Tami S Christianson
My work focuses on hydrologic monitoring of streams, lakes, and groundwater wells around Mount St. Helens. I am involved with maintaining and updating a cross section database showing years of changes in drainages affected by the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens.
Professional Experience
Hydrologic Technician: (2013 – present), U.S. Geological Survey, Cascades Volcano Observatory, Vancouver, WA
Hydrologic Technician, student intern: (2008-2013), U.S. Geological Survey, Cascades Volcano Observatory, Vancouver, WA
Volunteer work: Worked with GeoGirls program held by Mount St. Helens Institute
Education and Certifications
B.A. Geology (2013), Portland State University, Portland, OR
B.A. Elementary Education (1987), Dickinson State University, Dickinson, ND
Science and Products
A 40-year story of river sediment at Mount St. Helens
The 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens in Washington State unleashed one of the largest debris avalanches (landslide) in recorded history. The debris avalanche deposited 3.3 billion cubic yards of material into the upper North Fork Toutle River watershed and obstructed the Columbia River shipping channel downstream. From the eruption on May 18, 1980, to September 30, 2018, the Toutle River transpor
Authors
Mark A. Uhrich, Kurt R. Spicer, Adam R. Mosbrucker, Dennis R. Saunders, Tami S. Christianson
Multidecadal geomorphic evolution of a profoundly disturbed gravel-bed river system—a complex, nonlinear response and its impact on sediment delivery
A 2.5-km3 debris avalanche during the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens reset the fluvial landscape of upper North Fork Toutle River valley. Since then, a new drainage network has formed and evolved. Cross-section surveys repeated over nearly 40 years at 16 locations along a 20-km reach of river valley document channel evolution, geomorphic processes, and their impacts on sediment delivery. We ana
Authors
Jon J. Major, Shan Zheng, Adam R. Mosbrucker, Kurt R. Spicer, Tami Christianson, Colin R. Thorne
Evaluating turbidity and suspended-sediment concentration relations from the North Fork Toutle River basin near Mount St. Helens, Washington; annual, seasonal, event, and particle size variations - a preliminary analysis.
Regression of in-stream turbidity with concurrent sample-based suspended-sediment concentration (SSC) has become an accepted method for producing unit-value time series of inferred SSC (Rasmussen et al., 2009). Turbidity-SSC regression models are increasingly used to generate suspended-sediment records for Pacific Northwest rivers (e.g., Curran et al., 2014; Schenk and Bragg, 2014; Uhrich and Brag
Authors
Mark A. Uhrich, Kurt R. Spicer, Adam R. Mosbrucker, Tami S. Christianson
Estimating concentrations of fine-grained and total suspended sediment from close-range remote sensing imagery
Fluvial sediment, a vital surface water resource, is hazardous in excess. Suspended sediment, the most prevalent source of impairment of river systems, can adversely affect flood control, navigation, fisheries and aquatic ecosystems, recreation, and water supply (e.g., Rasmussen et al., 2009; Qu, 2014). Monitoring programs typically focus on suspended-sediment concentration (SSC) and discharge (SS
Authors
Adam R. Mosbrucker, Kurt R. Spicer, Tami S. Christianson, Mark A. Uhrich
Science and Products
- Publications
A 40-year story of river sediment at Mount St. Helens
The 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens in Washington State unleashed one of the largest debris avalanches (landslide) in recorded history. The debris avalanche deposited 3.3 billion cubic yards of material into the upper North Fork Toutle River watershed and obstructed the Columbia River shipping channel downstream. From the eruption on May 18, 1980, to September 30, 2018, the Toutle River transporAuthorsMark A. Uhrich, Kurt R. Spicer, Adam R. Mosbrucker, Dennis R. Saunders, Tami S. ChristiansonMultidecadal geomorphic evolution of a profoundly disturbed gravel-bed river system—a complex, nonlinear response and its impact on sediment delivery
A 2.5-km3 debris avalanche during the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens reset the fluvial landscape of upper North Fork Toutle River valley. Since then, a new drainage network has formed and evolved. Cross-section surveys repeated over nearly 40 years at 16 locations along a 20-km reach of river valley document channel evolution, geomorphic processes, and their impacts on sediment delivery. We anaAuthorsJon J. Major, Shan Zheng, Adam R. Mosbrucker, Kurt R. Spicer, Tami Christianson, Colin R. ThorneEvaluating turbidity and suspended-sediment concentration relations from the North Fork Toutle River basin near Mount St. Helens, Washington; annual, seasonal, event, and particle size variations - a preliminary analysis.
Regression of in-stream turbidity with concurrent sample-based suspended-sediment concentration (SSC) has become an accepted method for producing unit-value time series of inferred SSC (Rasmussen et al., 2009). Turbidity-SSC regression models are increasingly used to generate suspended-sediment records for Pacific Northwest rivers (e.g., Curran et al., 2014; Schenk and Bragg, 2014; Uhrich and BragAuthorsMark A. Uhrich, Kurt R. Spicer, Adam R. Mosbrucker, Tami S. ChristiansonEstimating concentrations of fine-grained and total suspended sediment from close-range remote sensing imagery
Fluvial sediment, a vital surface water resource, is hazardous in excess. Suspended sediment, the most prevalent source of impairment of river systems, can adversely affect flood control, navigation, fisheries and aquatic ecosystems, recreation, and water supply (e.g., Rasmussen et al., 2009; Qu, 2014). Monitoring programs typically focus on suspended-sediment concentration (SSC) and discharge (SSAuthorsAdam R. Mosbrucker, Kurt R. Spicer, Tami S. Christianson, Mark A. Uhrich