Stern, M.A., Flint, L.E., Minear, J.T., Flint, A.L., Wright, S.A., Characterizing Changes in Streamflow and Sediment Supply in the Sacramento River Basin, California, Using Hydrological Simulation Program—FORTRAN (HSPF). Water. 2016; 8(10):432. doi:10.3390/w8100432
Michelle Stern
Biography
Michelle is a hydrologist at the USGS California Water Science Center in Sacramento, CA. Her research focus is on climate change and soil moisture as key processes of watershed and regional-scale hydrologic modeling. Other research interests include geospatial analysis and sediment transport. She has also performed extensive laboratory work determining physical properties of soil samples and sediment cores. Current research includes refining and applying the Basin Characterization Model (BCM), and the development of an Hydrologic Simulation Program - FORTRAN (HSPF) model of the Sacramento River basin to determine future sediment supply to the Bay-Delta as part of the Computational Assessments of Scenarios of Change for the Delta Ecosystem (CASCaDE) project. A key goal of all her research is to determine a holistic understanding of watershed hydrologic processes at different spatial scales.
Science and Products
Date published: September 28, 2020
Status: Completed Sediment transport, streamflow, and climate change: long-term resilience of the Bay-Delta
Sediment supply is important to the health of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and San Francisco Bay (Bay-Delta) ecosystem. Sediment eroded from upland source areas in the Sacramento and San Joaquin watersheds is transported through the rivers to the Bay-Delta where it is deposited in mudflats and tidal wetlands, which in turn helps protect against the effects of sea-level rise. Sediment...
Contacts: Michelle Stern, Scott A Wright
Attribution: California Water Science Center
Date published: September 9, 2020
Status: Completed Soil moisture datasets at five sites in the central Sierra Nevada and northern Coast Ranges, California
Soil moisture is a critical variable for understanding the impacts of drought on ecological, hydrological, and agricultural systems, as soil moisture content has a direct affect on runoff amounts. Runoff occurs as the result of precipitation (both rainfall and snowfall) that is in excess of the demands of evaporation from land surfaces, transpiration from vegetation, and infiltration into...
Contacts: Michelle Stern
Attribution: California Water Science Center
Date published: June 17, 2019
Status: Active Researching Climate Conditions for CAL FIRE Wildfire Restoration Efforts
In California, drought and warmer climates have increased the prevalence, severity, and duration of wildfires. These fires have destroyed over 129 million trees. In the aftermath of this devastation, there is heightened urgency to increase the capacity of seedling production, particularly for the lower-elevation and private lands that CAL FIRE is responsible to help manage. To support CAL FIRE...
Contacts: Michelle Stern
Attribution: California Water Science Center
Date published: August 27, 2018
Status: Completed Increasing Soil Organic Carbon to Mitigate Greenhouse Gases and Increase Climate Resiliency for California
Rising air temperatures are projected to continue to drive up urban, agricultural, and rangeland water use, straining both surface and groundwater resources. Scientific studies have shown that managing farms, ranches, and public lands to increase soil carbon can increase soil waterholding capacity and increase hydrologic benefits such as increased baseflows and aquifer recharge, reduced...
Contacts: Michelle Stern
Attribution: California Water Science Center
Date published: August 25, 2020
Daily Basin Characterization Model (BCM) archive for Humboldt Bay/Eel River
This data set includes: 1) A shapefile of the Humboldt Bay Eel River (HBER) 13 sub watersheds, 2) A shape file of the streamflow gages used in calibration, and 3) Daily Basin Characterization Model (BCM) model climate inputs (minimum and maximum air temperature, precipitation, and potential evapotranspiration) and outputs of recharge and runoff for the year 2010 used t
Attribution: California Water Science Center
Year Published: 2020
The future of sediment transport and streamflow under a changing climate and the implications for long-term resilience of the San Francisco Bay-Delta
Sedimentation and turbidity have effects on habitat suitability in the San Francisco Bay‐Delta (Bay‐Delta), concerning key species in the bay as well as the ability of the delta marshes to keep pace with sea level rise. A daily rainfall runoff and transport model of the Sacramento River Basin of northern California was developed to simulate...
Stern, Michelle A.; Flint, Lorraine E.; Flint, Alan L; Knowles, Noah; Wright, Scott A.Attribution: California Water Science Center, Water Resources
Year Published: 2019
A multi-scale soil moisture monitoring strategy for California: Design and validation
A multi‐scale soil moisture monitoring strategy for California was designed to inform water resource management. The proposed workflow classifies soil moisture response units (SMRUs) using publicly available datasets that represent soil, vegetation, climate, and hydrology variables, which control soil water storage. The SMRUs were classified,...
Curtis, Jennifer; Flint, Lorraine E.; Stern, Michelle A.Attribution: California Water Science Center, Water Resources
Year Published: 2018
Increasing soil organic carbon to mitigate greenhouse gases and increase climate resiliency for California
Rising air temperatures are projected to continue to drive up urban, agricultural, and rangeland water use, straining both surface and groundwater resources. Scientific studies have shown that managing farms, ranches, and public lands to increase soil carbon can increase soil waterholding capacity and increase hydrologic benefits such as increased...
Flint, Lorraine E.; Flint, Alan L.; Stern, Michelle A.; Mayer, Allegra; Silver, Whendee L.; Casey, Clyde; Franco, Fabiano; Byrd, Kristin B.; Sleeter, Benjamin M.; Alvarez, P.; Creque, J.; Estrada, T.; Cameron, D.Attribution: California Water Science Center, Water Resources
Year Published: 2018
Soil moisture datasets at five sites in the central Sierra Nevada and northern Coast Ranges, California
In situ soil moisture datasets are important inputs used to calibrate and validate watershed, regional, or statewide modeled and satellite-based soil moisture estimates. The soil moisture dataset presented in this report includes hourly time series of the following: soil temperature, volumetric water content, water potential, and total soil water...
Stern, Michelle A.; Anderson, Frank A.; Flint, Lorraine E.; Flint, Alan L.Attribution: California Water Science Center, Water Resources
View Citation
Stern, M.A., Anderson, F.A., Flint, L.E., and Flint, A.L., 2018, Soil moisture datasets at five sites in the central Sierra Nevada and northern Coast Ranges, California: U.S. Geological Survey Data Series 1083, 23 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/ds1083.
Year Published: 2017
Geothermal implications of a refined composition-age geologic map for the volcanic terrains of southeast Oregon, northeast California, and southwest Idaho, USA
Sufficient temperatures to generate steam likely exist under most of the dominantly volcanic terrains of southeast Oregon, northeast California, and southeast Idaho, USA, but finding sufficient permeability to allow efficient advective heat exchange is an outstanding challenge. A new thematic interpretation of existing state-level geologic maps...
Burns, Erick; Gannett, Marshall W.; Sherrod, David R.; Keith, Mackenzie K.; Curtis, Jennifer A.; Bartolino, James R.; Engott, John A.; Scandella, Benjamin P.; Stern, Michelle A.; Flint, Alan L.Attribution: Oregon Water Science Center, Water Resources
View Citation
Burns, E.R., Gannett, M.W., Sherrod, D.R., Keith, M.K., Curtis, J.A., Bartolino, J.R., Engott, J.A., Scandella, B.P., Stern, M.A., and Flint, A.L., 2017, "Geothermal Implications of a Refined Composition-Age Geologic Map for the Volcanic Terranes of Southeast Oregon, Northeast California, and Southwest Idaho, USA", GRC Transactions, Vol. 41.
Year Published: 2016
Characterizing changes in streamflow and sediment supply in the Sacramento River Basin, California, using hydrological simulation program—FORTRAN (HSPF)
A daily watershed model of the Sacramento River Basin of northern California was developed to simulate streamflow and suspended sediment transport to the San Francisco Bay-Delta. To compensate for sparse data, a unique combination of model inputs was developed, including meteorological variables, potential evapotranspiration, and parameters...
Stern, Michelle A.; Flint, Lorraine E.; Minear, Justin T.; Flint, Alan L.; Wright, Scott A.Attribution: , California Water Science Center, Water Resources, San Francisco Bay and Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Estuary
View Citation
Stern M, Flint L, Minear J, Flint A, Wright S, 2016, Characterizing changes in streamflow and sediment supply in the Sacramento River Basin, California, using hydrological simulation program—FORTRAN (HSPF): Water, v. 8(10):432, 21 p., doi:10.3390/w8100432 (publ. online Sept. 30, 2016).