Paul Kinzel
Biography
Education
M.S. in Civil Engineering, University of Colorado, Boulder, May 1998
B.S. in Environmental Science, State University of New York, Plattsburgh, May 1995
Science and Products
Clear Creek Reservoir Bathymetry
To better characterize the water supply capacity of Clear Creek Reservoir, Chaffee County, Colorado, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Pueblo Board of Water Works and Colorado Mountain College, carried out a bathymetry survey of Clear Creek Reservoir. The equipment and methods used in this study allowed water-resource managers to maintain typical reservoir operations,...
Surface flow velocities from space: Particle image velocimetry of satellite video of a large, sediment-laden river
Conventional, field-based streamflow monitoring in remote, inaccessible locations such as Alaska poses logistical challenges. Safety concerns, financial considerations, and a desire to expand water-observing networks make remote sensing an appealing alternative means of collecting hydrologic data. In an ongoing effort to develop non-contact...
Legleiter, Carl J.; Kinzel, Paul J. Improving remotely sensed river bathymetry by image-averaging
Basic data on river bathymetry is critical for numerous applications in river research and management and is increasingly obtained via remote sensing, but the noisy, pixelated appearance of image‐derived depth maps can compromise subsequent analyses. We hypothesized that this noise originates from reflectance from an irregular water surface and...
Legleiter, Carl J.; Kinzel, Paul J. Field evaluation of a compact, polarizing topo‐bathymetric lidar across a range of river conditions
This paper summarizes field trials to evaluate the performance of a prototype compact topo‐bathymetric lidar sensor for surveying rivers. The sensor uses a novel polarization technique to distinguish between laser returns from the water surface and streambed and its size and weight permit deployment from a small unmanned aerial system (sUAS) or a...
Kinzel, Paul J.; Legleiter, Carl J.; Grams, Paul Inferring surface flow velocities in sediment-laden Alaskan rivers from optical image sequences acquired from a helicopter
The remote, inaccessible location of many rivers in Alaska creates a compelling need for remote sensing approaches to streamflow monitoring. Motivated by this objective, we evaluated the potential to infer flow velocities from optical image sequences acquired from a helicopter deployed above two large, sediment-laden rivers. Rather than artificial...
Legleiter, Carl J.; Kinzel, Paul J. Remote sensing of tracer dye concentrations to support dispersion studies in river channels
In river channels the flow field influences the dispersion of biota, contaminants, and other suspended or dissolved materials. Insight on patterns and rates of dispersion can be gained by injecting a pulse of visible dye and observing spatial and temporal variations in dye concentration as the pulse moves downstream. We evaluated the potential of...
Legleiter, Carl J.; McDonald, Richard R.; Nelson, Jonathan M.; Kinzel, Paul J.; Perroy, Ryan L. ; Baek, Donghae; Seo, Il Won sUAS-based remote sensing of river discharge using thermal particle image velocimetry and bathymetric lidar
This paper describes a non-contact methodology for computing river discharge based on data collected from small Unmanned Aerial Systems (sUAS). The approach is complete in that both surface velocity and channel geometry are measured directly under field conditions. The technique does not require introducing artificial tracer particles for...
Kinzel, Paul J.; Legleiter, Carl J. Near-field remote sensing of Alaskan Rivers
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Geomorphology and Sediment Transport Laboratory (GSTL), in collaboration with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL), acquired remotely sensed data from several Alaskan rivers in 2017 and 2018 with the goal of developing a methodology for measuring streamflow from...
Kinzel, Paul J.; Legleiter, Carl J.; Nelson, Jonathan M.; Conaway, Jeff; LeWinter, Adam; Gadomski, Peter; Filiano, Dominic
Remote sensing of river flow in Alaska—New technology to improve safety and expand coverage of USGS streamgaging
The U.S. Geological Survey monitors water level (water surface elevation relative to an arbitrary datum) and measures streamflow in Alaska rivers to compute and compile river flow records for use by water resource planners, engineers, and land managers to design infrastructure, manage floodplains, and protect life, property, and aquatic resources...
Conaway, Jeff; Eggleston, John R.; Legleiter, Carl J.; Jones, John W.; Kinzel, Paul J.; Fulton, John W. New methods for predicting and measuring dispersion in rivers
To develop a better predictive tool for dispersion in rivers over a range of temporal and spatial scales, our group has developed a simple Lagrangian model that is applicable for a wide range of coordinate systems and flow modeling methodologies. The approach allows dispersion computations for a large suite of discretizations, model dimensions (1...
Nelson, Jonathan M.; McDonald, Richard R.; Legleiter, Carl J.; Kinzel, Paul J.; Terrell Ramos, Travis; Higashi, Yutaka; Seo, Il Won; Baek, Donghae; Lee, Du Han; Ryu, Yonguk Sampling strategies to improve passive optical remote sensing of river bathymetry
Passive optical remote sensing of river bathymetry involves establishing a relation between depth and reflectance that can be applied throughout an image to produce a depth map. Building upon the Optimal Band Ratio Analysis (OBRA) framework, we introduce sampling strategies for constructing calibration data sets that lead to strong relationships...
Legleiter, Carl J.; Overstreet, Brandon; Kinzel, Paul J. Fine-scale habitat preference of green sturgeon (Acipenser medirostris) within three spawning locations in the Sacramento River, California
Vast sections of the Sacramento River have been listed as critical habitat by the National Marine Fisheries Service for green sturgeon spawning (Acipenser medirostris), yet spawning is known to occur at only a few specific locations. This study reveals the range of physical habitat variables selected by adult green sturgeon during their spawning...
Wyman, Megan T.; Thomas, Michael J.; McDonald, Richard R.; Hearn, Alexander R.; Battleson, Ryan D.; Chapman, Eric D.; Kinzel, Paul J.; Minear, J. Tobey; Mora, Ethan A.; Nelson, Jonathan M.; Pagel, Matthew D.; Klimley, A. Peter Remote measurement of river discharge using thermal particle image velocimetry (PIV) and various sources of bathymetric information
Although river discharge is a fundamental hydrologic quantity, conventional methods of streamgaging are impractical, expensive, and potentially dangerous in remote locations. This study evaluated the potential for measuring discharge via various forms of remote sensing, primarily thermal imaging of flow velocities but also spectrally-based depth...
Legleiter, Carl J.; Kinzel, Paul J.; Nelson, Jonathan M.