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
Deposition and flux of sediment from the Po River, Italy: An idealized and wintertime numerical modeling study
Recent studies of sediment dynamics and clinoform development in the northern Adriatic Sea focused on winter 2002-2003 and provided the data and motivation for development of a detailed sediment-transport model for the area near the Po River delta. We used both idealized test cases and more realistic simulations to improve our understanding of...
Bever, A.J.; Harris, C.K.; Sherwood, C.R.; Signell, R.P. Calculating wave-generated bottom orbital velocities from surface-wave parameters
Near-bed wave orbital velocities and shear stresses are important parameters in many sediment-transport and hydrodynamic models of the coastal ocean, estuaries, and lakes. Simple methods for estimating bottom orbital velocities from surface-wave statistics such as significant wave height and peak period often are inaccurate except in very shallow...
Wiberg, P.L.; Sherwood, C.R. Development of a three-dimensional, regional, coupled wave, current, and sediment-transport model
We are developing a three-dimensional numerical model that implements algorithms for sediment transport and evolution of bottom morphology in the coastal-circulation model Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS v3.0), and provides a two-way link between ROMS and the wave model Simulating Waves in the Nearshore (SWAN) via the Model-Coupling Toolkit....
Warner, J.C.; Sherwood, C.R.; Signell, R.P.; Harris, C.K.; Arango, H.G. Collaboration tools and techniques for large model datasets
In MREA and many other marine applications, it is common to have multiple models running with different grids, run by different institutions. Techniques and tools are described for low-bandwidth delivery of data from large multidimensional datasets, such as those from meteorological and oceanographic models, directly into generic analysis and...
Signell, R.P.; Carniel, S.; Chiggiato, J.; Janekovic, I.; Pullen, J.; Sherwood, C.R. Northeast storms ranked by wind stress and wave-generated bottom stress observed in Massachusetts Bay, 1990-2006
Along the coast of the northeastern United States, strong winds blowing from the northeast are often associated with storms called northeasters, coastal storms that strongly influence weather. In addition to effects caused by wind stress, the sea floor is affected by bottom stress associated with these storms. Bottom stress caused by orbital...
Butman, B.; Sherwood, C.R.; Dalyander, P.S. Ocean forecasting in terrain-following coordinates: Formulation and skill assessment of the Regional Ocean Modeling System
Systematic improvements in algorithmic design of regional ocean circulation models have led to significant enhancement in simulation ability across a wide range of space/time scales and marine system types. As an example, we briefly review the Regional Ocean Modeling System, a member of a general class of three-dimensional, free-surface, terrain-...
Haidvogel, D.B.; Arango, H.; Budgell, W.P.; Cornuelle, B.D.; Curchitser, E.; Di, Lorenzo E.; Fennel, K.; Geyer, W.R.; Hermann, A.J.; Lanerolle, L.; Levin, J.; McWilliams, J.C.; Miller, A.J.; Moore, A.M.; Powell, T.M.; Shchepetkin, A.F.; Sherwood, C.R.; Signell, R.P.; Warner, J.C.; Wilkin, J. Sediment dispersal in the northwestern Adriatic Sea
Sediment dispersal in the Adriatic Sea was evaluated using coupled three-dimensional circulation and sediment transport models, representing conditions from autumn 2002 through spring 2003. The calculations accounted for fluvial sources, resuspension by waves and currents, and suspended transport. Sediment fluxes peaked during southwestward Bora...
Harris, C.K.; Sherwood, C.R.; Signell, R.P.; Bever, A.J.; Warner, J.C. Sensitivity of estuarine turbidity maximum to settling velocity, tidal mixing, and sediment supply
Estuarine turbidity maximum, numerical modeling, settling velocity, stratification The spatial and temporal distribution of suspended material in an Estuarine Turbidity Maxima (ETM) is primarily controlled by particle settling velocity, tidal mixing, shear-stress thresholds for resuspension, and sediment supply. We vary these parameters in...
Warner, J.C.; Sherwood, C.R.; Geyer, W.R. Underwater microscope for measuring spatial and temporal changes in bed-sediment grain size
For more than a century, studies of sedimentology and sediment transport have measured bed-sediment grain size by collecting samples and transporting them back to the laboratory for grain-size analysis. This process is slow and expensive. Moreover, most sampling systems are not selective enough to sample only the surficial grains that interact...
Rubin, David M.; Chezar, Henry; Harney, Jodi N.; Topping, David J.; Melis, Theodore S.; Sherwood, Christopher R.
Underwater Microscope for Measuring Spatial and Temporal Changes in Bed-Sediment Grain Size
For more than a century, studies of sedimentology and sediment transport have measured bed-sediment grain size by collecting samples and transporting them back to the lab for grain-size analysis. This process is slow and expensive. Moreover, most sampling systems are not selective enough to sample only the surficial grains that interact with the...
Rubin, David M.; Chezar, Henry; Harney, Jodi N.; Topping, David J.; Melis, Theodore S.; Sherwood, Christopher R. Report of the USGS Coastal and Marine Geology Modeling Workshop, Pacific Marine Science Center, Santa Cruz, CA, March 22-23, 2005
A U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Coastal and Marine Geology (CMG) Modeling Workshop was held to discuss the general topic of coastal modeling, defined broadly to include circulation, waves, sediment transport, water quality, ecology, sediment diagenesis, morphology change, and coastal evolution, on scales ranging from seconds and a few centimeters...
Sherwood, Christopher R. Sediment distribution and transport across the continental shelf and slope under idealized wind forcing
Resuspension, transport, and deposition of sediments over the continental shelf and slope are complex processes and there is still a need to understand the underlying spatial and temporal dynamical scales. As a step towards this goal, a two-dimensional slice model (zero gradients in the alongshore direction) based on the primitive flow equations...
Condie, S.A.; Sherwood, C.R.