Jacob LaFontaine
Biography
Professional Preparation
PhD in progress at University of Georgia
MS Civil Engineering, 2002
BS Civil Engineering, 2001
AAS Civil Engineering, 1997
Appointments
2018-current: Research Hydrologist, South Atlantic Water Science Center, USGS, Norcross, Georgia.
2014-2017: Hydrologist, South Atlantic Water Science Center, USGS, Norcross, Georgia.
2006-2014: Hydrologist, Georgia Water Science Center, USGS, Norcross, Georgia.
2003-2005: Civil Engineer, Georgia Water Science Center, USGS, Norcross, Georgia.
2000-2002: Student Trainee (Hydrology), Georgia Water Science Center, USGS, Norcross, Georgia.
1996-1999: Student Trainee (Hydrology), New York Water Science Center, USGS, Troy, New York.
2001-2002: Teaching Assistant, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia.
Science and Products
National Hydrologic Model Infrastructure
The USGS National Hydrologic Model (NHM) infrastructure supports the efficient construction of local-, regional-, and national-scale hydrologic models. The NHM infrastructure consists of: 1) an underlying geospatial fabric of modeling units with an associated parameter database, 2) a model input data archive, and 3) a repository of the physical model simulation code bases.
Climate- and Land-Cover-Induced Shifts in the Distribution and Abundance of Invasive Fish and Their Impacts on Native Fish Communities in the Tennessee and Cumberland River Basins
The climate of the Southeast is changing rapidly. As streams warm and streamflow dynamics change due to climate and land-cover changes, previously unsuitable habitats may become hospitable for invasive species. Warmwater and large-river adapted invasive species such as Asian carps may move upstream as habitats that were previously too cold or had too little flow become welcoming environments...
Webinar: Hydrologic Research and Assessment: From Local to Regional Scales
View this webinar to learn how scientists are conducting hydrologic modeling of unguaged streams in the Southeast.
Assessment of Water Availability and Streamflow Characteristics in the Gulf Coastal Plains and Ozarks (GCPO) Landscape Conservation Cooperative for Current and Future Climatic and Landscape Conditions
The objective of this research is to provide an automated methodology and data products to the GCPO LCC partners by (1) developing a multi-model synthesis to simulate streamflow using a monthly water balance model and daily time step hydrologic models (physical process-based and statistical) for all watersheds of the GCPO LCC geographic region and (2) providing products from these models (flow...
Understanding the Impacts of Glaciers on Streamflow in Alaska and Washington
Glaciers are a central component to the hydrology of many areas in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest. Glacier melt plays a crucial role in the movement of nutrients through a landscape and into the ocean, and the flow of water into streams that sustain many species. As air temperatures rise, increased rates of glacier melt may have significant impacts to the hydrology and ecology in these areas...
SERAP: Modeling of Hydrologic Systems
A hydrologic model was developed as part of the Southeast Regional Assessment Project using the Precipitation Runoff Modeling System (PRMS), a deterministic, distributed-parameter, process-based system that simulates the effects of precipitation, temperature, and land use on basin hydrology. Streamflow and other components of the hydrologic cycle simulated by PRMS were used to inform other...
USGS-USFS Partnership to Help Managers Evaluate Conservation Strategies for Aquatic Ecosystems based on Future Climate Projections
The Southeastern U.S. spans broad ranges of physiographic settings and contains a wide variety of aquatic systems that provide habitat for hundreds of endemic aquatic species that pose interesting challenges and opportunities for managers of aquatic resources, particularly in the face of climate change. For example, the Southeast contains the southernmost populations of the eastern brook trout...
Comparing trends in modeled and observed streamflows at minimally altered basins in the United States
We compared modeled and observed streamflow trends from 1984–2016 using five statistical transfer models and one deterministic, distributed-parameter, process-based model, for 26 flow metrics at 502 basins in the United States that are minimally influenced by development. We also looked at a measure of overall model fit and average bias. A higher...
Hodgkins, Glenn A.; Dudley, Robert; Russell, Amy M.; LaFontaine, Jacob H.
South Atlantic Water Science Center Strategic Science Plan: 2019–23
Executive SummaryThe South Atlantic Water Science Center Strategic Science Planning Team has developed a unified strategic science plan to guide the science vision of the South Atlantic Water Science Center (SAWSC) in response to the merging of the Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina Water Science Centers. This plan proposes a path forward...
Cuffney, Thomas F.; Garcia, Ana M.; Horowitz, Arthur J.; LaFontaine, Jacob H.; Landmeyer, James E.; McKee, Anna M.; McSwain, Kristen Bukowski; Painter, Jaime A.; Shelton, John M.; Smith, Christopher A.
Simulation of water availability in the Southeastern United States for historical and potential future climate and land-cover conditions
A study was conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Gulf Coastal Plains and Ozarks Landscape Conservation Cooperative (GCPO LCC) and the Department of the Interior Southeast Climate Adaptation Science Center, to evaluate the hydrologic response of a daily time step hydrologic model to historical observations and...
LaFontaine, Jacob H.; Hart, Rheannon M.; Hay, Lauren E.; Farmer, William H.; Bock, Andy R.; Viger, Roland J.; Markstrom, Steven L.; Regan, R. Steven; Driscoll, Jessica M.
Description of the National Hydrologic Model for use with the Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System (PRMS)
This report documents several components of the U.S. Geological Survey National Hydrologic Model of the conterminous United States for use with the Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System (PRMS). It provides descriptions of the (1) National Hydrologic Model, (2) Geospatial Fabric for National Hydrologic Modeling, (3) PRMS hydrologic simulation code...
Regan, R. Steven; Markstrom, Steven L.; Hay, Lauren E.; Viger, Roland J.; Norton, Parker A.; Driscoll, Jessica M.; LaFontaine, Jacob H.
Groundwater-flow budget for the lower Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin in southwestern Georgia and parts of Florida and Alabama, 2008–12
As part of the National Water Census program in the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint (ACF) River Basin, the U.S. Geological Survey evaluated the groundwater budget of the lower ACF, with particular emphasis on recharge, characterizing the spatial and temporal relation between surface water and groundwater, and groundwater pumping. To evaluate the...
Jones, L. Elliott; Painter, Jaime A.; LaFontaine, Jacob H.; Sepúlveda, Nicasio; Sifuentes, Dorothy F.
Simulations of hydrologic response in the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin, Southeastern United States
A suite of hydrologic models has been developed for the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin (ACFB) as part of the National Water Census, a U.S. Geological Survey research program that focuses on developing new water accounting tools and assessing water availability and use at the regional and national scales. Seven hydrologic models were...
LaFontaine, Jacob H.; Jones, L. Elliott; Painter, Jaime A.
Documentation of the dynamic parameter, water-use, stream and lake flow routing, and two summary output modules and updates to surface-depression storage simulation and initial conditions specification options with the Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System (PRMS)
This report documents seven enhancements to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System (PRMS) hydrologic simulation code: two time-series input options, two new output options, and three updates of existing capabilities. The enhancements are (1) new dynamic parameter module, (2) new water-use module, (3) new Hydrologic...
Regan, R. Steve; LaFontaine, Jacob H. Effects of climate and land cover on hydrology in the southeastern U.S.: Potential impacts on watershed planning
The hydrologic response to statistically downscaled general circulation model simulations of daily surface climate and land cover through 2099 was assessed for the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin located in the southeastern United States. Projections of climate, urbanization, vegetation, and surface-depression storage capacity were...
LaFontaine, Jacob H.; Hay, Lauren E.; Viger, Roland J.; Regan, R. Steve; Markstrom, Steven L.
A comparison of methods to predict historical daily streamflow time series in the southeastern United States
Effective and responsible management of water resources relies on a thorough understanding of the quantity and quality of available water. Streamgages cannot be installed at every location where streamflow information is needed. As part of its National Water Census, the U.S. Geological Survey is planning to provide streamflow predictions for...
Farmer, William H.; Archfield, Stacey A.; Over, Thomas M.; Hay, Lauren E.; LaFontaine, Jacob H.; Kiang, Julie E. A comparison of hydrologic models for ecological flows and water availability
Robust hydrologic models are needed to help manage water resources for healthy aquatic ecosystems and reliable water supplies for people, but there is a lack of comprehensive model comparison studies that quantify differences in streamflow predictions among model applications developed to answer management questions. We assessed differences in...
Caldwell, Peter V; Kennen, Jonathan; Sun, Ge; Kiang, Julie E.; Butcher, John B; Eddy, Michelle C; Hay, Lauren E.; LaFontaine, Jacob H.; Hain, Ernie F.; Nelson, Stacy C; McNulty, Steve G Evaluation of statistically downscaled GCM output as input for hydrological and stream temperature simulation in the Apalachicola–Chattahoochee–Flint River Basin (1961–99)
The accuracy of statistically downscaled general circulation model (GCM) simulations of daily surface climate for historical conditions (1961–99) and the implications when they are used to drive hydrologic and stream temperature models were assessed for the Apalachicola–Chattahoochee–Flint River basin (ACFB). The ACFB is a 50 000 km2 basin...
Hay, Lauren E.; LaFontaine, Jacob H.; Markstrom, Steven L. Linking river management to species conservation using dynamic landscape scale models
Efforts to conserve stream and river biota could benefit from tools that allow managers to evaluate landscape-scale changes in species distributions in response to water management decisions. We present a framework and methods for integrating hydrology, geographic context and metapopulation processes to simulate effects of changes in streamflow on...
Freeman, Mary; Buell, Gary R.; Hay, Lauren E.; Hughes, W. Brian; Jacobson, Robert B.; Jones, John W.; Jones, S.A.; LaFontaine, Jacob H.; Odom, Kenneth R.; Peterson, James; Riley, Jeffrey W.; Schindler, J. Stephen; Shea, C.; Weaver, J.D.