David M Rubin
Scientist Emeritus, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 59
A unifying model for planform straightness of ripples and dunes in air and water
Geologists, physicists, and mathematicians have studied ripples and dunes for more than a century, but despite considerable effort, no general model has been proposed to explain perhaps the most fundamental property of their morphology: why are some bedforms straight, continuous, parallel, and uniform in planform geometry (i.e. two-dimensional) whereas others are irregular (three-dimensional)? Her
Authors
David M. Rubin
Advances in the simulation and automated measurement of well-sorted granular material: 1. Simulation
1. In this, the first of a pair of papers which address the simulation and automated measurement of well-sorted natural granular material, a method is presented for simulation of two-phase (solid, void) assemblages of discrete non-cohesive particles. The purpose is to have a flexible, yet computationally and theoretically simple, suite of tools with well constrained and well known statistical prop
Authors
Daniel Buscombe, David M. Rubin
Advances in the simulation and automated measurement of well-sorted granular material: 2. Direct measures of particle properties
1. In this, the second of a pair of papers on the structure of well-sorted natural granular material (sediment), new methods are described for automated measurements from images of sediment, of: 1) particle-size standard deviation (arithmetic sorting) with and without apparent void fraction; and 2) mean particle size in material with void fraction. A variety of simulations of granular material are
Authors
Daniel D. Buscombe, David M. Rubin
Stratigraphic architecture of bedrock reference section, Victoria Crater, Meridiani Planum, Mars
The Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has investigated bedrock outcrops exposed in several craters at Meridiani Planum, Mars, in an effort to better understand the role of surface processes in its geologic history. Opportunity has recently completed its observations of Victoria crater, which is 750 m in diameter and exposes cliffs up to ~15 m high. The plains surrounding Victoria crater are ~10
Authors
Lauren A. Edgar, John P. Grotzinger, Alex G. Hayes, David M. Rubin, Steve W. Squyres, James F. Bell, Kenneth E. Herkenhoff
Field evaluation of the error arising from inadequate time averaging in the standard use of depth-integrating suspended-sediment samplers
Several common methods for measuring suspended-sediment concentration in rivers in the United States use depth-integrating samplers to collect a velocity-weighted suspended-sediment sample in a subsample of a river cross section. Because depth-integrating samplers are always moving through the water column as they collect a sample, and can collect only a limited volume of water and suspended sedim
Authors
David J. Topping, David M. Rubin, Scott A. Wright, Theodore S. Melis
Sediment-transport during three controlled-flood experiments on the Colorado River downstream from Glen Canyon Dam, with implications for eddy-sandbar deposition in Grand Canyon National Park
Three large-scale field experiments were conducted on the Colorado River downstream from Glen Canyon Dam in 1996, 2004, and 2008 to evaluate whether artificial (that is, controlled) floods released from the dam could be used in conjunction with the sand supplied by downstream tributaries to rebuild and sustainably maintain eddy sandbars in the river in Grand Canyon National Park. Higher suspended-
Authors
David J. Topping, David M. Rubin, Paul E. Grams, Ronald E. Griffiths, Thomas A. Sabol, Nicholas Voichick, Robert B. Tusso, Karen M. Vanaman, Richard R. McDonald
Grain-size evolution in suspended sediment and deposits from the 2004 and 2008 controlled-flood experiments in Marble and Grand Canyons, Arizona
Since the closure of Glen Canyon Dam in 1963, the hydrology, sediment supply, and distribution and size of modern alluvial deposits in the Colorado River through Grand Canyon have changed substantially (e.g., Howard and Dolan, 1981; Johnson and Carothers, 1987; Webb et al., 1999; Rubin et al., 2002; Topping et al., 2000, 2003; Wright et al., 2005; Hazel et al., 2006). The dam has reduced the fluvi
Authors
Amy E. Draut, David J. Topping, David M. Rubin, Scott A. Wright, John C. Schmidt
20,000 grain-size observations from the bed of the Colorado River, and implications for sediment transport through Grand Canyon
In the late 1990s, we developed digital imaging hardware and software for in-situ mapping of sand-sized bed sediment of the Colorado River in Grand Canyon. This new technology enables collection and processing of hundreds of grain-size samples in a day. Bed grain size was mapped using this equipment on 8 surveys of the Colorado River in Grand Canyon, for a total of more than 20,000 observations sp
Authors
David M. Rubin, David J. Topping, Henry Chezar, Joseph E. Hazel, John C. Schmidt, Michael J. Breedlove, Theodore S. Melis, Paul E. Grams
An automated and universal method for measuring mean grain size from a digital image of sediment
Existing methods for estimating mean grain size of sediment in an image require either complicated sequences of image processing (filtering, edge detection, segmentation, etc.) or statistical procedures involving calibration. We present a new approach which uses Fourier methods to calculate grain size directly from the image without requiring calibration. Based on analysis of over 450 images, we f
Authors
Daniel D. Buscombe, David M. Rubin, Jonathan A. Warrick
2008 High-Flow Experiment at Glen Canyon Dam Benefits Colorado River Resources in Grand Canyon National Park
On March 5, 2008, the Department of the Interior began a 60-hour high-flow experiment at Glen Canyon Dam, Arizona, to determine if water releases designed to mimic natural seasonal flooding could be used to improve downstream resources in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area and Grand Canyon National Park. U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists and their cooperators undertook a wide range of phy
Authors
Theodore S. Melis, David J. Topping, Paul E. Grams, David M. Rubin, Scott A. Wright, Amy E. Draut, Joseph E. Hazel, Barbara E. Ralston, Theodore A. Kennedy, Emma Rosi-Marshall, Josh Korman, Kara D. Hilwig, Lara M. Schmit
An approach for modeling sediment budgets in supply-limited rivers
Reliable predictions of sediment transport and river morphology in response to variations in natural and human-induced drivers are necessary for river engineering and management. Because engineering and management applications may span a wide range of space and time scales, a broad spectrum of modeling approaches has been developed, ranging from suspended-sediment "rating curves" to complex three-
Authors
Scott A. Wright, David J. Topping, David M. Rubin, Theodore S. Melis
Multiple origins of linear dunes on Earth and Titan
Dunes with relatively long and parallel crests are classified as linear dunes. On Earth, they form in at least two environmental settings: where winds of bimodal direction blow across loose sand, and also where single-direction winds blow over sediment that is locally stabilized, be it through vegetation, sediment cohesion or topographic shelter from the winds. Linear dunes have also been identifi
Authors
David M. Rubin, Patrick A. Hesp
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 59
A unifying model for planform straightness of ripples and dunes in air and water
Geologists, physicists, and mathematicians have studied ripples and dunes for more than a century, but despite considerable effort, no general model has been proposed to explain perhaps the most fundamental property of their morphology: why are some bedforms straight, continuous, parallel, and uniform in planform geometry (i.e. two-dimensional) whereas others are irregular (three-dimensional)? Her
Authors
David M. Rubin
Advances in the simulation and automated measurement of well-sorted granular material: 1. Simulation
1. In this, the first of a pair of papers which address the simulation and automated measurement of well-sorted natural granular material, a method is presented for simulation of two-phase (solid, void) assemblages of discrete non-cohesive particles. The purpose is to have a flexible, yet computationally and theoretically simple, suite of tools with well constrained and well known statistical prop
Authors
Daniel Buscombe, David M. Rubin
Advances in the simulation and automated measurement of well-sorted granular material: 2. Direct measures of particle properties
1. In this, the second of a pair of papers on the structure of well-sorted natural granular material (sediment), new methods are described for automated measurements from images of sediment, of: 1) particle-size standard deviation (arithmetic sorting) with and without apparent void fraction; and 2) mean particle size in material with void fraction. A variety of simulations of granular material are
Authors
Daniel D. Buscombe, David M. Rubin
Stratigraphic architecture of bedrock reference section, Victoria Crater, Meridiani Planum, Mars
The Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has investigated bedrock outcrops exposed in several craters at Meridiani Planum, Mars, in an effort to better understand the role of surface processes in its geologic history. Opportunity has recently completed its observations of Victoria crater, which is 750 m in diameter and exposes cliffs up to ~15 m high. The plains surrounding Victoria crater are ~10
Authors
Lauren A. Edgar, John P. Grotzinger, Alex G. Hayes, David M. Rubin, Steve W. Squyres, James F. Bell, Kenneth E. Herkenhoff
Field evaluation of the error arising from inadequate time averaging in the standard use of depth-integrating suspended-sediment samplers
Several common methods for measuring suspended-sediment concentration in rivers in the United States use depth-integrating samplers to collect a velocity-weighted suspended-sediment sample in a subsample of a river cross section. Because depth-integrating samplers are always moving through the water column as they collect a sample, and can collect only a limited volume of water and suspended sedim
Authors
David J. Topping, David M. Rubin, Scott A. Wright, Theodore S. Melis
Sediment-transport during three controlled-flood experiments on the Colorado River downstream from Glen Canyon Dam, with implications for eddy-sandbar deposition in Grand Canyon National Park
Three large-scale field experiments were conducted on the Colorado River downstream from Glen Canyon Dam in 1996, 2004, and 2008 to evaluate whether artificial (that is, controlled) floods released from the dam could be used in conjunction with the sand supplied by downstream tributaries to rebuild and sustainably maintain eddy sandbars in the river in Grand Canyon National Park. Higher suspended-
Authors
David J. Topping, David M. Rubin, Paul E. Grams, Ronald E. Griffiths, Thomas A. Sabol, Nicholas Voichick, Robert B. Tusso, Karen M. Vanaman, Richard R. McDonald
Grain-size evolution in suspended sediment and deposits from the 2004 and 2008 controlled-flood experiments in Marble and Grand Canyons, Arizona
Since the closure of Glen Canyon Dam in 1963, the hydrology, sediment supply, and distribution and size of modern alluvial deposits in the Colorado River through Grand Canyon have changed substantially (e.g., Howard and Dolan, 1981; Johnson and Carothers, 1987; Webb et al., 1999; Rubin et al., 2002; Topping et al., 2000, 2003; Wright et al., 2005; Hazel et al., 2006). The dam has reduced the fluvi
Authors
Amy E. Draut, David J. Topping, David M. Rubin, Scott A. Wright, John C. Schmidt
20,000 grain-size observations from the bed of the Colorado River, and implications for sediment transport through Grand Canyon
In the late 1990s, we developed digital imaging hardware and software for in-situ mapping of sand-sized bed sediment of the Colorado River in Grand Canyon. This new technology enables collection and processing of hundreds of grain-size samples in a day. Bed grain size was mapped using this equipment on 8 surveys of the Colorado River in Grand Canyon, for a total of more than 20,000 observations sp
Authors
David M. Rubin, David J. Topping, Henry Chezar, Joseph E. Hazel, John C. Schmidt, Michael J. Breedlove, Theodore S. Melis, Paul E. Grams
An automated and universal method for measuring mean grain size from a digital image of sediment
Existing methods for estimating mean grain size of sediment in an image require either complicated sequences of image processing (filtering, edge detection, segmentation, etc.) or statistical procedures involving calibration. We present a new approach which uses Fourier methods to calculate grain size directly from the image without requiring calibration. Based on analysis of over 450 images, we f
Authors
Daniel D. Buscombe, David M. Rubin, Jonathan A. Warrick
2008 High-Flow Experiment at Glen Canyon Dam Benefits Colorado River Resources in Grand Canyon National Park
On March 5, 2008, the Department of the Interior began a 60-hour high-flow experiment at Glen Canyon Dam, Arizona, to determine if water releases designed to mimic natural seasonal flooding could be used to improve downstream resources in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area and Grand Canyon National Park. U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists and their cooperators undertook a wide range of phy
Authors
Theodore S. Melis, David J. Topping, Paul E. Grams, David M. Rubin, Scott A. Wright, Amy E. Draut, Joseph E. Hazel, Barbara E. Ralston, Theodore A. Kennedy, Emma Rosi-Marshall, Josh Korman, Kara D. Hilwig, Lara M. Schmit
An approach for modeling sediment budgets in supply-limited rivers
Reliable predictions of sediment transport and river morphology in response to variations in natural and human-induced drivers are necessary for river engineering and management. Because engineering and management applications may span a wide range of space and time scales, a broad spectrum of modeling approaches has been developed, ranging from suspended-sediment "rating curves" to complex three-
Authors
Scott A. Wright, David J. Topping, David M. Rubin, Theodore S. Melis
Multiple origins of linear dunes on Earth and Titan
Dunes with relatively long and parallel crests are classified as linear dunes. On Earth, they form in at least two environmental settings: where winds of bimodal direction blow across loose sand, and also where single-direction winds blow over sediment that is locally stabilized, be it through vegetation, sediment cohesion or topographic shelter from the winds. Linear dunes have also been identifi
Authors
David M. Rubin, Patrick A. Hesp