunset State Beach in Watsonville, CA. Every half hour during daylight hours, the camera shoots video for 10 minutes. This snapshot is the first frame in the 10-minute sequence.

Vegetation in foreground up on a beach bluff above flat beach with waves.
Sunset State Beach Video Camera 1 bright image
Sunset State Beach Video Camera 1 bright image
Sunset State Beach Video Camera 1 bright image

Two video cameras overlook the coast at Sunset State Beach in Watsonville, California. Camera 1 looks northwest while Camera 2 looks north. Every half hour during daylight hours, the cameras collect snapshots and video for 10 minutes. The various imagery collected:

Two video cameras overlook the coast at Sunset State Beach in Watsonville, California. Camera 1 looks northwest while Camera 2 looks north. Every half hour during daylight hours, the cameras collect snapshots and video for 10 minutes. The various imagery collected:

Vegetation in foreground up on a beach bluff above flat beach with waves.
Sunset State Beach Video Camera 2 time-exposure
Sunset State Beach Video Camera 2 time-exposure
Sunset State Beach Video Camera 2 time-exposure

Two video cameras overlook the coast at Sunset State Beach in Watsonville, California. Camera 1 looks northwest while Camera 2 looks north. Every half hour during daylight hours, the cameras collect snapshots and video for 10 minutes. The various imagery collected:

Two video cameras overlook the coast at Sunset State Beach in Watsonville, California. Camera 1 looks northwest while Camera 2 looks north. Every half hour during daylight hours, the cameras collect snapshots and video for 10 minutes. The various imagery collected:

Photo of the stern of a ship at a dock with people standing together, and a bridge is in the far distance.
Ready for data collection
Ready for data collection
Ready for data collection

USGS scientists aboard R/V Bold Horizon at the dock in San Diego, CA, preparing for a sampling and data collection research cruise offshore of Oceanside.

USGS scientists aboard R/V Bold Horizon at the dock in San Diego, CA, preparing for a sampling and data collection research cruise offshore of Oceanside.

Bald eagle sits atop a leafless tree, overlooking a marshy inlet with farmland in the distance.
Bald Eagle in Washington
Bald Eagle in Washington
Bald Eagle in Washington

I spy with my little (eagle-) eye . . .

After a successful beach survey and installation of remote-sensing cameras on a nearby island, scientists Shawn Harrison and Andrew Stevens spotted this bald eagle near the mouth of the Skagit River, Washington.

I spy with my little (eagle-) eye . . .

After a successful beach survey and installation of remote-sensing cameras on a nearby island, scientists Shawn Harrison and Andrew Stevens spotted this bald eagle near the mouth of the Skagit River, Washington.

Two people wearing wet suits and diving gear like masks, oxygen tanks, fins, and gloves stand on the deck of a boat.
USGS PCMSC divers on Middle River
USGS PCMSC divers on Middle River
USGS PCMSC divers on Middle River

Certified USGS divers Jenny White McKee (left) and Tim Elfers, both from the Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center in Santa Cruz, California, prepare their gear and tools while on board PCMSC research vessel Parke Snavely.

Certified USGS divers Jenny White McKee (left) and Tim Elfers, both from the Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center in Santa Cruz, California, prepare their gear and tools while on board PCMSC research vessel Parke Snavely.

Cartoons showing ocean wave scenarios and what would happen to groundwater given rising sea level conditions.
Atoll-island groundwater
Atoll-island groundwater
Atoll-island groundwater

Conceptual diagram showing impact of sea-level rise and wave-driven flooding on atoll-island groundwater. (A) Current sea level. (B) Future sea level. Sea-level rise will allow for greater wave heights (H) and wave-driven runup (R), resulting in frequent overwash that will contaminate the atoll island’s freshwater lens. Note: Heights are exaggerated.

Conceptual diagram showing impact of sea-level rise and wave-driven flooding on atoll-island groundwater. (A) Current sea level. (B) Future sea level. Sea-level rise will allow for greater wave heights (H) and wave-driven runup (R), resulting in frequent overwash that will contaminate the atoll island’s freshwater lens. Note: Heights are exaggerated.

View from a rooftop looking down into a cove with gentle ocean waves, coastal bluffs, surfers and anchored boat in distance.
Cowells Beach Snapshot
Cowells Beach Snapshot
Cowells Beach Snapshot

Snapshot, or first frame of from a 10-minute video taken on April 19, 2018, in Santa Cruz, California. View is from atop a hotel looking down on Cowells Beach, a popular surf spot.

Snapshot, or first frame of from a 10-minute video taken on April 19, 2018, in Santa Cruz, California. View is from atop a hotel looking down on Cowells Beach, a popular surf spot.

View from the sky of a marsh labeled with sample locations.
Little Holland Tract and Liberty Island sample locations, 2014-2017
Little Holland Tract and Liberty Island sample locations, 2014-2017
Little Holland Tract and Liberty Island sample locations, 2014-2017

Sediment sampling locations in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, California near Little Holland Tract and Liberty Island, 2014 to 2017

Map of California showing the sections of the coast where the USGS has generated computer models of storm impacts.
CoSMoS Implementation versions
CoSMoS Implementation versions
CoSMoS Implementation versions

The Coastal Storm Modeling System (CoSMoS) makes detailed predictions (meter-scale) over large geographic scales (100s of kilometers) of storm-induced coastal flooding and erosion for both current and future SLR scenarios, as well as long-term shoreline change and cliff retreat.  Resulting projections for future climate scenarios (sea-level rise and s

The Coastal Storm Modeling System (CoSMoS) makes detailed predictions (meter-scale) over large geographic scales (100s of kilometers) of storm-induced coastal flooding and erosion for both current and future SLR scenarios, as well as long-term shoreline change and cliff retreat.  Resulting projections for future climate scenarios (sea-level rise and s

Man wearing a safety helmet rides an all-terrain vehicle with equipment on it, driving on a flat beach on wet sand and pebbles.
Surveying beach in Goleta, CA
Surveying beach in Goleta, CA
Surveying beach in Goleta, CA

USGS geomorphologist Pat Limber drives an all-terrain vehicle equipped with differential GPS, on Ellwood Beach in Goleta, California, collecting topographic, or elevation and contour, data. These data, accurate to about 1 inch (about 2 centimeters) both horizontally and vertically, are used to monitor seasonal beach changes.

USGS geomorphologist Pat Limber drives an all-terrain vehicle equipped with differential GPS, on Ellwood Beach in Goleta, California, collecting topographic, or elevation and contour, data. These data, accurate to about 1 inch (about 2 centimeters) both horizontally and vertically, are used to monitor seasonal beach changes.

Beach and boardwalk area with palm trees in background, and a single person driving a personal watercraft just offshore.
Surveying off Montecito, CA
Surveying off Montecito, CA
Surveying off Montecito, CA

Jackson Currie of the USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center drives a personal watercraft (PWC) offshore of Butterfly Beach in Montecito, California. The equipment on the PWC collects bathymetry, or depth, data which is used to map the nearshore. USGS has been mapping this area twice yearly—every spring and fall—since 2005.

Jackson Currie of the USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center drives a personal watercraft (PWC) offshore of Butterfly Beach in Montecito, California. The equipment on the PWC collects bathymetry, or depth, data which is used to map the nearshore. USGS has been mapping this area twice yearly—every spring and fall—since 2005.

A coastline with trees on the beach berm on left, two people looking out at two jet skis, waves are gentle, sun is gleaming.
Nearshore survey of San Ysidro Creek
Nearshore survey of San Ysidro Creek
Nearshore survey of San Ysidro Creek

Two USGS scientists operate personal watercraft equipped with sonar and GPS along the beachfront off San Ysidro Creek, near Fernald Point in Montecito, California. They will use the data collected to create bathymetric (depth) maps.

Two USGS scientists operate personal watercraft equipped with sonar and GPS along the beachfront off San Ysidro Creek, near Fernald Point in Montecito, California. They will use the data collected to create bathymetric (depth) maps.

Man wearing a safety helmet rides an all-terrain vehicle with equipment on it, driving on a flat beach on packed sand and stones
Surveying beaches near Ventura, CA
Surveying beaches near Ventura, CA
Surveying beaches near Ventura, CA

USGS geomorphologist Pat Limber drives an all-terrain vehicle equipped with differential GPS, on San Buenaventura Beach south of Ventura Pier, Ventura California, collects topographic, or elevation and contour, data. These data, accurate to about 1 inch (about 2 centimeters) both horizontally and vertically, are used to monitor seasonal beach changes.

USGS geomorphologist Pat Limber drives an all-terrain vehicle equipped with differential GPS, on San Buenaventura Beach south of Ventura Pier, Ventura California, collects topographic, or elevation and contour, data. These data, accurate to about 1 inch (about 2 centimeters) both horizontally and vertically, are used to monitor seasonal beach changes.

Late afternoon sun on a beach with two people on personal watercraft in the nearshore with very gentle ocean wave action.
Surveying off Montecito, CA
Surveying off Montecito, CA
Surveying off Montecito, CA

Jackson Currie and Alex Snyder of the USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center drive personal watercraft (PWCs) offshore of San Ysidro and Oak Creeks, which let out onto Miramar Beach in Montecito, California.

Jackson Currie and Alex Snyder of the USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center drive personal watercraft (PWCs) offshore of San Ysidro and Oak Creeks, which let out onto Miramar Beach in Montecito, California.

Man walks on beach wearing a backpack with equipment, nearby buildings in background, coastal mountains in far background.
Surveying beaches near Montecito, CA
Surveying beaches near Montecito, CA
Surveying beaches near Montecito, CA

USGS volunteer Josh Brown on Santa Claus Beach, Carpinteria, at the start of a 14-mile walking survey of southern California beaches. The differential GPS equipment carried in the backpack collects elevation, or topographic, data of the beach, accurate to about 1 inch (2 centimeters) both horizontally and vertically.

USGS volunteer Josh Brown on Santa Claus Beach, Carpinteria, at the start of a 14-mile walking survey of southern California beaches. The differential GPS equipment carried in the backpack collects elevation, or topographic, data of the beach, accurate to about 1 inch (2 centimeters) both horizontally and vertically.

An object of two circular pieces of mixed materials are partially covered with mud and plant debris.
Instrument package for river data collection
Instrument package for river data collection
Instrument package for river data collection

Patches of dark sand cling to an instrument package that collected data for approximately two weeks at the Mokelumne River site—evidence that currents at the site were strong enough to carry sand, which is heavier than mud, probably during elevated river flows following two storms in the watershed.

Patches of dark sand cling to an instrument package that collected data for approximately two weeks at the Mokelumne River site—evidence that currents at the site were strong enough to carry sand, which is heavier than mud, probably during elevated river flows following two storms in the watershed.

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