John Warner, PhD
John Warner is a research oceanographer with the Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center Coastal and Estuarine Dynamics Group in the US Geological Survey. He has worked for the USGS for over 20 years and focuses on coastal ocean processes with an emphasis on sediment transport using field observations and numerical modeling. He is the lead developer of an open-source and community developed Coupled-Ocean-Atmosphere-Wave-Sediment Transport (COAWST) numerical modeling system, which has evolved over two decades to combine publicly developed ocean, wave, atmosphere, and sediment models.
I have been working in the field of numerical modeling for estuarine, coastal, and sediment transport processes for over 25 years. I specialize in the development of coupled modeling systems that allow interaction between individual earth system model components. These advancements have led to greater understanding of physical connections between the ocean, waves, and the atmosphere.
Professional Experience
US Geological Survey, Woods Hole, MA Research Oceanographer 2003-present
US Geological Survey, Woods Hole, MA Postdoctoral Scholar 2001-2003
University of California, Davis, CA Graduate Research Assistant 1996 – 2000
Education and Certifications
Ph.D., Civil & Environmental Engineering, Minor in Numerical Methods, December 2000
University of California, Davis
Dissertation: Barotropic and Baroclinic Convergence Zones in Tidal Channels
Comm
Science and Products
Coastal Model Applications and Field Measurements
Coastal Change Processes- Cape Hatteras, NC
Coastal Change Processes- South Carolina
Coastal Change Processes- Outer Banks, NC
Coastal Change Processes- Fire Island, NY
Coastal Change Processes
Estuarine Processes Model Development
Exploring the USGS Science Data Life Cycle in the Cloud
Impact of SST and surface waves on Hurricane Florence (2018): A coupled modeling investigation
Summary of oceanographic and water-quality measurements offshore of Matanzas Inlet, Florida, 2018
Evaluation of a roughness length parametrization accounting for wind–wave alignment in a coupled atmosphere–wave model
Using tracer variance decay to quantify variability of salinity mixing in the Hudson River Estuary
Wave-resolving Shoreline Boundary Conditions for Wave-Averaged Coastal Models
Meteotsunamis triggered by tropical cyclones
Wave-current interaction between Hurricane Matthew wave fields and the Gulf Stream
Relevance of wind stress and wave-dependent ocean surface roughness on the generation of winter meteotsunamis in Northern Gulf of Mexico
Comparison of physical to numerical mixing with different tracer advection schemes in estuarine environments
Alongshore momentum balance over shoreface-connected ridges, Fire Island, NY
Investigating bedload transport under asymmetrical waves using a coupled ocean-wave model
Persistent shoreline shape induced from offshore geologic framework: Effects of shoreface connected ridges
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Coastal Model Applications and Field Measurements
Numerical models are used by scientists, engineers, coastal managers, and the public to understand and predict processes in the coastal ocean. This project supports the development and application of open-source coastal models and has several objectives: 1) improve the code of numerical sediment-transport models by implementing new or improved algorithms; 2) obtain measurements of coastal ocean...Coastal Change Processes- Cape Hatteras, NC
The most prominent morphologic features along the shoreline of the Carolinas are its four capes. From north to south, Cape Hatteras, Cape Lookout, Cape Fear, and Cape Romain segment the coastline into the northern outer banks, Raleigh Bay, Onslo Bay, and Long Bay regions. Continental shelf areas seaward of the capes are characterized by large, highly dynamic shoal complexes, which influence...Coastal Change Processes- South Carolina
Understanding the processes that control local sediment fluxes is critical in evaluating regional vulnerability to coastal erosion. This project task involves the analysis of observational data collected as part of the South Carolina Coastal Erosion Study (SCCES), and additional coastal process modeling for the Grand Strand region. Modeling based on the physical oceanographic observations will...Coastal Change Processes- Outer Banks, NC
The objective of this task is to improve the capabilities of coastal change models to predict large-scale shoreline change on open-ocean sandy coasts, with specific application to the Northern Outer Banks of North Carolina. Numerical models will be tested and developed using high-resolution observations of geological framework and shoreline change in North Carolina, with the objective of first...Coastal Change Processes- Fire Island, NY
Fire Island, a 50-km long barrier-island system between Fire Island Inlet and Moriches Inlet, attracts significant tourism, includes federal, state, and county parks, contains a number of coastal communities, provides storm damage protection to the adjacent heavily populated mainland, and supports a distinct barrier island ecosystem, all of which are affected by coastal change. Mitigating the...Coastal Change Processes
The primary objective of this project is to increase our understanding of the physical processes that cause coastal change, and ultimately improve our capability to predict the processes and their impacts. This will be approached by using geophysical surveys, oceanographic studies, and predictive models to investigate the interactions of shoreline, nearshore, and offshore sediment transport...Estuarine Processes Model Development
We are developing new routines within the COAWST model framework to represent coupled bio-physical processes in estuarine and coastal regions. These include routines for marsh vulnerability to waves, estuarine biogeochemistry, and feedbacks between aquatic vegetation and hydrodynamics.Exploring the USGS Science Data Life Cycle in the Cloud
Executive Summary Traditionally in the USGS, data is processed and analyzed on local researcher computers, then moved to centralized, remote computers for preservation and publishing (ScienceBase, Pubs Warehouse). This approach requires each researcher to have the necessary hardware and software for processing and analysis, and also to bring all external data required for the workflow over the int - Data
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Impact of SST and surface waves on Hurricane Florence (2018): A coupled modeling investigation
Hurricane Florence (2018) devastated the coastal communities of the Carolinas through heavy rainfall that resulted in massive flooding. Florence was characterized by an abrupt reduction in intensity (Saffir-Simpson Category 4 to Category 1) just prior to landfall and synoptic-scale interactions that stalled the storm over the Carolinas for several days. We conducted a series of numerical modelingAuthorsJoseph Zambon, Ruoying He, John C. Warner, Christie HegermillerSummary of oceanographic and water-quality measurements offshore of Matanzas Inlet, Florida, 2018
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists and technical staff deployed instrumented underwater platforms and buoys to collect oceanographic and atmospheric data at two sites near Matanzas Inlet, Florida, on January 24, 2018, and recovered them on April 13, 2018. Matanzas Inlet is a natural, unmaintained inlet on the Florida Atlantic coast that is well suited to study inlet and cross-shore processesAuthorsMarinna A. Martini, Ellyn Montgomery, Steven E. Suttles, John C. WarnerEvaluation of a roughness length parametrization accounting for wind–wave alignment in a coupled atmosphere–wave model
The importance of wind energy as an alternative energy source has increased over the latest years with more focus on offshore winds. A good estimation of the offshore winds is thus of major importance for this industry. Up to now the effect of the wind–wave (mis)alignment has not yet been taken into account in coupled atmosphere–wave models to study the vertical wind profile and power production eAuthorsSara Porchetta, O. Temel, John C. Warner, J.C. Muñoz-Esparza, J Monbaliu, J. van Beeck, N. van LipzigUsing tracer variance decay to quantify variability of salinity mixing in the Hudson River Estuary
The salinity structure in an estuary is controlled by time‐dependent mixing processes. However, the locations and temporal variability of where significant mixing occurs is not well‐understood. Here we utilize a tracer variance approach to demonstrate the spatial and temporal structure of salinity mixing in the Hudson River Estuary. We run a 4‐month hydrodynamic simulation of the tides, currents,AuthorsJohn C. Warner, W Rockwill Geyer, David K. Ralston, Tarandeep S. KalraWave-resolving Shoreline Boundary Conditions for Wave-Averaged Coastal Models
Downscaling broadscale ocean model information to resolve the fine-scale swash-zone dynamics has a number of applications, such as improved resolution of coastal flood hazard drivers, modeling of sediment transport and seabed morphological evolution. A new method is presented, which enables wave-averaged models for the nearshore circulation to include short-wave induced swash zone dynamics that evAuthorsFrancesco Memmola, Alessandro Coluccelli, Aniello Russo, John C. Warner, Maurizio BrocchiniMeteotsunamis triggered by tropical cyclones
Tropical cyclones are one of the most destructive natural hazards and much of the damage and casualties they cause are flood-related. Accurate characterization and prediction of total water levels during extreme storms is necessary to minimize coastal impacts. While meteotsunamis are known to influence water levels and to produce severe consequences, they have been disregarded during tropical cyclAuthorsMaitane Olabarrieta, Luming Shi, David Nolan, John C. WarnerWave-current interaction between Hurricane Matthew wave fields and the Gulf Stream
Hurricanes interact with the Gulf Stream in the South Atlantic Bight (SAB) through a wide variety of processes, which are crucial to understand for prediction of open-ocean and coastal hazards during storms. However, it remains unclear how waves are modified by large-scale ocean currents under storm conditions, when waves are aligned with the storm-driven circulation and tightly coupled to the oveAuthorsChristie Hegermiller, John C. Warner, Maitane Olabarrieta, Christopher R. SherwoodRelevance of wind stress and wave-dependent ocean surface roughness on the generation of winter meteotsunamis in Northern Gulf of Mexico
Meteotsunamis associated with passing squall lines are often observed ahead of cold fronts during winter seasons in Northern Gulf of Mexico. These types of meteotsunamis occur simultaneously with wind speed variations (~5-20 m/s) and sea-level atmospheric pressure oscillations (~1-6 hPa) with periods between 2 hours to several minutes. In order to enhance understanding of meteotsunami generation aAuthorsLijing Shi, Maitane Olabarrieta, Arnoldo Valle-Levinson, John C. WarnerComparison of physical to numerical mixing with different tracer advection schemes in estuarine environments
The numerical simulation of estuarine dynamics requires accurate prediction for the transport of tracers such as temperature and salinity. During the simulation of these processes, all numerical models introduce two kinds of tracer mixing: 1) by parameterizing the tracer eddy diffusivity through turbulence models leading to a source of physical mixing and 2) discretization of the tracer advectionAuthorsTarandeep S. Kalra, Xiangyu Li, John C. Warner, W. R. Geyer, Hui WuAlongshore momentum balance over shoreface-connected ridges, Fire Island, NY
Hydrodynamic and hydrographic data collected on the inner shelf of Fire Island, NY, over a region of shoreface-connected ridges (SFCRs) are used to describe wind-driven circulation over uneven topographies along relatively straight coastlines. The data revealed a predominantly alongshore flow, under westward wind forcing, with localized offshore current veering over the SFCR crests associated withAuthorsConor Ofsthun, Xiaodong Wu, George Voulgaris, John C. WarnerInvestigating bedload transport under asymmetrical waves using a coupled ocean-wave model
Transport by asymmetrical wave motions plays a key role in cross-shore movement of sand, which is important for bar migration, exchange through tidal inlets, and beach recovery after storms. We have implemented a modified version of the SANTOSS formulation in the three-dimensional open-source Coupled-Ocean-Atmosphere-Wave-Sediment Transport (COAWST) modeling framework. The calculation of bedload tAuthorsTarandeep S. Kalra, Christopher R. Sherwood, John C. Warner, Yashar Rafati, Tian Jian HsuPersistent shoreline shape induced from offshore geologic framework: Effects of shoreface connected ridges
Mechanisms relating offshore geologic framework to shoreline evolution are determined through geologic investigations, oceanographic deployments, and numerical modeling. Analysis of shoreline positions from the past 50 years along Fire Island, New York, a 50 km long barrier island, demonstrates a persistent undulating shape along the western half of the island. The shelf offshore of these persisteAuthorsIlgar Safak, Jeffrey H. List, John C. Warner, William C. Schwab - Web Tools
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