Martin A. Briggs
(he/him)Martin Briggs (he/him) is a Research Hydrologist for the Hydrologic Remote Sensing Branch of the USGS Water Resources Mission Area Observing Systems Division.
At the USGS Hydrologic Remote Sensing Branch (HRSB) Marty works on a wide range of pressing hydrological issues across climates and hydrogeological terrain. As a national office, one of HRSB’s primary functions is to support regional USGS Water Science Centers through providing hydrogeophysical tools, training, and collaboration on novel water research. As central missions at the Branch are training and methods development, Marty often travels to provide workshops, participate in outreach events, and to field-test new methods that are then utilized for research applications. Although his specialty is in surface water/groundwater exchange processes, Marty works on a wide range of pressing national hydrological issues where geophysical and remotely sensed data lend insight. Marty also contributes to several Water Mission Area Programs including the Next Generation Water Observing System and co-advises graduate students at the University of Connecticut through a Cooperative Agreement, leveraging reimbursable projects. Marty asks that you please reach out if you are interested in discussing objectives, methods, and/or research related to his work.
Professional Experience
Development of new heat tracing methodology and refinement of existing methods for location and quantifying groundwater/surface water exchanges over a range of scales including the development of several software tools to improve accessibility to such methods. These tools include: VFLUX2, DTS-GUI, 1DTempPro2, GW-SW MST
Extensive characterization of groundwater preferential groundwater discharge zones and related physical processes across a range of headwater and mainstem river settings nationally
Repeat expeditions to Alaska as field team leader to characterize discontinuous permafrost dynamics using seismic, electrical, radar, thermal and mechanical methods coupled with processed-based models
Measuring and modeling dual-domain mass transfer of contaminated groundwater and natural anoxic microzones involving the novel use of combined electrical and chemical methods
Installation of sea water intrusion monitoring network on a remote Pacific atoll to monitor the effects of climate change and sea level rise on atoll fresh water and identify controlling geologic processes that were tested in a numerical modeling framework
Innovative characterization of endangered shellfish and native brook trout habitat in a variety of systems, particularly in the context of groundwater discharge to surface water
Education and Certifications
Ph.D., 2012. Syracuse University, (Hydro) Geology.
M.S., 2009. Colorado School of Mines. Hydrology.
Honors and Awards
2022 American Geophysical Union Edward A. Flinn III Award (group award)
2017 Geologic Society of America Hydrogeology Division Kohout Early Career Award
Exceptional rating, USGS performance review 2013, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 21
Syracuse University College of Arts and Sciences Doctoral Dissertation Prize, 2012
Science and Products
DTSGUI: A python program to process and visualize fiber‐optic distributed temperature sensing data
Efficient hydrogeological characterization of remote stream corridors using drones
Hydrogeochemical controls on brook trout spawning habitats in a coastal stream
Inferring watershed hydraulics and cold-water habitat persistence using multi-year air and stream temperature signals
Evaluating long-term patterns of decreasing groundwater discharge through a lake-bottom permeable reactive barrier
Explicit consideration of preferential groundwater discharges as surface water ecosystem control points
Direct observations of hydrologic exchange occurring with less‐mobile porosity and the development of anoxic microzones in sandy lakebed sediments
Simulation of less‐mobile porosity dynamics in contrasting sediment water interface porous media
Rethinking the use of seabed sediment temperature profiles to trace submarine groundwater flow
Potential for Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems applications for identifying groundwater-surface water exchange in a meandering river reach
Heat as a groundwater tracer in shallow and deep heterogeneous media: Analytical solution, spreadsheet tool, and field applications
Pore network modeling of the electrical signature of solute transport in dual-domain media
Science and Products
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DTSGUI: A python program to process and visualize fiber‐optic distributed temperature sensing data
Fiber‐optic distributed temperature sensing (FO‐DTS) has proven to be a transformative technology for the hydrologic sciences, with application to diverse problems including hyporheic exchange, groundwater/surface‐water interaction, fractured‐rock characterization, and cold regions hydrology. FO‐DTS produces large, complex, and information‐rich datasets. Despite the potential of FO‐DTS, adoption oAuthorsMarian M. Domanski, Daven Quinn, Frederick D. Day-Lewis, Martin A. Briggs, Dale D. Werkema, John W. LaneEfficient hydrogeological characterization of remote stream corridors using drones
This project demonstrates the successful use of small unoccupied aircraft system (sUASs) for hydrogeological characterization of a remote stream reach in a rugged mountain terrain. Thermal infrared, visual imagery, and derived digital surface models are used to inform conceptual models of groundwater/surface‐water exchange and efficiently geolocate zones of preferential groundwater discharge thatAuthorsMartin A. Briggs, Cian B. Dawson, Christopher Holmquist-Johnson, Kenneth H. Williams, John W. LaneHydrogeochemical controls on brook trout spawning habitats in a coastal stream
Brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) spawn in fall and overwintering egg development can benefit from stable, relatively warm temperatures in groundwater-seepage zones. However, eggs are also sensitive to dissolved oxygen concentration, which may be reduced in discharging groundwater (i.e., seepage). We investigated a 2 km reach of the coastal Quashnet River in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USA, to relaAuthorsMartin A. Briggs, Judson W. Harvey, Stephen T. Hurley, Donald O. Rosenberry, Timothy D. McCobb, Dale D. Werkema, John W. LaneInferring watershed hydraulics and cold-water habitat persistence using multi-year air and stream temperature signals
Streams strongly influenced by groundwater discharge may serve as “climate refugia” for sensitive species in regions of increasingly marginal thermal conditions. The main goal of this study is to develop paired air and stream water annual temperature signal analysis techniques to elucidate the relative groundwater contribution to stream water and the effective groundwater flowpath depth. GroundwatAuthorsMartin A. Briggs, Zachary C. Johnson, Craig D. Snyder, Nathaniel P. Hitt, Barret L. Kurylyk, Laura K. Lautz, Dylan J. Irvine, Stephen T. Hurley, John W. LaneEvaluating long-term patterns of decreasing groundwater discharge through a lake-bottom permeable reactive barrier
Identifying and quantifying groundwater exchange is critical when considering contaminant fate and transport at the groundwater/surface-water interface. In this paper, areally distributed temperature and point seepage measurements are used to efficiently assess spatial and temporal groundwater discharge patterns through a glacial-kettle lakebed area containing a zero-valent iron permeable reactiveAuthorsTimothy D. McCobb, Martin A. Briggs, Denis R. LeBlanc, Frederick D. Day-Lewis, Carole D. JohnsonExplicit consideration of preferential groundwater discharges as surface water ecosystem control points
Heterogeneities in sediment and rock permeability induce preferentialgroundwater flow from the scale of pore networks to large basins. Inthe unsaturated zone, preferential flow is frequently conceptualizedas an infiltration process dominated by macropores, resulting in stron-ger delivery of surface‐derived solute than would be predicted via dif-fuse percolation alone (Beven & Germann, 2013). In thAuthorsMartin A. Briggs, Danielle K. HareDirect observations of hydrologic exchange occurring with less‐mobile porosity and the development of anoxic microzones in sandy lakebed sediments
Quantifying coupled mobile/less‐mobile porosity dynamics is critical to the prediction of biogeochemical storage, release, and transformation processes in the zone where groundwater and surface water exchange. The recent development of fine‐scale geoelectrical monitoring paired with pore‐water sampling in groundwater systems enables direct characterization of hydrologic exchange between more‐ andAuthorsMartin A. Briggs, Frederick D. Day-Lewis, Farzaneh Mahmood Poor Dehkordy, Tyler B. Hampton, Jay P. Zarnetske, Courtney R. Scruggs, Kamini Singha, Judson W. Harvey, John W. LaneSimulation of less‐mobile porosity dynamics in contrasting sediment water interface porous media
Considering heterogeneity in porous media pore size and connectivity is essential to predicting reactive solute transport across interfaces. However, exchange with less‐mobile porosity is rarely considered in surface water/groundwater recharge studies. Previous research indicates that a combination of pore‐fluid sampling and geoelectrical measurements can be used to quantify less‐mobile porosity eAuthorsFarzaneh MahmoodPoor Dehkordy, Martin A. Briggs, Frederick D. Day-Lewis, Amvrossios C. BagtzoglouRethinking the use of seabed sediment temperature profiles to trace submarine groundwater flow
Submarine groundwater fluxes across the seafloor facilitate important hydrological and biogeochemical exchanges between oceans and seabed sediment, yet few studies have investigated spatially distributed groundwater fluxes in deep‐ocean environments such as continental slopes. Heat has been previously applied as a submarine groundwater tracer using an analytical solution to a heat flow equation asAuthorsBarret L. Kurylyk, Dylan J. Irvine, A.A. Mohammed, V. F. Bense, Martin A. Briggs, J.W. Loder, Y. GeshelinPotential for Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems applications for identifying groundwater-surface water exchange in a meandering river reach
The exchange of groundwater and surface water (GW-SW), including dissolved constituents and energy, represents a critical yet challenging characterization problem for hydrogeologists and stream ecologists. Here, we describe the use of a suite of high spatial-resolution remote-sensing techniques, collected using a small unmanned aircraft system (sUAS), to provide novel and complementary data to anaAuthorsH. Pai, H. Malenda, Martin A. Briggs, K. Singha, R. González-Pinzón, M. Gooseff, S.W. TylerHeat as a groundwater tracer in shallow and deep heterogeneous media: Analytical solution, spreadsheet tool, and field applications
Groundwater flow advects heat, and thus, the deviation of subsurface temperatures from an expected conduction‐dominated regime can be analysed to estimate vertical water fluxes. A number of analytical approaches have been proposed for using heat as a groundwater tracer, and these have typically assumed a homogeneous medium. However, heterogeneous thermal properties are ubiquitous in subsurface envAuthorsBarret L. Kurylyk, Dylan J. Irvine, Sean K. Carey, Martin A. Briggs, Dale D. Werkema, Mariah BonhamPore network modeling of the electrical signature of solute transport in dual-domain media
Dual-domain models are used to explain anomalous solute transport behavior observed in diverse hydrologic settings and applications, from groundwater remediation to hyporheic exchange. To constrain such models, new methods are needed with sensitivity to both immobile and mobile domains. Recent experiments indicate that dual-domain transport of ionic tracers has an observable geoelectrical signaturAuthorsFrederick Day-Lewis, Niklas Linde, Roy Haggerty, Kamini Singha, Martin Briggs