Images

Upper Left:  Dann Blackwood operating the SEABOSS winch during a sampling cruise; Lower left: Bill Schwab, Laura Brothers and Emile Bergeron on the deck of a research vessel; Center Left: Tom O'Brien carrying equipment during a research cruise; Center: USGS staff deploying a seismic system from a research vessel; left: Chuck Worley ready to deploy a multibeam e

Parrotfish grazing on coral within an Acropora palmata framework in Buck Island Reef National Monument

Hurricane Florence (2018) modeling: The coupled model captures the stages of compound flooding in the Cape Fear River Estuary starting with swell from offshore, followed by storm surge from the ocean side, later transitioning to flooding from land side with the storm water runoff because of rain.

USGS Research Geologist Dr. Erika Lentz is conducting real-time kinematic GPS surveys on barrier island dunes, part of her research looking at how coastal landscapes respond to sea-level rise.

COAWST model prediction on September 13, 2018 at 17:00:00. Arrows are wind speed and direction and colors are wave heights in meters. 

After USGS scientist Dan Hoover drove a couple of pass with his all-terrain vehicle (ATV), equipped with gear that collects elevations, on a mostly flat beach in southern Monterey Bay, California. Then he turned to take this photo of his tire tracks.

USGS oceanographer Andrew Stevens, of the Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center in Santa Cruz, California, sits on an all-terrain vehicle equipped with a precision GPS and other instruments. The GPS collects position data continuously, about 2 points per second, while an operator like Andrew drives the ATV over a beach.

Science and ship crew on board NOAA research vessel Rainier prepare the Chirp 512i off south-central California.

For typical beach surveys, USGS scientists drive an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) like the one shown here, equpped with precision GPS that collects location and elevation data. Driving along features such as high-water marks, and driving a grid pattern spaced by about 30 meters, enable the collection of a complete 3D representation of the beach surface.

Two personal watercraft operators from the USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center in Santa Cruz, California, navigate their personal watercraft (PWC) in the shallow nearshore region in Moss Landing near Elkhorn Slough. The PWCs are set up with precision GPS and echosounder systems in order to create detailed bathymetric maps (depth).

The USGS Coastal Change Hazards Storm Team has forecast coast-wide levels of beach erosion, inundation and overwash due to Hurricane Florence's expected path and landgfall.

The Coastal Change Hazards Storm Team has forecast changing water levels at specific locations over time.

USGS oceanographer Shawn Harrison stands on the coastal bluff of Barter Island, Alaska at sunset. Shawn and his fellow researchers are studying how the highly erosive bluff changes under the varied conditions experienced by this stretch of coastline.

USGS personnel on the deck of the R/V Hugh R.

Kīlauea summit photo taken on September 6, 2018.

Photograph of the R/V Rafael alongside dock near the survey site on Lake Superior.

An egret walks in the shallow surf of an undeveloped beach on Dauphin Island, Alabama, with buildings viewed in the background from a different area on the island.

Photo shows a dead, relict reef framework built by the elkhorn coral, Acropora palmata in Buck Island Reef National Monument, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands.

Photograph of the entrance to Grand Traverse Bay Harbor, located 8 kilometers downdrift of the spoils pile. Migration of the dark-colored stamp sands (moving from left to right) has buried the original beach, overtopped the wall, and partially blocked the channel.

Photograph showing a high scarp cut into the large pile of stamp sands at the town of Gay, Michigan. Nearly a century of erosion by waves and currents has transported millions of cubic yards of mine tailings along the coast and spread them across the adjacent lake floor.

A reef in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary with little living coral and extensive bioerosion. Photo taken under research permit number FKNMS-2016-085-A1. Credit: USGS, Ilsa Kuffner.