Gregory Granato
Gregory Granato is a hydrologist whose research focuses on developing hydrologic software to provide actionable information for environmental decisionmakers. Gregory has worked with the USGS on projects covering all aspects of hydrology since 1992. Before that time he was an aerospace engineer working on the design of the Space Station water and waste treatment systems.
Biography
Software (currently supported):
SELDM Stochastic Empirical Loading and Dilution Model
KTRLine Kendall-Theil Robust Line
Patents:
Automated Groundwater Monitoring System and Method U.S. Patent 6,021,664
Automated self-calibrating water quality monitoring sensor housing assembly U.S. Patent 6,936,156
Publications:
Please see (Scholar) (USGS Pubs warehouse)...
USGS NTCenter Class:
H1843 - Stormwater Runoff Quality Analysis with SELDM Developed and taught this class 2013-present
National Webinars:
NASEM TRB Approaches for Determining and Complying with TMDL Requirements Related to Roadway Stormwater Runoff
Water Research Foundation Integrated Stormwater Management for Highway and Transportation Sector (2017)
NASEM TRB Use and Implementation of the Federal Highway Administration Stochastic Empirical Loading and Dilution Model
Other research activities:
NASEM TRB Standing Committees
AKD50 Standing Committee on Hydrology, Hydraulics and Stormwater
NASEM National Cooperative Highway Research Program Research Panels
NCHRP 25-25 Enhancing the International Stormwater BMP Database
NCHRP 25-31 Improving Water Quality in Ultra-Urban Areas
NCHRP 25-32 Measuring and Removing Dissolved Metals from Storm Water
NCHRP 25-40 Long-Term Performance and Life-Cycle Costs of Stormwater BMPs
NCHRP 25-53 Approaches for Determining and Complying with TMDL Requirements
ASCE Outstanding Reviewer Prize: Reston, 2015
Science and Products
Transportation-Related Water Projects
The USGS has a long history of cooperative investigations with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and state highway agencies to provide data and information to address various issues related to water resources and the Nation’s transportation infrastructure. These issues cover a wide spectrum and include items such as regional flow statistics, flood documentation, regional stream...
SELDM: Stochastic Empirical Loading and Dilution Model - Project page
Note: SELDM is now on version 1.0.3 Please use the new version on the software support page here
New England WSC Seminar series Granato 20170105
Example analyses for total nitrogen, total phosphorus, suspended sediment, and total zinc in highway-runoff were done by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration to simulate long-term annual loads for Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDL) analyses with the Stochastic Empirical Loading and Dilution Model (SELDM).
Stochastic Empirical Loading and Dilution Model (SELDM) Transportation Research Board Presentation
Note: SELDM is now on version 1.0.3 Please use the new version on the software support page here
National Highway Runoff Water-Quality Data and Methodology Synthesis (NDAMS)
Knowledge of the characteristics of highway runoff (concentrations and loads of constituents and the physical and chemical processes that produce this runoff) is important for decisionmakers, planners, and highway engineers to assess and mitigate possible adverse impacts of highway runoff on the Nation's receiving waters. This project was done by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in...
FHWA 1990 "Driscoll" Model Pollutant Loadings and Impacts from Highway Stormwater Runoff
Goto the project web page SELDM.html
Statistical methods for simulating structural stormwater runoff best management practices (BMPs) with the Stochastic Empirical Loading and Dilution Model (SELDM)
This report documents statistics for simulating structural stormwater runoff best management practices (BMPs) with the Stochastic Empirical Loading and Dilution Model (SELDM). The U.S. Geological Survey developed SELDM and the statistics documented in this report in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration to indicate the risk for...
Granato, Gregory E.; Spaetzel, Alana B.; Medalie, LauraComparison of SELDM simulated total-phosphorus concentrations with ecological impervious-area criteria
Ecological studies indicate that impervious cover (IC) greater than approximately 5%–20% may have adverse effects on receiving-stream ecology. It is difficult to separate the effects of runoff quality from other effects of urbanization on receiving streams. This study presents the results of a numerical experiment to assess the effects of...
Jeznach, Lillian C.; Granato, Gregory E.Assessing potential effects of highway and urban runoff on receiving streams in total maximum daily load watersheds in Oregon using the stochastic empirical loading and dilution model
The Stochastic Empirical Loading and Dilution Model (SELDM) was developed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration to simulate stormwater quality. To assess the effects of runoff, SELDM uses a stochastic mass-balance approach to estimate combinations of pre-storm...
Stonewall, Adam J.; Granato, Gregory E.; Glover-Cutter, Kira M.Assessing water quality from highway runoff at selected sites in North Carolina with the Stochastic Empirical Loading and Dilution Model (SELDM)
In 2015, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) entered into a cooperative agreement with the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) to develop a North Carolina-enhanced variation of the national Stochastic Empirical Loading and Dilution Model (SELDM) with available North Carolina-specific streamflow and water-quality data and to...
Weaver, J. Curtis; Granato, Gregory E.; Fitzgerald, Sharon A.Simulating runoff quality with the highway-runoff database and the Stochastic Empirical Loading and Dilution Model
Stormwater practitioners need quantitative information about the quality and volume of highway runoff to assess and mitigate potential adverse effects of runoff on the Nation’s receiving waters. The U.S. Geological Survey developed the Highway Runoff Database (HRDB) in cooperation with the FHWA to provide practice-ready information to meet these...
Granato, Gregory E.; Jones, Susan C.Characterization of stormwater runoff from bridge decks in eastern Massachusetts, 2014–16
The quality of stormwater runoff from bridge decks (hereafter referred to as “bridge-deck runoff”) was characterized in a field study from August 2014 through August 2016 in which concentrations of suspended sediment (SS) and total nutrients were monitored. These new data were collected to supplement existing highway-runoff data collected in...
Smith, Kirk P.; Sorenson, Jason R.; Granato, Gregory E.User guide for the Massachusetts Sustainable-Yield Estimator (MA SYE—version 2.0) computer program
This report is a user guide for the Massachusetts Sustainable-Yield Estimator (MA SYE) computer program (version 2.0). The MA SYE was developed by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection to provide a planning-level decision-support tool designed to help decision makers estimate daily...
Granato, Gregory E.; Levin, Sara B.Methods used to estimate daily streamflow and water availability in the Massachusetts Sustainable-Yield Estimator version 2.0
The Massachusetts Sustainable-Yield Estimator is a decision support tool that provides estimates of daily unaltered streamflow, water-use-adjusted streamflow, and water availability for ungaged, user-defined basins in Massachusetts. Daily streamflow at the ungaged site is estimated for unaltered (no water use) and water-use scenarios. The...
Levin, Sara B. ; Granato, Gregory E.The Connecticut Streamflow and Sustainable Water Use Estimator—A decision-support tool to estimate water availability at ungaged stream locations in Connecticut
Freshwater streams in Connecticut are subject to many competing demands, including public water supply; agricultural, commercial, and industrial water use; and ecosystem and habitat needs. In recent years, drought has further stressed Connecticut’s water resources. To sustainably allocate and manage water resources among these competing uses,...
Levin, Sara B.; Olson, Scott A.; Nielsen, Martha G.; Granato, Gregory E.User guide for the Connecticut Streamflow and Sustainable Water Use Estimator (CT SSWUE—version 1.0) computer program
This report is a user guide for the Connecticut Streamflow and Sustainable Water Use Estimator (CT SSWUE) computer program (version 1.0). The CT SSWUE was developed by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection to provide a planning-level decision-support tool designed to help...
Granato, Gregory E.; Levin, Sara B.Assessing roadway contributions to stormwater flows, concentrations, and loads with the StreamStats application
The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) and other state departments of transportation need quantitative information about the percentages of different land cover categories above any given stream crossing in the state to assess and address roadway contributions to water-quality impairments and resulting total maximum daily loads. The U.S....
Stonewall, Adam; Granato, Gregory E.; Haluska, TanaSWToolbox: A surface-water tool-box for statistical analysis of streamflow time series
This report is a user guide for the low-flow analysis methods provided with version 1.0 of the Surface Water Toolbox (SWToolbox) computer program. The software combines functionality from two software programs—U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) SWSTAT and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) DFLOW. Both of these programs have been used primarily...
Kiang, Julie E.; Flynn, Kate; Zhai, Tong; Hummel, Paul; Granato, Gregory E.Pre-USGS Publications
Massachusetts Sustainable-Yield Estimator (MASYE) application software (version 2.0)
This software release provides the database application that runs the Massachusetts Sustainable-Yield Estimator (MA SYE) computer program (version 2.0).
Connecticut Streamflow and Sustainable Water Use Estimator (CTSSWUE Version 1.0) application software
This software release provides the database application that runs the Connecticut Streamflow and Sustainable Water Use Estimator (CT SSWUE) computer program (version 1.0).
HyDroDSS: Hydrologic Drought Decision Support System - Software page
Overview
The HyDroDSS is designed to provide water managers with risk-based information for balancing water-supply needs and aquatic-habitat protection goals to mitigate potential effects of hydrologic drought.
SELDM: Stochastic Empirical Loading and Dilution Model - Software page
Overview
The Stochastic Empirical Loading and Dilution Model (SELDM) is designed to transform complex scientific data into meaningful information about the risk of adverse effects of runoff on receiving waters, the potential need for mitigation measures, and the potential effectiveness of such management measures for reducing these risks.
HRDB: Highway Runoff DataBase - Software page
Overview
The highway-runoff database (HRDB) was developed to serve as a data warehouse for current and future highway-runoff data sets. The database can be used by transportation agencies and researchers as a data warehouse to document information about a data set, monitoring site(s), highway-runoff data (including precipitation, runoff, and event mean concentrations...
SWQDM: Surface Water Quality Data Miner - Software page
Overview
The SWQDM database application was developed by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration for use in the analysis of regional and national hydrologic data sets. The surface-water quality data miner (SWQDM) database application was developed to coordinate use of NWIS Web, NWiz, and the Kendall-Theil Robust Line analysis...
Data mining and analysis software for USGS NWIS Web streamflow data
Overview
Five computer programs were developed for obtaining and analyzing streamflow from the National Water Information System (NWISWeb). The programs were developed as part of a study by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration, to develop a stochastic empirical loading and dilution model.
KTRLine: Kendall-Theil Robust Line - Software page
Overview
The Kendall-Theil Robust Line software (KTRLine—version 1.0) is a Visual Basic program that may be used with the Microsoft Windows operating system to calculate parameters for robust, nonparametric estimates of linear-regression coefficients between two continuous variables.
National Water Information System Wizard NWiz - Software page
Overview
The National Water Information System Wizard (NWiz Version 1.0) is a computer application written to automatically retrieve information and data from the U.S. Geological Survey National Water Information System (NWIS).
VBVenn: Visual Basic Venn diagram - Software page
Overview
VBVenn is a Visual Basic program that calculates the size and position of two circles to construct a quantitative Venn diagram. It is a simple one-form program with a fairly intuitive user interface.
New publication by New England WSC Staff
Gregory Granato of the NEWSC and Susan Jones of the Federal Highway Administration recently published an article in the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, Transportation Research Record journal. The paper is:
Granato, G.E., Jones, S.C. 2019, Simulating Runoff Quality with the Highway Runoff Database and the...