Matthew A Thomas
Matt Thomas is a research hydrologist in the Landslide Hazards Program.
I am a quantitative geoscientist excited to work on societally relevant earth science and engineering problems. My research at the USGS contributes to rainfall-induced landslide and post-fire debris-flow hazard warning products designed to reduce loss of life and property.
Professional Experience
2022 – Research Hydrologist, U.S. Geological Survey, Golden, CO
2017 – 2021 Mendenhall Postdoctoral Fellow, U.S. Geological Survey, Golden, CO
2015 – 2017 R&D Geosciences Engineer, Sandia National Laboratories, Carlsbad, NM
2014 – 2015 Postdoctoral Scholar, Stanford University, Stanford, CA
2009 – 2014 Graduate Student Researcher, Stanford University, Stanford, CA
2008 – 2009 Staff Geologist, Cornerstone Earth Group, Sunnyvale, CA
Education and Certifications
2014 PhD in Hydrogeology, Stanford University
2014 MS in Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University
2008 BS in Geology, University of California Los Angeles
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 14
Infiltration data collected post-Hurricane Maria across landslide source area materials, Puerto Rico, USA Infiltration data collected post-Hurricane Maria across landslide source area materials, Puerto Rico, USA
This Data Release includes information to support the characterization of surface/near-surface infiltration rates of selected landslide source area materials following Hurricane Maria across Puerto Rico, USA. The dataset includes comma-delimited measurements of field-saturated hydraulic conductivity (Kfs) collected over two field campaigns (Fall 2018 and Spring 2019) as well as...
Field data used to support hydrologic modeling for the U.S. Geological Survey's San Francisco Bay Area "BALT1" landslide monitoring site Field data used to support hydrologic modeling for the U.S. Geological Survey's San Francisco Bay Area "BALT1" landslide monitoring site
This Data Release includes information used to support numerical simulations of variably-saturated flow focused on measurement-based variability in soil-water retention properties for the U.S. Geological Survey's San Francisco Bay Area "BALT1" landslide monitoring site in the East Bay region of California, USA (see Thomas et al., 2018). The eight datasets are: (1) geologic and...
Filter Total Items: 21
Deep Learning as a tool to forecast hydrologic response for landslide-prone hillslopes Deep Learning as a tool to forecast hydrologic response for landslide-prone hillslopes
Empirical thresholds for landslide warning systems have benefitted from the incorporation of soil‐hydrologic monitoring data, but the mechanistic basis for their predictive capabilities is limited. Although physically based hydrologic models can accurately simulate changes in soil moisture and pore pressure that promote landslides, their utility is restricted by high computational costs...
Authors
Elijah Orland, Joshua J. Roering, Matthew Thomas, Benjamin Mirus
Geometric and material variability influences stress states relevant to coastal permafrost bluff failure Geometric and material variability influences stress states relevant to coastal permafrost bluff failure
Scientific knowledge and engineering tools for predicting coastal erosion are largely confined to temperate climate zones that are dominated by non-cohesive sediments. The pattern of erosion exhibited by the ice-bonded permafrost bluffs in Arctic Alaska, however, is not well explained by these tools. Investigation of the oceanographic, thermal, and mechanical processes that are relevant...
Authors
Matthew Thomas, Alejandro Mota, Benjamin M. Jones, R. Choens, Jennifer Frederick, Diana Bull
Assessing the feasibility of satellite-based thresholds for hydrologically driven landsliding Assessing the feasibility of satellite-based thresholds for hydrologically driven landsliding
Elevated soil moisture and heavy precipitation contribute to landslides worldwide. These environmental variables are now being resolved with satellites at spatiotemporal scales that could offer new perspectives on the development of landslide warning systems. However, the application of these data to hydro-meteorological thresholds (which account for antecedent soil moisture and rainfall...
Authors
Matthew Thomas, Brian Collins, Benjamin Mirus
Landslides triggered by Hurricane Maria: Assessment of an extreme event in Puerto Rico Landslides triggered by Hurricane Maria: Assessment of an extreme event in Puerto Rico
Hurricane Maria hit the island of Puerto Rico on 20 September 2017 and triggered more than 40,000 landslides in at least three-fourths of Puerto Rico’s 78 municipalities. The number of landslides that occurred during this event was two orders of magnitude greater than those reported from previous hurricanes. Landslide source areas were commonly limited to surficial soils but also...
Authors
Erin Bessette-Kirton, Corina Cerovski-Darriau, William Schulz, Jeffrey Coe, Jason Kean, Jonathan Godt, Matthew Thomas, K. Hughes
A decade of remotely sensed observations highlight complex processes linked to coastal permafrost bluff erosion in the Arctic A decade of remotely sensed observations highlight complex processes linked to coastal permafrost bluff erosion in the Arctic
Eroding permafrost coasts are indicators and integrators of changes in the Arctic System as they are susceptible to the combined effects of declining sea ice extent, increases in open water duration, more frequent and impactful storms, sea-level rise, and warming permafrost. However, few observation sites in the Arctic have yet to link decadal-scale erosion rates with changing...
Authors
Benjamin M. Jones, Louise Farquharson, Carson Baughman, Richard M. Buzard, Christopher Arp, Guido Grosse, Diana Bull, Frank Gunther, Ingmar Nitze, Frank Urban, Jeremy L. Kasper, Jennifer Frederick, Matthew Thomas, Craig Jones, Alejandro Mota, Scott Dallimore, Craig Tweedie, Christopher Maio, Daniel Mann, Bruce Richmond, Ann Gibbs, Ming Xiao, Torsten Sachs, Go Iwahana, Mikhail Kanevskiy, Vladimir Romanovsky
Identifying physics‐based thresholds for rainfall‐induced landsliding Identifying physics‐based thresholds for rainfall‐induced landsliding
Most regional landslide warning systems utilize empirically derived rainfall thresholds that are difficult to improve without recalibration to additional landslide events. To address this limitation, we explored the use of synthetic rainfall to generate thousands of possible storm patterns and coupled them with a physics‐based hydrology and slope stability model for various antecedent...
Authors
Matthew Thomas, Benjamin Mirus, Brian Collins
Variability in soil-water retention properties and implications for physics-based simulation of landslide early warning criteria Variability in soil-water retention properties and implications for physics-based simulation of landslide early warning criteria
Rainfall-induced shallow landsliding is a persistent hazard to human life and property. Despite the observed connection between infiltration through the unsaturated zone and shallow landslide initiation, there is considerable uncertainty in how estimates of unsaturated soil-water retention properties affect slope stability assessment. This source of uncertainty is critical to evaluating...
Authors
Matthew Thomas, Benjamin Mirus, Brian Collins, Ning Lu, Jonathan Godt
Fluid pressure responses for a Devil's Slide-like system: problem formulation and simulation Fluid pressure responses for a Devil's Slide-like system: problem formulation and simulation
This study employs a hydrogeologic simulation approach to investigate subsurface fluid pressures for a landslide-prone section of the central California, USA, coast known as Devil's Slide. Understanding the relative changes in subsurface fluid pressures is important for systems, such as Devil's Slide, where slope creep can be interrupted by episodic slip events. Surface mapping...
Authors
Matthew Thomas, Keith Loague, Clifford Voss
Foreign Nonindigenous Carps and Minnows (Cyprinidae) in the United States - A Guide to their Identification, Distribution, and Biology Foreign Nonindigenous Carps and Minnows (Cyprinidae) in the United States - A Guide to their Identification, Distribution, and Biology
No abstract available.
Authors
Pamela J. Schofield, James Williams, Leo Nico, Pamela Fuller, Matthew Thomas
Non-USGS Publications**
Thomas MA, Kuhlman KL, & Ward AL (2017) Anthropogenic influences on groundwater in the vicinity of a long-lived radioactive waste repository. Hydrological Processes. https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.11214
Frederick JM, Thomas MA, Bull D, Jones CA, & Roberts JD (2016) The Arctic coastal erosion problem. SAND Technical Report Series. https://doi.org/10.2172/1431492
Thomas MA & Loague K (2016) Landscape change as recorded by the Ocean Shore Railroad. Environmental and Engineering Geoscience. https://doi.org/10.2113/gseegeosci.22.3.209
Thomas MA & Kennard P (2015) Topographic and hydrologic insight for the Westside Road problem. Natural Resource Technical Report Series. https://irma.nps.gov/DataStore/Reference/Profile/2224800
Thomas MA, Loague K, & Voss CI (2015) Fluid pressure responses for a Devil's Slide-like system: problem formulation and simulation. Hydrological Processes. https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.10267
Thomas MA & Loague K (2014) Hydrogeologic insights for a Devil's Slide-like system. Water Resources Research. https://doi.org/10.1002/2014WR015649
Pettit MM, Thomas MA, & Loague K (2014) Retreat of a coastal bluff in Pacifica, California. Environmental and Engineering Geoscience. https://doi.org/10.2113/gseegeosci.20.2.153
Thomas MA & Loague K (2014) Devil’s Slide: An evolving feature of California’s coastal landscape. Environmental and Engineering Geoscience. https://doi.org/10.2113/gseegeosci.20.1.45
**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.
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 14
Infiltration data collected post-Hurricane Maria across landslide source area materials, Puerto Rico, USA Infiltration data collected post-Hurricane Maria across landslide source area materials, Puerto Rico, USA
This Data Release includes information to support the characterization of surface/near-surface infiltration rates of selected landslide source area materials following Hurricane Maria across Puerto Rico, USA. The dataset includes comma-delimited measurements of field-saturated hydraulic conductivity (Kfs) collected over two field campaigns (Fall 2018 and Spring 2019) as well as...
Field data used to support hydrologic modeling for the U.S. Geological Survey's San Francisco Bay Area "BALT1" landslide monitoring site Field data used to support hydrologic modeling for the U.S. Geological Survey's San Francisco Bay Area "BALT1" landslide monitoring site
This Data Release includes information used to support numerical simulations of variably-saturated flow focused on measurement-based variability in soil-water retention properties for the U.S. Geological Survey's San Francisco Bay Area "BALT1" landslide monitoring site in the East Bay region of California, USA (see Thomas et al., 2018). The eight datasets are: (1) geologic and...
Filter Total Items: 21
Deep Learning as a tool to forecast hydrologic response for landslide-prone hillslopes Deep Learning as a tool to forecast hydrologic response for landslide-prone hillslopes
Empirical thresholds for landslide warning systems have benefitted from the incorporation of soil‐hydrologic monitoring data, but the mechanistic basis for their predictive capabilities is limited. Although physically based hydrologic models can accurately simulate changes in soil moisture and pore pressure that promote landslides, their utility is restricted by high computational costs...
Authors
Elijah Orland, Joshua J. Roering, Matthew Thomas, Benjamin Mirus
Geometric and material variability influences stress states relevant to coastal permafrost bluff failure Geometric and material variability influences stress states relevant to coastal permafrost bluff failure
Scientific knowledge and engineering tools for predicting coastal erosion are largely confined to temperate climate zones that are dominated by non-cohesive sediments. The pattern of erosion exhibited by the ice-bonded permafrost bluffs in Arctic Alaska, however, is not well explained by these tools. Investigation of the oceanographic, thermal, and mechanical processes that are relevant...
Authors
Matthew Thomas, Alejandro Mota, Benjamin M. Jones, R. Choens, Jennifer Frederick, Diana Bull
Assessing the feasibility of satellite-based thresholds for hydrologically driven landsliding Assessing the feasibility of satellite-based thresholds for hydrologically driven landsliding
Elevated soil moisture and heavy precipitation contribute to landslides worldwide. These environmental variables are now being resolved with satellites at spatiotemporal scales that could offer new perspectives on the development of landslide warning systems. However, the application of these data to hydro-meteorological thresholds (which account for antecedent soil moisture and rainfall...
Authors
Matthew Thomas, Brian Collins, Benjamin Mirus
Landslides triggered by Hurricane Maria: Assessment of an extreme event in Puerto Rico Landslides triggered by Hurricane Maria: Assessment of an extreme event in Puerto Rico
Hurricane Maria hit the island of Puerto Rico on 20 September 2017 and triggered more than 40,000 landslides in at least three-fourths of Puerto Rico’s 78 municipalities. The number of landslides that occurred during this event was two orders of magnitude greater than those reported from previous hurricanes. Landslide source areas were commonly limited to surficial soils but also...
Authors
Erin Bessette-Kirton, Corina Cerovski-Darriau, William Schulz, Jeffrey Coe, Jason Kean, Jonathan Godt, Matthew Thomas, K. Hughes
A decade of remotely sensed observations highlight complex processes linked to coastal permafrost bluff erosion in the Arctic A decade of remotely sensed observations highlight complex processes linked to coastal permafrost bluff erosion in the Arctic
Eroding permafrost coasts are indicators and integrators of changes in the Arctic System as they are susceptible to the combined effects of declining sea ice extent, increases in open water duration, more frequent and impactful storms, sea-level rise, and warming permafrost. However, few observation sites in the Arctic have yet to link decadal-scale erosion rates with changing...
Authors
Benjamin M. Jones, Louise Farquharson, Carson Baughman, Richard M. Buzard, Christopher Arp, Guido Grosse, Diana Bull, Frank Gunther, Ingmar Nitze, Frank Urban, Jeremy L. Kasper, Jennifer Frederick, Matthew Thomas, Craig Jones, Alejandro Mota, Scott Dallimore, Craig Tweedie, Christopher Maio, Daniel Mann, Bruce Richmond, Ann Gibbs, Ming Xiao, Torsten Sachs, Go Iwahana, Mikhail Kanevskiy, Vladimir Romanovsky
Identifying physics‐based thresholds for rainfall‐induced landsliding Identifying physics‐based thresholds for rainfall‐induced landsliding
Most regional landslide warning systems utilize empirically derived rainfall thresholds that are difficult to improve without recalibration to additional landslide events. To address this limitation, we explored the use of synthetic rainfall to generate thousands of possible storm patterns and coupled them with a physics‐based hydrology and slope stability model for various antecedent...
Authors
Matthew Thomas, Benjamin Mirus, Brian Collins
Variability in soil-water retention properties and implications for physics-based simulation of landslide early warning criteria Variability in soil-water retention properties and implications for physics-based simulation of landslide early warning criteria
Rainfall-induced shallow landsliding is a persistent hazard to human life and property. Despite the observed connection between infiltration through the unsaturated zone and shallow landslide initiation, there is considerable uncertainty in how estimates of unsaturated soil-water retention properties affect slope stability assessment. This source of uncertainty is critical to evaluating...
Authors
Matthew Thomas, Benjamin Mirus, Brian Collins, Ning Lu, Jonathan Godt
Fluid pressure responses for a Devil's Slide-like system: problem formulation and simulation Fluid pressure responses for a Devil's Slide-like system: problem formulation and simulation
This study employs a hydrogeologic simulation approach to investigate subsurface fluid pressures for a landslide-prone section of the central California, USA, coast known as Devil's Slide. Understanding the relative changes in subsurface fluid pressures is important for systems, such as Devil's Slide, where slope creep can be interrupted by episodic slip events. Surface mapping...
Authors
Matthew Thomas, Keith Loague, Clifford Voss
Foreign Nonindigenous Carps and Minnows (Cyprinidae) in the United States - A Guide to their Identification, Distribution, and Biology Foreign Nonindigenous Carps and Minnows (Cyprinidae) in the United States - A Guide to their Identification, Distribution, and Biology
No abstract available.
Authors
Pamela J. Schofield, James Williams, Leo Nico, Pamela Fuller, Matthew Thomas
Non-USGS Publications**
Thomas MA, Kuhlman KL, & Ward AL (2017) Anthropogenic influences on groundwater in the vicinity of a long-lived radioactive waste repository. Hydrological Processes. https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.11214
Frederick JM, Thomas MA, Bull D, Jones CA, & Roberts JD (2016) The Arctic coastal erosion problem. SAND Technical Report Series. https://doi.org/10.2172/1431492
Thomas MA & Loague K (2016) Landscape change as recorded by the Ocean Shore Railroad. Environmental and Engineering Geoscience. https://doi.org/10.2113/gseegeosci.22.3.209
Thomas MA & Kennard P (2015) Topographic and hydrologic insight for the Westside Road problem. Natural Resource Technical Report Series. https://irma.nps.gov/DataStore/Reference/Profile/2224800
Thomas MA, Loague K, & Voss CI (2015) Fluid pressure responses for a Devil's Slide-like system: problem formulation and simulation. Hydrological Processes. https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.10267
Thomas MA & Loague K (2014) Hydrogeologic insights for a Devil's Slide-like system. Water Resources Research. https://doi.org/10.1002/2014WR015649
Pettit MM, Thomas MA, & Loague K (2014) Retreat of a coastal bluff in Pacifica, California. Environmental and Engineering Geoscience. https://doi.org/10.2113/gseegeosci.20.2.153
Thomas MA & Loague K (2014) Devil’s Slide: An evolving feature of California’s coastal landscape. Environmental and Engineering Geoscience. https://doi.org/10.2113/gseegeosci.20.1.45
**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.