Join USGS Research Geologist and lifelong surfer Jon Warrick at the Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center Santa Cruz as he discusses how coastal and ocean geoscience contributes to a better understanding of how waves form and behave as they approach the shore—critical information with a broad range of applications, not least of which is surfing!
Jonathan Warrick
My research focuses on the intersection of rivers and the sea. Topics include the movement of sediment within and from coastal watersheds, and how sediment can alter coastal landscapes and habitats. Recently these subjects have been addressed in my work on the Elwha River, Washington, where the largest dam removal project in U.S. history was completed in 2014.
In The News
2017, Los Angeles Times article, “Highway 1 was buried under a massive landslide. Months later, engineers battle Mother Nature to fix it”
2016, The Department of Interior and Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, International RiverPrize Finalist
2015, New York Times article, “When Dams Come Down, Salmon and Sand Can Prosper”
2014, National Geographic news article, “World’s Largest Dam Removal Unleashes U.S. River After Century of Electric Production”
2013, Book, “Elwha: A River Reborn”
2012, Front-page Seattle Times article, “Dam gone, nature rebuilds Elwha River beach”
2009, Science Daily article, “Sediment Yield From The Tectonically Active Semiarid Western Transverse Ranges Of California”
2006, Environmental Science & Technology news article, “California’s Shifting Sands”
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 17
Typhoon Merbok Disaster Emergency Recovery Efforts
Extreme storm events, such as Extratropical-Typhoon Merbok that hit the coast of Western Alaska in September 2022, are stark reminders of the devastating impacts coastal storms can have on Alaska Native community’s livelihoods and infrastructure. A chronic lack of environmental monitoring and technical assistance in rural Alaska present major barriers to communities affected by Typhoon Merbok...
Remote Sensing Coastal Change
We use remote-sensing technologies—such as aerial photography, satellite imagery, structure-from-motion (SfM) photogrammetry, and lidar (laser-based surveying)—to measure coastal change along U.S. shorelines.
Coastal Climate Impacts
The impacts of climate change and sea-level rise around the Pacific and Arctic Oceans can vary tremendously. Thus far the vast majority of national and international impact assessments and models of coastal climate change have focused on low-relief coastlines that are not near seismically active zones. Furthermore, the degree to which extreme waves and wind will add further stress to coastal...
Using Video Imagery to Study Coastal Change: Santa Cruz Beaches
Two video cameras atop the Dream Inn hotel in Santa Cruz, California, overlook the coast in northern Monterey Bay. One camera looks eastward over Santa Cruz Main Beach and boardwalk, while the other looks southward over Cowells Beach.
Seg2Map: New Tools for ML-based Segmentation of Geospatial Imagery
This proposal would fund the development of Seg2Map, a new open-source, browser-accessible software deployed on the cloud that will apply Machine Learning to imagery and image time-series, to make highly customizable to study Earth’s changing surface for a range of scientific purposes.
Climate impacts on Monterey Bay area beaches
For beach towns around Monterey Bay, preserving the beaches by mitigating coastal erosion is vital. Surveys conducted now and regularly in the future will help scientists understand the short- and long-term impacts of climate change, El Niño years, and sea-level rise on a populated and vulnerable coastline.
Using Video Imagery to Study Coastal Change: Sunset State Beach
Two video cameras overlook the coast at Sunset State Beach in Watsonville, California. Camera 1 looks northwest while Camera 2 looks north. The cameras are part of the Remote Sensing Coastal Change project.
DUNEX Aerial Imagery of the Outer Banks
The During Nearshore Event Experiment (DUNEX) project is a large collaborative scientific study focusing on understanding the consequences of coastal storms on the morphology of coastal ecosystems. By flying large sections of the coast and collecting still images using structure from motion (SfM) techniques, we hope to contribute high resolution (20cm) elevation maps for time series comparisons...
USGS DUNEX Operations on the Outer Banks
DUring Nearshore Event eXperiment (DUNEX) is a multi-agency, academic, and non-governmental organization (NGO) collaborative community experiment designed to study nearshore coastal processes during storm events. The experiment began in 2019 and is scheduled for completion in the fall of 2021. USGS participation in DUNEX will contribute new measurements and models that will increase our...
California Sand Resource Assessment Project
The USGS is working in partnership with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the State of California Ocean Protection Council (OPC) to evaluate sand and gravel resources in Federal and State waters for potential use in future beach nourishment projects. Prior to the leasing and development of outer continental shelf (OCS) sand resources for use in beach restoration or coastal...
The Mud Creek Landslide May 20 2017
On May 20, 2017, the steep slopes at Mud Creek on California’s Big Sur coast, about 140 miles south of San Francisco, suffered a catastrophic collapse. USGS scientists from the Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center and the Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center continue to monitor this section of the coastline, in collaboration with the California Department of Transportation...
USGS science supporting the Elwha River Restoration Project
The Elwha River Restoration Project has reconnected the water, salmon, and sediment of a pristine river and coast of the Olympic Peninsula of Washington.
Science of Surfing
Join USGS Research Geologist and lifelong surfer Jon Warrick at the Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center Santa Cruz as he discusses how coastal and ocean geoscience contributes to a better understanding of how waves form and behave as they approach the shore—critical information with a broad range of applications, not least of which is surfing!
Science of Surfing (AD)
Join USGS Research Geologist and lifelong surfer Jon Warrick at the Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center Santa Cruz as he discusses how coastal and ocean geoscience contribute to a better understanding of how waves form and behave as they approach the shore—critical information with a broad range of applications, not least of which is surfing!
Join USGS Research Geologist and lifelong surfer Jon Warrick at the Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center Santa Cruz as he discusses how coastal and ocean geoscience contribute to a better understanding of how waves form and behave as they approach the shore—critical information with a broad range of applications, not least of which is surfing!
Tracking Coastal Change with Photogrammetry
Monitoring coastal changes is important for the millions of people that live along coasts in the United States, particularly as climate change hastens coastal erosion by raising sea levels and fueling powerful storms.
Monitoring coastal changes is important for the millions of people that live along coasts in the United States, particularly as climate change hastens coastal erosion by raising sea levels and fueling powerful storms.
Tracking Coastal Change with Photogrammetry (AD)
Monitoring coastal changes is important for the millions of people that live along coasts in the United States, particularly as climate change hastens coastal erosion by raising sea levels and fueling powerful storms.
Monitoring coastal changes is important for the millions of people that live along coasts in the United States, particularly as climate change hastens coastal erosion by raising sea levels and fueling powerful storms.
Section of Big Hickory Beach before and after Hurricane Ian
Section of Big Hickory Beach in Bonita Beach, Florida, before and after Hurricane Ian, 2022. The island endured severe damage and coastal change from the storm including overwashed sand and erosion.
Section of Big Hickory Beach in Bonita Beach, Florida, before and after Hurricane Ian, 2022. The island endured severe damage and coastal change from the storm including overwashed sand and erosion.
Section of Fort Myers Beach before and after Hurricane Ian
Section of Fort Myers Beach, Florida, before and after Hurricane Ian, 2022. The area endured severe damage and coastal change from the storm including overwashed sand, coastal flooding, and in some places, erosion.
Section of Fort Myers Beach, Florida, before and after Hurricane Ian, 2022. The area endured severe damage and coastal change from the storm including overwashed sand, coastal flooding, and in some places, erosion.
Section of Fort Myers Beach before and after Hurricane Ian
Section of Fort Myers Beach, Florida, before and after Hurricane Ian, 2022. The area endured severe damage and coastal change from the storm including overwashed sand, coastal flooding, and in some places, erosion.
Section of Fort Myers Beach, Florida, before and after Hurricane Ian, 2022. The area endured severe damage and coastal change from the storm including overwashed sand, coastal flooding, and in some places, erosion.
Section of Sanibel Island before and after Hurricane Ian
Section of Sanibel Island, Florida, before and after Hurricane Ian, 2022. The island endured severe damage and coastal change from the storm including overwashed sand, coastal flooding, and in some places, erosion.
Section of Sanibel Island, Florida, before and after Hurricane Ian, 2022. The island endured severe damage and coastal change from the storm including overwashed sand, coastal flooding, and in some places, erosion.
Section of Sanibel Island before and after Hurricane Ian
Section of Sanibel Island, Florida, before and after Hurricane Ian, 2022. The island endured severe damage and coastal change from the storm including overwashed sand, coastal flooding, and in some places, erosion.
Section of Sanibel Island, Florida, before and after Hurricane Ian, 2022. The island endured severe damage and coastal change from the storm including overwashed sand, coastal flooding, and in some places, erosion.
Big Creek Bridge
A two-day rainstorm from January 26-28, 2021 caused numerous mudslides, debris flows, and other issues along California's coastal Highway 1 through Big Sur. This is Big Creek Bridge, and Big Creek is still murky. Plumes of the muddy runoff are clearly visible in the ocean.
A two-day rainstorm from January 26-28, 2021 caused numerous mudslides, debris flows, and other issues along California's coastal Highway 1 through Big Sur. This is Big Creek Bridge, and Big Creek is still murky. Plumes of the muddy runoff are clearly visible in the ocean.
Big Sur coast just north of Kirk Creek
A two-day rainstorm from January 26-28, 2021 caused numerous mudslides, debris flows, and other issues along California's coastal Highway 1 through Big Sur. This section is just north of Kirk Creek, at a drainage where mud was washed across the roadway. Plumes of the muddy runoff are clearly visible in the ocean.
A two-day rainstorm from January 26-28, 2021 caused numerous mudslides, debris flows, and other issues along California's coastal Highway 1 through Big Sur. This section is just north of Kirk Creek, at a drainage where mud was washed across the roadway. Plumes of the muddy runoff are clearly visible in the ocean.
Mud Creek landslide flight path example
USGS photographs taken from a contracted small airplane are used to build three-dimensional representations of the hillslopes of Big Sur, California, as shown here for the Mud Creek landslide site in 2017. Blue symbols show the locations of individual photos obtained on the flight, and the gray area shows the hillslope landscape created from the photos using S
USGS photographs taken from a contracted small airplane are used to build three-dimensional representations of the hillslopes of Big Sur, California, as shown here for the Mud Creek landslide site in 2017. Blue symbols show the locations of individual photos obtained on the flight, and the gray area shows the hillslope landscape created from the photos using S
Sunset State Beach webcams
USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center in Santa Cruz, California installed these two video cameras, pointed at the shoreline. The cameras collected imagery every half hour for 10 minutes, during daylight hours. The images are stored in the cloud and are used to study coastal variations through time, like wave, shoreline, and sandbar dynamics.
USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center in Santa Cruz, California installed these two video cameras, pointed at the shoreline. The cameras collected imagery every half hour for 10 minutes, during daylight hours. The images are stored in the cloud and are used to study coastal variations through time, like wave, shoreline, and sandbar dynamics.
Gerry Hatcher and Camera System
USGS ocean engineer Gerry Hatcher with the camera system he helped create for recording the precise time and geographic location of each air photo it takes. The system is mounted in the cargo compartment of a Cessna 182R airplane and takes photos through a window cut into a removable cargo door (right).
USGS ocean engineer Gerry Hatcher with the camera system he helped create for recording the precise time and geographic location of each air photo it takes. The system is mounted in the cargo compartment of a Cessna 182R airplane and takes photos through a window cut into a removable cargo door (right).
USGS scientists survey a beach near San Francisco
USGS scientists survey a beach near San Francisco to assist with a comparison of data derived from aerial photos and lidar.
USGS scientists survey a beach near San Francisco to assist with a comparison of data derived from aerial photos and lidar.
Camera rig and GPS receiver
Special camera rig and precision GPS receiver (right) designed to take Structure from Motion photos from a small airplane.
Special camera rig and precision GPS receiver (right) designed to take Structure from Motion photos from a small airplane.
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 17
Typhoon Merbok Disaster Emergency Recovery Efforts
Extreme storm events, such as Extratropical-Typhoon Merbok that hit the coast of Western Alaska in September 2022, are stark reminders of the devastating impacts coastal storms can have on Alaska Native community’s livelihoods and infrastructure. A chronic lack of environmental monitoring and technical assistance in rural Alaska present major barriers to communities affected by Typhoon Merbok...
Remote Sensing Coastal Change
We use remote-sensing technologies—such as aerial photography, satellite imagery, structure-from-motion (SfM) photogrammetry, and lidar (laser-based surveying)—to measure coastal change along U.S. shorelines.
Coastal Climate Impacts
The impacts of climate change and sea-level rise around the Pacific and Arctic Oceans can vary tremendously. Thus far the vast majority of national and international impact assessments and models of coastal climate change have focused on low-relief coastlines that are not near seismically active zones. Furthermore, the degree to which extreme waves and wind will add further stress to coastal...
Using Video Imagery to Study Coastal Change: Santa Cruz Beaches
Two video cameras atop the Dream Inn hotel in Santa Cruz, California, overlook the coast in northern Monterey Bay. One camera looks eastward over Santa Cruz Main Beach and boardwalk, while the other looks southward over Cowells Beach.
Seg2Map: New Tools for ML-based Segmentation of Geospatial Imagery
This proposal would fund the development of Seg2Map, a new open-source, browser-accessible software deployed on the cloud that will apply Machine Learning to imagery and image time-series, to make highly customizable to study Earth’s changing surface for a range of scientific purposes.
Climate impacts on Monterey Bay area beaches
For beach towns around Monterey Bay, preserving the beaches by mitigating coastal erosion is vital. Surveys conducted now and regularly in the future will help scientists understand the short- and long-term impacts of climate change, El Niño years, and sea-level rise on a populated and vulnerable coastline.
Using Video Imagery to Study Coastal Change: Sunset State Beach
Two video cameras overlook the coast at Sunset State Beach in Watsonville, California. Camera 1 looks northwest while Camera 2 looks north. The cameras are part of the Remote Sensing Coastal Change project.
DUNEX Aerial Imagery of the Outer Banks
The During Nearshore Event Experiment (DUNEX) project is a large collaborative scientific study focusing on understanding the consequences of coastal storms on the morphology of coastal ecosystems. By flying large sections of the coast and collecting still images using structure from motion (SfM) techniques, we hope to contribute high resolution (20cm) elevation maps for time series comparisons...
USGS DUNEX Operations on the Outer Banks
DUring Nearshore Event eXperiment (DUNEX) is a multi-agency, academic, and non-governmental organization (NGO) collaborative community experiment designed to study nearshore coastal processes during storm events. The experiment began in 2019 and is scheduled for completion in the fall of 2021. USGS participation in DUNEX will contribute new measurements and models that will increase our...
California Sand Resource Assessment Project
The USGS is working in partnership with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the State of California Ocean Protection Council (OPC) to evaluate sand and gravel resources in Federal and State waters for potential use in future beach nourishment projects. Prior to the leasing and development of outer continental shelf (OCS) sand resources for use in beach restoration or coastal...
The Mud Creek Landslide May 20 2017
On May 20, 2017, the steep slopes at Mud Creek on California’s Big Sur coast, about 140 miles south of San Francisco, suffered a catastrophic collapse. USGS scientists from the Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center and the Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center continue to monitor this section of the coastline, in collaboration with the California Department of Transportation...
USGS science supporting the Elwha River Restoration Project
The Elwha River Restoration Project has reconnected the water, salmon, and sediment of a pristine river and coast of the Olympic Peninsula of Washington.
Science of Surfing
Join USGS Research Geologist and lifelong surfer Jon Warrick at the Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center Santa Cruz as he discusses how coastal and ocean geoscience contributes to a better understanding of how waves form and behave as they approach the shore—critical information with a broad range of applications, not least of which is surfing!
Join USGS Research Geologist and lifelong surfer Jon Warrick at the Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center Santa Cruz as he discusses how coastal and ocean geoscience contributes to a better understanding of how waves form and behave as they approach the shore—critical information with a broad range of applications, not least of which is surfing!
Science of Surfing (AD)
Join USGS Research Geologist and lifelong surfer Jon Warrick at the Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center Santa Cruz as he discusses how coastal and ocean geoscience contribute to a better understanding of how waves form and behave as they approach the shore—critical information with a broad range of applications, not least of which is surfing!
Join USGS Research Geologist and lifelong surfer Jon Warrick at the Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center Santa Cruz as he discusses how coastal and ocean geoscience contribute to a better understanding of how waves form and behave as they approach the shore—critical information with a broad range of applications, not least of which is surfing!
Tracking Coastal Change with Photogrammetry
Monitoring coastal changes is important for the millions of people that live along coasts in the United States, particularly as climate change hastens coastal erosion by raising sea levels and fueling powerful storms.
Monitoring coastal changes is important for the millions of people that live along coasts in the United States, particularly as climate change hastens coastal erosion by raising sea levels and fueling powerful storms.
Tracking Coastal Change with Photogrammetry (AD)
Monitoring coastal changes is important for the millions of people that live along coasts in the United States, particularly as climate change hastens coastal erosion by raising sea levels and fueling powerful storms.
Monitoring coastal changes is important for the millions of people that live along coasts in the United States, particularly as climate change hastens coastal erosion by raising sea levels and fueling powerful storms.
Section of Big Hickory Beach before and after Hurricane Ian
Section of Big Hickory Beach in Bonita Beach, Florida, before and after Hurricane Ian, 2022. The island endured severe damage and coastal change from the storm including overwashed sand and erosion.
Section of Big Hickory Beach in Bonita Beach, Florida, before and after Hurricane Ian, 2022. The island endured severe damage and coastal change from the storm including overwashed sand and erosion.
Section of Fort Myers Beach before and after Hurricane Ian
Section of Fort Myers Beach, Florida, before and after Hurricane Ian, 2022. The area endured severe damage and coastal change from the storm including overwashed sand, coastal flooding, and in some places, erosion.
Section of Fort Myers Beach, Florida, before and after Hurricane Ian, 2022. The area endured severe damage and coastal change from the storm including overwashed sand, coastal flooding, and in some places, erosion.
Section of Fort Myers Beach before and after Hurricane Ian
Section of Fort Myers Beach, Florida, before and after Hurricane Ian, 2022. The area endured severe damage and coastal change from the storm including overwashed sand, coastal flooding, and in some places, erosion.
Section of Fort Myers Beach, Florida, before and after Hurricane Ian, 2022. The area endured severe damage and coastal change from the storm including overwashed sand, coastal flooding, and in some places, erosion.
Section of Sanibel Island before and after Hurricane Ian
Section of Sanibel Island, Florida, before and after Hurricane Ian, 2022. The island endured severe damage and coastal change from the storm including overwashed sand, coastal flooding, and in some places, erosion.
Section of Sanibel Island, Florida, before and after Hurricane Ian, 2022. The island endured severe damage and coastal change from the storm including overwashed sand, coastal flooding, and in some places, erosion.
Section of Sanibel Island before and after Hurricane Ian
Section of Sanibel Island, Florida, before and after Hurricane Ian, 2022. The island endured severe damage and coastal change from the storm including overwashed sand, coastal flooding, and in some places, erosion.
Section of Sanibel Island, Florida, before and after Hurricane Ian, 2022. The island endured severe damage and coastal change from the storm including overwashed sand, coastal flooding, and in some places, erosion.
Big Creek Bridge
A two-day rainstorm from January 26-28, 2021 caused numerous mudslides, debris flows, and other issues along California's coastal Highway 1 through Big Sur. This is Big Creek Bridge, and Big Creek is still murky. Plumes of the muddy runoff are clearly visible in the ocean.
A two-day rainstorm from January 26-28, 2021 caused numerous mudslides, debris flows, and other issues along California's coastal Highway 1 through Big Sur. This is Big Creek Bridge, and Big Creek is still murky. Plumes of the muddy runoff are clearly visible in the ocean.
Big Sur coast just north of Kirk Creek
A two-day rainstorm from January 26-28, 2021 caused numerous mudslides, debris flows, and other issues along California's coastal Highway 1 through Big Sur. This section is just north of Kirk Creek, at a drainage where mud was washed across the roadway. Plumes of the muddy runoff are clearly visible in the ocean.
A two-day rainstorm from January 26-28, 2021 caused numerous mudslides, debris flows, and other issues along California's coastal Highway 1 through Big Sur. This section is just north of Kirk Creek, at a drainage where mud was washed across the roadway. Plumes of the muddy runoff are clearly visible in the ocean.
Mud Creek landslide flight path example
USGS photographs taken from a contracted small airplane are used to build three-dimensional representations of the hillslopes of Big Sur, California, as shown here for the Mud Creek landslide site in 2017. Blue symbols show the locations of individual photos obtained on the flight, and the gray area shows the hillslope landscape created from the photos using S
USGS photographs taken from a contracted small airplane are used to build three-dimensional representations of the hillslopes of Big Sur, California, as shown here for the Mud Creek landslide site in 2017. Blue symbols show the locations of individual photos obtained on the flight, and the gray area shows the hillslope landscape created from the photos using S
Sunset State Beach webcams
USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center in Santa Cruz, California installed these two video cameras, pointed at the shoreline. The cameras collected imagery every half hour for 10 minutes, during daylight hours. The images are stored in the cloud and are used to study coastal variations through time, like wave, shoreline, and sandbar dynamics.
USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center in Santa Cruz, California installed these two video cameras, pointed at the shoreline. The cameras collected imagery every half hour for 10 minutes, during daylight hours. The images are stored in the cloud and are used to study coastal variations through time, like wave, shoreline, and sandbar dynamics.
Gerry Hatcher and Camera System
USGS ocean engineer Gerry Hatcher with the camera system he helped create for recording the precise time and geographic location of each air photo it takes. The system is mounted in the cargo compartment of a Cessna 182R airplane and takes photos through a window cut into a removable cargo door (right).
USGS ocean engineer Gerry Hatcher with the camera system he helped create for recording the precise time and geographic location of each air photo it takes. The system is mounted in the cargo compartment of a Cessna 182R airplane and takes photos through a window cut into a removable cargo door (right).
USGS scientists survey a beach near San Francisco
USGS scientists survey a beach near San Francisco to assist with a comparison of data derived from aerial photos and lidar.
USGS scientists survey a beach near San Francisco to assist with a comparison of data derived from aerial photos and lidar.
Camera rig and GPS receiver
Special camera rig and precision GPS receiver (right) designed to take Structure from Motion photos from a small airplane.
Special camera rig and precision GPS receiver (right) designed to take Structure from Motion photos from a small airplane.