View of beach on Whidbey Island, looking north.
Eric Grossman
Research Geologist with the USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center
Science and Products
Habitat Vulnerability to Climate Change: Identifying Climate Change Induced Mass Mortality Events Across Large Landscapes of the United States
USGS researchers will characterize extreme climatic events across U.S. following a review of case studies of mass mortality events associated with climate extremes including drought, precipitation, freeze, heat waves, and storm events.
Coastal Wetland Vulnerability to Climate Change and Sea-Level Rise: Understanding Ecological Thresholds and Ecosystem Transformations
Eighteen USGS coastal scientists from all four coasts of the conterminous United States are working together to advance the understanding of climate change and sea-level rise impacts to coastal wetlands.
By
California Water Science Center, Chesapeake Bay Activities, Eastern Ecological Science Center, Florence Bascom Geoscience Center, Great Lakes Science Center, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, Western Ecological Research Center (WERC), Western Geographic Science Center, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center , Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center
Coastal Climate Impacts
The impacts of climate change and sea-level rise around the Pacific and Arctic Oceans can vary tremendously. Thus far the vast majority of national and international impact assessments and models of coastal climate change have focused on low-relief coastlines that are not near seismically active zones. Furthermore, the degree to which extreme waves and wind will add further stress to coastal...
Coastal Habitats in Puget Sound
A Pacific Northwest icon, Puget Sound is the second-largest estuary in the United States. Its unique geology, climate, and nutrient-rich waters produce and sustain biologically productive coastal habitats. These same natural characteristics also contribute to a high quality of life that has led to growth in human population and urbanization. This growth has played a role in degrading the Sound...
PS-CoSMoS: Puget Sound Coastal Storm Modeling System
The CoSMoS model is currently available for most of the California coast and is now being expanded to support the 4.5 million coastal residents of the Puget Sound region, with emphasis on the communities bordering the sound.
Puget Sound Priority Ecosystems Science
Puget Sound Priority Ecosystem Science (PES) supports interdisciplinary ecological research in the Puget Sound, Washington, watershed and nearshore.
Filter Total Items: 27
CoSMoS (Coastal Storm Modeling System) modeled flood hazards for King County, Washington CoSMoS (Coastal Storm Modeling System) modeled flood hazards for King County, Washington
This data release consists of flood hazard maps from compound coastal hazards--specifically sea-level rise (SLR), projected coastal storms, and streamflow. Products include projected flood depths, flood extents including uncertainties, water elevations, velocity hazards, and flood duration. These are generated using a suite of numerical models driven by outputs from Global Climate Models...
CoSMoS (Coastal Storm Modeling System) modeled flood hazards for Pierce County, Washington CoSMoS (Coastal Storm Modeling System) modeled flood hazards for Pierce County, Washington
This data release consists of flood hazard maps from compound coastal hazards--specifically sea-level rise (SLR), projected coastal storms, and streamflow. Products include projected flood depths, flood extents including uncertainties, water elevations, velocity hazards, and flood duration. These are generated using a suite of numerical models driven by outputs from Global Climate Models...
Data collected in 2009-2012 to assess benthic macroinvertebrate response to dike removal on the Nisqually River delta Data collected in 2009-2012 to assess benthic macroinvertebrate response to dike removal on the Nisqually River delta
Macroinvertebrate and environmental data were collected annually in July-August in the year before dike removal (2009) and the first three years after dike removal (2010-2012) at the Nisqually River Delta, Washington, U.S.A. Data were collected along a gradient extending from the inner marsh edge to the delta front and spanning different types of habitat including marsh restored to tidal
Future coastal groundwater hazards in the Puget Sound region, Washington, U.S.A. Future coastal groundwater hazards in the Puget Sound region, Washington, U.S.A.
This data release contains model results for groundwater response to sea-level rise (SLR) in coastal areas around Puget Sound, Washington. The high resolution (50m) models predict steady-state unconfined groundwater heads under long-term (17y) average recharge conditions, with spatially variable hydraulic conductivities (Ks) from published models, and include model runs with Ks increased...
Salish Sea Hydrodynamic Model Salish Sea Hydrodynamic Model
A two-dimensional hydrodynamic model of the Salish Sea was constructed using the Delft3D Flexible Mesh Suite (Deltares, 2020) to simulate still water levels in the past and future and evaluate extreme recurrence water level events accounting for sea level rise and climate change. Three sets of model simulations were performed following Grossman and others (2023). The first simulated the...
Wave observations from bottom-mounted pressure sensors along the West side of Whidbey Island, Washington from Dec 2018 to Jan 2020 Wave observations from bottom-mounted pressure sensors along the West side of Whidbey Island, Washington from Dec 2018 to Jan 2020
Continuous water level measurements were made at 8 sites along a gradient in wave exposure on west Whidbey Island, Western Washington to characterize the wave climate and validate models of wave propagation.
View of beach on Whidbey Island, looking north.
Filter Total Items: 45
Submarine groundwater discharge creates cold‐water refugia that can mitigate exposure of heat stress in nearshore corals Submarine groundwater discharge creates cold‐water refugia that can mitigate exposure of heat stress in nearshore corals
Coral reef mortality around the world is accelerating due to human activities and rising sea temperatures that cause bleaching, which is expected to become more frequent. Our ability to predict which corals will be most resilient, however, remains limited due to insufficient information characterizing nearshore temperature and habitat conditions. In this study, we examine how submarine...
Authors
Eric E. Grossman, Ferdinand K.J. Oberle, Curt D. Storlazzi
Ecological thresholds and transformations due to climate change: The role of abiotic stress Ecological thresholds and transformations due to climate change: The role of abiotic stress
An ecological threshold is the point at which a comparatively small environmental change triggers an abrupt and disproportionately large ecological response. In the face of accelerating climate change, there is concern that abrupt ecosystem transformations will become more widespread as critical ecological thresholds are crossed. There has been ongoing debate, however, regarding the...
Authors
Michael Osland, John B. Bradford, Lauren Toth, Matthew J. Germino, James Grace, Judith Z. Drexler, Camille L. Stagg, Eric E. Grossman, Karen M. Thorne, Stephanie Romanach, Davina Passeri, Gregory E. Noe, Jessica R. Lacy, Ken Krauss, Kurt P. Kowalski, Glenn R. Guntenspergen, Neil K. Ganju, Nicholas Enwright, Joel A. Carr, Kristin B. Byrd, Kevin Buffington
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, California Water Science Center, Eastern Ecological Science Center, Florence Bascom Geoscience Center, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, Southwest Biological Science Center, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, Western Ecological Research Center (WERC), Western Geographic Science Center, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center , Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center
Benthic macroinvertebrate response to estuarine emergent marsh restoration across a delta-wide environmental gradient Benthic macroinvertebrate response to estuarine emergent marsh restoration across a delta-wide environmental gradient
Benthic invertebrates play vital roles in estuarine ecosystems, but like other taxa they have been excluded from former marshlands by diking and land use conversion. Dike removal is one way of restoring marsh, but the response of benthic invertebrates has been little studied. Also understudied is variation in benthic invertebrate communities across entire deltas, particularly in the...
Authors
Stephen P. Rubin, Melanie J. Davis, Eric E. Grossman, Isa Woo, Susan E.W. De La Cruz, Glynnis Nakai, John Y. Takekawa
Vulnerability to sea-level rise varies among estuaries and habitat types: Lessons learned from a network of surface elevation tables in Puget Sound Vulnerability to sea-level rise varies among estuaries and habitat types: Lessons learned from a network of surface elevation tables in Puget Sound
Estuarine systems that provide valuable ecosystem services to society and important foraging and rearing habitat for fish and wildlife species continue to undergo degradation. In Puget Sound, WA, as much as 70–80% of historic estuarine habitat has been lost to anthropogenic development, and continued losses are expected through the end of the twenty-first century due to rising sea levels...
Authors
Melanie J. Davis, Katrina L. Poppe, John M. Rybczyk, Eric E. Grossman, Isa Woo, Joshua W. Chamberlin, Michelle Totman, Todd Zackey, Frank Leonetti, Suzanne Shull, Susan E.W. De La Cruz
Dynamic modeling of coastal compound flooding hazards due to tides, extratropical storms, waves, and sea-level rise: A case study in the Salish Sea, Washington (USA) Dynamic modeling of coastal compound flooding hazards due to tides, extratropical storms, waves, and sea-level rise: A case study in the Salish Sea, Washington (USA)
The Puget Sound Coastal Storm Modeling System (PS-CoSMoS) is a tool designed to dynamically downscale future climate scenarios (i.e., projected changes in wind and pressure fields and temperature) to compute regional water levels, waves, and compound flooding over large geographic areas (100 s of kilometers) at high spatial resolutions (1 m) pertinent to coastal hazard assessments and...
Authors
Kees Nederhoff, Sean C. Crosby, Nathan R. vanArendonk, Eric E. Grossman, Babak Tehranirad, T. Leijnse, W. Klessens, Patrick L. Barnard
Modeling extreme water levels in the Salish Sea: The importance of including remote sea level anomalies for application in hydrodynamic simulations Modeling extreme water levels in the Salish Sea: The importance of including remote sea level anomalies for application in hydrodynamic simulations
Extreme water-level recurrence estimates for a complex estuary using a high-resolution 2D model and a new method for estimating remotely generated sea level anomalies (SLAs) at the model boundary have been developed. The hydrodynamic model accurately resolves the dominant physical processes contributing to extreme water levels across the Washington State waters of the Salish Sea...
Authors
Eric E. Grossman, Babak Tehranirad, Kees Nederhoff, Sean Crosby, Andrew W. Stevens, Nathan R. VanArendonk, Daniel J. Nowacki, Li H. Erikson, Patrick L. Barnard
Science and Products
Habitat Vulnerability to Climate Change: Identifying Climate Change Induced Mass Mortality Events Across Large Landscapes of the United States
USGS researchers will characterize extreme climatic events across U.S. following a review of case studies of mass mortality events associated with climate extremes including drought, precipitation, freeze, heat waves, and storm events.
Coastal Wetland Vulnerability to Climate Change and Sea-Level Rise: Understanding Ecological Thresholds and Ecosystem Transformations
Eighteen USGS coastal scientists from all four coasts of the conterminous United States are working together to advance the understanding of climate change and sea-level rise impacts to coastal wetlands.
By
California Water Science Center, Chesapeake Bay Activities, Eastern Ecological Science Center, Florence Bascom Geoscience Center, Great Lakes Science Center, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, Western Ecological Research Center (WERC), Western Geographic Science Center, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center , Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center
Coastal Climate Impacts
The impacts of climate change and sea-level rise around the Pacific and Arctic Oceans can vary tremendously. Thus far the vast majority of national and international impact assessments and models of coastal climate change have focused on low-relief coastlines that are not near seismically active zones. Furthermore, the degree to which extreme waves and wind will add further stress to coastal...
Coastal Habitats in Puget Sound
A Pacific Northwest icon, Puget Sound is the second-largest estuary in the United States. Its unique geology, climate, and nutrient-rich waters produce and sustain biologically productive coastal habitats. These same natural characteristics also contribute to a high quality of life that has led to growth in human population and urbanization. This growth has played a role in degrading the Sound...
PS-CoSMoS: Puget Sound Coastal Storm Modeling System
The CoSMoS model is currently available for most of the California coast and is now being expanded to support the 4.5 million coastal residents of the Puget Sound region, with emphasis on the communities bordering the sound.
Puget Sound Priority Ecosystems Science
Puget Sound Priority Ecosystem Science (PES) supports interdisciplinary ecological research in the Puget Sound, Washington, watershed and nearshore.
Filter Total Items: 27
CoSMoS (Coastal Storm Modeling System) modeled flood hazards for King County, Washington CoSMoS (Coastal Storm Modeling System) modeled flood hazards for King County, Washington
This data release consists of flood hazard maps from compound coastal hazards--specifically sea-level rise (SLR), projected coastal storms, and streamflow. Products include projected flood depths, flood extents including uncertainties, water elevations, velocity hazards, and flood duration. These are generated using a suite of numerical models driven by outputs from Global Climate Models...
CoSMoS (Coastal Storm Modeling System) modeled flood hazards for Pierce County, Washington CoSMoS (Coastal Storm Modeling System) modeled flood hazards for Pierce County, Washington
This data release consists of flood hazard maps from compound coastal hazards--specifically sea-level rise (SLR), projected coastal storms, and streamflow. Products include projected flood depths, flood extents including uncertainties, water elevations, velocity hazards, and flood duration. These are generated using a suite of numerical models driven by outputs from Global Climate Models...
Data collected in 2009-2012 to assess benthic macroinvertebrate response to dike removal on the Nisqually River delta Data collected in 2009-2012 to assess benthic macroinvertebrate response to dike removal on the Nisqually River delta
Macroinvertebrate and environmental data were collected annually in July-August in the year before dike removal (2009) and the first three years after dike removal (2010-2012) at the Nisqually River Delta, Washington, U.S.A. Data were collected along a gradient extending from the inner marsh edge to the delta front and spanning different types of habitat including marsh restored to tidal
Future coastal groundwater hazards in the Puget Sound region, Washington, U.S.A. Future coastal groundwater hazards in the Puget Sound region, Washington, U.S.A.
This data release contains model results for groundwater response to sea-level rise (SLR) in coastal areas around Puget Sound, Washington. The high resolution (50m) models predict steady-state unconfined groundwater heads under long-term (17y) average recharge conditions, with spatially variable hydraulic conductivities (Ks) from published models, and include model runs with Ks increased...
Salish Sea Hydrodynamic Model Salish Sea Hydrodynamic Model
A two-dimensional hydrodynamic model of the Salish Sea was constructed using the Delft3D Flexible Mesh Suite (Deltares, 2020) to simulate still water levels in the past and future and evaluate extreme recurrence water level events accounting for sea level rise and climate change. Three sets of model simulations were performed following Grossman and others (2023). The first simulated the...
Wave observations from bottom-mounted pressure sensors along the West side of Whidbey Island, Washington from Dec 2018 to Jan 2020 Wave observations from bottom-mounted pressure sensors along the West side of Whidbey Island, Washington from Dec 2018 to Jan 2020
Continuous water level measurements were made at 8 sites along a gradient in wave exposure on west Whidbey Island, Western Washington to characterize the wave climate and validate models of wave propagation.
Beach on Whidbey Island
View of beach on Whidbey Island, looking north.
View of beach on Whidbey Island, looking north.
Filter Total Items: 45
Submarine groundwater discharge creates cold‐water refugia that can mitigate exposure of heat stress in nearshore corals Submarine groundwater discharge creates cold‐water refugia that can mitigate exposure of heat stress in nearshore corals
Coral reef mortality around the world is accelerating due to human activities and rising sea temperatures that cause bleaching, which is expected to become more frequent. Our ability to predict which corals will be most resilient, however, remains limited due to insufficient information characterizing nearshore temperature and habitat conditions. In this study, we examine how submarine...
Authors
Eric E. Grossman, Ferdinand K.J. Oberle, Curt D. Storlazzi
Ecological thresholds and transformations due to climate change: The role of abiotic stress Ecological thresholds and transformations due to climate change: The role of abiotic stress
An ecological threshold is the point at which a comparatively small environmental change triggers an abrupt and disproportionately large ecological response. In the face of accelerating climate change, there is concern that abrupt ecosystem transformations will become more widespread as critical ecological thresholds are crossed. There has been ongoing debate, however, regarding the...
Authors
Michael Osland, John B. Bradford, Lauren Toth, Matthew J. Germino, James Grace, Judith Z. Drexler, Camille L. Stagg, Eric E. Grossman, Karen M. Thorne, Stephanie Romanach, Davina Passeri, Gregory E. Noe, Jessica R. Lacy, Ken Krauss, Kurt P. Kowalski, Glenn R. Guntenspergen, Neil K. Ganju, Nicholas Enwright, Joel A. Carr, Kristin B. Byrd, Kevin Buffington
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, California Water Science Center, Eastern Ecological Science Center, Florence Bascom Geoscience Center, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, Southwest Biological Science Center, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, Western Ecological Research Center (WERC), Western Geographic Science Center, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center , Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center
Benthic macroinvertebrate response to estuarine emergent marsh restoration across a delta-wide environmental gradient Benthic macroinvertebrate response to estuarine emergent marsh restoration across a delta-wide environmental gradient
Benthic invertebrates play vital roles in estuarine ecosystems, but like other taxa they have been excluded from former marshlands by diking and land use conversion. Dike removal is one way of restoring marsh, but the response of benthic invertebrates has been little studied. Also understudied is variation in benthic invertebrate communities across entire deltas, particularly in the...
Authors
Stephen P. Rubin, Melanie J. Davis, Eric E. Grossman, Isa Woo, Susan E.W. De La Cruz, Glynnis Nakai, John Y. Takekawa
Vulnerability to sea-level rise varies among estuaries and habitat types: Lessons learned from a network of surface elevation tables in Puget Sound Vulnerability to sea-level rise varies among estuaries and habitat types: Lessons learned from a network of surface elevation tables in Puget Sound
Estuarine systems that provide valuable ecosystem services to society and important foraging and rearing habitat for fish and wildlife species continue to undergo degradation. In Puget Sound, WA, as much as 70–80% of historic estuarine habitat has been lost to anthropogenic development, and continued losses are expected through the end of the twenty-first century due to rising sea levels...
Authors
Melanie J. Davis, Katrina L. Poppe, John M. Rybczyk, Eric E. Grossman, Isa Woo, Joshua W. Chamberlin, Michelle Totman, Todd Zackey, Frank Leonetti, Suzanne Shull, Susan E.W. De La Cruz
Dynamic modeling of coastal compound flooding hazards due to tides, extratropical storms, waves, and sea-level rise: A case study in the Salish Sea, Washington (USA) Dynamic modeling of coastal compound flooding hazards due to tides, extratropical storms, waves, and sea-level rise: A case study in the Salish Sea, Washington (USA)
The Puget Sound Coastal Storm Modeling System (PS-CoSMoS) is a tool designed to dynamically downscale future climate scenarios (i.e., projected changes in wind and pressure fields and temperature) to compute regional water levels, waves, and compound flooding over large geographic areas (100 s of kilometers) at high spatial resolutions (1 m) pertinent to coastal hazard assessments and...
Authors
Kees Nederhoff, Sean C. Crosby, Nathan R. vanArendonk, Eric E. Grossman, Babak Tehranirad, T. Leijnse, W. Klessens, Patrick L. Barnard
Modeling extreme water levels in the Salish Sea: The importance of including remote sea level anomalies for application in hydrodynamic simulations Modeling extreme water levels in the Salish Sea: The importance of including remote sea level anomalies for application in hydrodynamic simulations
Extreme water-level recurrence estimates for a complex estuary using a high-resolution 2D model and a new method for estimating remotely generated sea level anomalies (SLAs) at the model boundary have been developed. The hydrodynamic model accurately resolves the dominant physical processes contributing to extreme water levels across the Washington State waters of the Salish Sea...
Authors
Eric E. Grossman, Babak Tehranirad, Kees Nederhoff, Sean Crosby, Andrew W. Stevens, Nathan R. VanArendonk, Daniel J. Nowacki, Li H. Erikson, Patrick L. Barnard