Publications
Publications about USGS hurricane research and field studies.
Filter Total Items: 100
A survey of storm-induced seaward-transport features observed during the 2019 and 2020 hurricane seasons
Hurricanes are known to play a critical role in reshaping coastlines, but often only impacts on the open ocean coast are considered, ignoring seaward-directed forces and responses. The identification of subaerial evidence for storm-induced seaward transport is a critical step towards understanding its impact on coastal resiliency. The visual features, found in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Authors
Jin-Si R. Over, Jenna A. Brown, Christopher R. Sherwood, Christie Hegermiller, Phillipe Alan Wernette, Andrew C. Ritchie, Jonathan Warrick
Impact of SST and surface waves on Hurricane Florence (2018): A coupled modeling investigation
Hurricane Florence (2018) devastated the coastal communities of the Carolinas through heavy rainfall that resulted in massive flooding. Florence was characterized by an abrupt reduction in intensity (Saffir-Simpson Category 4 to Category 1) just prior to landfall and synoptic-scale interactions that stalled the storm over the Carolinas for several days. We conducted a series of numerical modeling
Authors
Joseph Zambon, Ruoying He, John C. Warner, Christie Hegermiller
Rapid observations of ocean dynamics and stratification along a steep island coast during Hurricane María
Hurricanes are extreme storms that affect coastal communities, but the linkages between hurricane forcing and ocean dynamics remain poorly understood. Here, we present full water column observations at unprecedented resolution from the southwest Puerto Rico insular shelf and slope during Hurricane María, representing a rare set of high-frequency, subsurface, oceanographic observations collected al
Authors
Olivia Cheriton, Curt Storlazzi, Kurt J. Rosenberger, Clark E Sherman, Wilford Schmidt
Tropical understory herbaceous community responds more strongly to hurricane disturbance than to experimental warming
The effects of climate change on tropical forests may have global consequences due to the forests’ high biodiversity and major role in the global carbon cycle. In this study, we document the effects of experimental warming on the abundance and composition of a tropical forest floor herbaceous plant community in the Luquillo Experimental Forest, Puerto Rico. This study was conducted within Tropical
Authors
Deborah K. Kennard, David Matlaga, Joanne Sharpe, Clay C. King, Aura M. Alonso-Rodríguez, Sasha C. Reed, Molly A. Cavaleri, Tana E. Wood
Mobility characteristics of landslides triggered by Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico
Mobility is an important element of landslide hazard and risk assessments yet has been seldom studied for shallow landslides and debris flows in tropical environments. In September 2017, Hurricane Maria triggered > 70,000 landslides across Puerto Rico. Using aerial imagery and a lidar digital elevation model (DEM), we mapped and characterized the mobility of debris slides and flows in four differe
Authors
Erin K. Bessette-Kirton, Jeffrey A. Coe, William Schulz, Corina Cerovski-Darriau, Mason Muir Einbund
Hurricane Sandy effects on coastal marsh elevation change
High-magnitude storm events such as Hurricane Sandy are powerful agents of geomorphic change in coastal marshes, potentially altering their surface elevation trajectories. But how do a storm’s impacts vary across a large region spanning a variety of wetland settings and storm exposures and intensities. We determined the short-term impacts of Hurricane Sandy at 223 surface elevation table–marker ho
Authors
Alice G. Yeates, James Grace, Jennifer H. Olker, Glenn R. Guntenspergen, Donald Cahoon, Susan C. Adamowicz, Shimon C. Anisfeld, Nels Barrett, Alice Benzecry, Linda K. Blum, Rober T Christian, Joseph Grzyb, Ellen Kracauer Hartig, Kelly Hines Leo, Scott Lerberg, James C. Lynch, Nicole Maher, J Patrick Megonigal, William G. Reay, Drexel Siok, Adam Starke, Vincent Turner, Scott Warren
A tropical cyclone-induced ecological regime shift: Mangrove forest conversion to mudflat in Everglades National Park (Florida, USA)
The ecological effects of tropical cyclones on mangrove forests are diverse and highly location- and cyclone-dependent. Ecological resistance, resilience, and enhancement are terms that describe most mangrove forest responses to tropical cyclones. However, in the most extreme cases, tropical cyclones can trigger abrupt and irreversible ecological transformations (i.e., ecological regime shifts). H
Authors
Michael Osland, Laura Feher, Gordon Anderson, William Vervaeke, Ken Krauss, Kevin R.T. Whelan, Karen S. Balentine, G. Tiling-Range, Thomas J. Smith, Donald Cahoon
Soil biogeochemical responses of a tropical forest to warming and hurricane disturbance
Tropical forests represent 50% of the planets species and play a disproportionately large role in determining climate due to the vast amounts of carbon they store and exchange with the atmosphere. Currently, disturbance patterns in tropical ecosystems are changing due to factors such as increased land use pressure and an occurrence of hurricanes. At the same time, these regions are expected to exp
Authors
Sasha C. Reed, Robin H. Reibold, Molly A. Cavaleri, Aura M. Alonso-Rodríguez, Megan E. Berberich, Tana E. Wood
Debris-flow growth in Puerto Rico during Hurricane Maria: Preliminary results from analyses of pre- and post-event lidar data
On September 20, 2017, Hurricane Maria triggered widespread debris flows in Puerto Rico. We used field observations and pre- and post-Maria lidar to study the volumetric growth of long-travelled (>400 m) debris flows in four basins. We found overall growth rates that ranged from 0.7 to 30.4 m3 per meter of channel length. We partitioned the rates into two growth mechanisms, aggregation of multiple
Authors
Jeffrey A. Coe, Erin K. Bessette-Kirton, Dianne L. Brien, Mark E. Reid
Assessing the water quality impacts of two Category-5 hurricanes on St. Thomas, Virgin Islands
Managing waterborne and water-related diseases is one of the most critical factors in the aftermath of hurricane-induced natural disasters. The goal of the study was to identify water-quality impairments in order to set the priorities for post-hurricane relief and to guide future decisions on disaster preparation and relief administration. Field investigations were carried out on St. Thomas, U.S.
Authors
Sunny Jiang, Muyue Han, Srikiran Chandrasekaran, Yingcong Fang, Christina A. Kellogg
Simulation of post-hurricane impact on invasive species with biological control management
Understanding the effects of hurricanes and other large storms on ecological communities and the post-event recovery in these communities can guide management and ecosystem restoration. This is particularly important for communities impacted by invasive species, as the hurricane may affect control efforts. Here we consider the effect of a hurricane on tree communities in southern Florida that has
Authors
Linhao Xu, Marya Claire Zdechlik, Melissa C. Smith, Min B. Rayamajhi, Don DeAngelis, Bo Zhang
Effects of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) exclusion on plant recovery in overwash fans after a severe coastal storm
We documented the impacts of a hyper-abundant deer population on dune vegetation recovering from severe storm surge on a barrier island through use of permanent plots and a repeated measures analysis. Three years after landfall of the storm, vegetation cover was dominated by American beachgrass, Ammophila breviligulata, though we observed twelve plant species among plots surveyed. We documented si
Authors
Chellby R. Kilheffer, Jordan Raphael, Lindsay Ries, H. Brian Underwood