Sean Vitousek
Research Oceanographer, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 52
Shoreline seasonality of California’s beaches Shoreline seasonality of California’s beaches
We report on remote sensing techniques developed to characterize seasonal shoreline cycles from satellite-derived shoreline measurements. These techniques are applied to 22-yr of shoreline measurements for over 777 km of beach along California's 1,700-km coast, for which the general understanding is that shorelines exhibit winter-narrow and summer-recovery seasonality. We find that...
Authors
Jonathan A. Warrick, Daniel D. Buscombe, Kilian Vos, Hannah Kenyon, Andrew C. Ritchie, Mitchell D. Harley, Catherine N. Janda, Jess L'Heureux, Sean Vitousek
Unravelling equilibrium shoreline response to waves and sea-level rise: Numerical modelling of laboratory experiments Unravelling equilibrium shoreline response to waves and sea-level rise: Numerical modelling of laboratory experiments
Knowledge gaps in the physics of shoreline response to the combined action of waves and sea-level rise (SLR) make long-term shoreline projections uncertain. The lack of sufficiently long-term shoreline data partly hinders a better understanding of shoreline change driven by SLR. Thereby, existing formulations related to the equilibrium approach, which states that a beach profile shape...
Authors
Maurizio D’Anna, Francesca Ribas, Albert Falques, Daniel Calvete, Giovanni Coco, Sean Vitousek, Marissa Yates
Climate-driven waterline variability along the North American West Coast Climate-driven waterline variability along the North American West Coast
Sandy coasts are highly dynamic environments shaped by a myriad of hydro-sedimentary processes operating across various spatio-temporal scales. From seasonal to centennial timescales, sandy beach dynamics are strongly influenced by climate variability expressed in various forms, including seasonal cycles, climate modes (e.g., El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO)), and global warming...
Authors
Marcan Graffin, Rafael Almar, Erwin Bergsma, Julien Boucharel, Sean Vitousek, Mohsen Taherkhani, Peter Ruggiero
Projections of multiple climate-related coastal hazards for the US Southeast Atlantic Projections of multiple climate-related coastal hazards for the US Southeast Atlantic
Faced with accelerating sea level rise and changing ocean storm conditions, coastal communities require comprehensive assessments of climate-driven hazard impacts to inform adaptation measures. Previous studies have focused on flooding but rarely on other climate-related coastal hazards, such as subsidence, beach erosion and groundwater. Here, we project societal exposure to multiple...
Authors
Patrick L. Barnard, Kevin M. Befus, Jeffrey J. Danielson, Anita C Engelstad, Li H. Erikson, Amy C. Foxgrover, Maya Kumari Hayden, Daniel J. Hoover, Tim Leijnse, Chris Massey, Robert T. McCall, Norberto Nadal-Caraballo, Kees Nederhoff, Andrea C. O'Neill, Kai Alexander Parker, Manoochehr Shirzaei, Leonard O. Ohenhen, Peter W Swarzenski, Jennifer Anne Thomas, Maarten van Ormondt, Sean Vitousek, Killian Vos, Nathan J. Wood, Jeanne M. Jones, Jamie Jones
Scalable, data-assimilated models predict large-scale shoreline response to waves and sea-level rise Scalable, data-assimilated models predict large-scale shoreline response to waves and sea-level rise
Coastal change is a complex combination of multi-scale processes (e.g., wave-driven cross-shore and longshore transport; dune, bluff, and cliff erosion; overwash; fluvial and inlet sediment supply; and sea-level-driven recession). Historical sea-level-driven coastal recession on open ocean coasts is often outpaced by wave-driven change. However, future sea-level-driven coastal recession...
Authors
Sean Vitousek, Kilian Vos, Kristen D. Splinter, Kai Alexander Parker, Andrea C. O'Neill, Amy C. Foxgrover, Maya Kumari Hayden, Jennifer Anne Thomas, Li H. Erikson, Patrick L. Barnard
The projected exposure and response of a natural barrier island system to climate-driven coastal hazards The projected exposure and response of a natural barrier island system to climate-driven coastal hazards
Accelerating sea level rise (SLR) and changing storm patterns will increasingly expose barrier islands to coastal hazards, including flooding, erosion, and rising groundwater tables. We assess the exposure of Cape Lookout National Seashore, a barrier island system in North Carolina (USA), to projected SLR and storm hazards over the twenty-first century. We estimate that with 0.5 m of SLR...
Authors
Jennifer Anne Thomas, Patrick L. Barnard, Sean Vitousek, Li H. Erikson, Kai Alexander Parker, Kees Nederhoff, Kevin M. Befus, Manoochehr Shirzaei
Climate controls on longshore sediment transport and coastal morphology adjacent to engineered inlets Climate controls on longshore sediment transport and coastal morphology adjacent to engineered inlets
Coastal jetties are commonly used throughout the world to stabilize channels and improve navigation through inlets. These engineered structures form artificial boundaries to littoral cells by reducing wave-driven longshore sediment transport across inlet entrances. Consequently, beaches adjacent to engineered inlets are subject to large gradients in longshore transport rates and are...
Authors
Andrew W. Stevens, Peter R Ruggiero, Kai Alexander Parker, Sean Vitousek, Guy Gelfenbaum, George M Kaminsky
Monitoring interdecadal coastal change along dissipative beaches via satellite imagery at regional scale Monitoring interdecadal coastal change along dissipative beaches via satellite imagery at regional scale
Coastal morphological changes can be assessed using shoreline position observations from space. However, satellite-derived waterline (SDW) and shoreline (SDS; SDW corrected for hydrodynamic contributions and outliers) detection methods are subject to several sources of uncertainty and inaccuracy. We extracted high-spatiotemporal-resolution (~50 m-monthly) time series of mean high water...
Authors
Marcan Graffin, Mohsen Taherkhani, Meredith Leung, Sean Vitousek, George Kaminsky, Peter Ruggiero
Benchmarking satellite-derived shoreline mapping algorithms Benchmarking satellite-derived shoreline mapping algorithms
Satellite remote sensing is becoming a widely used monitoring technique in coastal sciences. Yet, no benchmarking studies exist that compare the performance of popular satellite-derived shoreline mapping algorithms against standardized sets of inputs and validation data. Here we present a new benchmarking framework to evaluate the accuracy of shoreline change observations extracted from...
Authors
Kilian Vos, Kristen D. Splinter, Jesus Palomar-Vazquez, Josep E. Pardo-Pascual, Jaime Almonacid-Caballer, Carlos Cabezas-Rabadan, Etienne Kras, Arjen Luijendijk, Floris Kalkoen, Luis P. Almeida, Daniel Pais, Antonio Henrique da Fontoura Klein, Yongjing Mao, Daniel Harris, Bruno Castelle, Daniel D. Buscombe, Sean Vitousek
Advances in morphodynamic modeling of coastal barriers: A review Advances in morphodynamic modeling of coastal barriers: A review
As scientific understanding of barrier morphodynamics has improved, so has the ability to reproduce observed phenomena and predict future barrier states using mathematical models. To use existing models effectively and improve them, it is important to understand the current state of morphodynamic modeling and the progress that has been made in the field. This manuscript offers a review...
Authors
Steven Hoagland, Catherine Jeffries, Jennifer Irish, Robert Weiss, Kyle Mandli, Sean Vitousek, Catherine Johnson, Mary Cialone
A model integrating satellite-derived shoreline observations for predicting fine-scale shoreline response to waves and sea-level rise across large coastal regions A model integrating satellite-derived shoreline observations for predicting fine-scale shoreline response to waves and sea-level rise across large coastal regions
Satellite-derived shoreline observations combined with dynamic shoreline models enable fine-scale predictions of coastal change across large spatiotemporal scales. Here, we present a satellite-data-assimilated, “littoral-cell”-based, ensemble Kalman-filter shoreline model to predict coastal change and uncertainty due to waves, sea-level rise (SLR), and other natural and anthropogenic...
Authors
Sean Vitousek, Kilian Vos, Kristen D. Splinter, Li H. Erikson, Patrick L. Barnard
Flushing time variability in a short, low-inflow estuary Flushing time variability in a short, low-inflow estuary
Flushing time, the time scale for exchange and mixing between embayed and oceanic waters in an estuary, plays an integral role in determining water quality and aquatic ecosystem health. Here, we investigated the spatiotemporal variability of flushing times throughout Morro Bay, a short, low-inflow estuary (LIE) on the California coast, using a calibrated and validated hydrodynamic model...
Authors
Mohsen Taherkhani, Sean Vitousek, Ryan K. Walter, Jennifer O’Leary, Amid P. Khodadoust
Filter Total Items: 22
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 52
Shoreline seasonality of California’s beaches Shoreline seasonality of California’s beaches
We report on remote sensing techniques developed to characterize seasonal shoreline cycles from satellite-derived shoreline measurements. These techniques are applied to 22-yr of shoreline measurements for over 777 km of beach along California's 1,700-km coast, for which the general understanding is that shorelines exhibit winter-narrow and summer-recovery seasonality. We find that...
Authors
Jonathan A. Warrick, Daniel D. Buscombe, Kilian Vos, Hannah Kenyon, Andrew C. Ritchie, Mitchell D. Harley, Catherine N. Janda, Jess L'Heureux, Sean Vitousek
Unravelling equilibrium shoreline response to waves and sea-level rise: Numerical modelling of laboratory experiments Unravelling equilibrium shoreline response to waves and sea-level rise: Numerical modelling of laboratory experiments
Knowledge gaps in the physics of shoreline response to the combined action of waves and sea-level rise (SLR) make long-term shoreline projections uncertain. The lack of sufficiently long-term shoreline data partly hinders a better understanding of shoreline change driven by SLR. Thereby, existing formulations related to the equilibrium approach, which states that a beach profile shape...
Authors
Maurizio D’Anna, Francesca Ribas, Albert Falques, Daniel Calvete, Giovanni Coco, Sean Vitousek, Marissa Yates
Climate-driven waterline variability along the North American West Coast Climate-driven waterline variability along the North American West Coast
Sandy coasts are highly dynamic environments shaped by a myriad of hydro-sedimentary processes operating across various spatio-temporal scales. From seasonal to centennial timescales, sandy beach dynamics are strongly influenced by climate variability expressed in various forms, including seasonal cycles, climate modes (e.g., El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO)), and global warming...
Authors
Marcan Graffin, Rafael Almar, Erwin Bergsma, Julien Boucharel, Sean Vitousek, Mohsen Taherkhani, Peter Ruggiero
Projections of multiple climate-related coastal hazards for the US Southeast Atlantic Projections of multiple climate-related coastal hazards for the US Southeast Atlantic
Faced with accelerating sea level rise and changing ocean storm conditions, coastal communities require comprehensive assessments of climate-driven hazard impacts to inform adaptation measures. Previous studies have focused on flooding but rarely on other climate-related coastal hazards, such as subsidence, beach erosion and groundwater. Here, we project societal exposure to multiple...
Authors
Patrick L. Barnard, Kevin M. Befus, Jeffrey J. Danielson, Anita C Engelstad, Li H. Erikson, Amy C. Foxgrover, Maya Kumari Hayden, Daniel J. Hoover, Tim Leijnse, Chris Massey, Robert T. McCall, Norberto Nadal-Caraballo, Kees Nederhoff, Andrea C. O'Neill, Kai Alexander Parker, Manoochehr Shirzaei, Leonard O. Ohenhen, Peter W Swarzenski, Jennifer Anne Thomas, Maarten van Ormondt, Sean Vitousek, Killian Vos, Nathan J. Wood, Jeanne M. Jones, Jamie Jones
Scalable, data-assimilated models predict large-scale shoreline response to waves and sea-level rise Scalable, data-assimilated models predict large-scale shoreline response to waves and sea-level rise
Coastal change is a complex combination of multi-scale processes (e.g., wave-driven cross-shore and longshore transport; dune, bluff, and cliff erosion; overwash; fluvial and inlet sediment supply; and sea-level-driven recession). Historical sea-level-driven coastal recession on open ocean coasts is often outpaced by wave-driven change. However, future sea-level-driven coastal recession...
Authors
Sean Vitousek, Kilian Vos, Kristen D. Splinter, Kai Alexander Parker, Andrea C. O'Neill, Amy C. Foxgrover, Maya Kumari Hayden, Jennifer Anne Thomas, Li H. Erikson, Patrick L. Barnard
The projected exposure and response of a natural barrier island system to climate-driven coastal hazards The projected exposure and response of a natural barrier island system to climate-driven coastal hazards
Accelerating sea level rise (SLR) and changing storm patterns will increasingly expose barrier islands to coastal hazards, including flooding, erosion, and rising groundwater tables. We assess the exposure of Cape Lookout National Seashore, a barrier island system in North Carolina (USA), to projected SLR and storm hazards over the twenty-first century. We estimate that with 0.5 m of SLR...
Authors
Jennifer Anne Thomas, Patrick L. Barnard, Sean Vitousek, Li H. Erikson, Kai Alexander Parker, Kees Nederhoff, Kevin M. Befus, Manoochehr Shirzaei
Climate controls on longshore sediment transport and coastal morphology adjacent to engineered inlets Climate controls on longshore sediment transport and coastal morphology adjacent to engineered inlets
Coastal jetties are commonly used throughout the world to stabilize channels and improve navigation through inlets. These engineered structures form artificial boundaries to littoral cells by reducing wave-driven longshore sediment transport across inlet entrances. Consequently, beaches adjacent to engineered inlets are subject to large gradients in longshore transport rates and are...
Authors
Andrew W. Stevens, Peter R Ruggiero, Kai Alexander Parker, Sean Vitousek, Guy Gelfenbaum, George M Kaminsky
Monitoring interdecadal coastal change along dissipative beaches via satellite imagery at regional scale Monitoring interdecadal coastal change along dissipative beaches via satellite imagery at regional scale
Coastal morphological changes can be assessed using shoreline position observations from space. However, satellite-derived waterline (SDW) and shoreline (SDS; SDW corrected for hydrodynamic contributions and outliers) detection methods are subject to several sources of uncertainty and inaccuracy. We extracted high-spatiotemporal-resolution (~50 m-monthly) time series of mean high water...
Authors
Marcan Graffin, Mohsen Taherkhani, Meredith Leung, Sean Vitousek, George Kaminsky, Peter Ruggiero
Benchmarking satellite-derived shoreline mapping algorithms Benchmarking satellite-derived shoreline mapping algorithms
Satellite remote sensing is becoming a widely used monitoring technique in coastal sciences. Yet, no benchmarking studies exist that compare the performance of popular satellite-derived shoreline mapping algorithms against standardized sets of inputs and validation data. Here we present a new benchmarking framework to evaluate the accuracy of shoreline change observations extracted from...
Authors
Kilian Vos, Kristen D. Splinter, Jesus Palomar-Vazquez, Josep E. Pardo-Pascual, Jaime Almonacid-Caballer, Carlos Cabezas-Rabadan, Etienne Kras, Arjen Luijendijk, Floris Kalkoen, Luis P. Almeida, Daniel Pais, Antonio Henrique da Fontoura Klein, Yongjing Mao, Daniel Harris, Bruno Castelle, Daniel D. Buscombe, Sean Vitousek
Advances in morphodynamic modeling of coastal barriers: A review Advances in morphodynamic modeling of coastal barriers: A review
As scientific understanding of barrier morphodynamics has improved, so has the ability to reproduce observed phenomena and predict future barrier states using mathematical models. To use existing models effectively and improve them, it is important to understand the current state of morphodynamic modeling and the progress that has been made in the field. This manuscript offers a review...
Authors
Steven Hoagland, Catherine Jeffries, Jennifer Irish, Robert Weiss, Kyle Mandli, Sean Vitousek, Catherine Johnson, Mary Cialone
A model integrating satellite-derived shoreline observations for predicting fine-scale shoreline response to waves and sea-level rise across large coastal regions A model integrating satellite-derived shoreline observations for predicting fine-scale shoreline response to waves and sea-level rise across large coastal regions
Satellite-derived shoreline observations combined with dynamic shoreline models enable fine-scale predictions of coastal change across large spatiotemporal scales. Here, we present a satellite-data-assimilated, “littoral-cell”-based, ensemble Kalman-filter shoreline model to predict coastal change and uncertainty due to waves, sea-level rise (SLR), and other natural and anthropogenic...
Authors
Sean Vitousek, Kilian Vos, Kristen D. Splinter, Li H. Erikson, Patrick L. Barnard
Flushing time variability in a short, low-inflow estuary Flushing time variability in a short, low-inflow estuary
Flushing time, the time scale for exchange and mixing between embayed and oceanic waters in an estuary, plays an integral role in determining water quality and aquatic ecosystem health. Here, we investigated the spatiotemporal variability of flushing times throughout Morro Bay, a short, low-inflow estuary (LIE) on the California coast, using a calibrated and validated hydrodynamic model...
Authors
Mohsen Taherkhani, Sean Vitousek, Ryan K. Walter, Jennifer O’Leary, Amid P. Khodadoust
Filter Total Items: 22