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Merritt Harlan, PhD

Dr. Merritt Harlan (she/her) is a Mendenhall Fellow and research hydrologist for the USGS Water Resources Mission Area based in Lakewood Colorado.  

Dr. Harlan’s research focuses on remote sensing of inland waters, with a particular interest in high latitude rivers. Dr. Harlan is interested in applying data from ongoing and upcoming satellite missions (such as the Surface Water Ocean Topography satellite mission; SWOT) to estimate river flows in ungaged basins, assess changes in surface water in high latitude lakes and rivers, and compare and evaluate the accuracy of satellite-derived stage and streamflow to field data and modeled data. Currently, she is involved in the Satellite-based Remote Sensing of River Discharge Project to expand streamflow monitoring in Alaska

Education and Certifications

  • Ph.D in Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst (2022)

  • B.A. in Mathematics, Williams College (2016)

Science and Products

Animation of five satellite images of the Tanana River in Alaska. The imagery is colored in shades of blue to show the degree
Uncertainties: monochrome - Estimating streamflow from satellites
Uncertainties: monochrome - Estimating streamflow from satellites
Animation of five satellite images of the Tanana River in Alaska. The imagery is colored in shades of blue to show the degree

Uncertainties: monochrome - Estimating streamflow from satellites

Uncertainties: monochrome - Estimating streamflow from satellites

Animation of five satellite images of the Tanana River in Alaska. The imagery is colored in shades of blue to show the degree of confidence that water is present. Two scatter plots show positive pairwise relationships between satellite river elevation and satellite river width and satellite streamflow.

By
Water Resources Mission Area
Animation of five satellite images of the Tanana River in Alaska. The imagery is colored in shades of blue to show the degree

Uncertainties: monochrome - Estimating streamflow from satellites

Uncertainties: monochrome - Estimating streamflow from satellites

Animation of five satellite images of the Tanana River in Alaska. The imagery is colored in shades of blue to show the degree of confidence that water is present. Two scatter plots show positive pairwise relationships between satellite river elevation and satellite river width and satellite streamflow.

By
Water Resources Mission Area

Satellite remote sensing of river discharge: A framework for assessing the accuracy of discharge estimates made from satellite remote sensing observations

This research presents an evaluation of the accuracy and uncertainty of estimates of river discharge made using satellite observed data sources as input to a modified form of Manning’s equation. Conventional U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) streamflow gaging station data and in-situ measurements of width, depth, height, slope, discharge, and velocity from 30 USGS gage sites were used as ground-truth
Authors
David M. Bjerklie, Michael Durand, James M. LeNoir, Robert W. Dudley, Charon Birkett, John Jones, Merritt Elizabeth Harlan
By
Water Resources Mission Area, New England Water Science Center

Non-USGS Publications**

​Harlan, M.E., Gleason, C.J., Flores, J.A., Langhorst, T.M., Roy, S., 2023. Mapping and characterizing Arctic beaded streams through high resolution satellite imagery. Remote Sensing of Environment 285, 113378. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2022.113378
Harlan, M.E., Gleason, C.J., Altenau, E.H., Butman, D., Carter, T., Chu, V.W., Cooley, S.W., Dolan, W.D., Durand, M.T., Eidam, E., Fayne, J.V., Feng, D., Ishitsuka, Y., Kuhn, C., Kyzivat, E.D., Langhorst, T., Minear, J.T., Pavelsky, T.M., Peters, D.L., Pietroniro, A., Pitcher, L.H., Smith, L.C., 2021. Discharge Estimation From Dense Arrays of Pressure Transducers. Water Resources Research 57, e2020WR028714. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020WR028714

**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

Animation of five satellite images of the Tanana River in Alaska. The imagery is colored in shades of blue to show the degree
Uncertainties: monochrome - Estimating streamflow from satellites
Uncertainties: monochrome - Estimating streamflow from satellites
Animation of five satellite images of the Tanana River in Alaska. The imagery is colored in shades of blue to show the degree

Uncertainties: monochrome - Estimating streamflow from satellites

Uncertainties: monochrome - Estimating streamflow from satellites

Animation of five satellite images of the Tanana River in Alaska. The imagery is colored in shades of blue to show the degree of confidence that water is present. Two scatter plots show positive pairwise relationships between satellite river elevation and satellite river width and satellite streamflow.

By
Water Resources Mission Area
Animation of five satellite images of the Tanana River in Alaska. The imagery is colored in shades of blue to show the degree

Uncertainties: monochrome - Estimating streamflow from satellites

Uncertainties: monochrome - Estimating streamflow from satellites

Animation of five satellite images of the Tanana River in Alaska. The imagery is colored in shades of blue to show the degree of confidence that water is present. Two scatter plots show positive pairwise relationships between satellite river elevation and satellite river width and satellite streamflow.

By
Water Resources Mission Area

Satellite remote sensing of river discharge: A framework for assessing the accuracy of discharge estimates made from satellite remote sensing observations

This research presents an evaluation of the accuracy and uncertainty of estimates of river discharge made using satellite observed data sources as input to a modified form of Manning’s equation. Conventional U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) streamflow gaging station data and in-situ measurements of width, depth, height, slope, discharge, and velocity from 30 USGS gage sites were used as ground-truth
Authors
David M. Bjerklie, Michael Durand, James M. LeNoir, Robert W. Dudley, Charon Birkett, John Jones, Merritt Elizabeth Harlan
By
Water Resources Mission Area, New England Water Science Center

Non-USGS Publications**

​Harlan, M.E., Gleason, C.J., Flores, J.A., Langhorst, T.M., Roy, S., 2023. Mapping and characterizing Arctic beaded streams through high resolution satellite imagery. Remote Sensing of Environment 285, 113378. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2022.113378
Harlan, M.E., Gleason, C.J., Altenau, E.H., Butman, D., Carter, T., Chu, V.W., Cooley, S.W., Dolan, W.D., Durand, M.T., Eidam, E., Fayne, J.V., Feng, D., Ishitsuka, Y., Kuhn, C., Kyzivat, E.D., Langhorst, T., Minear, J.T., Pavelsky, T.M., Peters, D.L., Pietroniro, A., Pitcher, L.H., Smith, L.C., 2021. Discharge Estimation From Dense Arrays of Pressure Transducers. Water Resources Research 57, e2020WR028714. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020WR028714

**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.