Publications

This work outlines a dynamic modeling framework to examine the effects of global climate change, and sea level rise (SLR) in particular, on tropical cyclone-driven storm surge inundation. The methodology, applied across the northern Gulf of Mexico, adapts a present day large-domain, high resolution, tide, wind-wave, and hurricane storm surge model to characterize the potential outlook of...

In response to the 2010 Governor’s Action Plan to clean up the Barnegat Bay–Little Egg Harbor (BBLEH) estuary in New Jersey, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) partnered with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection in 2011 to begin a multidisciplinary research project to understand the physical controls on water quality in the bay. Between 2011 and 2013, USGS scientists...

The Airborne Lidar Processing System (ALPS) analyzes Experimental Advanced Airborne Research Lidar (EAARL) data—digitized laser-return waveforms, position, and attitude data—to derive point clouds of target surfaces. A full-waveform airborne lidar system, the EAARL seamlessly and simultaneously collects mixed environment data, including submerged, sub-aerial bare earth, and vegetation...

Introduction The original National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Experimental Advanced Airborne Research Lidar (EAARL) was extensively modified to increase the spatial sampling density and to improve performance in water ranging from 3 to 44 meters (m). The new (EAARL-B) sensor features a higher spatial density that was achieved by optically splitting each laser pulse into...

Continuing coral-reef degradation in the western Atlantic is resulting in loss of ecological and geologic functions of reefs. With the goal of assisting resource managers and stewards of reefs in setting and measuring progress toward realistic goals for coral-reef conservation and restoration, we examined reef degradation in this region from a geological perspective. The importance of...

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), as part of the National Assessment of Coastal Change Hazards project, conducts baseline and storm-response photography missions to document and understand the changes in vulnerability of the Nation's coasts to extreme storms (Morgan, 2009). On September 9-10, 2008, the USGS conducted an oblique aerial photographic survey from Calcasieu Lake, Louisiana...

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), as part of the National Assessment of Coastal Change Hazards project, conducts baseline and storm-response photography missions to document and understand the changes in vulnerability of the Nation's coasts to extreme storms (Morgan, 2009). On September 14-15, 2008, the USGS conducted an oblique aerial photographic survey along the Alabama, Mississippi...

Waves propagating over broad, gently-sloped shallows decrease in height due to frictional dissipation at the bed. We quantified wave-height evolution across 7 km of mudflat in San Pablo Bay (northern San Francisco Bay), an environment where tidal mixing prevents the formation of fluid mud. Wave height was measured along a cross shore transect (elevation range−2mto+0.45mMLLW) in winter...

Large benthic foraminifera (LBF) are prolific producers of calcium carbonate sediments in shallow, tropical environments that are being influenced by ocean acidification (OA). Two LBF species, Amphistegina gibbosa (Order Rotaliida) with low-Mg calcite tests and Archaias angulatus (Order Miliolida) with high-Mg calcite tests, were studied to assess the effects of pH 7.6 on oxygen and...

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), as part of the National Assessment of Coastal Change Hazards project, conducts baseline and storm-response photography missions to document and understand the changes in vulnerability of the Nation's coasts to extreme storms (Morgan, 2009). On September 2-3, 2012, the USGS conducted an oblique aerial photographic survey along the Alabama, Mississippi...

Many barrier islands in the United States are eroding and losing elevation substantively because of storm surge, waves, and sea-level changes. This is particularly true for the deltaic barrier system in Louisiana. Breton Island is near the mouth of the Mississippi River at the southern end of the Chandeleur barrier island chain in southeast Louisiana. This report expands on previous...

Aims Inactivation rates of E. coli in groundwater have most often been determined in aerobic and oxidized systems. This study examined E. coli inactivation rates in anaerobic and extremely reduced groundwater systems that have been identified as recharge zones. Methods and Results Groundwater from six artesian wells was diverted to above ground, flow through mesocosms that contained...