Images

Photograph of Carmel River near the Sleepy Hollow reach. San Clemente Dam was built on Carmel River in 1921 to supply water locally. After being declared seismically unfit, plans to remove the dam began. It was completely removed in 2015.

Graphic showing geophysical and sampling systems used to define the seafloor topography, surface sediments, and underlying geology.

Pilot Bob Van Wagenen and the Cessna 182R he flies when taking air photos for the USGS Remote Sensing Coastal Change Project.

Photo shows results of wave-driven flooding and overwash on Roi-Namur Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands.

Map showing the amount of sea-level rise that will double the chances of today’s “50-year floods,” which have a 2 percent chance of happening in any year. Warmer colors indicate areas at greater risk.

Orthomosaic images of Matanzas, Florida, from (a) before and (b) after Hurricane Matthew, and (c) a digital elevation model (DEM) showing the associated topographic change. Note, these results were produced by applying Structure-from-Motion (SfM) to NOAA oblique photographs, but similar results can be obtained using UAS aerial imagery.

Exposed bedrock on the beach during very low (negative) tide at Isla Vista, California

Perspective views of multibeam bathymetry data acquired by the USGS aboard the R/V Medeia. Shallower depths in red. Arrows point to the distinct line in the seafloor associated with the Queen Charlotte-Fairweather fault.

A look into the USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center’s Marine Minerals Laboratory Suite.

Carmel River channel in the former reservoir above San Clemente Dam in Monterey, California.

Our Coast, Our Future web viewer showing an example of flood projections for the Russian River.

CoSMoS’s approach to projecting flood hazards: global winds, waves, tides, and anomalous water levels are scaled down to the local scale for  projecting nearshore wave heights, flooding, and shoreline change, including beach erosion and cliff failures.

Learn more at usgs.gov/cosmos

Example of CoSMoS projection displayed in the Our Coast, Our Future (OCOF) online tool.

Example of CoSMoS projected flooding extents for a 1.5 meter sea level rise in combination with possible 100 year return period coastal storms.

Underwater photograph showing corals in Tāfeu Cove, National Park of American Samoa, north shore of Tutuila Island, American Samoa.

“Variance” images derived from the same videos used in the studies. Left, Madeira Beach; right, Cowells Beach. In a variance image, the more variation in light intensity at a given pixel, the brighter the value assigned to that pixel. Bright areas indicate many changes in light intensity, caused by a lot of movement.

Close-up views of the toe of the Mud Creek landslide created from air photos taken May 27 (top), June 13 (middle), and June 26 (bottom). Caltrans built roads on top of the slide for assessment and monitoring activities.

Topographic-change image produced by comparing 3D map derived from May 27 air photos with that derived from June 13 air photos. Note that material has eroded from the seaward edge of the toe (yellow and orange tones), and material has built up on beaches to either side of the slide (blue tones).

Exposed bedrock on the beach, below the University of California, Santa Barbara

Shawn Harrison uses his new skills to check out the surf at Santa Cruz, California.

Multichannel seismic-reflection profile across the Queen Charlotte-Fairweather fault, acquired aboard the R/V Norseman in August 2016. Dashed red line in enlarged section at lower right is the Queen Charlotte-Fairweather fault. m, meter; km, kilometer; ms, millisecond.