Christopher Sherwood, PhD
Coastal oceanographer with expertise in measuring and modeling sediment transport and coastal morphology changes.
Biography
Education
Ph.D. Geological Oceanography, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 1995
M.S. Geological Oceanography, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 1982
A.B. Economics and Environmental Studies, Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine 1976
Employment
Research Oceanographer, U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, CA and Woods Hole, MA, 1999 – present.
Affiliate Faculty, Ocean Engineering, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, 2009 – present
Guest Investigator, Applied Ocean Physics & Engineering, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA, 2011 – present
Senior Research Scientist, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Hobart, Tasmania, 1996 – 1999
Senior Research Scientist, Battelle Marine Sciences Laboratory, Richland and Sequim, WA, 1991 – 1996
Science and Products
Characterizing wave- and current- induced bottom shear stress: U.S. middle Atlantic continental shelf
Waves and currents create bottom shear stress, a force at the seabed that influences sediment texture distribution, micro-topography, habitat, and anthropogenic use. This paper presents a methodology for assessing the magnitude, variability, and driving mechanisms of bottom stress and resultant sediment mobility on regional scales using numerical...
Dalyander, P. Soupy; Butman, Bradford; Sherwood, Christopher R.; Signell, Richard P.; Wilkin, John L.
Profile measurements and data from the 2011 Optics, Acoustics, and Stress In Situ (OASIS) project at the Martha's Vineyard Coastal Observatory
This report documents data collected by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) for the Coastal Model Applications and Field Measurements project under the auspices of the U.S. Navy Office of Naval Research Optics, Acoustics, and Stress In Situ (OASIS) Project. The objective of the measurements was to relate optical and acoustic properties of suspended...
Sherwood, Christopher R.; Dickhudt, Patrick J.; Martini, Marinna A.; Montgomery, Ellyn T.; Boss, Emmanuel S.
Documentation of the U.S. Geological Survey Stress and Sediment Mobility Database
The U.S. Geological Survey Sea Floor Stress and Sediment Mobility Database contains estimates of bottom stress and sediment mobility for the U.S. continental shelf. This U.S. Geological Survey database provides information that is needed to characterize sea floor ecosystems and evaluate areas for human use. The estimates contained in the database...
Dalyander, P. Soupy; Butman, Bradford; Sherwood, Christopher R.; Signell, Richard P.
Palos Verdes Shelf oceanographic study; data report for observations December 2007–April 2008
Beginning in 1997, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defined a contaminated section of the Palos Verdes Shelf region in southern California as a Superfund Site, initiating a continuing investigation of this area. The investigation involved the EPA, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC),...
Rosenberger, Kurt J.; Noble, Marlene A.; Sherwood, Christopher R.; Martini, Marinna M.; Ferreira, Joanne T.; Montgomery, Ellyn T.
Summary of oceanographic and water–quality measurements in West Falmouth Harbor and Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts, 2009–2010
This data report presents oceanographic and water-quality observations made at six locations in West Falmouth Harbor and Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts, from August 2009 to September 2010. Both Buzzards Bay and West Falmouth Harbor are estuarine embayments; the input of freshwater on the eastern margin of Buzzards Bay adjacent to Cape Cod and West...
Ganju, Neil K.; Dickhudt, Patrick J.; Thomas, Jennifer A.; Borden, Jonathan; Sherwood, Christopher R.; Montgomery, Ellyn T.; Twomey, Erin R.; Martini, Marinna A. Formation dynamics of subsurface hydrocarbon intrusions following the Deepwater Horizon blowout
Hydrocarbons released following the Deepwater Horizon (DH) blowout were found in deep, subsurface horizontal intrusions, yet there has been little discussion about how these intrusions formed. We have combined measured (or estimated) observations from the DH release with empirical relationships developed from previous lab experiments to identify...
Socolofsky, Scott A.; Adams, E. Eric; Sherwood, Christopher R. Simulating oil droplet dispersal from the Deepwater Horizon spill with a Lagrangian approach
An analytical multiphase plume model, combined with time-varying flow and hydrographic fields generated by the 3-D South Atlantic Bight and Gulf of Mexico model (SABGOM) hydrodynamic model, were used as input to a Lagrangian transport model (LTRANS), to simulate transport of oil droplets dispersed at depth from the recent Deepwater Horizon MC 252...
North, Elizabeth W.; Schlag, Zachary; Adams, E. Eric; Sherwood, Christopher R.; He, Ruoying; Hyun, Hoon; Socolofsky, Scott A. Directional bottom roughness associated with waves, currents, and ripples
Roughness lengths are used in wave-current bottom boundary layer models to parameterize drag associated with grain roughness, the effect of saltating grains during sediment transport, and small-scale bottom topography (ripples and biogenic features). We made field measurements of flow parameters and recorded sonar images of ripples at the boundary...
Rosati, Julie D.; Wang, Ping; Roberts, Tiffany M.; Sherwood, Christopher R. Simulating oil droplet dispersal from the Deepwater Horizon spill with a Lagrangian approach
An analytical multiphase plume model, combined with time-varying flow and hydrographic fields generated by the 3-D South Atlantic Bight and Gulf of Mexico model (SABGOM) hydrodynamic model, were used as input to a Lagrangian transport model (LTRANS), to simulate transport of oil droplets dispersed at depth from the recent Deepwater Horizon MC 252...
Yonggang, Liu; Zheng-Gang, Ji; Macfayden, Amy; Weisberg, Robert H.; North, Elizabeth W.; Adams, E. Eric; Sherwood, Christopher R.; He, Ruoying; Hyun, Kyung Hoon; Socolofsky, Scott A.; Schlag, Zachary Sediment transport and deposition on a river-dominated tidal flat: An idealized model study
A 3-D hydrodynamic model is used to investigate how different size classes of river-derived sediment are transported, exported and trapped on an idealized, river-dominated tidal flat. The model is composed of a river channel flanked by sloping tidal flats, a configuration motivated by the intertidal region of the Skagit River mouth in Washington...
Sherwood, Christopher R.; Chen, Shih-Nan; Geyer, W. Rockwell; Ralston, David K. Effect of roughness formulation on the performance of a coupled wave, hydrodynamic, and sediment transport model
A variety of algorithms are available for parameterizing the hydrodynamic bottom roughness associated with grain size, saltation, bedforms, and wave–current interaction in coastal ocean models. These parameterizations give rise to spatially and temporally variable bottom-drag coefficients that ostensibly provide better representations of physical...
Ganju, Neil K.; Sherwood, Christopher R. Sediment transport on the Palos Verdes shelf, California
Sediment transport and the potential for erosion or deposition have been investigated on the Palos Verdes (PV) and San Pedro shelves in southern California to help assess the fate of an effluent-affected deposit contaminated with DDT and PCBs. Bottom boundary layer measurements at two 60-m sites in spring 2004 were used to set model parameters and...
Ferre, B.; Sherwood, C.R.; Wiberg, P.L.