Katy Barnhart is a Research Civil Engineer in the Landslide Hazards program.
Professional Experience
2020-present: Research Civil Engineer, Landslide Hazards Program, Geologic Hazards Science Center
2020-2021: Mendenhall Postdoctoral Fellow
2018-2020: National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Colorado at Boulder, Cooperative Institute for Research in the Environment and Department of Geological Sciences
2016-2018: Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Colorado, Cooperative Institute for Research in the Environment and Department of Geological Sciences
2015-2016: Postdoctoral Fellow, Annenberg Public Policy Center, University of Pennsylvania
Education and Certifications
University of Colorado, Ph.D., 2015, Geological Sciences
University of Colorado, M.S., 2010, Geological Sciences
Princeton University, B.S.E., 2008, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Honors and Awards
CSDMS Terrestrial Working Group Member Spotlight Award, 2020
USGS Mendenhall Fellowship, 2020
NSF-EAR Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2017
NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship, 2012-2015
NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Honorable Mention, 2010
W. Taylor Thom Jr. Prize, Princeton Department of Civil Engineering, 2008
Arthur F. Buddington Award, Princeton Department of Geological Sciences, 2008
Science and Products
New model of the Barry Arm landslide in Alaska reveals potential tsunami wave heights of 2 meters, values much lower than previously estimated
Multi-model comparison of computed debris flow runout for the 9 January 2018 Montecito, California post-wildfire event
Preliminary assessment of the wave generating potential from landslides at Barry Arm, Prince William Sound, Alaska
Postwildfire soil‐hydraulic recovery and the persistence of debris flow hazards
Offset channels may not accurately record strike-slip fault displacement: Evidence from landscape evolution models
Topographic change detection at Chalk Cliffs, Colorado, USA, using Airborne LiDAR and UAS-based Structure-from-Motion photogrammetry
Modeling erosion of ice-rich permafrost bluffs along the Alaskan Beaufort Sea coast
Non-USGS Publications**
and Local Likelihood Estimation”. In: Mathematical Geosciences (2021). DOI: 10.1007/s11004-
020-09917-7.
**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.
Simulated inundation extent and depth in Harriman Fjord and Barry Arm, western Prince William Sound, Alaska, resulting from the hypothetical rapid motion of landslides into Barry Arm Fjord, Prince William Sound, Alaska
Simulated inundation extent and depth at Whittier, Alaska resulting from the hypothetical rapid motion of landslides into Barry Arm Fjord, Prince William Sound, Alaska
Select model results from simulations of hypothetical rapid failures of landslides into Barry Arm, Prince William Sound, Alaska
Science and Products
- Publications
New model of the Barry Arm landslide in Alaska reveals potential tsunami wave heights of 2 meters, values much lower than previously estimated
The retreat of Barry Glacier has contributed to the destabilization of slopes in Barry Arm, creating the possibility that a landslide could rapidly enter the fjord and trigger a tsunami.The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) recently released a report documenting potential tsunami wave heights in the event of a large, fast-moving landslide at the Barry Arm fiord near Prince William Sound, Alaska (BarnhMulti-model comparison of computed debris flow runout for the 9 January 2018 Montecito, California post-wildfire event
Hazard assessment for post-wildfire debris flows, which are common in the steep terrain of the western United States, has focused on the susceptibility of upstream basins to generate debris flows. However, reducing public exposure to this hazard also requires an assessment of hazards in downstream areas that might be inundated during debris flow runout. Debris flow runout models are widely availabPreliminary assessment of the wave generating potential from landslides at Barry Arm, Prince William Sound, Alaska
We simulated the concurrent rapid motion of landslides on an unstable slope at Barry Arm, Alaska. Movement of landslides into the adjacent fjord displaced fjord water and generated a tsunami, which propagated out of Barry Arm. Rather than assuming an initial sea surface height, velocity, and location for the tsunami, we generated the tsunami directly using a model capable of simulating the dynamicPostwildfire soil‐hydraulic recovery and the persistence of debris flow hazards
Deadly and destructive debris flows often follow wildfire, but understanding of changes in the hazard potential with time since fire is poor. We develop a simulation‐based framework to quantify changes in the hydrologic triggering conditions for debris flows as postwildfire infiltration properties evolve through time. Our approach produces time‐varying rainfall intensity‐duration thresholds for ruOffset channels may not accurately record strike-slip fault displacement: Evidence from landscape evolution models
Slip distribution, slip rate, and slip per event for strike‐slip faults are commonly determined by correlating offset stream channels—under the assumption that they record seismic slip—but offset channels are formed by the interplay of tectonic and geomorphic processes. To constrain offset channel development under known tectonic and geomorphic conditions, we use numerical landscape evolution simuTopographic change detection at Chalk Cliffs, Colorado, USA, using Airborne LiDAR and UAS-based Structure-from-Motion photogrammetry
The Chalk Cliffs debris-flow site is a small headwater catchment incised into highly fractured and hydrothermally altered quartz monzonite in a semi-arid climate. Over half of the extremely steep basin is exposed bedrock. Debris flows occur multiple times per year in response to rainstorm events, typically during the summer monsoon season. The frequency of debris flows, and the uniformity of the uModeling erosion of ice-rich permafrost bluffs along the Alaskan Beaufort Sea coast
The Arctic climate is changing, inducing accelerating retreat of ice-rich permafrost coastal bluffs. Along Alaska’s Beaufort Sea coast, erosion rates have increased roughly threefold from 6.8 to 19 m yr−1 since 1955 while the sea ice-free season has increased roughly twofold from 45 to 100 days since 1979. We develop a numerical model of bluff retreat to assess the relative roles of the length of seNon-USGS Publications**
Wiens, A., Kleiber, W., Nychka, D., and Barnhart, K. R. “Nonrigid Registration Using Gaussian Processes
and Local Likelihood Estimation”. In: Mathematical Geosciences (2021). DOI: 10.1007/s11004-
020-09917-7.Anderson, S.P., Kelly, P.J., Hoffman, N., Barnhart, K., Befus, K. and Ouimet, W. (2021). Is This Steady State? Weathering and Critical Zone Architecture in Gordon Gulch, Colorado Front Range. In Hydrogeology, Chemical Weathering, and Soil Formation (eds A. Hunt, M. Egli and B. Faybishenko). https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119563952.ch13K. R. Barnhart, G. E. Tucker, S. Doty, C. M. Shobe, R. C. Glade, M. W. Rossi, and M. C. Hill. “Projections of landscape evolution on a 10,000 year timescale with assessment and partitioning of uncertainty sources”. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface (2020), 2020JF005795. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JF005795.A. M. Pfeiffer, K. R. Barnhart, J. A. Czuba, and E. W. H. Hutton. “NetworkSediment-Transporter: A Landlab component for bed material transport through river networks”. Journal of Open Source Software 5.53 (2020), p. 2341. https://doi.org/10.21105/joss.02341.Barnhart, K. R., Hutton, E. W. H., Tucker, G. E., Gasparini, N. M., Istanbulluoglu, E., Hobley, D. E. J., Lyons, N. J., Mouchene, M., Nudurupati, S. S., Adams, J. M., and Bandaragoda, C.: Short communication: Landlab v2.0: a software package for Earth surface dynamics, Earth Surf. Dynam., 8, 379–397, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-8-379-2020, 2020.K. R. Barnhart, G. E. Tucker, S. Doty, C. M. Shobe, R. C. Glade, M. W. Rossi, and M. C. Hill. “Inverting topography for landscape evolution model process representation: Part 1, conceptualization and sensitivity analysis”. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface (2020), e2018JF004961. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JF004961.K. R. Barnhart, G. E. Tucker, S. Doty, C. M. Shobe, R. C. Glade, M. W. Rossi, and M. C. Hill. “Inverting topography for landscape evolution model process representation: Part 2, calibration and validation”. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface (2020), e2018JF004963. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JF004963.K. R. Barnhart, G. E. Tucker, S. Doty, C. M. Shobe, R. C. Glade, M.W. Rossi, and M. C. Hill. “Inverting topography for landscape evolution model process representation: Part 3, Determining parameter ranges for select mature geomorphic transport laws and connecting changes in fluvial erodibility to changes in climate”. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface (2020), e2019JF005287. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JF005287.D. Litwin, G. Tucker, K. R. Barnhart, and C. Harman. “GroundwaterDupuitPercolator: A Landlab component for groundwater flow”. Journal of Open Source Software 5.46 (2020), 1935. https://doi.org/10.21105/joss.01935.K. R. Barnhart, R. C. Glade, C. M. Shobe, and G. E. Tucker. “Terrainbento 1.0: a Python package for multi-model analysis in long-term drainage basin evolution”. Geoscientific Model Development 12.4 (2019), pp. 1267–1297. https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-12-1267-2019.K. R. Barnhart, E.W. H. Hutton, and G. E. Tucker. “umami: A Python package for Earth surface dynamics objective function construction”. Journal of Open Source Software 4.42 (2019). https://doi.org/10.21105/joss.01776.C. J. Bandaragoda, A. Castronova, E. Istanbulluoglu, R. Strauch, S. S. Nudurupati, J. Phuong, J. M. Adams, N. M. Gasparini, K. R. Barnhart, E. Hutton, D. E. J. Hobley, N. J. Lyons, G. E. Tucker, D. G. Tarboton, R. Idaszak, and S. Wang. “Enabling collaborative numerical Modeling in Earth sciences using Knowledge Infrastructure”. Environmental Modelling and Software (2019). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2019.03.020.A. Wiens, W. Kleiber, K. R. Barnhart, and D. Sain. “Surface Estimation for Multiple Misaligned Point Sets”. Mathematical Geosciences 39.2 (Apr. 2019), pp. 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11004-019-09802-y.K. R. Barnhart, E. Hutton, N. Gasparini, and G. Tucker. “Lithology: A Landlab submodule for spatially variable rock properties”. Journal of Open Source Software 3.30 (2018), pp. 979–2. https://doi.org/10.21105/joss.00979.M. Bendixen, L. L. Iversen, A. A. Bjork, B. Elberling, A.Westergaard-Nielsen, I. Overeem, K. R. Barnhart, S. A. Khan, J. E. Box, J. Abermann, K. Langley, and A. Kroon. “Delta progradation in Greenland driven by increasing glacial mass loss”. Nature 550.7674 (2017), pp. 101–104. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature23873.C. M. Shobe, G. E. Tucker, and K. R. Barnhart. “The SPACE 1.0 model: a Landlab component for 2-D calculation of sediment transport, bedrock erosion, and landscape evolution”. Geoscientific Model Development 10.12 (2017), pp. 4577–4604. https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-10-4577-2017.K. R. Barnhart, C. R. Miller, I. Overeem, and J. E. Kay. “Mapping the future expansion of Arctic open water”. Nature Climate Change (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2848.R. C. Mahon, J. B. Shaw, K. R. Barnhart, D. E. Hobley, and B. McElroy. “Quantifying the stratigraphic completeness of delta shoreline trajectories”. Journal of Geophysical Research-Earth Surface 120.5 (2015), pp. 799–817. https://doi.org/10.1002/2014JF003298.K. R. Barnhart, R. S. Anderson, I. Overeem, C. Wobus, G. D. Clow, and F. E. Urban. “Modeling erosion of ice-rich permafrost bluffs along the Alaskan Beaufort Sea coast”. Journal of Geophysical Research-Earth Surface 119.5 (2014), pp. 1155–1179. https://doi.org/10.1002/2013JF002845.K. R. Barnhart, I. Overeem, and R. S. Anderson. “The effect of changing sea ice on the physical vulnerability of Arctic coasts”. The Cryosphere 8 (2014), pp. 1777–1799. https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-1777-2014.K. R. Barnhart, K. H. Mahan, T. J. Blackburn, S. A. Bowring, and F. O. Dudas. “Deep crustal xenoliths from central Montana, USA: Implications for the timing and mechanisms of high-velocity lower crust formation”. Geosphere (2012). https://doi.org/10.1130/GES00765.1.K. R. Barnhart, P. J. Walsh, L. S. Hollister, C. G. Daniel, and C. Andronicos. “Decompression during Late Proterozoic Al2SiO5 Triple-Point Metamorphism at Cerro Colorado, New Mexico”. The Journal of Geology (2012). https://doi.org/10.1086/665793.T. J. Blackburn, S. A. Bowring, J. T. Perron, K. H. Mahan, F. O. Dudas, and K. R. Barnhart. “An Exhumation History of Continents over Billion-Year Time Scales”. Science 335.6064 (2012), pp. 73–76. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1213496.Litwin, D. G., Tucker, G. E., Barnhart, K. R., and Harman, C. J. “Groundwater Affects the Geomorphic and Hydrologic Properties of Coevolved Landscapes”. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface 127.1 (2022), e2021JF006239. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JF006239.Tucker, G. E., Hutton, E. W. H., Piper, M. D., Campforts, B., Gan, T., Barnhart, K. R., Kettner, A. J., Overeem, I., Peckham, S. D., McCready, L., and Syvitski, J. “CSDMS: a community platform for numerical modeling of Earth surface processes”. Geoscientific Model Development 15.4 (2022), pp. 1413–1439. DOI: 10.5194/gmd-15-1413-2022. URL: https://gmd.copernicus.org/articles/15/1413/2022/.**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.
- Data
Simulated inundation extent and depth in Harriman Fjord and Barry Arm, western Prince William Sound, Alaska, resulting from the hypothetical rapid motion of landslides into Barry Arm Fjord, Prince William Sound, Alaska
Summary This data release contains postprocessed model output from a simulation of hypothetical rapid motion of landslides, subsequent wave generation, and wave propagation. A simulated displacement wave was generated by rapid motion of unstable material into Barry Arm fjord. We consider the wave propagation in Harriman Fjord and Barry Arm, western Prince William Sound (area of interest and placeSimulated inundation extent and depth at Whittier, Alaska resulting from the hypothetical rapid motion of landslides into Barry Arm Fjord, Prince William Sound, Alaska
This data release contains postprocessed model output from simulations of hypothetical rapid motion of landslides, subsequent wave generation, and wave propagation. A modeled tsunami wave was generated by rapid motion of unstable material into Barry Arm Fjord. This wave propagated through Prince William Sound and then into Passage Canal east of Whittier. Here we consider only the largest wave-geneSelect model results from simulations of hypothetical rapid failures of landslides into Barry Arm, Prince William Sound, Alaska
This data release contains model output from simulations presented in the associated Open-File Report (Barnhart and others, 2021). In this report, we present model results from four simulations (scenarios C-290, NC-290, C-689, NC-689, Table 1) of hypothetical rapid movement of landslides into adjacent fjord water at Barry Arm, Alaska using the D-Claw model (George and Iverson, 2014; Iverson and Ge