Research Interests: Wetland ecosystem ecology, focusing on the interactive influences of hydrology, geomorphology, climate, and biology on nitrogen, phosphorus, carbon, and sediment biogeochemistry and transport in watersheds, as well as plant community ecology and restoration ecology.
Greg Noe has been a Research Ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Reston, VA, since 2002, where he leads the Wetland Ecosystem Ecology & Biogeochemistry Laboratory (WEEBL) in the Florence Bascom Geoscience Center. Dr. Noe’s research centers on wetland ecosystem ecology and watershed processes. His dissertation research identified the complex controls on annual plant germination in the salt marshes of southern California. This was followed by post-doctoral research on phosphorus biogeochemistry and enrichment effects in the Florida Everglades. When joining the USGS, he started a research program on nutrient cycling, transport, and retention in wetlands associated with floodplains.
He is currently the Immediate Past President of the Society of Wetland Scientists, serves on the Science and Technical Advisory Committee of the Chesapeake Bay Program, serves on the editorial board of Wetlands and previously of Wetlands Ecology and Management, is the recipient of the President's Service Award from the Society of Wetland Scientists, and has served on the program committees of national and international scientific conferences and numerous graduate student committees. Greg is a recipient of the Meritorius Service Award from the Department of the Interior.
Current projects:
- Quantifying and modeling nutrient retention by riverine floodplains from site to watershed scales across the U.S.
- Evaluating the impacts of watershed restoration on water quality and stream health in the Chesapeake
- Identifying the effects of sea level rise, salinization, and sediment availability on tidal freshwater wetland ecosystem resilience along the Atlantic Coast
- Measuring the water quality functions in created wetlands, stream restoration projects, and floodplain restorations, and how to optimize their design
Science and Products
Leveraging Existing USGS Streamgage Data to Map Flood-Prone Areas
Leveraging Existing USGS Streamgage Data to Map Flood-Prone Areas
New study shows importance of streambank erosion and floodplain deposition on sediment, phosphorus, and nitrogen sources and transport in the Chesapeake watershed
New Review of Sediment Science Informs Choices of Management Actions in the Chesapeake
New information on chemical and physical characteristics of streams and floodplains across the Chesapeake Bay and Delaware River watersheds
Impacts of coastal and watershed changes on upper estuaries: causes and implications of wetland ecosystem transitions along the US Atlantic and Gulf Coasts
Type of Wetlands Affect How Much Nitrogen is Removed from the Bay’s Tidal Rivers
Assessing Effects of Sea-level Rise on Upstream Ecosystem Conditions
Quantifying Floodplain Ecological Processes and Ecosystem Services in the Delaware River Watershed
Simulated net primary productivity and greenhouse gas emissions under various soil salinity and water table depth combinations in low salinity tidal wetlands
Water quality and contaminants in stream surface waters collected in the Shenandoah Valley, 2021
Shenandoah Valley Stream Health and Habitat Assessments in West Virginia and Virginia (2021)
Data of floodplain soil carbon and nutrient retention along a chronosequence of urban stream restorations in Northern Virginia (2022)
Data to support surface elevation change and vertical accretion data to support assessment of hummock formation/loss in tidal freshwater forested wetlands along the U.S. Atlantic coast (2009-2021)
Fish communities in Shenandoah Valley streams, 2021
Hydrogeomorphic data along transitioning Coastal Plain rivers (Mattaponi and Pamunkey Rivers): implications for a rising sea level
Modeling impacts of drought-induced salinity intrusion on carbon fluxes and storage in tidal freshwater forested wetlands
Simulated Methane and Nitrous Oxide Emissions under Drought-induced Saltwater Intrusion in Tidal Freshwater Forested Wetlands
Predictions of floodplain and streambank geomorphic change and flux of sediment and nutrients, and streambed characteristics, for stream reaches in the Chesapeake Bay and Delaware River watersheds
Physico-chemical characteristics and sediment and nutrient fluxes of floodplains, streambanks, and streambeds in the Chesapeake Bay and Delaware River watersheds
Geomorphometry for Streams and Floodplains in the Chesapeake and Delaware Watersheds
Mapping stream and floodplain geomorphometry with the Floodplain and Channel Evaluation Tool
Societal benefits of floodplains in the Chesapeake Bay and Delaware River watersheds: Sediment, nutrient, and flood regulation ecosystem services
Soil salinity and water level interact to generate tipping points in low salinity tidal wetlands responding to climate change
Presence of hummock and hollow microtopography reflects shifting balances of shallow subsidence and root zone expansion along forested wetland river gradients
Hydrogeomorphic changes along mid-Atlantic coastal plain rivers transitioning from non-tidal to tidal: Implications for a rising sea level
Evaluation of management efforts to reduce nutrient and sediment contributions to the Chesapeake Bay estuary
Modeling impacts of saltwater intrusion on methane and nitrous oxide emissions in tidal forested wetlands
Sediment and nutrient deposition over a reconnected floodplain during large-scale river diversions, the Bonnet Carré spillway in 2011, 2016, and 2019
Quantifying connectivity and its effects on sediment budgeting for an agricultural basin, Chesapeake Bay Watershed, United States
Modeling impacts of drought-induced salinity intrusion on carbon dynamics in tidal freshwater forested wetlands
Streambank and floodplain geomorphic change and contribution to watershed material budgets
Power analysis for detecting the effects of best management practices on reducing nitrogen and phosphorus fluxes to the Chesapeake Bay watershed, USA
Floodplain and Channel Evaluation Tool (FACET)
The Floodplain and Evaluation Tool (FACET) is an open-source python tool that maps the floodplain extent and derives reach-scale summaries of stream and floodplain geomorphic measurements from high-resolution digital elevation models (DEMs).
Floodplain and Channel Evaluation Tool: FACET
Science and Products
- Science
Leveraging Existing USGS Streamgage Data to Map Flood-Prone Areas
We will develop reproducible workflows in R and Python to combine already existing and underutilized field data collected as part of the USGS streamgage network with remotely sensed data to map flood-prone areas for various recurrence intervals in both gaged and ungaged stream reaches.Leveraging Existing USGS Streamgage Data to Map Flood-Prone Areas
We will develop reproducible workflows in R and Python to combine already existing and underutilized field data collected as part of the USGS streamgage network with remotely sensed data to map flood-prone areas for various recurrence intervals in both gaged and ungaged stream reaches.New study shows importance of streambank erosion and floodplain deposition on sediment, phosphorus, and nitrogen sources and transport in the Chesapeake watershed
Issue: As Chesapeake Bay Program partners work to reduce pollution, knowing sources of sediment, phosphorus, and nitrogen transported to the Bay is critical for effective and efficient management. Streams and their associated floodplains have an important influence on the transport of nutrients and sediment through the Chesapeake watershed and into tidal waters. The USGS is conducting...New Review of Sediment Science Informs Choices of Management Actions in the Chesapeake
Issue: The Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) is pursuing restoration efforts to improve habitats and associated water quality for fisheries, both in the watershed and estuary. Excess sediment decreases light in tidal waters for submerged aquatic vegetation, harms oysters, carries contaminants, and impairs stream health throughout the watershed. The CBP is implementing management actions and policies...New information on chemical and physical characteristics of streams and floodplains across the Chesapeake Bay and Delaware River watersheds
Issue: Improving stream health is an important outcome of the Chesapeake Bay Program partnership. Stream conditions are important for recreational fisheries, and mitigating the amount of nutrients, sediment, and contaminants delivered to the Bay.Impacts of coastal and watershed changes on upper estuaries: causes and implications of wetland ecosystem transitions along the US Atlantic and Gulf Coasts
Estuaries and their surrounding wetlands are coastal transition zones where freshwater rivers meet tidal seawater. As sea levels rise, tidal forces move saltier water farther upstream, extending into freshwater wetland areas. Human changes to the surrounding landscape may amplify the effects of this tidal extension, impacting the resiliency and function of the upper estuarine wetlands. One visible...Type of Wetlands Affect How Much Nitrogen is Removed from the Bay’s Tidal Rivers
Issue: Wetlands are important for removing nitrogen from rivers entering the Chesapeake Bay. More information is needed on how much nitrogen wetlands can remove.Assessing Effects of Sea-level Rise on Upstream Ecosystem Conditions
A synthesis published in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment addresses what is known about the ecosystem consequences of freshwater tides extending upstream into formerly nontidal rivers. The USGS and its partners, with support from the Climate and Land Use Change Mission Area, published an article that summarizes the known effects of sea-level rise pushing freshwater tides upstream into...Quantifying Floodplain Ecological Processes and Ecosystem Services in the Delaware River Watershed
Floodplain and wetland areas provide critical ecosystem services to local and downstream communities by retaining sediments, nutrients, and floodwaters. The loss of floodplain functionality due to land use conversion and degradation reduces the provisioning of these services. Assessing, quantifying, and valuing floodplain ecosystem services provide a framework to estimate how floodplain systems... - Data
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Simulated net primary productivity and greenhouse gas emissions under various soil salinity and water table depth combinations in low salinity tidal wetlands
The dataset contains simulated net primary productivity (NPP) and greenhouse gas emissions (CH4, N2O, CO2) under a series of combinations of soil salinities (0.1, 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 psu) and water table depth (WTDs) (-30, -20, -10, -5, 0, 5, 10, 20, 30 cm) for tidal forest and oligohaline marsh sites along the Savannah River and Waccamaw River, USA.Water quality and contaminants in stream surface waters collected in the Shenandoah Valley, 2021
The data presented in this data release includes 11 field/water quality parameters, concentrations of 16 nutrients/anions, dissolved organic carbon, 14 organic contaminants, net estrogenicity concentrations, and 51 inorganic constituents in surface water collected twice from 28 stream sites and collected once from 2 stream sites in the Shenandoah Valley (Virginia and West Virginia, USA), in the suShenandoah Valley Stream Health and Habitat Assessments in West Virginia and Virginia (2021)
U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists completed a data collection campaign from the 26th of June to the 13th of August in 2021, using various methods to record geomorphic and habitat indicators throughout streams in the Shenandoah Valley. Field methods included GNSS surveys, gravelometer-based pebble count readings, visual assessments, and riparian analyses. This metadata record contains all rData of floodplain soil carbon and nutrient retention along a chronosequence of urban stream restorations in Northern Virginia (2022)
Floodplain surficial soil samples (10 cm depth) were collected from 18 streams in the urbanized Piedmont region of northern Virginia, representing a chronosequence of time (1-10 yrs.) since stream restoration as well as unrestored and reference streams. The samples were analyzed for total carbon (TC), total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) storage, whereas CO2 mineralization potential and eData to support surface elevation change and vertical accretion data to support assessment of hummock formation/loss in tidal freshwater forested wetlands along the U.S. Atlantic coast (2009-2021)
This study evaluated surface elevation change and vertical accretion of sediments in hollows and on top of hummocks associated with the base of tree stems in tidal freshwater forested wetlands. Sites were along a gradient of habitat change from freshwater forest to marsh and tracked hollow subsidence and in-filling with transgression over 6 (Virginia) to 12 (South Carolina/Georgia) years. Both deeFish communities in Shenandoah Valley streams, 2021
From 16 June to 30 July, 2021, a Virginia Tech team of 4-6 sampled the fish community in 30 Shenandoah Valley streams (Virginia and West Virginia, USA) as part of a larger stream-health study including other teams who surveyed geomorphology, water quality, flow, temperature, macroinvertebrates, and fish health at the same 30 streams. The fish community team also sampled three additional bonus streHydrogeomorphic data along transitioning Coastal Plain rivers (Mattaponi and Pamunkey Rivers): implications for a rising sea level
Data on changing hydrogeomorphic characteristics along river gradients from nontidal through tidal freshwater to oligohaline reaches along the Mattaponi and Pamunkey Rivers, Virginia. Shapefile data include location and elevation profiles of the river valleys along multiple digital cross-sections from lidar digital elevation models, satellite visible imagery, and geographic information system analModeling impacts of drought-induced salinity intrusion on carbon fluxes and storage in tidal freshwater forested wetlands
A biogeochemistry model was developed to examine plant gross primary productivity (GPP), net primary productivity (NPP), plant respiration, soil respiration, soil organic carbon sequestration rate and storage under scenarios of drought and normal conditions at Tidal Freshwater Forested Wetlands (TFFW) sites along the Waccamaw River and Savannah River in the Southeastern United States.Simulated Methane and Nitrous Oxide Emissions under Drought-induced Saltwater Intrusion in Tidal Freshwater Forested Wetlands
This dataset contains the result of simulated daily emissions of methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) from the soils in Tidal Freshwater Forested Wetlands (TFFW) along the Waccamaw River (SC, USA) and the Savannah River (GA and SC, USA) under drought-induced saltwater intrusion using a process-driven biogeochemistry model.Predictions of floodplain and streambank geomorphic change and flux of sediment and nutrients, and streambed characteristics, for stream reaches in the Chesapeake Bay and Delaware River watersheds
Input predictor variables and output predictions from statistical modeling of floodplains, streambanks, and streambeds for each NHDPlusV2 stream reach in the Chesapeake Bay and Delaware River watersheds of the U.S. Mid-Atlantic. Random Forest statistical models using either 1) characteristics of upstream drainage area, or 2) characteristics of upstream drainage area (Wieczorek et al. 2018, https:/Physico-chemical characteristics and sediment and nutrient fluxes of floodplains, streambanks, and streambeds in the Chesapeake Bay and Delaware River watersheds
Dataset includes site averages of measurements of floodplain and streambank sediment physico-chemistry and long-term (dendrogeomorphic) vertical and lateral geomorphic change, and reach scale floodplain width, streambank height, channel width, and streambed particle size. This information was used to calculate fluxes of sediment, fine sediment, sediment-C, sediment-N, and sediment-C of floodplainsGeomorphometry for Streams and Floodplains in the Chesapeake and Delaware Watersheds
Geomorphometry for Streams and Floodplains in the Chesapeake and Delaware Watersheds was generated as part of the project Quantifying Floodplain Ecological Processes and Ecosystem Services in the Delaware River Watershed funded through the William Penn Foundation's Delaware Watershed Research fund. This dataset contains geomorphometry for streams and floodplains in the Chesapeake and Delaware Rive - Multimedia
- Publications
Filter Total Items: 51
Mapping stream and floodplain geomorphometry with the Floodplain and Channel Evaluation Tool
Broad-scale mapping of stream channel and floodplain geomorphic metrics is critical to improve the understanding of geomorphic change, biogeochemical processes, riverine habitat quality, and opportunities for management intervention. The Floodplain and Channel Evaluation Tool (FACET) was developed to provide an open-source tool for automated processing of digital elevation models (DEMs) to generatAuthorsKristina G. Hopkins, Labeeb Ahmed, Peter R. Claggett, Samuel Lamont, Marina Metes, Gregory B. NoeSocietal benefits of floodplains in the Chesapeake Bay and Delaware River watersheds: Sediment, nutrient, and flood regulation ecosystem services
Floodplains provide critical ecosystem services to people by regulating floodwaters and retaining sediments and nutrients. Geospatial analyses, field data collection, and modeling were integrated to quantify a portfolio of services that floodplains provide to downstream communities within the Chesapeake Bay and Delaware River watersheds. The portfolio of services included floodplain sediment and nAuthorsKristina G. Hopkins, Jacqueline Sage Welles, Emily J. Pindilli, Gregory B. Noe, Peter Claggett, Labeeb Ahmed, Marina MetesSoil salinity and water level interact to generate tipping points in low salinity tidal wetlands responding to climate change
Low salinity tidal wetlands (LSTW) are vulnerable to sea level rise and saltwater intrusion, thus their carbon sequestration capacity is threatened. However, the thresholds of rapid changes in carbon dynamics and biogeochemical processes in LSTW due to changes in hydroperiod and salinity regime remain unclear. In this study, we examined the effects of soil porewater salinity and water level on chaAuthorsHongqing Wang, Ken Krauss, Gregory B. Noe, Zhaohua Dai, Carl C. TrettinPresence of hummock and hollow microtopography reflects shifting balances of shallow subsidence and root zone expansion along forested wetland river gradients
Tidal freshwater forested wetlands (TFFWs) are in an active phase of transition to tidal marsh with sea level rise and salinity incursion along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of the United States (U.S.). A prominent feature of TFFWs is hummock/hollow microtopography where hollows represent the flat, base-elevation of the floodplain where inundation occurs relatively frequently, while hummocks providAuthorsKen Krauss, Gregory B. Noe, Jamie A. Duberstein, Nicole Cormier, Andrew From, Tom Doody, William H. Conner, Donald Cahoon, Darren JohnsonHydrogeomorphic changes along mid-Atlantic coastal plain rivers transitioning from non-tidal to tidal: Implications for a rising sea level
Sea level rise is affecting reaches of coastal rivers by increasing water levels and propagating tides inland. The transition of river systems into tidal estuaries has been neglected in hydrogeomorphic studies. A better understanding of transitioning reaches is critical to understanding ecosystem dynamics, services, and developing predictive capabilities of change as sea levels rise. We hypothesizAuthorsDaniel Kroes, Gregory B. Noe, Cliff R. Hupp, Tom Doody, P.A. BukaveckasEvaluation of management efforts to reduce nutrient and sediment contributions to the Chesapeake Bay estuary
No abstract available.AuthorsZ. Easton, K. Stephenson, B. Benham, John K. Böhlke, A. Buda, A. Collick, L. Fowler, E. Gilinsky, C. Hershner, Andrew Miller, Gregory B. Noe, L. Palm-Forster, T. ThompsonModeling impacts of saltwater intrusion on methane and nitrous oxide emissions in tidal forested wetlands
Emissions of methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) from soils to the atmosphere can offset the benefits of carbon sequestration for climate change mitigation. While past study has suggested that both CH4 and N2O emissions from tidal freshwater forested wetlands (TFFW) are generally low, the impacts of coastal droughts and drought-induced saltwater intrusion on CH4 and N2O emissions remain unclear.AuthorsHongqing Wang, Zhaohua Dai, Ken Krauss, Carl C. Trettin, Gregory B. Noe, Andrew J. Burton, Eric WardSediment and nutrient deposition over a reconnected floodplain during large-scale river diversions, the Bonnet Carré spillway in 2011, 2016, and 2019
In hopes of reversing or slowing the decline of the river delta, water diversions have been built and planned, and natural diversions have formed and been allowed to develop along the lower Mississippi River. In addition to the possibility of building land, these diversions allow for the storage of nutrients within the deposited sediments and provide a buffer from coastal storm surge flooding. DepAuthorsDaniel Kroes, Gregory B. Noe, David Ramirez, Brian VosburgQuantifying connectivity and its effects on sediment budgeting for an agricultural basin, Chesapeake Bay Watershed, United States
Excessive sediment runoff as a result of anthropogenic activities is a major concern for watershed ecologic health. This study sought to determine the sources, storage, and delivery of sediment using a sediment budget approach for the predominantly pasture and forested Smith Creek watershed, Virginia United States, a tributary to the Chesapeake Bay. Utilizing a novel combination of the Universal SAuthorsZachary Clifton, Allen Gellis, Matt J. Cashman, Michelle Patricia Katoski, Lucas A Nibert, Gregory B. NoeModeling impacts of drought-induced salinity intrusion on carbon dynamics in tidal freshwater forested wetlands
Tidal freshwater forested wetlands (TFFW) provide critical ecosystem services including essential habitat for a variety of wildlife species and significant carbon sinks for atmospheric carbon dioxide. However, large uncertainties remain concerning the impacts of climate change on the magnitude and variability of carbon fluxes and storage across a range of TFFW. In this study, we developed a procesAuthorsHongqing Wang, Zhaohua Dai, Carl C. Trettin, Ken Krauss, Gregory B. Noe, Andrew J. Burton, Camille Stagg, Eric WardStreambank and floodplain geomorphic change and contribution to watershed material budgets
Stream geomorphic change is highly spatially variable but critical to landform evolution, human infrastructure, habitat, and watershed pollutant transport. However, measurements and process models of streambank erosion and floodplain deposition and resulting sediment fluxes are currently insufficient to predict these rates in all perennial streams over large regions. Here we measured long-term latAuthorsGregory B. Noe, Kristina G. Hopkins, Peter Claggett, Edward R. Schenk, Marina Metes, Labeeb Ahmed, Tom Doody, Cliff R. HuppPower analysis for detecting the effects of best management practices on reducing nitrogen and phosphorus fluxes to the Chesapeake Bay watershed, USA
In 2010 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency established the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) which is a “pollution diet” that aims to reduce the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus entering the Chesapeake Bay, the largest estuary in the United States, by 25 and 24% percent, respectively. To achieve this goal the TMDL requires the implementation of Best Management Practices (BMPs), which are acceAuthorsPaul McLaughlin, Richard Alexander, Joel Blomquist, Olivia H. Devereux, Gregory B. Noe, Tyler Wagner, Kelly Smalling - Software
Floodplain and Channel Evaluation Tool (FACET)
The Floodplain and Evaluation Tool (FACET) is an open-source python tool that maps the floodplain extent and derives reach-scale summaries of stream and floodplain geomorphic measurements from high-resolution digital elevation models (DEMs).
Floodplain and Channel Evaluation Tool: FACET
FACET is a Python tool that uses open source modules to map the floodplain extent and derive reach-scale summaries of stream and floodplain geomorphic measurements from high-resolution digital elevation models (DEMs). Geomorphic measurements include channel width, stream bank height, floodplain width, and stream slope. FACET allows the user to hydrologically condition the DEM, generate the stream - News