Geophysics

Earthquake early warning, live in California, aims to send user alerts before ground shaking arrives at their location. Work directly with a USGS team in implementing a ground-motion based early warning algorithm, and develop novel station-specific adjustment factors to improve the accuracy of ground-shaking estimates, a critical step in sending the most useful user alerts.

Develop cutting-edge computational tools that provide 3D views of Earth’s crust using gravity and magnetic fields. Results of these efforts will have a wide range of applications from mapping natural resources to evaluating natural hazards. These tools will be applied to airborne geophysical data, especially those collected for the USGS Earth MRI effort.

This opportunity focuses on integration of geophysical modeling with constraints on alteration mineralogy from spectral measurements on drill core and hyperspectral remote sensing data.

Earthquakes, such as the 2011 M5.7 Prague, Oklahoma, and recent northern Texas M4 event, demonstrate the need for improved understanding of site amplification and seismic hazards in the central United States. The intern will be trained by USGS scientists to use the state-of-the-art site investigation methods at seismic station sites in California before applying the methods in Oklahoma and Texas.

The advent of national geophysical initiatives (e.g. EarthScope, AusLamp, SinoProbe) has started the race to develop regional- and national-scale geophysical models. In parallel, the need for such models is on the rise within the natural-hazard and resource sectors. This internship focuses on development of three-dimensional electrical resistivity models derived from magnetotelluric (MT) data.

Much unsaturated-zone water moves not as typically slow diffuse flow, but rapidly through preferential flow channels such as root holes and fractures. Impacts are profound and far-reaching for issues such as contaminant transport, ecohydrology, and aquifer recharge. Understanding is limited and accepted theory is lacking, making preferential flow a crucial and exciting area of earth science.

Augment existing near real-time earthquake-triggered landslide and liquefaction hazard models with products such as landslide dam likelihood, road network disturbances, and disruption to ports. Investigate methods for improving and/or rapidly updating models such as remote sensing data, historical fill maps, and social media and news reports.