Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

 USGS unmanned aerial system (drone) pilot collecting aerial imagery and ground control points for the Coastal Resource Evaulation for Management Applications (CREMA) project on Dauphin Island, Alabama

Map showing the surficial geology from this study and Baldwin and others (2016) with equivalent onshore geology (adapted from Stone and DiGiacomo-Cohen, 2009). The areal extents over which offshore subsurface geologic units crop out at the sea floor were interpreted from seismic-reflection data.

The beach-dependent shorebirds project at the Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center models current and future habitat availability for nesting shorebirds in an effort to map current and likely future habitat availability on a range of sites along the U.S. Atlantic coast. Sites include beaches with minimal human-presence, such Cedar Island shown here off of the

On September 18, Congressman Jimmy Panetta (20th district, California) and staffer Emmanuel Garcia visited the USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center in Santa Cruz.

Coastal wetland ecosystems in Jamaica Bay, New York, provide important ecosystem services along the highly urbanized Atlantic coast.

Scientist surveying the presence and behavior of birds at Pelican Island, Alabama. The CMHRP is working with personnel within the Ecosystems Mission Area on this project to identify how physical characteristics of barrier islands influence use by wintering shorebirds.

Map of the Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket study sites outlined in red.

Study site map for the Massachusetts Shoreline Change Project, 2018 Update: A GIS Compilation of Shoreline Change Rates Calculated Using Digital Shoreline Analysis System Version 5.0, With Supplementary Intersects and Baselines for Massachusetts

 Coastal storms can severely alter the topography and ecosystems along heavily populated coastal regions. Seamless integrated elevation data for both land and submerged areas in Barnegat Bay, New Jersey, are fundamental to coastal planning of the northeastern U.S. Atlantic coast.

SEABed Observation and Sampling System (SEABOSS) (center image) and the MiniSEABOSS (right) designed for rapid, inexpensive, and effective collection of seabed imagery (photographs and video) as well sediment samples from the coastal/inner-continental shelf regions.  Images from coastal Massachusetts show purple algae-encrusted cobbles and boulders covered with sea-stars (

3D Image of a multi-channel seismic (MCS) line showing gas (blue/green) migrating up through fractures in the subsurface, culminating in a 600 meter tall plume of methane gas in the water column that was captured using a Simrad EK60 split beam echo sounder.  Background bathymetry was downloaded from USGS Open-File Report 2012-1266 (