Silvia Terziotti
National Map Liaison for North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia.
Biography
History & Highlights
Silvia spent most of her career with the Water Mission Area in USGS, first in the Virginia Water Science Center and then with the South Atlantic Water Science Center. She served as a GIS Specialist, Team lead and Project Chief for numerous hydrologic studies over the years. She has also served on many technical advisory teams addressing geospatial needs, with an emphasis on lidar applications and hydrographic derivatives. She is currently serving as the National Map Liaison for North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia with National Geospatial Program.
Education
Masters in Urban and Regional Planning (1986) Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA
Bachelor of Science, Psychology (1983) Randolph-Macon College, Ashland, VA
Areas of Expertise
Hydrologic and geomorphologic derivatives from high resolution elevation data sets. StreamStats support and Advisory Team member.
Specialties
Hydrologic model support. Lidar derivatives and hydro-enforcement.
Science and Products
SPARROW Modeling for North Carolina Watersheds
In North Carolina, excessive nutrient and sediment loadings have contributed to the degradation of surface-water quality across the state as a result of agricultural activities and population growth increases. To further understand the influences of human activities and natural processes on surface-water quality, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) developed the SPARROW (SPAtially Referenced...
Geospatial (GIS) and Map Resources for the South Atlantic Region
Map and Geographical Information System (GIS) resources
Geospatial Resources (GIS) for North Carolina
Spatial/GIS data sets for North Carolina are available from numerous spatial data clearinghouses.
Factors affecting nitrate concentrations in stream base flow
Elevated nitrogen concentrations in streams and rivers in the Chesapeake Bay watershed have adversely affected the ecosystem health of the bay. Much of this nitrogen is derived as nitrate from groundwater that discharges to streams as base flow. In this study, boosted regression trees (BRTs) were used to relate nitrate concentrations in base flow...
Wherry, Susan; Tesoriero, Anthony J.; Terziotti, Silvia
Elevation-derived hydrography acquisition specifications
Hydrographic features derived from U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) 3D Elevation Program data, and collected for use by the USGS, must meet the specifications described in this document. The specifications described herein pertain to the final product delivered to the USGS, not to methods used to derive the hydrographic features. The specifications...
Terziotti, Silvia; Archuleta, Christy-Ann
Elevation-derived hydrography—Representation, extraction, attribution, and delineation rules
With the increasing availability of 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) quality high resolution elevation data across the United States and the pressing need for better integrated elevation and hydrography data, the U.S. Geological Survey is developing guidance to improve the horizontal and vertical alignment of these datasets. The U.S. Geological Survey...
Archuleta, Christy-Ann; Terziotti, Silvia
Estimates of nitrate loads and yields from groundwater to streams in the Chesapeake Bay watershed based on land use and geology
The water quality of the Chesapeake Bay may be adversely affected by dissolved nitrate carried in groundwater discharge to streams. To estimate the concentrations, loads, and yields of nitrate from groundwater to streams for the Chesapeake Bay watershed, a regression model was developed based on measured nitrate concentrations from 156 small...
Terziotti, Silvia; Capel, Paul D.; Tesoriero, Anthony J.; Hopple, Jessica A.; Kronholm, Scott C. Estimating discharge and nonpoint source nitrate loading to streams from three end‐member pathways using high‐frequency water quality data
The myriad hydrologic and biogeochemical processes taking place in watersheds occurring across space and time are integrated and reflected in the quantity and quality of water in streams and rivers. Collection of high‐frequency water quality data with sensors in surface waters provides new opportunities to disentangle these processes and quantify...
Miller, Matthew P.; Tesoriero, Anthony J.; Hood, Krista; Terziotti, Silvia; Wolock, David M. Statistically extracted fundamental watershed variables for estimating the loads of total nitrogen in small streams
Accurate estimation of total nitrogen loads is essential for evaluating conditions in the aquatic environment. Extrapolation of estimates beyond measured streams will greatly expand our understanding of total nitrogen loading to streams. Recursive partitioning and random forest regression were used to assess 85 geospatial, environmental, and...
Kronholm, Scott C.; Capel, Paul D.; Terziotti, Silvia A semi-automated tool for reducing the creation of false closed depressions from a filled LIDAR-derived digital elevation model
Closed depressions on the land surface can be identified by ‘filling’ a digital elevation model (DEM) and subtracting the filled model from the original DEM. However, automated methods suffer from artificial ‘dams’ where surface streams cross under bridges and through culverts. Removal of these false depressions from an elevation model is...
Wall, John; Doctor, Daniel H.; Terziotti, Silvia Predicting redox conditions in groundwater at a regional scale
Defining the oxic-suboxic interface is often critical for determining pathways for nitrate transport in groundwater and to streams at the local scale. Defining this interface on a regional scale is complicated by the spatial variability of reaction rates. The probability of oxic groundwater in the Chesapeake Bay watershed was predicted by relating...
Tesoriero, Anthony J.; Terziotti, Silvia; Abrams, Daniel B.
Relation of watershed setting and stream nutrient yields at selected sites in central and eastern North Carolina, 1997-2008
Data collected between 1997 and 2008 at 48 stream sites were used to characterize relations between watershed settings and stream nutrient yields throughout central and eastern North Carolina. The focus of the investigation was to identify environmental variables in watersheds that influence nutrient export for supporting the development and...
Harden, Stephen L.; Cuffney, Thomas F.; Terziotti, Silvia; Kolb, Katharine R.
StreamStats in North Carolina: a water-resources Web application
A statewide StreamStats application for North Carolina was developed in cooperation with the North Carolina Department of Transportation following completion of a pilot application for the upper French Broad River basin in western North Carolina (Wagner and others, 2009). StreamStats for North Carolina, available at http://water.usgs.gov/osw/...
Weaver, J. Curtis; Terziotti, Silvia; Kolb, Katharine R.; Wagner, Chad R.
Representation of regional urban development conditions using a watershed-based gradient study design
As part of the U.S. Geological Survey National Water-Quality Assessment Program, the effects of urbanization on stream ecosystems (EUSE) have been intensively investigated in nine metropolitan areas in the United States, including Boston, Massachusetts; Atlanta, Georgia; Birmingham, Alabama; Raleigh, North Carolina; Salt Lake City, Utah; Denver,...
Terziotti, Silvia; McMahon, Gerard; Bell, Amanda H. A regional modeling framework of phosphorus sources and transport in streams of the southeastern United States
We applied the SPARROW model to estimate phosphorus transport from catchments to stream reaches and subsequent delivery to major receiving water bodies in the Southeastern United States (U.S.). We show that six source variables and five land-to-water transport variables are significant (p < 0.05) in explaining 67% of the variability...
Garcia, Ana M.; Hoos, Anne B.; Terziotti, Silvia
Geomorphological Features of North Carolina Dataset Released
Three statewide datasets were compiled to provide information on geomorphological features in North Carolina. Datasets include state-wide coverages of geomorphon common forms, landscape openness, and slope area index. Datasets were generated from light detection and ranging (lidar) derived digital elevation models at 10 ft. or 30 ft. resolution.