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Brian Pellerin

Brian Pellerin is the Program Manager for the Next Generation Water Observing Systems (NGWOS) and Water Hazards Programs.

Professional Experience

  • 2017-  Branch Chief, Hydrologic Networks Branch, USGS, Observing Systems Division, Reston, Virginia

  • 2016-2017 Research Physical Scientist (RGE), USGS, Office of Water Quality, Reston, Virginia

  • 2009-2016 Research Soil Scientist (RGE), USGS, California Water Science Center, Sacramento

  • 2007-2009  Soil Scientist, USGS, California Water Science Center,  Sacramento

  • 2004-2007  National Research Council Post-Doctoral Associate, USGS,  California Water Science Center, Sacramento

  • 2000-2004  Graduate Research Assistant, University of New Hampshire

  • 1998-2000  Graduate Research Assistant, University of Maine

  • 1996-1998  Technician Assistant, USDA-Forest Service, Durham, New Hampshire

Education and Certifications

  • 2004 Ph.D., Natural Resources and Environmental Studies, University of New Hampshire, Durham.  Dissertation:  The influence of urbanization on runoff generation and stream chemistry in Massa

  • 2000 M.S., Plant, Soil and Environmental Science, University of Maine, Orono.  Thesis: Inferences from soil chemical properties on linkages between soil and surface water in Maine forested waters

  • 1998 B.S., Environmental Science (Soil Science minor), University of New Hampshire, Durham

Science and Products

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Colorado River, Kawuneeche Valley, Grand County, Colorado

Integrated Water Science (IWS) Basins

The U.S. Geological Survey is integrating its water science programs to better address the Nation’s greatest water resource challenges. At the heart of this effort are plans to intensively study at least 10 Integrated Water Science (IWS) basins — medium-sized watersheds (10,000-20,000 square miles) and underlying aquifers — over the next decade. The IWS basins will represent a wide range of...
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Water Resources
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Integrated Water Science (IWS) Basins

The U.S. Geological Survey is integrating its water science programs to better address the Nation’s greatest water resource challenges. At the heart of this effort are plans to intensively study at least 10 Integrated Water Science (IWS) basins — medium-sized watersheds (10,000-20,000 square miles) and underlying aquifers — over the next decade. The IWS basins will represent a wide range of...
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Next Generation Water Observing System Infographic

Next Generation Water Observing System (NGWOS)

Substantial advances in water science, together with emerging breakthroughs in technical and computational capabilities, have led the USGS to develop a Next Generation Water Observing System (NGWOS). The USGS NGWOS will provide real-time data on water quantity and quality in more affordable and rapid ways than previously possible, and in more locations.
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Water Resources, Groundwater and Streamflow Information Program
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Next Generation Water Observing System (NGWOS)

Substantial advances in water science, together with emerging breakthroughs in technical and computational capabilities, have led the USGS to develop a Next Generation Water Observing System (NGWOS). The USGS NGWOS will provide real-time data on water quantity and quality in more affordable and rapid ways than previously possible, and in more locations.
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Diagram showing hypothesized changes in GHG emission pathways due to winter flooding of corn fields.

Assessing the role of winter flooding on baseline greenhouse gas fluxes from corn fields in the Sacramento – San Joaquin Bay Delta

Understanding the magnitude and variability of baseline greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the Sacramento – San Joaquin Bay Delta is critical for current and future land management. For example, strategies that maximize carbon sequestration in soils and plants while minimizing unintended consequences such as GHG emissions are likely to produce both economic and environmental benefits for the...
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California Water Science Center
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Assessing the role of winter flooding on baseline greenhouse gas fluxes from corn fields in the Sacramento – San Joaquin Bay Delta

Understanding the magnitude and variability of baseline greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the Sacramento – San Joaquin Bay Delta is critical for current and future land management. For example, strategies that maximize carbon sequestration in soils and plants while minimizing unintended consequences such as GHG emissions are likely to produce both economic and environmental benefits for the...
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Instruments on back of boat being ready to be deployed in open water.

Improved Monitoring of Water Quality and Pelagic Organism Decline in the Delta with Continuous In Situ Sensor Measurements

Newly-developed, commercially-available sensors permit real-time collection of water quality data that may help identify ecosystem processes that affect the health of pelagic food webs in the Sacramento – San Joaquin Delta. In particular, the simultaneous measurement of nutrients, organic matter and algal abundance along with the basic water quality variables such as temperature and salinity -...
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California Water Science Center
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Improved Monitoring of Water Quality and Pelagic Organism Decline in the Delta with Continuous In Situ Sensor Measurements

Newly-developed, commercially-available sensors permit real-time collection of water quality data that may help identify ecosystem processes that affect the health of pelagic food webs in the Sacramento – San Joaquin Delta. In particular, the simultaneous measurement of nutrients, organic matter and algal abundance along with the basic water quality variables such as temperature and salinity -...
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USGS science for a changing world logo

Transport of dissolved organic matter by river networks from mountains to the sea: a re-examination of the role of flow across temporal and spatial scales

The transport of dissolved organic matter (DOM) by rivers is an important component of the global carbon cycle, affects ecosystems and water quality, and reflects biogeochemical and hydrological processes in watersheds. Understanding the fundamental relationships between discharge and DOM concentration and composition reveals important information about watershed flow paths, soil flushing, connect
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John Wesley Powell Center for Analysis and Synthesis
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Transport of dissolved organic matter by river networks from mountains to the sea: a re-examination of the role of flow across temporal and spatial scales

The transport of dissolved organic matter (DOM) by rivers is an important component of the global carbon cycle, affects ecosystems and water quality, and reflects biogeochemical and hydrological processes in watersheds. Understanding the fundamental relationships between discharge and DOM concentration and composition reveals important information about watershed flow paths, soil flushing, connect
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Optical signals of water for prediction of wastewater contamination, human-associated bacteria, and fecal indicator bacteria in surface water of Great Lake tributaries from 2011 to 2016

Data are from water samples collected from tributaries of the Great Lakes at three different drainage basin scales, including 1). watershed scale: 8 tributaries of the Great Lakes, 2). subwatershed scale: 5 locations from the greater Milwaukee, Wisconsin area, and 3). small scale: 213 storm sewers and open channel locations in three subwatersheds within the Great Lakes Basin including the Middle B
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Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, Upper Midwest Water Science Center

Data from the development and testing of a multiparameter standard solution for fluorescent dissolved organic matter (fDOM) and algal fluorescence (fChl)

Optical sensors measuring fluorescent dissolved organic matter (fDOM) are increasingly being used in water quality studies because they provide proxy measurements for dissolved organic matter concentrations (DOC). Similarly, chlorophyll-a (chl-a) fluorescence sensors have gained popularity as a means to measure phytoplankton concentration, biomass, and even primary productivity using various appro
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California Water Science Center
Filter Total Items: 39

Technical note—Relative variability of selected turbidity standards and sensors in use by the U.S. Geological Survey

The challenges associated with field measurements of turbidity are well known and result primarily from differences in reported values that depend on instrument design and the resulting need for reporting units that are specific to those designs. A critical challenge for making comparable turbidity measurements is the selection and use of appropriate turbidity standards for sensor calibration. The
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Water Resources, Kansas Water Science Center, New York Water Science Center, South Atlantic Water Science Center (SAWSC)

Optical properties of water for prediction of wastewater contamination, human-associated bacteria, and fecal indicator bacteria in surface water at three watershed scales

Relations between spectral absorbance and fluorescence properties of water and human-associated and fecal indicator bacteria were developed for facilitating field sensor applications to estimate wastewater contamination in waterways. Leaking wastewater conveyance infrastructure commonly contaminates receiving waters. Methods to quantify such contamination can be time consuming, expensive, and ofte
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Water Resources, California Water Science Center, Upper Midwest Water Science Center

Monitoring the Riverine Pulse: Applying high-frequency nitrate data to advance integrative understanding of biogeochemical and hydrological processes

Widespread deployment of sensors that measure river nitrate (NO3-) concentrations has led to many recent publications in water resources journals including review papers focused on data quality assurance, improved load calculations, and better nutrient management. The principal objective of this paper is to review and synthesize studies of high-frequency NO3- data that have aimed to improve unders
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Water Resources

Temporal variability in nitrate – discharge relationships in large rivers as revealed by high frequency data

Little is known about temporal variability in nitrate concentration responses to changes in discharge on intraannual time scales in large rivers. To investigate this knowledge gap, we used a six‐year data set of daily surface water nitrate concentration and discharge averaged from near‐continuous monitoring at U.S. Geological Survey gaging stations on the Connecticut, Potomac, and Mississippi Rive
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Water Resources

U.S. Geological Survey continuous monitoring workshop—Workshop summary report

Executive SummaryThe collection of high-frequency (in other words, “continuous”) water data has been made easier over the years because of advances in technologies to measure, transmit, store, and query large, temporally dense datasets. Commercially available, in-situ sensors and data-collection platforms—together with new techniques for data analysis—provide an opportunity to monitor water quanti
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Water Resources, Groundwater and Streamflow Information Program, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, Upper Midwest Water Science Center

Irrigation as a fuel pump to freshwater ecosystems

We generated a detailed time series of total dissolved hydrolyzable amino acids (DHAA) in a watershed dominated by irrigated agriculture in northern California, USA to investigate the roles of hydrologic and seasonal changes on the composition of dissolved organic matter (DOM). DHAA are sensitive indicators of the degradation state and reactivity of DOM. DHAA concentrations ranged from 0.55 to 9.9
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Water Resources

Clearing the waters: Evaluating the need for site-specific field fluorescence corrections based on turbidity measurements

In situ fluorescent dissolved organic matter (fDOM) measurements have gained increasing popularity as a proxy for dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations in streams. One challenge to accurate fDOM measurements in many streams is light attenuation due to suspended particles. Downing et al. (2012) evaluated the need for corrections to compensate for particle interference on fDOM measurements u
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Water Resources, California Water Science Center

Spatial and temporal patterns of dissolved organic matter quantity and quality in the Mississippi River Basin, 1997–2013

Recent studies have found insignificant or decreasing trends in time-series dissolved organic carbon (DOC) datasets, questioning the assumption that long-term DOC concentrations in surface waters are increasing in response to anthropogenic forcing, including climate change, land use, and atmospheric acid deposition. We used the weighted regressions on time, discharge, and season (WRTDS) model to e
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John Wesley Powell Center for Analysis and Synthesis

Patterns of diel variation in nitrate concentrations in the Potomac River

The Potomac River is a large source of N to Chesapeake Bay, where reducing nutrient loads is a focus of efforts to improve trophic status. Better understanding of NO3– loss, reflected in part by diel variation in NO3– concentrations, may refine model predictions of N loads to the Bay. We analyzed 2 y of high-frequency NO3– sensor data in the Potomac to quantify seasonal variation in the magnitude
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Water Resources, Chesapeake Bay Activities, New York Water Science Center, California Water Science Center

Emerging tools for continuous nutrient monitoring networks: Sensors advancing science and water resources protection

Sensors and enabling technologies are becoming increasingly important tools for water quality monitoring and associated water resource management decisions. In particular, nutrient sensors are of interest because of the well-known adverse effects of nutrient enrichment on coastal hypoxia, harmful algal blooms, and impacts to human health. Accurate and timely information on nutrient concentration
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Water Resources, California Water Science Center

The new Landsat 8 potential for remote sensing of colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM)

Due to a combination of factors, such as a new coastal/aerosol band and improved radiometric sensitivity of the Operational Land Imager aboard Landsat 8, the atmospherically-corrected Surface Reflectance product for Landsat data, and the growing availability of corrected fDOM data from U.S. Geological Survey gaging stations, moderate-resolution remote sensing of fDOM may now be achievable. This pa
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Ecosystems, Toxic Substances Hydrology, Environmental Health Program

Optical properties of dissolved organic matter (DOM): Effects of biological and photolytic degradation

Advances in spectroscopic techniques have led to an increase in the use of optical properties (absorbance and fluorescence) to assess dissolved organic matter (DOM) composition and infer sources and processing. However, little information is available to assess the impact of biological and photolytic processing on the optical properties of original DOM source materials. We measured changes in comm
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Water Resources, California Water Science Center, Organic Matter Research Laboratory

Pre-USGS Publications

Oczkowski AJ, BA Pellerin, CW Hunt, WM Wollheim, CJ Vörösmarty and TC Loder III. 2006. The role of snowmelt and spring rainfall in inorganic nutrient fluxes from a large temperate watershed, the Androscoggin River basin (Maine and New Hampshire). Biogeochemistry, 80: 191-203.
Wollheim WM, BA Pellerin, CJ Vörösmarty and CS Hopkinson. 2005. Nitrogen retention in urbanizing headwater catchments. Ecosystems, 8: 871-884.
Pellerin BA, WM Wollheim, CS Hopkinson, WH McDowell, CJ Vörösmarty, MW Williams and ML Daley. 2004. Role of wetlands and developed land use on dissolved organic nitrogen concentrations and DON / TDN in northeastern U.S. rivers and streams. Limnology and Oceanography, 49: 910-918.
Pellerin BA, IJ Fernandez, SA Norton and JS Kahl. 2002. Soil aluminum distribution in the near-stream zone at the Bear Brook Watershed in Maine. Water, Air and Soil Pollution, 134: 189-204.

Science and Products