John W Fulton
John is a Research Hydrologist and DOI Remote Pilot for the Colorado Water Science Center.
John serves as a subject matter expert for all things non-contact. He collaborates with federal and state partners including state DOTs, EPA, FHWA, JPL, NASA, NOAA, USACE, and USFWS.
John’s research interests include (1) near-field remote sensing from fixed- and drone-based platforms, (2) Doppler and pulsed radars and cameras to measure river discharge, (3) ground-penetrating radars to measure channel bathymetry and snow depth, and (4) flood alert networks related to extreme precipitation events in post-wildfire basins.
Professional Experience
2000 – U.S. Geological Survey
1991 – 2000 ENSR Consulting and Engineering
1986 – 1991 Delta Environmental Consultants
1985 – 1986 Twin City Testing
Education and Certifications
M.S., Civil and Environmental Engineering (Hydraulics), University of Pittsburgh, 1999
M.S., Geology, University of Nebraska, 1987
B.S., Geology, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, 1983
Federally Qualified Meteorologist
AIARE Avalanche Rescue
AIARE Level 1
Honors and Awards
DOI Meritorious Service Award, Jul 2023
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 27
Satellite remote sensing estimation of river discharge: Application to the Yukon River Alaska Satellite remote sensing estimation of river discharge: Application to the Yukon River Alaska
A methodology based on general hydraulic relations for rivers has been developed to estimate the discharge (flow rate) of rivers using satellite remote sensing observations. The estimates of discharge, flow depth, and flow velocity are derived from remotely observed water surface area, water surface slope, and water surface height, and demonstrated for two reaches of the Yukon River in...
Authors
David M. Bjerklie, Charon M. Birkett, John Jones, Claudia C. Carabajal, Jennifer Rover, John W, Fulton, Pierre-Andre Garambois
Computing under-ice discharge: A proof-of-concept using hydroacoustics and the Probability Concept Computing under-ice discharge: A proof-of-concept using hydroacoustics and the Probability Concept
Under-ice discharge is estimated using open-water reference hydrographs; however, the ratings for ice-affected sites are generally qualified as poor. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in collaboration with the Colorado Water Conservation Board, conducted a proof-of-concept to develop an alternative method for computing under-ice discharge using hydroacoustics and the Probability Concept...
Authors
John W. Fulton, Mark F. Henneberg, Taylor J. Mills, Michael S. Kohn, Brian Epstein, Elizabeth A. Hittle, William C. Damschen, Christopher D. Laveau, Jason M. Lambrecht, William H. Farmer
Engaging the user community for advancing societal applications of the Surface Water Ocean Topography mission Engaging the user community for advancing societal applications of the Surface Water Ocean Topography mission
Scheduled for launch in 2021, the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission will be a truly unique mission that will provide high-temporal-frequency maps of surface water extents and elevation variations of global water bodies (lakes/reservoirs, rivers, estuaries, oceans, and sea ice) at higher spatial resolution than is available with current technologies (Biancamaria et al...
Authors
Faisal Hossain, Margaret Srinivasan, Craig Peterson, Alice Andral, Ed Beighley, Eric Anderson, Rashied Amini, Charon Birkett, David M. Bjerklie, Cheryl Ann Blain, Selma Cherchali, Cedric H. David, Bradley D. Doorn, Jorge Escurra, Lee-Lueng Fu, Chris Frans, John W. Fulton, Subhrendu Gangopadhyay, Subimal Ghosh, Colin Gleason, Marielle Gosset, Jessica Hausman, Gregg Jacobs, John Jones, Yasir Kaheil, Benoit Laignel, Patrick Le Moigne, Li Li, Fabien Lefevre, Mason, Amita Mehta, Abhijit Mukherjee, Anthony Nguy-Robertson, Sophie Ricci, Adrien Paris, Tamlin Pavelsky, Nicolas Picot, Guy Schumann, Sudhir Shrestha, Pierre-Yves Le Traon, Eric Trehubenko
Occurrence and trends in the concentrations of fecal-indicator bacteria and the relation to field water-quality parameters in the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio Rivers and selected tributaries, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, 2001–09 Occurrence and trends in the concentrations of fecal-indicator bacteria and the relation to field water-quality parameters in the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio Rivers and selected tributaries, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, 2001–09
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Allegheny County Health Department and Allegheny County Sanitary Authority, collected surface-water samples from the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio Rivers and selected tributaries during the period 2001–09 to assess the occurrence and trends in the concentrations of fecal-indicator bacteria during both wet- and dry-weather...
Authors
John W. Fulton, Edward H. Koerkle, Jamie L. McCoy, Linda F. Zarr
Water-budgets and recharge-area simulations for the Spring Creek and Nittany Creek Basins and parts of the Spruce Creek Basin, Centre and Huntingdon Counties, Pennsylvania, Water Years 2000–06 Water-budgets and recharge-area simulations for the Spring Creek and Nittany Creek Basins and parts of the Spruce Creek Basin, Centre and Huntingdon Counties, Pennsylvania, Water Years 2000–06
This report describes the results of a study by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with ClearWater Conservancy and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to develop a hydrologic model to simulate a water budget and identify areas of greater than average recharge for the Spring Creek Basin in central Pennsylvania. The model was developed to help policy makers...
Authors
John W. Fulton, Dennis W. Risser, R. Steve Regan, John F. Walker, Randall J. Hunt, Richard G. Niswonger, Scott A. Hoffman, Steven L. Markstrom
Effects of high salinity wastewater discharges on unionid mussels in the Allegheny River, Pennsylvania Effects of high salinity wastewater discharges on unionid mussels in the Allegheny River, Pennsylvania
We examined the effect of high salinity wastewater (brine) from oil and natural gas drilling on freshwater mussels in the Allegheny River, Pennsylvania, during 2012. Mussel cages (N = 5 per site) were deployed at two sites upstream and four sites downstream of a brine treatment facility on the Allegheny River. Each cage contained 20 juvenile northern riffleshell mussels Epioblasma...
Authors
Kathleen A. Patnode, Elizabeth A. Hittle, Robert Anderson, Lora Zimmerman, John W. Fulton
Non-USGS Publications**
Fulton J.W., Spalding R.F., 1986, Groundwater RDX and TNT residues in Hall County, Nebraska, Open File Report, Conservation and Survey Division, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska, p. 35.
Fulton, J.W., 1987, The distribution of explosive residues and nitrate-nitrogen in the groundwater west of Grand Island, Nebraska, M.S. Thesis, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska, p. 66.
Spalding, R. F., and Fulton, J. W., 1988, Groundwater munition residues and nitrate near Grand Island, Nebraska, U.S.A.: Journal of Contaminant Hydrology, v. 2, no. 2, p.139–153, https://doi.org/10.1016/0169-7722(88)90004-6.
ENSR Corporation (Contributing Author), 1994, Soil vapor extraction and bioventing, EM 1110-1-4001. Prepared for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, https://www.publications.usace.army.mil/Portals/76/Publications/EngineerManuals/EM_1110-1-4001.pdf.
ENSR Corporation (Contributing Author), 1997, In Situ Air Sparging, EM 1110-1-4005. Prepared for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, https://pdhonline.com/courses/c468/in%20situ%20air%20sparging%20manual.pdf
https://www.publications.usace.army.mil/Portals/76/Publications/EngineerManuals/EM_1110-1-4001.pdf.
https://www.publications.usace.army.mil/Portals/76/Publications/EngineerManuals/EM_1110-1-4001.pdf.
Fulton, J.W., 1999, Comparison of conventional and probability-based modeling of open-channel flow in the Allegheny River, Pennsylvania, USA, M.S. Thesis, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
Chiu, C.-L., Tung, N.C., Hsu, S.M., and Fulton, J.W., 2001, Comparison and assessment of methods of measuring discharge in rivers and streams, Research Report No. CEEWR-4, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Corato G., Moramarco T., Tucciarelli T., Fulton J.W., 2015, Continuous discharge monitoring using non-contact methods for velocity measurements: Uncertainty analysis. In: Lollino G., Arattano M., Rinaldi M., Giustolisi O., Marechal JC., Grant G. (eds) Engineering Geology for Society and Territory - Volume 3. Springer, Cham., https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-09054-2_123.
Durand, M., Gleason, C.J., Garambois, P.A., Bjerklie, D., Smith, L.C., Roux, H., Rodriguez, E, Bates, P.D., Pavelsky, T.M., Monnier, J., Chen, X., Di Baldassarre, G., Fiset, J.-M., Flipo, N., Frasson, R. P. d. M., Fulton, J.W., Goutal, N., Hossain, F., Humphries, E., Minera, J. T., Mukolwe, M. M., Neal, J. C., Ricci, S., Sanders, B. F., Schumann, G., Schubert, J. E., and Vilmin, L., 2016, An intercomparison of remote sensing river discharge estimation algorithms from measurements of river height, width, and slope, Water Resour. Res.,52, 4527–4549, doi:10.1002/2015WR01843.
Bjerklie, D.M., Birkett, C.M., Jones, J.W., Carabajal, C., Rover, J.A., Fulton, J.W., and Garambois, P.-A., 2018, Satellite remote sensing estimation of river discharge: Application to the Yukon River Alaska, Journal of Hydrology, 561, p. 1000-1018, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2018.04.005.
Lane, J.W., Jr., Fulton, J.W., Onufer, A., Dawson, C.B., 2019, Development of a drone-deployed ground-penetrating radar system for non-contact bathymetry of freshwater systems, AGU-SEG Airborne Geophysics Workshop, Davie, FL, June 11-13, https://agu.confex.com/agu/19workshop1/webprogram/Paper478877.html
Moramarco, T., Barbetta, S., Bjerklie, D.M., Fulton, J. W., and Tarpanelli, A., 2019, River bathymetry estimate and discharge assessment from remote sensing. Water Resources Research, 55, p. 6692-6711, https://doi.org/10.1029/2018WR024220.l.2018.04.005.
Lane, Jr., J.W., Dawson, C.B., White, E.A., and Fulton, J.W., 2020, Non-contact measurement of river bathymetry using sUAS Radar: Recent developments and examples from the Northeastern United States, SEG Global Meeting Abstracts : 119-122, https://doi.org/10.1190/iceg2019-031.1
Bjerklie, D. M., Fulton, J. W., Dingman, S. L., Canova, M. G., Minear, J. T., and Moramarco, T., 2020, Fundamental hydraulics of cross sections in natural rivers: Preliminary analysis of a large data set of acoustic Doppler flow measurements, Water Resources Research, 56, e2019WR025986, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019WR025986.
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 27
Satellite remote sensing estimation of river discharge: Application to the Yukon River Alaska Satellite remote sensing estimation of river discharge: Application to the Yukon River Alaska
A methodology based on general hydraulic relations for rivers has been developed to estimate the discharge (flow rate) of rivers using satellite remote sensing observations. The estimates of discharge, flow depth, and flow velocity are derived from remotely observed water surface area, water surface slope, and water surface height, and demonstrated for two reaches of the Yukon River in...
Authors
David M. Bjerklie, Charon M. Birkett, John Jones, Claudia C. Carabajal, Jennifer Rover, John W, Fulton, Pierre-Andre Garambois
Computing under-ice discharge: A proof-of-concept using hydroacoustics and the Probability Concept Computing under-ice discharge: A proof-of-concept using hydroacoustics and the Probability Concept
Under-ice discharge is estimated using open-water reference hydrographs; however, the ratings for ice-affected sites are generally qualified as poor. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in collaboration with the Colorado Water Conservation Board, conducted a proof-of-concept to develop an alternative method for computing under-ice discharge using hydroacoustics and the Probability Concept...
Authors
John W. Fulton, Mark F. Henneberg, Taylor J. Mills, Michael S. Kohn, Brian Epstein, Elizabeth A. Hittle, William C. Damschen, Christopher D. Laveau, Jason M. Lambrecht, William H. Farmer
Engaging the user community for advancing societal applications of the Surface Water Ocean Topography mission Engaging the user community for advancing societal applications of the Surface Water Ocean Topography mission
Scheduled for launch in 2021, the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission will be a truly unique mission that will provide high-temporal-frequency maps of surface water extents and elevation variations of global water bodies (lakes/reservoirs, rivers, estuaries, oceans, and sea ice) at higher spatial resolution than is available with current technologies (Biancamaria et al...
Authors
Faisal Hossain, Margaret Srinivasan, Craig Peterson, Alice Andral, Ed Beighley, Eric Anderson, Rashied Amini, Charon Birkett, David M. Bjerklie, Cheryl Ann Blain, Selma Cherchali, Cedric H. David, Bradley D. Doorn, Jorge Escurra, Lee-Lueng Fu, Chris Frans, John W. Fulton, Subhrendu Gangopadhyay, Subimal Ghosh, Colin Gleason, Marielle Gosset, Jessica Hausman, Gregg Jacobs, John Jones, Yasir Kaheil, Benoit Laignel, Patrick Le Moigne, Li Li, Fabien Lefevre, Mason, Amita Mehta, Abhijit Mukherjee, Anthony Nguy-Robertson, Sophie Ricci, Adrien Paris, Tamlin Pavelsky, Nicolas Picot, Guy Schumann, Sudhir Shrestha, Pierre-Yves Le Traon, Eric Trehubenko
Occurrence and trends in the concentrations of fecal-indicator bacteria and the relation to field water-quality parameters in the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio Rivers and selected tributaries, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, 2001–09 Occurrence and trends in the concentrations of fecal-indicator bacteria and the relation to field water-quality parameters in the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio Rivers and selected tributaries, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, 2001–09
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Allegheny County Health Department and Allegheny County Sanitary Authority, collected surface-water samples from the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio Rivers and selected tributaries during the period 2001–09 to assess the occurrence and trends in the concentrations of fecal-indicator bacteria during both wet- and dry-weather...
Authors
John W. Fulton, Edward H. Koerkle, Jamie L. McCoy, Linda F. Zarr
Water-budgets and recharge-area simulations for the Spring Creek and Nittany Creek Basins and parts of the Spruce Creek Basin, Centre and Huntingdon Counties, Pennsylvania, Water Years 2000–06 Water-budgets and recharge-area simulations for the Spring Creek and Nittany Creek Basins and parts of the Spruce Creek Basin, Centre and Huntingdon Counties, Pennsylvania, Water Years 2000–06
This report describes the results of a study by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with ClearWater Conservancy and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to develop a hydrologic model to simulate a water budget and identify areas of greater than average recharge for the Spring Creek Basin in central Pennsylvania. The model was developed to help policy makers...
Authors
John W. Fulton, Dennis W. Risser, R. Steve Regan, John F. Walker, Randall J. Hunt, Richard G. Niswonger, Scott A. Hoffman, Steven L. Markstrom
Effects of high salinity wastewater discharges on unionid mussels in the Allegheny River, Pennsylvania Effects of high salinity wastewater discharges on unionid mussels in the Allegheny River, Pennsylvania
We examined the effect of high salinity wastewater (brine) from oil and natural gas drilling on freshwater mussels in the Allegheny River, Pennsylvania, during 2012. Mussel cages (N = 5 per site) were deployed at two sites upstream and four sites downstream of a brine treatment facility on the Allegheny River. Each cage contained 20 juvenile northern riffleshell mussels Epioblasma...
Authors
Kathleen A. Patnode, Elizabeth A. Hittle, Robert Anderson, Lora Zimmerman, John W. Fulton
Non-USGS Publications**
Fulton J.W., Spalding R.F., 1986, Groundwater RDX and TNT residues in Hall County, Nebraska, Open File Report, Conservation and Survey Division, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska, p. 35.
Fulton, J.W., 1987, The distribution of explosive residues and nitrate-nitrogen in the groundwater west of Grand Island, Nebraska, M.S. Thesis, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska, p. 66.
Spalding, R. F., and Fulton, J. W., 1988, Groundwater munition residues and nitrate near Grand Island, Nebraska, U.S.A.: Journal of Contaminant Hydrology, v. 2, no. 2, p.139–153, https://doi.org/10.1016/0169-7722(88)90004-6.
ENSR Corporation (Contributing Author), 1994, Soil vapor extraction and bioventing, EM 1110-1-4001. Prepared for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, https://www.publications.usace.army.mil/Portals/76/Publications/EngineerManuals/EM_1110-1-4001.pdf.
ENSR Corporation (Contributing Author), 1997, In Situ Air Sparging, EM 1110-1-4005. Prepared for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, https://pdhonline.com/courses/c468/in%20situ%20air%20sparging%20manual.pdf
https://www.publications.usace.army.mil/Portals/76/Publications/EngineerManuals/EM_1110-1-4001.pdf.
https://www.publications.usace.army.mil/Portals/76/Publications/EngineerManuals/EM_1110-1-4001.pdf.
Fulton, J.W., 1999, Comparison of conventional and probability-based modeling of open-channel flow in the Allegheny River, Pennsylvania, USA, M.S. Thesis, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
Chiu, C.-L., Tung, N.C., Hsu, S.M., and Fulton, J.W., 2001, Comparison and assessment of methods of measuring discharge in rivers and streams, Research Report No. CEEWR-4, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Corato G., Moramarco T., Tucciarelli T., Fulton J.W., 2015, Continuous discharge monitoring using non-contact methods for velocity measurements: Uncertainty analysis. In: Lollino G., Arattano M., Rinaldi M., Giustolisi O., Marechal JC., Grant G. (eds) Engineering Geology for Society and Territory - Volume 3. Springer, Cham., https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-09054-2_123.
Durand, M., Gleason, C.J., Garambois, P.A., Bjerklie, D., Smith, L.C., Roux, H., Rodriguez, E, Bates, P.D., Pavelsky, T.M., Monnier, J., Chen, X., Di Baldassarre, G., Fiset, J.-M., Flipo, N., Frasson, R. P. d. M., Fulton, J.W., Goutal, N., Hossain, F., Humphries, E., Minera, J. T., Mukolwe, M. M., Neal, J. C., Ricci, S., Sanders, B. F., Schumann, G., Schubert, J. E., and Vilmin, L., 2016, An intercomparison of remote sensing river discharge estimation algorithms from measurements of river height, width, and slope, Water Resour. Res.,52, 4527–4549, doi:10.1002/2015WR01843.
Bjerklie, D.M., Birkett, C.M., Jones, J.W., Carabajal, C., Rover, J.A., Fulton, J.W., and Garambois, P.-A., 2018, Satellite remote sensing estimation of river discharge: Application to the Yukon River Alaska, Journal of Hydrology, 561, p. 1000-1018, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2018.04.005.
Lane, J.W., Jr., Fulton, J.W., Onufer, A., Dawson, C.B., 2019, Development of a drone-deployed ground-penetrating radar system for non-contact bathymetry of freshwater systems, AGU-SEG Airborne Geophysics Workshop, Davie, FL, June 11-13, https://agu.confex.com/agu/19workshop1/webprogram/Paper478877.html
Moramarco, T., Barbetta, S., Bjerklie, D.M., Fulton, J. W., and Tarpanelli, A., 2019, River bathymetry estimate and discharge assessment from remote sensing. Water Resources Research, 55, p. 6692-6711, https://doi.org/10.1029/2018WR024220.l.2018.04.005.
Lane, Jr., J.W., Dawson, C.B., White, E.A., and Fulton, J.W., 2020, Non-contact measurement of river bathymetry using sUAS Radar: Recent developments and examples from the Northeastern United States, SEG Global Meeting Abstracts : 119-122, https://doi.org/10.1190/iceg2019-031.1
Bjerklie, D. M., Fulton, J. W., Dingman, S. L., Canova, M. G., Minear, J. T., and Moramarco, T., 2020, Fundamental hydraulics of cross sections in natural rivers: Preliminary analysis of a large data set of acoustic Doppler flow measurements, Water Resources Research, 56, e2019WR025986, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019WR025986.
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.