Stephen B Gingerich
Biography
Stephen Gingerich has been a Research Hydrologist for the U.S. Geological Survey since 1995. He has authored over 35 scientific papers on subjects such as groundwater modeling and island hydrology. He received a BS in Geosciences from the Pennsylvania State University in 1986, a MS and a PhD in Hydrology from the University of Hawaii at Manoa in 1992 and 1995. He was a Fulbright Scholar working in Japan during 2008-09. He started working for the USGS in 1990 as a student. He has worked on hydrologic studies in Oregon, Hawaii, Guam, Japan, the Marshall Islands, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, and Diego Garcia.
Science and Products
The Impact of Sea-Level Rise and Climate Change on Pacific Ocean Atolls
Providing basic understanding and specific information on storm-wave inundation of atoll islands that house Department of Defense installations; and assessing the resulting impact of sea-level rise and storm-wave inundation on infrastructure and freshwater availability under a variety of sea-level rise and climatic scenarios....
Harney Basin Groundwater Study
This study will characterize and quantify the groundwater system in the Harney Basin to address gaps in our present understanding.
Tropical cyclone projections: Changing climate threats for Pacific Island defense installations
Potential changing climate threats in the tropical and subtropical North Pacific Ocean were assessed, using coupled ocean-atmosphere and atmosphere-only general circulation models, to explore their response to projected increasing greenhouse gas emissions. Tropical cyclone occurrence, described by their frequency and intensity, near islands...
Widlansky, Matthew J.; Annamalai, Hariharasubramanian; Gingerich, Stephen B.; Storlazzi, Curt D.; Marra, John J.; Hodges, Kevin I.; Choy, Barry; Kitoh, Akio
Deep aquifer recharge in the Columbia River Basalt Group, upper Umatilla River Basin, northeastern Oregon
Groundwater is an important component of the water resources of the upper Umatilla River Basin of northeastern Oregon. As such, understanding the capacity of the resource is vital. Past studies have estimated recharge in the study area. One recent study of the upper Umatilla River Basin indicated that about 80 percent of recharge entering the...
Pischel, Esther M.; Johnson, Henry M.; Gingerich, Stephen B. Most atolls will be uninhabitable by the mid-21st century because of sea-level rise exacerbating wave-driven flooding
Sea levels are rising, with the highest rates in the tropics, where thousands of low-lying coral atoll islands are located. Most studies on the resilience of these islands to sea-level rise have projected that they will experience minimal inundation impacts until at least the end of the 21st century. However, these have not taken into account the...
Storlazzi, Curt D.; Gingerich, Stephen B.; van Dongeren, Ap; Cheriton, Olivia; Swarzenski, Peter W.; Quataert, Ellen; Voss, Clifford I.; Field, Donald W.; Annamalai, Hariharasubramanian; Piniak, Greg A.; McCall, Robert T. Noble gas signatures in the Island of Maui, Hawaii: Characterizing groundwater sources in fractured systems
Uneven distribution of rainfall and freshwater scarcity in populated areas in the Island of Maui, Hawaii, renders water resources management a challenge in this complex and ill-defined hydrological system. A previous study in the Galapagos Islands suggests that noble gas temperatures (NGTs) record seasonality in that fractured, rapid infiltration...
Niu, Yi; Castro, M. Clara; Hall, Chris M.; Gingerich, Stephen B.; Scholl, Martha A.; Warrier, Rohit B. Seawater-flooding events and impact on freshwater lenses of low-lying islands: Controlling factors, basic management and mitigation
An unprecedented set of hydrologic observations was collected after the Dec 2008 seawater-flooding event on Roi-Namur, Kwajalein Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands. By two days after the seawater flooding that occurred at the beginning of dry season, the observed salinity of water withdrawn by the island’s main skimming well increased to 100...
Gingerich, Stephen B.; Voss, Clifford I.; Johnson, Adam G. Observations of nearshore groundwater discharge: Kahekili Beach Park submarine springs, Maui, Hawaii
Study regionThe study region encompasses the nearshore, coastal waters off west Maui, Hawaii. Here abundant groundwater—that carries with it a strong land-based fingerprint—discharges into the coastal waters and over a coral reef.Study focusCoastal groundwater discharge is a ubiquitous hydrologic feature that has been shown to impact nearshore...
Swarzenski, Peter W.; Dulai, H.; Kroeger, K.D.; Smith, C.G.; Dimova, N.; Storlazzi, C. D.; Prouty, N.G.; Gingerich, S.B.; Glenn, C. R. Climate trends and projections for Guam
The island of Guam experiences a tropical marine climate, which is warm and humid moderated by seasonal tradewinds and a wet and dry season. The dry season lasts from January to June, while the rainy months are from July to December. Annual rainfall totals 84-116 inches (2133-2946 mm), of which two-thirds fall during the rainy season. Seasonal...
Gingerich, Stephen B.; Keener, Victoria; Finucane, Melissa L.
The effects of withdrawals and drought on groundwater availability in the Northern Guam Lens Aquifer, Guam
Owing to population growth, freshwater demand on Guam has increased in the past and will likely increase in the future. During the early 1970s to 2010, groundwater withdrawals from the limestone Northern Guam Lens Aquifer, the main source of freshwater on the island, tripled from about 15 to 45 million gallons per day. Because of proposed military...
Gingerich, Stephen B. Estimating hydraulic properties from tidal attenuation in the Northern Guam Lens Aquifer, territory of Guam, USA
Tidal-signal attenuations are analyzed to compute hydraulic diffusivities and estimate regional hydraulic conductivities of the Northern Guam Lens Aquifer, Territory of Guam (Pacific Ocean), USA. The results indicate a significant tidal-damping effect at the coastal boundary. Hydraulic diffusivities computed using a simple analytical solution for...
Rotzoll, Kolja; Gingerich, Stephen B.; Jenson, John W.; El-Kadi, Aly I.
Groundwater availability in the Lahaina District, west Maui, Hawai'i
Most of the public water supply in the Lahaina District, west Maui, Hawai'i, is pumped from a freshwater lens in volcanic rocks. Because of population growth, groundwater withdrawals from wells in this area are expected to increase from about 5.8 million gallons per day in 2007 to more than 11 million gallons per day by 2030. Currently (2011), the...
Gingerich, Stephen B.; Engott, John A. Canopy water balance of windward and leeward Hawaiian cloud forests on Haleakalā, Maui, Hawai'i
The contribution of intercepted cloud water to precipitation at windward and leeward cloud forest sites on the slopes of Haleakalā, Maui was assessed using two approaches. Canopy water balance estimates based on meteorological monitoring were compared with interpretations of fog screen measurements collected over a 2-year period at each location....
Giambelluca, Thomas W.; DeLay, John K.; Nullet, Michael A.; Scholl, Martha A.; Gingerich, Stephen B. Hydrogeology of the Hawaiian islands
Volcanic-rock aquifers are the most extensive and productive aquifers in the Hawaiian Islands. These aquifers contain different types of groundwater systems depending on the geologic setting in which they occur. The most common groundwater systems include coastal freshwater-lens systems in the dike-free flanks of the volcanoes and dike-impounded...
Cabrera, Maria del Carmen; Lambán, Luis Javier; Valverde, Margarida; Gingerich, Stephen B.; Oki, Delwyn S.
Adaptive management strategies for potential impacts of climate change on Guam
Guam’s water demands are anticipated to increase. Potential impacts of sea-level rise and a changing climate on surface-water and groundwater resources are assessed.