USGS Research Oceanographer Li Erikson collects coastal data along the Pacific coast during her Mendenhall Fellowship. Her research is focused on coastal storm modeling, storm-induced coastal flooding, erosion, and cliff failures over large geographic scales.
Li Erikson
Research Oceanographer at the USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center
Science and Products
Typhoon Merbok Disaster Emergency Recovery Efforts
Coastal Climate Impacts
Dynamic coastlines along the western U.S.
The Impact of Sea-Level Rise and Climate Change on Pacific Ocean Atolls
Climate impacts to Arctic coasts
Building a Coastal Flood Hazard Assessment and Adaptation Strategy with At-Risk Communities of Alaska
Coastal Storm Modeling System (CoSMoS)
Using Video Imagery to Study Wave Dynamics: Unalakleet
Using Video Imagery to Study Sediment Transport and Wave Dynamics: Nuvuk (Point Barrow)
CoSMoS 3.1: Central California
CoSMoS 2.2: Pt. Arena and Russian River
CoSMoS 3.0: Southern California
Nearshore wave time-series along the coast of Alaska computed with a numerical wave model
Coastal hazards assessment associated with sea level rise and storms along the Whatcom County, Northwest Washington State coast
Projections of shoreline change for California due to 21st century sea-level rise
Future coastal hazards along the U.S. Atlantic coast
Future coastal hazards along the U.S. North and South Carolina coasts
Hydrographic and sediment field data collected in the vicinity of Wainwright, Alaska, in 2009
Coastal Storm Modeling System (CoSMoS) for Northern California 3.2 (ver. 1d, June 2023)
Ocean wave time-series data simulated with a global-scale numerical wave model under the influence of projected CMIP6 wind and sea ice fields
Wave model results of the central Beaufort Sea coast, Alaska
Historical shorelines and morphological metrics for barrier islands and spits along the north coast of Alaska between Cape Beaufort and the U.S.-Canadian border, 1947 to 2019
Nearshore bathymetry data from the Unalakleet River mouth, Alaska, 2019
Hydrodynamic model of the San Francisco Bay and Delta, California
USGS Research Oceanographer Li Erikson collects coastal data along the Pacific coast during her Mendenhall Fellowship. Her research is focused on coastal storm modeling, storm-induced coastal flooding, erosion, and cliff failures over large geographic scales.
The value of marsh restoration for flood risk reduction in an urban estuary
Database and time series of nearshore waves along the Alaskan coast from the United States-Canada border to the Bering Sea
Forecasting storm-induced coastal flooding for 21st century sea-level rise scenarios in the Hawaiian, Mariana, and American Samoan Islands
Advanced quantitative precipitation information: Improving monitoring and forecasts of precipitation, streamflow, and coastal flooding in the San Francisco Bay area
Wind-wave climate changes and their impacts
Modeling extreme water levels in the Salish Sea: The importance of including remote sea level anomalies for application in hydrodynamic simulations
Global projections of storm surges using high-resolution CMIP6 climate models
A model integrating satellite-derived shoreline observations for predicting fine-scale shoreline response to waves and sea-level rise across large coastal regions
Barrier island reconfiguration leads to rapid erosion and relocation of a rural Alaska community
Relative contributions of water-level components to extreme water levels along the US Southeast Atlantic Coast from a regional-scale water-level hindcast
Rapid modeling of compound flooding across broad coastal regions and the necessity to include rainfall driven processes: A case study of Hurricane Florence (2018)
Numerical model characterization of sediment transport potentials pre- and post-construction of an artificial island in Foggy Island Bay, Alaska
Coastal Change in Alaska
Alaska's north coast has been home to indigenous communities for centuries. Changing coastlines threaten important infrastructure and historic sites that support indigenous communities. Changing coastlines also can potentially reduce habitat for Arctic wildlife, such as polar bears, shorebirds, and walruses. Oil- and gas-related development sites and U.S. Department of Defense installations
Science and Products
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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...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...Dynamic coastlines along the western U.S.
The west coast of the United States is extremely complex and changeable because of tectonic activity, mountain building, and land subsidence. These active environments pose a major challenge for accurately assessing climate change impacts, since models were historically developed for more passive sandy coasts.The Impact of Sea-Level Rise and Climate Change on Pacific Ocean Atolls
Providing basic understanding and specific information on storm-wave inundation of atoll islands that house Department of Defense installations, and assessing the resulting impact of sea-level rise and storm-wave inundation on infrastructure and freshwater availability under a variety of sea-level rise and climatic scenarios.Climate impacts to Arctic coasts
The Arctic region is warming faster than anywhere else in the nation. Understanding the rates and causes of coastal change in Alaska is needed to identify and mitigate hazards that might affect people and animals that call Alaska home.Building a Coastal Flood Hazard Assessment and Adaptation Strategy with At-Risk Communities of Alaska
Coastal flooding and erosion caused by storms and sea-level rise threaten infrastructure and public safety in Alaska Native communities. Though the problem is well known, there are few tools that can assess local vulnerability to coastal flood hazards. Even fewer tools can be customized with specific community information to support local adaptation planning. The main goal of this project is tCoastal Storm Modeling System (CoSMoS)
The Coastal Storm Modeling System (CoSMoS) makes detailed predictions of storm-induced coastal flooding, erosion, and cliff failures over large geographic scales. CoSMoS was developed for hindcast studies, operational applications and future climate scenarios to provide emergency responders and coastal planners with critical storm-hazards information that can be used to increase public safety...Using Video Imagery to Study Wave Dynamics: Unalakleet
USGS scientists installed two video cameras atop a windmill tower in Unalakleet, Alaska, pointing westward over Norton Sound, to observe and quantify coastal processes such as wave run-up, development of rip channels, bluff erosion, and movement of sandbars and ice floes.Using Video Imagery to Study Sediment Transport and Wave Dynamics: Nuvuk (Point Barrow)
Two coastal observing video cameras are installed atop a utility pole near the northernmost point of land in the United States, at Nuvuk (Point Barrow), Alaska. The cameras point northwest toward the Arctic Ocean and the boundary between the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, and will be used to observe and quantify coastal processes such as wave run-up, bluff erosion, movement of sandbars and ice floes...CoSMoS 3.1: Central California
CoSMoS v3.1 for central California shows projections for future climate scenarios (sea-level rise and storms)CoSMoS 2.2: Pt. Arena and Russian River
Building on the initial work in the Bay Area and Outer Coast, CoSMoS 2.2 adds river flows to help users project combined river and coastal flooding along the northern California coast from Bodega Head to Point Arena.CoSMoS 3.0: Southern California
CoSMoS 3.0 for southern California provides detailed predictions of coastal flooding due to both future sea-level rise and storms, integrated with predictions of long-term coastal evolution (beach changes and coastal cliff retreat) for the Southern California region, from Point Conception (Santa Barbara County) to Imperial Beach (San Diego County). - Data
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Nearshore wave time-series along the coast of Alaska computed with a numerical wave model
Alaska's Arctic coast has some of the highest erosion rates in the world. Erosion in the Arctic is primarily driven by permafrost melting and wave activity. The warming climate decreases sea ice coverage, resulting in an increase in wave energy. To overcome the lack of available observational wave data in the nearshore, waves were downscaled with a numerical wave model (SWAN) for the hindcast periCoastal hazards assessment associated with sea level rise and storms along the Whatcom County, Northwest Washington State coast
This product contains several datasets that map exposure to future forecasted hazards related to coastal flooding and extreme wave heights accounting for sea level rise (SLR) and climate change along the Whatcom County coast of northwestern Washington State in the Salish Sea. The SLR scenarios encompass a plausible range of projections by 2100 based on the best available science and storms accountProjections of shoreline change for California due to 21st century sea-level rise
This dataset contains projections of shoreline change and uncertainty bands across California for future scenarios of sea-level rise (SLR). Projections were made using the Coastal Storm Modeling System - Coastal One-line Assimilated Simulation Tool (CoSMoS-COAST), a numerical model run in an ensemble forced with global-to-local nested wave models and assimilated with satellite-derived shoreline (SFuture coastal hazards along the U.S. Atlantic coast
This product consists of several datasets that map future coastal flooding and erosion hazards due to sea level rise (SLR) and storms for three States (Florida, Georgia, and Virginia) along the Atlantic coast of the United States. The SLR scenarios encompass a plausible range of projections by 2100 based on the best available science and with enough resolution to support a suite of different plannFuture coastal hazards along the U.S. North and South Carolina coasts
This product consists of several datasets that map future coastal flooding and erosion hazards due to sea level rise (SLR) and storms along the North and South Carolina coast. The SLR scenarios encompass a plausible range of projections by 2100 based on the best available, science and with enough resolution to support a suite of different planning horizons. The storm scenarios are derived with theHydrographic and sediment field data collected in the vicinity of Wainwright, Alaska, in 2009
This dataset consists of hydrographic, geomorphic, and sediment field measurements obtained during the ice-free summer of 2009 in the vicinity of Wainwright, Alaska. Time-series data were collected with a bottom-mounted instrument package and consist of wave statistics, vertical water flow velocity profiles, water temperatures, conductivity, and salinity concentrations. Data collected at distinctCoastal Storm Modeling System (CoSMoS) for Northern California 3.2 (ver. 1d, June 2023)
The Coastal Storm Modeling System (CoSMoS) makes detailed predictions (meter-scale) over large geographic scales (100s of kilometers) of storm-induced coastal flooding and erosion for both current and future sea-level rise (SLR) scenarios. CoSMoS 3.2 for Northern California shows projections for future climate scenarios (sea-level rise and storms) to provide emergency responders and coastal planneOcean wave time-series data simulated with a global-scale numerical wave model under the influence of projected CMIP6 wind and sea ice fields
This dataset contains projected hourly time-series data of waves at distinct points along all open U.S. coasts for years 2020-2050. The 'projections' (estimates of long-term future conditions) were developed by running the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) WAVEWATCHIII wave model forced with winds and sea ice cover from seven separate high-resolution Global Climate / GeneralWave model results of the central Beaufort Sea coast, Alaska
A three-level SWAN (version 41.31) nesting grid has been developed for the central Beaufort Sea coast to simulate waves over the hindcast period 1979 - 2019. The model includes the implementations of sea ice by Rogers (2019) and includes both 1) a dissipation source term and 2) a scaling of wind input source as functions by sea ice. The bathymetric dataset used for the model is the InternationalHistorical shorelines and morphological metrics for barrier islands and spits along the north coast of Alaska between Cape Beaufort and the U.S.-Canadian border, 1947 to 2019
A suite of morphological metrics were derived from existing shoreline and elevation datasets for barrier islands and spits located along the north-slope coast of Alaska between Cape Beaufort and the U.S.-Canadian border. This dataset includes barrier shorelines and polygons attributed with morphological metrics from five time periods: 1950s, 1980s, 2000s, 2010s, and 2020s.Nearshore bathymetry data from the Unalakleet River mouth, Alaska, 2019
This data release presents nearshore bathymetry data collected at the mouth of the Unalakleet River in Alaska, near the city of Unalakleet. The data were collected in August 2019 by the U.S. Geological Survey, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center. Nearshore bathymetry was measured along survey lines from the shore to a depth of approximately -7.4 m NAVD88 and in a portion of the estuary closeHydrodynamic model of the San Francisco Bay and Delta, California
A two-dimensional hydrodynamic model of the San Francisco Bay and Delta was constructed using the Delft3D Flexible Mesh (DFM) modeling suite (www.deltares.nl/en/software/delft3d-flexible-mesh-suite/) to simulate water levels. Required model input files are provided to run the model for the time period from October 1, 2018, to April 30, 2019. This data release describes the construction and validat - Multimedia
Li Erikson
USGS Research Oceanographer Li Erikson collects coastal data along the Pacific coast during her Mendenhall Fellowship. Her research is focused on coastal storm modeling, storm-induced coastal flooding, erosion, and cliff failures over large geographic scales.
USGS Research Oceanographer Li Erikson collects coastal data along the Pacific coast during her Mendenhall Fellowship. Her research is focused on coastal storm modeling, storm-induced coastal flooding, erosion, and cliff failures over large geographic scales.
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The value of marsh restoration for flood risk reduction in an urban estuary
The use of nature-based solutions (NBS) for coastal climate adaptation has broad and growing interest, but NBS are rarely assessed with the same rigor as traditional engineering solutions or with respect to future climate change scenarios. These gaps pose challenges for the use of NBS for climate adaptation. Here, we value the flood protection benefits of stakeholder-identified marsh restoration uAuthorsRae M. Taylor-Burns, Chris Lowrie, Babak Tehranirad, Jeremy Lowe, Li H. Erikson, Patrick L. Barnard, Borja G. Reguero, Michael W. BeckDatabase and time series of nearshore waves along the Alaskan coast from the United States-Canada border to the Bering Sea
Alaska’s Arctic coast has some of the highest coastal erosion rates in the world, primarily driven by permafrost thaw and increasing wave energy. In the Arctic, a warming climate is driving sea ice cover to decrease in space and time. A lack of long-term observational wave data along Alaska’s coast challenges the ability of engineers, scientists, and planners to study and address threats and effecAuthorsAnita C. Engelstad, Li H. Erikson, Borja G. Reguero, Ann E. Gibbs, Kees NederhoffForecasting storm-induced coastal flooding for 21st century sea-level rise scenarios in the Hawaiian, Mariana, and American Samoan Islands
Oceanographic, coastal engineering, ecologic, and geospatial data and tools were combined to evaluate the increased risks of storm-induced coastal flooding in the populated Hawaiian, Mariana, and American Samoan Islands as a result of climate change and sea-level rise. We followed a hybrid (dynamical and statistical) downscaling approach to map flooding due to waves and storm surge at 10-square meAuthorsCurt D. Storlazzi, Borja G. Reguero, Camila Gaido L., Kristen C. Alkins, Chris Lowry, Cornelis M. Nederhoff, Li H. Erikson, Andrea C. O'Neill, Michael W. BeckAdvanced quantitative precipitation information: Improving monitoring and forecasts of precipitation, streamflow, and coastal flooding in the San Francisco Bay area
Advanced Quantitative Precipitation Information (AQPI) is a synergistic project that combines observations and models to improve monitoring and forecasts of precipitation, streamflow, and coastal flooding in the San Francisco Bay Area. As an experimental system, AQPI leverages more than a decade of research, innovation, and implementation of a statewide, state-of-the-art network of observations, aAuthorsRobert Cifelli, V Chandrasekar, Liv M. Herdman, Dave Turner, A. B. White, M. Alcott, M. C. Anderson, Patrick L. Barnard, S.K. Biswas, M. Boucher, J. Bytheway, H. Chen, H. Cutler, M. English, Li H. Erikson, F. Junyent, L. E. Johnson, J. Krebs, J. van de Lindt, J. Kim, Marty L. Leonard, Y. Ma, M. Marquis, W. Moninger, G. Pratt, C. Radhakrishnan, Michael Shields, J. Spaulding, Babak Tehranirad, R. S. WebbWind-wave climate changes and their impacts
Wind-waves have an important role in Earth system dynamics through air–sea interactions and are key drivers of coastal and offshore hydro-morphodynamics that affect communities, ecosystems, infrastructure and operations. In this Review, we outline historical and projected changes in the wind-wave climate over the world’s oceans, and their impacts. Historical trend analysis is challenging owing toAuthorsMerce Casas-Prat, Mark Hemer, Guillaume Dodet, Joao Morim, Xiaolan Wang, Nobuhito Mori, Ian Young, Li H. Erikson, Bahareh Kamranzad, Prashant Kumar, Melisa Menendez, Justin Stopa, Yang FengModeling extreme water levels in the Salish Sea: The importance of including remote sea level anomalies for application in hydrodynamic simulations
Extreme water-level recurrence estimates for a complex estuary using a high-resolution 2D model and a new method for estimating remotely generated sea level anomalies (SLAs) at the model boundary have been developed. The hydrodynamic model accurately resolves the dominant physical processes contributing to extreme water levels across the Washington State waters of the Salish Sea, including the relAuthorsEric E. Grossman, Babak Tehranirad, Kees Nederhoff, Sean Crosby, Andrew W. Stevens, Nathan R. VanArendonk, Daniel J. Nowacki, Li H. Erikson, Patrick L. BarnardGlobal projections of storm surges using high-resolution CMIP6 climate models
In the coming decades, coastal flooding will become more frequent due to sea-level rise and potential changes in storms. To produce global storm surge projections from 1950 to 2050, we force the Global Tide and Surge Model with a ∼25-km resolution climate model ensemble from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 High Resolution Model Intercomparison Project (HighResMIP). This is the fiAuthorsSanne Muis, Jeroen C. J. H. Aerts, José A. Á. Antolínez, Job C. Dullaart, Trang Minh Duong, Li H. Erikson, Rein J. Haarsma, Maialen Irazoqui Apecechea, Matthias Mengel, Dewi Le Bars, Andrea C. O'Neill, Roshanka Ranasinghe, Malcolm J. Roberts, Martin Verlaan, Philip J. Ward, Kun YanA model integrating satellite-derived shoreline observations for predicting fine-scale shoreline response to waves and sea-level rise across large coastal regions
Satellite-derived shoreline observations combined with dynamic shoreline models enable fine-scale predictions of coastal change across large spatiotemporal scales. Here, we present a satellite-data-assimilated, “littoral-cell”-based, ensemble Kalman-filter shoreline model to predict coastal change and uncertainty due to waves, sea-level rise (SLR), and other natural and anthropogenic processes. WeAuthorsSean Vitousek, Kilian Vos, Kristen D. Splinter, Li H. Erikson, Patrick L. BarnardBarrier island reconfiguration leads to rapid erosion and relocation of a rural Alaska community
Coastal erosion is one of the foremost hazards that circumpolar communities face. Climate change and warming temperatures are anticipated to accelerate coastal change, increasing risk to coastal communities. Most erosion hazard studies for Alaska communities only consider linear erosion and do not anticipate coastal morphologic changes. This study showcases the possibility and consequence of accelAuthorsRichard M. Buzard, Nicole E.M. Kinsman, Christopher V. Maio, Li H. Erikson, Benjamin M. Jones, Scott K. Anderson, Roberta Glenn, Jacquelyn R. OverbeckRelative contributions of water-level components to extreme water levels along the US Southeast Atlantic Coast from a regional-scale water-level hindcast
A 38-year hindcast water level product is developed for the U.S. Southeast Atlantic coastline from the entrance of Chesapeake Bay to the southeast tip of Florida. The water level modelling framework utilized in this study combines a global-scale hydrodynamic model (Global Tide and Surge Model, GTSM-ERA5), a novel ensemble-based tide model, a parameterized wave setup model, and statistical correctiAuthorsKai Alexander Parker, Li H. Erikson, Jennifer Anne Thomas, Cornelis M. Nederhoff, Patrick L. Barnard, Sanne MuisRapid modeling of compound flooding across broad coastal regions and the necessity to include rainfall driven processes: A case study of Hurricane Florence (2018)
In this work, we show that large-scale compound flood models developed for North and South Carolina, USA, can skillfully simulate multiple drivers of coastal flooding as confirmed by measurements collected during Hurricane Florence (2018). Besides the accuracy of representing observed water levels, the importance of individual processes was investigated. We demonstrate that across the area of inteAuthorsTim Leijnse, Cornelis M. Nederhoff, Jennifer Anne Thomas, Kai Alexander Parker, Maarten van Ormondt, Li H. Erikson, Robert T. McCall, Ap van Dongeren, Andrea C. O'Neill, Patrick L. BarnardNumerical model characterization of sediment transport potentials pre- and post-construction of an artificial island in Foggy Island Bay, Alaska
The anticipated construction of the Liberty Development Island near Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, has created a need to understand how the island may influence sediment transport patterns and deposition on the nearby Boulder Patch ecosystem. This study uses a numerical model to characterize sediment transport pathways in Foggy Island Bay with and without the artificial island in place. We present the DelftAuthorsCornelis M. Nederhoff, Li H. Erikson, Anita C Engelstad, Stuart Pearson - Web Tools
Coastal Change in Alaska
Alaska's north coast has been home to indigenous communities for centuries. Changing coastlines threaten important infrastructure and historic sites that support indigenous communities. Changing coastlines also can potentially reduce habitat for Arctic wildlife, such as polar bears, shorebirds, and walruses. Oil- and gas-related development sites and U.S. Department of Defense installations
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