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Frank L Engel, Ph.D.

A process-oriented field scientist focused on finding applied and practical solutions to water resources and hydrodynamic related issues. 

Frank Engel is a Geographer with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), specializing in fluvial geomorphology and the implementation of cutting-edge research applications into operational science. He focuses his research on process-oriented field studies of fluvial environments, with a heavy emphasis on the applications of his findings on river management decisions. Of particular interest to him is how current research advances in non-contact measurements of riverine hydraulic parameters can be operationalized in the USGS for day to day gaging and project applications. Dr. Engel is advocating for the use of camera and radar sensors to measure hydraulic parameters at USGS streamgages or elsewhere to enable increased observation of our surface water networks. Moreover, with the growing adoption of cloud infrastructure and Internet of Things (IoT) architecture, Dr. Engel is working toward the development of cloud-based imagery and remote sensing data processing and persistence frameworks. Using IoT and "at the edge" computing power is a new frontier in the USGS, and shows great potential to bring our water observation approach into the next generation.

As chair of the USGS Water Mission Area (WMA) Surface Velocity Workgroup, Dr. Engel and his colleagues aim to coordinate the national USGS effort at implementing novel non-contact flow measurement techniques including Image Velocimetry  and Surface Velocity Radar (SVR) for stream gaging and research purposes. Dr. Engel's goal is to inform planning and decision making in watershed management, stream restoration, and naturalization projects through applied research.

Frank is also working to pioneer use of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) for response to water emergencies, including the application of UAS to measure flood inundation in near real-time, as well as deriving flow velocities and other hydraulic parameters with Image Velocimetry and other computer vision techniques for use in flood event and emergency response.

By leveraging a full and increasing suite of non-contact tools & capabilities, Dr. Engel wants to enable the USGS to increase process understanding from water source to sink, provide better situational awareness during emergency response to floods, and advance the cutting edge of water science.

Science and Products

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Develop Cloud Computing Capability at Streamgages using Amazon Web Services GreenGrass IoT Framework for Camera Image Velocity Gaging

We developed an Internet of Things (IoT) prototype and associated cloud infrastructure for camera-based data collection and initial processing of river streamflow using the cloud (fig. 1). This pilot successfully created a hardware and cloud infrastructure to collect and upload video from a camera gage at San Pedro Creek in San Antonio, Texas. Using a ThingLogix Foundry instance in the Amazon Webs
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Community for Data Integration (CDI)
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Develop Cloud Computing Capability at Streamgages using Amazon Web Services GreenGrass IoT Framework for Camera Image Velocity Gaging

We developed an Internet of Things (IoT) prototype and associated cloud infrastructure for camera-based data collection and initial processing of river streamflow using the cloud (fig. 1). This pilot successfully created a hardware and cloud infrastructure to collect and upload video from a camera gage at San Pedro Creek in San Antonio, Texas. Using a ThingLogix Foundry instance in the Amazon Webs
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Water velocity profiling at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Electric Dispersal Barrier in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal during passage of fully-loaded commercial tows in August 2017

In 2017, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers undertook a large-scale interagency field study to determine the influence of commercial barge vessels on the efficacy of the Electric Dispersal Barrier System (EDBS) in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal (CSSC) in preventing fish passage. This study included a series of trials in which a tow, co
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Central Midwest Water Science Center

Water surface elevation in the Brandon Road Lock chamber near Rockdale, Illinois (October 19-21, 2015)

An Insitu Level Troll 500 was deployed in the Brandon Road Lock chamber (BRLD) near Rockdale, Illinois between 12:09 Central Daylight Time (CDT) on October 19, 2015 and 14:57 CDT October 21, 2015 to monitor water-surface elevation in the lock chamber during a U.S. Geological Survey dye study conducted on October 20, 2015. The duration of the deployment included a day prior to and a day following t
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Central Midwest Water Science Center

Hydroacoustic measurements of velocities in and near the rake-to-box junction gap of a moving, fully-loaded commercial barge tow

In August 2015, water velocities around a fully-loaded commercial barge tow were measured as the barge tow traveled upstream through the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal from a starting position in Lockport Pool, and passed through the Electric Dispersal Barrier System at river mile (RM) 296 near Romeoville, IL. Velocity measurements were made in and alongside the gap formed by the junction between
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Central Midwest Water Science Center
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Flood warning toolset for the Medina River in Bandera County, Texas

OverviewFloods are the most common natural disaster in the United States. The Medina River in Bandera County, Texas, is in the Edwards Plateau, where high-intensity rain rates and steep terrain frequently contribute to severe flash flooding capable of causing loss of life and property. For example, the July 5, 2002, flood claimed a total of 12 lives in the central Texas area. The estimated peak di
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Water Resources, Oklahoma-Texas Water Science Center

Flood-inundation maps for a 23-mile reach of the Medina River at Bandera, Texas, 2018

In 2018, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Bandera County River Authority and Groundwater District and the Texas Water Development Board, studied floods through the period of record to create a library of flood-inundation maps for the Medina River at Bandera, Texas. Digital flood-inundation maps for a 23-mile reach of the Medina River at and near Bandera, from the confluen
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Water Resources, Oklahoma-Texas Water Science Center

Operationalizing small unoccupied aircraft systems for rapid flood inundation mapping and event response

Small Unoccupied Aircraft Systems (sUAS) offer the capability to collect rapid and accurate aerial survey data during flood response. The rapid collection of aerial flood data can potentially enable scientists to produce detailed geospatial products and related datasets in time for decisional support. A workflow for sUAS event response before, during, and after flood events is discussed.
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Water Resources, Central Midwest Water Science Center, Oklahoma-Texas Water Science Center

Flow hydraulics and mixing characteristics in and downstream from Brandon Road Lock, Joliet, Illinois

The Brandon Road Lock and Dam on the Des Plaines River near Joliet, Illinois, has been identified for potential implementation of aquatic nuisance species (ANS) control measures. To provide additional information concerning the flow hydraulics and mixing characteristics of the lock and downstream approach channel, the U.S. Geological Survey performed a detailed study of the site between December 2
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Central Midwest Water Science Center

Effects of tow transit on the efficacy of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal Electric Dispersal Barrier System

In 2016, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers undertook a field study in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal near Romeoville, Illinois to determine the influence of tow transit on the efficacy of the Electric Dispersal Barrier System (EDBS) in preventing the passage of juvenile fish (total length 
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Water Resources, Central Midwest Water Science Center

Entrainment, retention, and transport of freely swimming fish in junction gaps between commercial barges operating on the Illinois Waterway

Large Electric Dispersal Barriers were constructed in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal (CSSC) to prevent the transfer of invasive fish species between the Mississippi River Basin and the Great Lakes Basin while simultaneously allowing the passage of commercial barge traffic. We investigated the potential for entrainment, retention, and transport of freely swimming fish within large gaps (> 50 m
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Water Resources, Central Midwest Water Science Center

Three-dimensional flow structure and patterns of bed shear stress in an evolving compound meander bend

Compound meander bends with multiple lobes of maximum curvature are common in actively evolving lowland rivers. Interaction among spatial patterns of mean flow, turbulence, bed morphology, bank failures and channel migration in compound bends is poorly understood. In this paper, acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) measurements of the three-dimensional (3D) flow velocities in a compound bend a
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Water Resources, Central Midwest Water Science Center

Evaluation of a mass-balance approach to determine consumptive water use in northeastern Illinois

A principal component of evaluating and managing water use is consumptive use. This is the portion of water withdrawn for a particular use, such as residential, which is evaporated, transpired, incorporated into products or crops, consumed by humans or livestock, or otherwise removed from the immediate water environment. The amount of consumptive use may be estimated by a water (mass)-balance appr
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Water Resources, Central Midwest Water Science Center

Pre-USGS Publications

Despax, A., Le Coz, J., Hauet, A., Mueller, D. S., Engel, F. L., Blanquart, B., Renard, B., and Oberg, K.A., 2019, Decomposition of uncertainty sources in acoustic Doppler current profiler streamflow measurements using repeated measures experiments. Water Resources Research, 55, 7520–7540. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019WR025296.
Engel, F. L., and Rhoads, B. L. (2017). Velocity profiles and the structure of turbulence at the outer bank of a compound meander bend, Geomorphology, 295, 191–201. doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2017.06.018.
Engel, F. L., and Rhoads, B. L. (2016). Three-dimensional flow structure and patterns of Bed shear stress in an evolving compound meander bend. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 1226(Feb). doi:10.1002/esp.3895
Parsons, D. R., Jackson, P. R., Czuba, J. A., Engel, F. L., Rhoads, B. L., Oberg, K. A., Riley, J. D. (2013). Velocity Mapping Toolbox (VMT): a processing and visualization suite for moving-vessel ADCP measurements. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 38(11), 1244–1260. doi:10.1002/esp.3367
Engel, F. L., and Rhoads, B. L. (2012). Interaction among mean flow, turbulence, bed morphology, bank failures and channel planform in an evolving compound meander loop. Geomorphology, 163-164, 70–83. doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2011.05.026
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Moving Barges Have Potential to Transport Invasive Fish

When a moving barge encounters small fish in the Illinois Waterway there is a possibility that the fish will become trapped in the gap between barges...

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