Conference Papers

Passive optical remote sensing of high latitude regions faces many challenges including a short acquisition season and poor illumination due to low solar elevation. Additional complications are encountered in the identification of surface minerals for mineral resource characterization because minerals of interest commonly are exposed on steep terrain, further challenging reflectance retrieval and

Surrogate measurements of suspended-sediment concentration (SSC) are increasingly used to provide continuous, high-resolution, and demonstrably accurate data at a reasonable cost. Densimetric data, calculated from the difference between two in situ pressure measurements, exploit variations in real-time streamflow densities to infer SSCs. Unlike other suspendedsediment surrogate technologies based

Boa constrictor is a wide ranging snake species that is common in the pet trade and is currently listed in CITES Appendix II. Hog Island boas, or Cayos Cochinos boas, are a dwarf, insular race of Boa constrictor imperator endemic to the Cayos Cochinos Archipelago, Honduras. Cayos Cochinos boas are prized in the international pet trade for their light pink dorsal coloration, as well as for being mu

Despite their utility for prediction of coastal behavior and for coastal management, littoral sediment budgets are difficult to quantify over large regions of coastline and over short time scales. In this study, bathymetric change analysis shows differences in the magnitude and spatial location of erosion and accretion over three years; more net accumulation occurred at the littoral end point of t

Closure of Glen Canyon Dam in 1963 dramatically changed discharge and sediment supply to the downstream Colorado River in Marble and Grand Canyons. Magnitudes of seasonal flow variation have been suppressed, while daily fluctuations have increased because of hydropower generation. Lake Powell, the upstream reservoir, traps all sediment, leaving the Paria and Little Colorado Rivers as the main supp

Morphodynamic data assimilation blends observations with model predictions and comes in many forms, including linear regression, Kalman filter, brute-force parameter estimation, variational assimilation, and Bayesian analysis. Importantly, data assimilation can be used to identify sources of prediction errors that lead to improved fundamental understanding. Overall, models incorporating data assim

Wave heights, periods, and directions were forecast for 2081–2100 using output from four coupled atmosphere–ocean global climate models for representative concentration pathway scenarios RCP4.5 and RCP8.5. Global climate model wind fields were used to drive the global WAVEWATCH-III wave model to generate hourly time-series of bulk wave parameters for 25 islands in the mid to western tropical Pacif

No abstract available.

We present an objectively defined rainfall intensity-duration (I-D) threshold for the initiation of flash floods and debris flows for basins recently burned in the 2012 Waldo Canyon fire near Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA. Our results are based on 453 rainfall records which include 8 instances of hazardous flooding and debris flow from 10 July 2012 to 14 August 2013. We objectively defined the t

The Red River of the North drains much of eastern North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota and flows north into Manitoba, Canada, ultimately into Lake Winnipeg; therefore, water quality is an International concern. With increased runoff in the past few decades, phosphorus flux (the amount of phosphorus transported by the river) has increased. This is a concern, especially with respect to Lake Winni

Velocity measurements near the Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) are important for mapping surface currents, measuring velocity and discharge in shallow streams, and providing accurate estimates of discharge in the top unmeasured portion of the water column. Improvements to ADCP performance permit measurement of velocities much closer (5 cm) to the transducer than has been possible in the p

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) and local stakeholder groups are evaluating reservoir-management strategies within Paonia Reservoir. This small reservoir fills to capacity each spring and requires approximately half of the snowmelt-runoff volume from its sediment-laden source waters, Muddy Creek. The U.S. Geological Survey is currently conducting high-resolution (15-minute data-recording int