Brian Pellerin
Brian Pellerin is the Program Manager for the Next Generation Water Observing Systems (NGWOS) and Water Hazards Programs.
Professional Experience
2017- Branch Chief, Hydrologic Networks Branch, USGS, Observing Systems Division, Reston, Virginia
2016-2017 Research Physical Scientist (RGE), USGS, Office of Water Quality, Reston, Virginia
2009-2016 Research Soil Scientist (RGE), USGS, California Water Science Center, Sacramento
2007-2009 Soil Scientist, USGS, California Water Science Center, Sacramento
2004-2007 National Research Council Post-Doctoral Associate, USGS, California Water Science Center, Sacramento
2000-2004 Graduate Research Assistant, University of New Hampshire
1998-2000 Graduate Research Assistant, University of Maine
1996-1998 Technician Assistant, USDA-Forest Service, Durham, New Hampshire
Education and Certifications
2004 Ph.D., Natural Resources and Environmental Studies, University of New Hampshire, Durham. Dissertation: The influence of urbanization on runoff generation and stream chemistry in Massa
2000 M.S., Plant, Soil and Environmental Science, University of Maine, Orono. Thesis: Inferences from soil chemical properties on linkages between soil and surface water in Maine forested waters
1998 B.S., Environmental Science (Soil Science minor), University of New Hampshire, Durham
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 13
Transport of dissolved organic matter by river networks from mountains to the sea: a re-examination of the role of flow across temporal and spatial scales
The transport of dissolved organic matter (DOM) by rivers is an important component of the global carbon cycle, affects ecosystems and water quality, and reflects biogeochemical and hydrological processes in watersheds. Understanding the fundamental relationships between discharge and DOM concentration and composition reveals important information about watershed flow paths, soil...
Filter Total Items: 45
Clearing the waters: Evaluating the need for site-specific field fluorescence corrections based on turbidity measurements
In situ fluorescent dissolved organic matter (fDOM) measurements have gained increasing popularity as a proxy for dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations in streams. One challenge to accurate fDOM measurements in many streams is light attenuation due to suspended particles. Downing et al. (2012) evaluated the need for corrections to compensate for particle interference on fDOM...
Authors
John Franco Saraceno, James B. Shanley, Bryan D. Downing, Brian Pellerin
Spatial and temporal patterns of dissolved organic matter quantity and quality in the Mississippi River Basin, 1997–2013
Recent studies have found insignificant or decreasing trends in time-series dissolved organic carbon (DOC) datasets, questioning the assumption that long-term DOC concentrations in surface waters are increasing in response to anthropogenic forcing, including climate change, land use, and atmospheric acid deposition. We used the weighted regressions on time, discharge, and season (WRTDS)...
Authors
Sarah M. Stackpoole, Edward G. Stets, David Clow, Douglas A. Burns, George R. Aiken, Brent T. Aulenbach, Irean Creed, Robert M. Hirsch, Hjalmar Laudon, Brian Pellerin, Robert G. Striegl
Patterns of diel variation in nitrate concentrations in the Potomac River
The Potomac River is a large source of N to Chesapeake Bay, where reducing nutrient loads is a focus of efforts to improve trophic status. Better understanding of NO3– loss, reflected in part by diel variation in NO3– concentrations, may refine model predictions of N loads to the Bay. We analyzed 2 y of high-frequency NO3– sensor data in the Potomac to quantify seasonal variation in the...
Authors
Douglas A. Burns, Matthew Miller, Brian Pellerin, Paul Capel
Emerging tools for continuous nutrient monitoring networks: Sensors advancing science and water resources protection
Sensors and enabling technologies are becoming increasingly important tools for water quality monitoring and associated water resource management decisions. In particular, nutrient sensors are of interest because of the well-known adverse effects of nutrient enrichment on coastal hypoxia, harmful algal blooms, and impacts to human health. Accurate and timely information on nutrient...
Authors
Brian Pellerin, Beth A Stauffer, Dwane A Young, Daniel J. Sullivan, Suzanne B. Bricker, Mark R Walbridge, Gerard A Clyde, Denice M Shaw
The new Landsat 8 potential for remote sensing of colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM)
Due to a combination of factors, such as a new coastal/aerosol band and improved radiometric sensitivity of the Operational Land Imager aboard Landsat 8, the atmospherically-corrected Surface Reflectance product for Landsat data, and the growing availability of corrected fDOM data from U.S. Geological Survey gaging stations, moderate-resolution remote sensing of fDOM may now be...
Authors
E. Terrence Slonecker, Daniel K. Jones, Brian Pellerin
Optical properties of dissolved organic matter (DOM): Effects of biological and photolytic degradation
Advances in spectroscopic techniques have led to an increase in the use of optical properties (absorbance and fluorescence) to assess dissolved organic matter (DOM) composition and infer sources and processing. However, little information is available to assess the impact of biological and photolytic processing on the optical properties of original DOM source materials. We measured...
Authors
Angela Hansen, Tamara E. C. Kraus, Brian Pellerin, Jacob Fleck, Bryan D. Downing, Brian Bergamaschi
Quantifying watershed-scale groundwater loading and in-stream fate of nitrate using high-frequency water quality data
We describe a new approach that couples hydrograph separation with high-frequency nitrate data to quantify time-variable groundwater and runoff loading of nitrate to streams, and the net in-stream fate of nitrate at the watershed-scale. The approach was applied at three sites spanning gradients in watershed size and land use in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Results indicate that 58-73%...
Authors
Matthew Miller, Anthony J. Tesoriero, Paul Capel, Brian Pellerin, Kenneth Hyer, Douglas A. Burns
By
Water Resources Mission Area, National Water Quality Program, California Water Science Center, Chesapeake Bay Activities, New York Water Science Center, Oregon Water Science Center, Utah Water Science Center, Virginia and West Virginia Water Science Center, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, Upper Midwest Water Science Center
Applications of optical sensors for high-frequency water-quality monitoring and research
The recent commercial availability of in-situ optical sensors, together with new techniques for data collection and analysis, provides the opportunity to monitor a wide range of water-quality constituents over time scales during which environmental conditions actually change. Traditional approaches for data collection (daily to monthly discrete samples) are often limited by high sample...
Authors
Brian Pellerin
The river as a chemostat: fresh perspectives on dissolved organic matter flowing down the river continuum
A better understanding is needed of how hydrological and biogeochemical processes control dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations and dissolved organic matter (DOM) composition from headwaters downstream to large rivers. We examined a large DOM dataset from the National Water Information System of the US Geological Survey, which represents approximately 100 000 measurements of DOC...
Authors
Irean Creed, Diane M. McKnight, Brian Pellerin, Mark B. Green, Brian Bergamaschi, George R. Aiken, Douglas A. Burns, Stuart E G Findlay, James B. Shanley, Robert G. Striegl, Brent T. Aulenbach, David Clow, Hjalmar Laudon, Brian L. McGlynn, Kevin J. McGuire, Richard L. Smith, Sarah M. Stackpoole
Causes and consequences of ecosystem service regionalization in a coastal suburban watershed
The demand for ecosystem services and the ability of natural ecosystems to provide those services evolve over time as population, land use, and management practices change. Regionalization of ecosystem service activity, or the expansion of the area providing ecosystem services to a population, is a common response in densely populated coastal regions, with important consequences for...
Authors
Wilfred M. Wollheim, Mark B. Green, Brian Pellerin, Nathaniel B. Morse, Charles S. Hopkinson
Mississippi River nitrate loads from high frequency sensor measurements and regression-based load estimation
Accurately quantifying nitrate (NO3–) loading from the Mississippi River is important for predicting summer hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico and targeting nutrient reduction within the basin. Loads have historically been modeled with regression-based techniques, but recent advances with high frequency NO3– sensors allowed us to evaluate model performance relative to measured loads in the...
Authors
Brian Pellerin, Brian Bergamaschi, Robert J. Gilliom, Charles G. Crawford, John Franco Saraceno, C. Paul Frederick, Bryan D. Downing, Jennifer C. Murphy
Optical sensors for water quality
Shifts in land use, population, and climate have altered hydrologic systems in the United States in ways that affect water quality and ecosystem function. Water diversions, detention in reservoirs, increased channelization, and changes in rainfall and snowmelt are major causes, but there are also more subtle causes such as changes in soil temperature, atmospheric deposition, and shifting...
Authors
Brian Pellerin, Brian Bergamaschi
Non-USGS Publications**
Oczkowski AJ, BA Pellerin, CW Hunt, WM Wollheim, CJ Vörösmarty and TC Loder III. 2006. The role of snowmelt and spring rainfall in inorganic nutrient fluxes from a large temperate watershed, the Androscoggin River basin (Maine and New Hampshire). Biogeochemistry, 80: 191-203.
Wollheim WM, BA Pellerin, CJ Vörösmarty and CS Hopkinson. 2005. Nitrogen retention in urbanizing headwater catchments. Ecosystems, 8: 871-884.
Pellerin BA, WM Wollheim, CS Hopkinson, WH McDowell, CJ Vörösmarty, MW Williams and ML Daley. 2004. Role of wetlands and developed land use on dissolved organic nitrogen concentrations and DON / TDN in northeastern U.S. rivers and streams. Limnology and Oceanography, 49: 910-918.
Pellerin BA, IJ Fernandez, SA Norton and JS Kahl. 2002. Soil aluminum distribution in the near-stream zone at the Bear Brook Watershed in Maine. Water, Air and Soil Pollution, 134: 189-204.
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 13
Transport of dissolved organic matter by river networks from mountains to the sea: a re-examination of the role of flow across temporal and spatial scales
The transport of dissolved organic matter (DOM) by rivers is an important component of the global carbon cycle, affects ecosystems and water quality, and reflects biogeochemical and hydrological processes in watersheds. Understanding the fundamental relationships between discharge and DOM concentration and composition reveals important information about watershed flow paths, soil...
Filter Total Items: 45
Clearing the waters: Evaluating the need for site-specific field fluorescence corrections based on turbidity measurements
In situ fluorescent dissolved organic matter (fDOM) measurements have gained increasing popularity as a proxy for dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations in streams. One challenge to accurate fDOM measurements in many streams is light attenuation due to suspended particles. Downing et al. (2012) evaluated the need for corrections to compensate for particle interference on fDOM...
Authors
John Franco Saraceno, James B. Shanley, Bryan D. Downing, Brian Pellerin
Spatial and temporal patterns of dissolved organic matter quantity and quality in the Mississippi River Basin, 1997–2013
Recent studies have found insignificant or decreasing trends in time-series dissolved organic carbon (DOC) datasets, questioning the assumption that long-term DOC concentrations in surface waters are increasing in response to anthropogenic forcing, including climate change, land use, and atmospheric acid deposition. We used the weighted regressions on time, discharge, and season (WRTDS)...
Authors
Sarah M. Stackpoole, Edward G. Stets, David Clow, Douglas A. Burns, George R. Aiken, Brent T. Aulenbach, Irean Creed, Robert M. Hirsch, Hjalmar Laudon, Brian Pellerin, Robert G. Striegl
Patterns of diel variation in nitrate concentrations in the Potomac River
The Potomac River is a large source of N to Chesapeake Bay, where reducing nutrient loads is a focus of efforts to improve trophic status. Better understanding of NO3– loss, reflected in part by diel variation in NO3– concentrations, may refine model predictions of N loads to the Bay. We analyzed 2 y of high-frequency NO3– sensor data in the Potomac to quantify seasonal variation in the...
Authors
Douglas A. Burns, Matthew Miller, Brian Pellerin, Paul Capel
Emerging tools for continuous nutrient monitoring networks: Sensors advancing science and water resources protection
Sensors and enabling technologies are becoming increasingly important tools for water quality monitoring and associated water resource management decisions. In particular, nutrient sensors are of interest because of the well-known adverse effects of nutrient enrichment on coastal hypoxia, harmful algal blooms, and impacts to human health. Accurate and timely information on nutrient...
Authors
Brian Pellerin, Beth A Stauffer, Dwane A Young, Daniel J. Sullivan, Suzanne B. Bricker, Mark R Walbridge, Gerard A Clyde, Denice M Shaw
The new Landsat 8 potential for remote sensing of colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM)
Due to a combination of factors, such as a new coastal/aerosol band and improved radiometric sensitivity of the Operational Land Imager aboard Landsat 8, the atmospherically-corrected Surface Reflectance product for Landsat data, and the growing availability of corrected fDOM data from U.S. Geological Survey gaging stations, moderate-resolution remote sensing of fDOM may now be...
Authors
E. Terrence Slonecker, Daniel K. Jones, Brian Pellerin
Optical properties of dissolved organic matter (DOM): Effects of biological and photolytic degradation
Advances in spectroscopic techniques have led to an increase in the use of optical properties (absorbance and fluorescence) to assess dissolved organic matter (DOM) composition and infer sources and processing. However, little information is available to assess the impact of biological and photolytic processing on the optical properties of original DOM source materials. We measured...
Authors
Angela Hansen, Tamara E. C. Kraus, Brian Pellerin, Jacob Fleck, Bryan D. Downing, Brian Bergamaschi
Quantifying watershed-scale groundwater loading and in-stream fate of nitrate using high-frequency water quality data
We describe a new approach that couples hydrograph separation with high-frequency nitrate data to quantify time-variable groundwater and runoff loading of nitrate to streams, and the net in-stream fate of nitrate at the watershed-scale. The approach was applied at three sites spanning gradients in watershed size and land use in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Results indicate that 58-73%...
Authors
Matthew Miller, Anthony J. Tesoriero, Paul Capel, Brian Pellerin, Kenneth Hyer, Douglas A. Burns
By
Water Resources Mission Area, National Water Quality Program, California Water Science Center, Chesapeake Bay Activities, New York Water Science Center, Oregon Water Science Center, Utah Water Science Center, Virginia and West Virginia Water Science Center, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, Upper Midwest Water Science Center
Applications of optical sensors for high-frequency water-quality monitoring and research
The recent commercial availability of in-situ optical sensors, together with new techniques for data collection and analysis, provides the opportunity to monitor a wide range of water-quality constituents over time scales during which environmental conditions actually change. Traditional approaches for data collection (daily to monthly discrete samples) are often limited by high sample...
Authors
Brian Pellerin
The river as a chemostat: fresh perspectives on dissolved organic matter flowing down the river continuum
A better understanding is needed of how hydrological and biogeochemical processes control dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations and dissolved organic matter (DOM) composition from headwaters downstream to large rivers. We examined a large DOM dataset from the National Water Information System of the US Geological Survey, which represents approximately 100 000 measurements of DOC...
Authors
Irean Creed, Diane M. McKnight, Brian Pellerin, Mark B. Green, Brian Bergamaschi, George R. Aiken, Douglas A. Burns, Stuart E G Findlay, James B. Shanley, Robert G. Striegl, Brent T. Aulenbach, David Clow, Hjalmar Laudon, Brian L. McGlynn, Kevin J. McGuire, Richard L. Smith, Sarah M. Stackpoole
Causes and consequences of ecosystem service regionalization in a coastal suburban watershed
The demand for ecosystem services and the ability of natural ecosystems to provide those services evolve over time as population, land use, and management practices change. Regionalization of ecosystem service activity, or the expansion of the area providing ecosystem services to a population, is a common response in densely populated coastal regions, with important consequences for...
Authors
Wilfred M. Wollheim, Mark B. Green, Brian Pellerin, Nathaniel B. Morse, Charles S. Hopkinson
Mississippi River nitrate loads from high frequency sensor measurements and regression-based load estimation
Accurately quantifying nitrate (NO3–) loading from the Mississippi River is important for predicting summer hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico and targeting nutrient reduction within the basin. Loads have historically been modeled with regression-based techniques, but recent advances with high frequency NO3– sensors allowed us to evaluate model performance relative to measured loads in the...
Authors
Brian Pellerin, Brian Bergamaschi, Robert J. Gilliom, Charles G. Crawford, John Franco Saraceno, C. Paul Frederick, Bryan D. Downing, Jennifer C. Murphy
Optical sensors for water quality
Shifts in land use, population, and climate have altered hydrologic systems in the United States in ways that affect water quality and ecosystem function. Water diversions, detention in reservoirs, increased channelization, and changes in rainfall and snowmelt are major causes, but there are also more subtle causes such as changes in soil temperature, atmospheric deposition, and shifting...
Authors
Brian Pellerin, Brian Bergamaschi
Non-USGS Publications**
Oczkowski AJ, BA Pellerin, CW Hunt, WM Wollheim, CJ Vörösmarty and TC Loder III. 2006. The role of snowmelt and spring rainfall in inorganic nutrient fluxes from a large temperate watershed, the Androscoggin River basin (Maine and New Hampshire). Biogeochemistry, 80: 191-203.
Wollheim WM, BA Pellerin, CJ Vörösmarty and CS Hopkinson. 2005. Nitrogen retention in urbanizing headwater catchments. Ecosystems, 8: 871-884.
Pellerin BA, WM Wollheim, CS Hopkinson, WH McDowell, CJ Vörösmarty, MW Williams and ML Daley. 2004. Role of wetlands and developed land use on dissolved organic nitrogen concentrations and DON / TDN in northeastern U.S. rivers and streams. Limnology and Oceanography, 49: 910-918.
Pellerin BA, IJ Fernandez, SA Norton and JS Kahl. 2002. Soil aluminum distribution in the near-stream zone at the Bear Brook Watershed in Maine. Water, Air and Soil Pollution, 134: 189-204.
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.