Molly S Wood
Molly Wood is the National Sediment Specialist for the USGS Water Resources Mission Area’s Observing Systems Division. Most of her work focuses on developing policies and methods for measuring fluvial sediment transport and for computing streamflow using complex rating techniques. She also teaches national and international training courses on surface-water and sediment data collection.
Biography
Molly Wood has a B.S. and M.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Tennessee and is a registered Professional Engineer. She started working with the USGS in 2002; initially as a Hydrologist in the Florida Water Science Center working on the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan, then as Surface-Water Specialist for the Idaho Water Science Center, and now as the National Sediment Specialist for USGS Headquarters. She provides technical guidance for and leads initiatives to support national sediment and streamflow monitoring programs and related research. Her scientific work includes the estimation of fluvial sediment transport using surrogate technologies, estimation of reservoir capacity and sustainability, and applications of statistical hydrology. She has provided technical assistance in hydrologic data collection and research to government agencies across the world, including in Iraq, Laos, Chile, and Brazil.
Science and Products
Sediment Acoustics
The U.S. Geological Survey recognizes the need to provide sediment acoustic training and to develop standardized techniques and practices.
Fluvial Sediment and Geomorphology: Resources for Monitoring and Analysis
The USGS collects fluvial sediment and geomorphic data and conducts related research at numerous sites across the Nation. This information is essential to informed solutions to sediment-related and overall water resource management issues.
Estimating sand concentrations using ADCP‐based acoustic inversion in a large fluvial system characterized by bi‐modal suspended‐sediment distributions
Quantifying sediment flux within rivers is a challenge for many disciplines due, mainly, to difficulties inherent to traditional sediment sampling methods. These methods are operationally complex, high cost, and high risk. Additionally, the resulting data provide a low spatial and temporal resolution estimate of the total sediment flux, which has...
Szupiany, Ricardo N.; Lopez Weibel, Cecilia; Guerrero, Massimo; Latosinski, Francisco; Wood, Molly S.; Dominguez Ruben, Lucas; Oberg, Kevin
Sediment acoustic index method for computing continuous suspended-sediment concentrations
Suspended-sediment characteristics can be computed using acoustic indices derived from acoustic Doppler velocity meter (ADVM) backscatter data. The sediment acoustic index method applied in these types of studies can be used to more accurately and cost-effectively provide time-series estimates of suspended-sediment concentration and load, which is...
Landers, Mark N.; Straub, Timothy D.; Wood, Molly S.; Domanski, Marian M.
Estimating peak-flow frequency statistics for selected gaged and ungaged sites in naturally flowing streams and rivers in Idaho
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Idaho Transportation Department, updated regional regression equations to estimate peak-flow statistics at ungaged sites on Idaho streams using recent streamflow (flow) data and new statistical techniques. Peak-flow statistics with 80-, 67-, 50-, 43-, 20-, 10-, 4-, 2-, 1-, 0.5-, and 0.2-percent...
Wood, Molly S.; Fosness, Ryan L.; Skinner, Kenneth D.; Veilleux, Andrea G. Evaluation of multiple-frequency, active and passive acoustics as surrogates for bedload transport
The use of multiple-frequency, active acoustics through deployment of acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCPs) shows potential for estimating bedload in selected grain size categories. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the University of Montana (UM), evaluated the use of multiple-frequency, active and passive acoustics as...
Wood, Molly S.; Fosness, Ryan L.; Pachman, Gregory; Lorang, Mark; Tonolla, Diego
Sediment transport and evaluation of sediment surrogate ratings in the Kootenai River near Bonners Ferry, Idaho, Water Years 2011–14
The Kootenai River white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) and other native fish species are culturally important to the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho, but their habitat and recruitment have been affected by anthropogenic changes to the river. Although the interconnections among anthropogenic changes and their impacts on fish are complex, the Kootenai...
Wood, Molly S.; Fosness, Ryan L.; Etheridge, Alexandra B. Surrogate analysis and index developer (SAID) tool and real-time data dissemination utilities
The use of acoustic and other parameters as surrogates for suspended-sediment concentrations (SSC) in rivers has been successful in multiple applications across the Nation. Critical to advancing the operational use of surrogates are tools to process and evaluate the data along with the subsequent development of regression models from which real-...
Domanski, Marian M.; Straub, Timothy D.; Wood, Molly S.; Landers, Mark N.; Wall, Gary R.; Brady, Steven J.
Streamflow statistics for development of water rights claims for the Jarbidge Wild and Scenic River, Owyhee Canyonlands Wilderness, Idaho, 2013-14: a supplement to Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5212
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), estimated streamflow statistics for stream segments designated “Wild,” “Scenic,” or “Recreational” under the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System in the Owyhee Canyonlands Wilderness in southwestern Idaho. The streamflow statistics were used by the BLM to...
Wood, Molly S.
Evaluation of seepage and discharge uncertainty in the middle Snake River, southwestern Idaho
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the State of Idaho, Idaho Power Company, and the Idaho Department of Water Resources, evaluated seasonal seepage gains and losses in selected reaches of the middle Snake River, Idaho, during November 2012 and July 2013, and uncertainty in measured and computed discharge at four Idaho Power Company...
Wood, Molly S.; Williams, Marshall L.; Evetts, David M.; Vidmar, Peter J.
Estimating suspended sediment in rivers using acoustic Doppler meters
Key Points - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2009) estimates that excessive sediment is the leading cause of water-quality impairment in water bodies in the United States. The cost of damages attributable to sediment is high, estimated at more than $20 billion annually (Osterkamp and others, 2004). - Sediment monitoring is essential to...
Wood, Molly S.
Streamflow monitoring and statistics for development of water rights claims for Wild and Scenic Rivers, Owyhee Canyonlands Wilderness, Idaho, 2012
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), collected streamflow data in 2012 and estimated streamflow statistics for stream segments designated "Wild," "Scenic," or "Recreational" under the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System in the Owyhee Canyonlands Wilderness in southwestern Idaho. The streamflow...
Wood, Molly S.; Fosness, Ryan L.
Sediment transport in the lower Snake and Clearwater River Basins, Idaho and Washington, 2008–11
Sedimentation is an ongoing maintenance problem for reservoirs, limiting reservoir storage capacity and navigation. Because Lower Granite Reservoir in Washington is the most upstream of the four U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reservoirs on the lower Snake River, it receives and retains the largest amount of sediment. In 2008, in cooperation with the...
Clark, Gregory M.; Fosness, Ryan L.; Wood, Molly S.
Use of surrogate technologies to estimate suspended sediment in the Clearwater River, Idaho, and Snake River, Washington, 2008-10
Elevated levels of fluvial sediment can reduce the biological productivity of aquatic systems, impair freshwater quality, decrease reservoir storage capacity, and decrease the capacity of hydraulic structures. The need to measure fluvial sediment has led to the development of sediment surrogate technologies, particularly in locations where...
Wood, Molly S.; Teasdale, Gregg N.