John Warner, Ph.D
Science and Products
Coastal System Change at Fire Island, New York
Fire Island is a 50-km long barrier island along the south shore of Long Island, New York. The island is comprised of seventeen year-round communities; federal, state, and county parks; and supports distinct ecosystems alongside areas of economic and cultural value. In addition to providing resources to its residents, the barrier island also protects the heavily-populated mainland from storm...
Open Ocean/Marine - Coastal System Change at Fire Island, New York
Geophysical mapping and research have demonstrated that the seabed on the inner continental shelf has a variety of shapes which are linked to long-term evolution of the barrier island. Regional-scale modeling forecasts how atmospheric forcing and oceanographic circulation case sand, gravel, and other materials to be transported by tides, winds, waves, fresh water fluxes, and density variations...
Estuarine Processes, Hazards, and Ecosystems
Estuarine processes, hazards, and ecosystems describes several interdisciplinary projects that aim to quantify and understand estuarine processes through observations and numerical modeling. Both the spatial and temporal scales of these mechanisms are important, and therefore require modern instrumentation and state-of-the-art hydrodynamic models. These projects are led from the U.S....
Cross-Shore and Inlets (CSI) Processes
Exchange of flows, sediment, and biological particles between the inner shelf and back-barrier estuaries are significant for determination of extreme water levels, maintenance and formation of inlets, barrier-island evolution, and pollutant and larval transport. These connections are controlled by cross-shore processes including wave-driven inner-shelf and near-shore processes, dune...
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...
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....
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, Raliegh 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- 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...
Comparison 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...
Kalra, Tarandeep S.; Li, Xiangyu; Warner, John C.; Geyer, W. R.; Wu, Hui Alongshore 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...
Ofsthun, Conor; Wu, Xiaodong; Voulgaris, George; Warner, John C. Persistent 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...
Safak, Ilgar; List, Jeffrey H.; Warner, John C.; Schwab, William C. Change in morphology and modern sediment thickness on the inner continental shelf offshore of Fire Island, New York between 2011 and 2014: Analysis of hurricane impact
Seafloor mapping investigations conducted on the lower shoreface and inner continental shelf offshore of Fire Island, New York in 2011 and 2014, the period encompassing the impacts of Hurricanes Irene and Sandy, provide an unprecedented perspective regarding regional inner continental shelf sediment dynamics during large storm events. Analyses...
Schwab, William C.; Baldwin, Wayne E.; Warner, John C.; List, Jeffrey H.; Denny, Jane F.; Liste Munoz, Maria; Safak, Ilgar Rip currents and alongshore flows in single channels dredged in the surf zone
To investigate the dynamics of flows near nonuniform bathymetry, single channels (on average 30 m wide and 1.5 m deep) were dredged across the surf zone at five different times, and the subsequent evolution of currents and morphology was observed for a range of wave and tidal conditions. In addition, circulation was simulated with the numerical...
Moulton, Melissa; Elgar, Steve; Raubenheimer, Britt; Warner, John C.; Kumar, Nirnimesh Observations and 3D hydrodynamics-based modeling of decadal-scale shoreline change along the Outer Banks, North Carolina
Long-term decadal-scale shoreline change is an important parameter for quantifying the stability of coastal systems. The decadal-scale coastal change is controlled by processes that occur on short time scales (such as storms) and long-term processes (such as prevailing waves). The ability to predict decadal-scale shoreline change is not well...
Safak, Ilgar; List, Jeffrey H.; Warner, John C.; Kumar, Nirnimesh Inner-shelf ocean dynamics and seafloor morphologic changes during Hurricane Sandy
Hurricane Sandy was one of the most destructive hurricanes in US history, making landfall on the New Jersey coast on Oct 30, 2012. Storm impacts included several barrier island breaches, massive coastal erosion, and flooding. While changes to the subaerial landscape are relatively easily observed, storm-induced changes to the adjacent shoreface...
Warner, John C.; Schwab, William C.; List, Jeffrey H.; Safak, Ilgar; Liste, Maria; Baldwin, Wayne E. Development of a coupled wave-flow-vegetation interaction model
Emergent and submerged vegetation can significantly affect coastal hydrodynamics. However, most deterministic numerical models do not take into account their influence on currents, waves, and turbulence. In this paper, we describe the implementation of a wave-flow-vegetation module into a Coupled-Ocean-Atmosphere-Wave-Sediment Transport (COAWST)...
Beudin, Alexis; Kalra, Tarandeep S.; Ganju, Neil K.; Warner, John C. Barrier island breach evolution: Alongshore transport and bay-ocean pressure gradient interactions
Physical processes controlling repeated openings and closures of a barrier island breach between a bay and the open ocean are studied using aerial photographs and atmospheric and hydrodynamic observations. The breach site is located on Pea Island along the Outer Banks, separating Pamlico Sound from the Atlantic Ocean. Wind direction was a major...
Safak, Ilgar; Warner, John C.; List, Jeffrey H.
Coastal Change Processes Project data report for oceanographic observations near Fire Island, New York, February through May 2014
An oceanographic field study during February through May 2014 investigated processes that control the sediment-transport dynamics along the western part of Fire Island, New York. This report describes the project background, field program, instrumentation configuration, and locations of the sensors deployed. The data collected, including...
Armstrong, Brandy N.; Warner, John C.; List, Jeffrey H.; Martini, Marinna A.; Montgomery, Ellyn T.; Traykovski, Peter A.; Voulgaris, George
Coastal Change Processes Project data report for observations near Fire Island, New York, January to April 2012
An oceanographic field study during January through April 2012 investigated processes that control the sediment-transport dynamics near Fire Island, New York. This report describes the project background, field program, instrumentation configuration, and locations of the sensors deploymed. The data collected and supporting meteorological...
Armstrong, Brandy N.; Warner, John C.; List, Jeffrey H.; Martini, Marinna A.; Montgomery, Ellyn T.; Voulgaris, George; Traykovski, Peter A. Inner-shelf circulation and sediment dynamics on a series of shoreface connected ridges offshore of Fire Island, NY
Locations along the inner-continental shelf offshore of Fire Island, NY, are characterized by a series of shoreface connected ridges (SFCRs). These sand ridges have approximate dimensions of 10 km in length, 3 km spacing, up to ~8 m ridge to trough relief, and are oriented obliquely at approximately 30 degrees clockwise from the coastline....
Warner, John C.; List, Jeffrey H.; Schwab, William C.; Voulgaris, George; Armstrong, Brandy N.; Marshall, N
Coupled-Ocean-Atmosphere-Wave-Sediment Transport (COAWST) Modeling System
The Coupled-Ocean-Atmosphere-Wave-Sediment Transport (COAWST) Modeling System is an agglomeration of open-source modeling components that has been tailored to investigate coupled processes of the atmosphere, ocean, and waves in the coastal ocean.
Coupled-Ocean-Atmosphere-Waves-Sediment Transport (COAWST) Modeling System Training
Predicting Coastal Storm Impacts: 4th COAWST Model Training in the James Hunt Library at North Carolina State University, hosted by John Warner, Research Oceanographer of the USGS Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center.
Predicting Coastal Storm Impacts: 4th COAWST Model Training
The USGS has been leading the development of a Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere-Waves-Sediment Transport (COAWST) Modeling System.
USGS Deploys Oceanographic Gear Offshore from Matanzas Inlet, St. Augustine, Florida
Matanzas is a natural, unstabilized inlet, which makes it an ideal location to study dynamic inlet processes in a non-maintained channel.
Advanced Model Training for Predicting Coastal Storm Impacts
The USGS has been leading the development of a Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere-Waves-Sediment Transport (COAWST) Modeling system.