Kimberlie Perkins
Biography
Education:
San Jose State University: M.S. in Geology, December 2005.
University of California, Berkeley: B.S. in Soil Science, December 1996
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Research Experience:
1997- Present Research Hydrologist, Water Mission Area, Earth Surface Processes Division, Water Cycle Branch, United States Geological Survey, Supervisor: Dr. John Nimmo
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Research Interests:
- Land use changes and their hydrologic influence on ecosystems.
- Understanding water flow and contaminant transport in the unsaturated zone using a combination of laboratory measurements, field experiments, and modeling.
- Aquifer recharge estimation techniques.
- Laboratory measurement and modeling of unsaturated hydraulic properties of porous materials.
- Development of physically-based models for estimating hydraulic properties without the need for direct measurement.
- Field techniques for measuring and quantifying hydrologic processes.
- Mechanisms and quantification of preferential flow in the unsaturated zone.
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Awards:
USGS Star Award for outstanding performance received in 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2009. 2010, 2011, 2018
San Jose State University Graduate Studies Scholarship 2003.
Science and Products
Rapid-response unsaturated zone hydrology: Small-scale data, small-scale theory, big problems
The unsaturated zone (UZ) extends across the Earth’s terrestrial surface and is central to many problems related to land and water resource management. Flow of water through the UZ is typically thought to be slow and diffusive, such that it could attenuate fluxes and dampen variability between atmospheric inputs and underlying aquifer systems....
Nimmo, John R.; Perkins, Kimberlie; Plampin, Michelle R.; Walvoord, Michelle A.; Ebel, Brian A.; Mirus, Benjamin B. Landscape level effects of invasive plants and animals on water infiltration through Hawaiian tropical forests
Watershed degradation due to invasion threatens downstream water flows and associated ecosystem services. While this topic has been studied across landscapes that have undergone invasive-driven state changes (e.g., native forest to invaded grassland), it is less well understood in ecosystems experiencing within-system invasion (e.g. native forest...
Fortini, Lucas; Leopold, Christina; Perkins, Kimberlie; Chadwick, Oliver A.; Yelenik, Stephanie G.; Jacobi, James D.; Bishaw, Kaiena; Gregg, Makani Does the Darcy-Buckingham Law apply to flow through unsaturated porous rock?
The Darcy–Buckingham (DB) law, critical to the prediction of unsaturated flow, is widely used but has rarely been experimentally tested, and therefore may not be adequate in certain conditions. Failure of this law would imply that the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity is not constant for a given water content, as assumed in nearly all subsurface...
Turturro, Antonietta C.; Caputo, Maria C.; Perkins, Kimberlie; Nimmo, John R. Local to landscape-level controls of water fluxes through Hawaiian forests: Effects of invasive animals and plants on soil infiltration capacity across substrate and moisture gradients
Given the potential effect of invasive plants and animals to water fluxes through forests, the invasive-driven degradation of native ecosystems is a topic of great concern for many downstream land and water managers. The infiltration rate determines the partitioning between runoff and infiltration into soil in Hawaiian forests and beyond. Thus, to...
Fortini, Lucas B.; Leopold, Christina; Perkins, Kimberlie; Chadwick, Oliver A.; Yelenik, Stephanie G.; Jacobi, James D.; Bishaw, Kaiena; Gregg, Makani; Rosa, Sarah N. UZIG research: Measurement and characterization of unsaturated zone processes under wide-ranging climates and changing conditions
Unsaturated zone properties and processes are central to understanding the interacting effects of land-use change, contamination, and hydroclimate on our ability to grow food, sustain clean water supplies, and minimize loss of life and property. Advances in unsaturated zone science are being achieved through collaborations across traditional...
Trost, Jared J.; Mirus, Benjamin B.; Perkins, Kimberlie; Henson, Wesley R.; Nimmo, John R.; Munoz-Carpena, Rafael Episodic master recession evaluation of groundwater and streamflow hydrographs for water-resource estimation
Hydrograph analysis tools using a master recession curve (MRC) can produce many types of hydrologically important watershed-response quantifications, including aquifer recharge and stormflow characterization. An MRC is the relation between the value of a measured response R and its rate of change with time, dR/dt, occurring on the...
Nimmo, John R.; Perkins, Kimberlie Preferential flow, diffuse flow, and perching in an interbedded fractured-rock unsaturated zone
Layers of strong geologic contrast within the unsaturated zone can control recharge and contaminant transport to underlying aquifers. Slow diffuse flow in certain geologic layers, and rapid preferential flow in others, complicates the prediction of vertical and lateral fluxes. A simple model is presented, designed to use limited geological site...
Nimmo, John R.; Creasey, Kaitlyn M; Perkins, Kimberlie; Mirus, Benjamin B.
Measurement of unsaturated hydraulic properties and evaluation of property-transfer models for deep sedimentary interbeds, Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho
Operations at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) have the potential to contaminate the underlying Eastern Snake River Plain (ESRP) aquifer. Methods to quantitatively characterize unsaturated flow and recharge to the ESRP aquifer are needed to inform water-resources management decisions at INL. In particular, hydraulic properties are needed to...
Perkins, Kimberlie; Johnson, Brittany D.; Mirus, Benjamin B. Assessing effects of native forest restoration on soil moisture dynamics and potential aquifer recharge, Auwahi, Maui
Understanding the role of soils in regulating water flow through the unsaturated zone is critical in assessing the influence of vegetation on soil moisture dynamics and aquifer recharge. Because of fire, introduced ungulates and landscape-level invasion of non-native grasses, less than 10% of original dry forest (~730 mm precipitation...
Perkins, Kim S.; Nimmo, John R.; Medeiros, Arthur C.; Szutu, Daphne J.; von Allmen, Erica Practical estimates of field-saturated hydraulic conductivity of bedrock outcrops using a modified bottomless bucket method
The bottomless bucket (BB) approach (Nimmo et al., 2009a) is a cost-effective method for rapidly characterizing field-saturated hydraulic conductivity Kfs of soils and alluvial deposits. This practical approach is of particular value for quantifying infiltration rates in remote areas with limited accessibility. A similar approach for bedrock...
Mirus, Benjamin B.; Perkins, Kim S. Effects of native forest restoration on soil hydraulic properties, Auwahi, Maui, Hawaiian Islands
Over historic time Hawai'i's dryland forests have been largely replaced by grasslands for grazing livestock. On-going efforts have been undertaken to restore dryland forests to bring back native species and reduce erosion. The reestablishment of native ecosystems on land severely degraded by long-term alternative use requires reversal of the...
Perkins, Kimberlie S.; Nimmo, John R.; Medeiros, Arthur C. Measurement and modeling of unsaturated hydraulic conductivity: Chapter 21
The unsaturated zone plays an extremely important hydrologic role that influences water quality and quantity, ecosystem function and health, the connection between atmospheric and terrestrial processes, nutrient cycling, soil development, and natural hazards such as flooding and landslides. Unsaturated hydraulic conductivity is one of the main...
Elango, Lakshmanan; Perkins, Kim S.