Coastal communities on the Great Lakes may experience coastal change, including dune erosion. The USGS and NOAA are developing the Total Water and Coastal Change Forecast at sites like this one in Ontanogan, Michigan to provide communities with real-time information for decision making.
Margaret Palmsten, Ph.D.
Margaret Palmsten is a Research Oceanographer at the St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Meg Palmsten joined the U.S. Geological Survey’s St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center as a Research Oceanographer in 2020. Her work is focused on studying waves, currents, and transport of sand and other sediments causing coastal change on sandy beaches, with special emphasis on making observations in coastal environments using state-of-the-art technology and developing data-driven models for real-time forecasting of coastal change hazards at timescales of hours to days. She is especially interested in understanding model uncertainty and communicating forecasts to stakeholders and end users.
Professional Experience
Prior to her present position, Meg spent nearly a decade as an Oceanographer in the Seafloor Sciences Branch of the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory.
Education and Certifications
Meg received her PhD from Oregon State University, her master’s degree from the University of South Florida, and her bachelor’s degree from Eckerd College.
Science and Products
USGS CoastCams
State of Our Nation's Coast
Using Video Imagery to Study Storm Events at Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge
Using Video Imagery to Study Coastal Change: Sand Key, Florida
Video Remote Sensing of Coastal Processes
Using Video Imagery to Study Coastal Change: Madeira Beach, Florida
USGS CoastCam at DUNEX: Timestack Imagery and Coordinate Data
USGS CoastCam at DUNEX: Calibration Data
USGS CoastCam at Isla Verde, Puerto Rico: 2018-2019 Calibration and GNSS Topography Survey Data
USGS CoastCam at Waiakāne, Moloka'i, Hawai'i: 2018 Calibration and GNSS Topography Survey Data
USGS CoastCam at Waiakāne, Moloka'i, Hawai'i: 2018 Timestack Imagery and Coordinate Data
USGS CoastCam at Tres Palmas, Rincón, Puerto Rico: Timestack Imagery and Coordinate Data
USGS CoastCam at Tres Palmas, Rincón, Puerto Rico: Calibration and GNSS Topography Survey Data
USGS CoastCam at Isla Verde, Puerto Rico: 2018-2019 Timestack Imagery and Coordinate Data
USGS CoastCam at Sand Key, Florida: Timestack Imagery and Coordinate Data
USGS CoastCam at Sand Key, Florida: Calibration Data
USGS CoastCam at Madeira Beach, Florida: Timestack Imagery and Coordinate Data
Information supporting a cumulative effects assessment of restoration in barrier island and shoreline systems of the north central Gulf of Mexico
Coastal communities on the Great Lakes may experience coastal change, including dune erosion. The USGS and NOAA are developing the Total Water and Coastal Change Forecast at sites like this one in Ontanogan, Michigan to provide communities with real-time information for decision making.
The wavelength and height of wave generated ripples can be more accurately predicted with the method developed in the new manuscript, available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2022.105509.
The wavelength and height of wave generated ripples can be more accurately predicted with the method developed in the new manuscript, available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2022.105509.
![Two women and a man stand behind a table with a green USGS table cloth covered with handouts.](https://d9-wret.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/assets/palladium/production/s3fs-public/styles/masonry/public/media/images/USGS%20at%20USF%20Civic%20Engagement%20Fair.jpg?itok=Li1ocayi)
SPCMSC staff attended the annual Civic Engagement Fair at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg Campus to welcome students to campus, foster collaborations, and help them find volunteer and internship opportunities.
SPCMSC staff attended the annual Civic Engagement Fair at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg Campus to welcome students to campus, foster collaborations, and help them find volunteer and internship opportunities.
A team from the USGS St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center went to Puerto Rico to install new Coast Cams to monitor how the beach and shoreline change through time. These cameras will allow the team to make predictions of how the coast will respond during storms and hurricanes.
A team from the USGS St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center went to Puerto Rico to install new Coast Cams to monitor how the beach and shoreline change through time. These cameras will allow the team to make predictions of how the coast will respond during storms and hurricanes.
USGS scientists survey the precise location of a camera calibration target. The surveyed locations are used to georeference USGS CoastCam imagery.
USGS scientists survey the precise location of a camera calibration target. The surveyed locations are used to georeference USGS CoastCam imagery.
Vortex trapping of sand grains over ripples under oscillatory flow
Evaluation of nearshore bathymetric inversion algorithms using camera observations and synthetic numerical input of surface waves during storms
Nearshore bathymetry is difficult to measure using survey methods when wave heights approach the breaking limit. Remote sensing using digital cameras offers a way to observe the surf zone and calculate water depths based on phase speed but comes with its challenges of potentially noisy data that can introduce error into estimates of frequency and wavenumber used in phase speed calculation. This st
Operational forecasts of wave-driven water levels and coastal hazards for US Gulf and Atlantic coasts
Remotely sensed short-crested breaking waves in a laboratory directional wave basin
Toward a total water level forecast of the Great Lakes
Modeling total water level and coastal change at Pea Island, North Carolina, USA
The DUring Nearshore Event eXperiment (DUNEX) was carried out on Pea Island, North Carolina, USA between September-October 2021. We use a coupled numerical model (Windsurf) to hindcast the evolution of the DUNEX transect and produce a time series of hourly water levels at the shoreline from the model output. In addition to assessing the ability of Windsurf to reproduce TWL, we use model output pai
A machine learning approach to predicting equilibrium ripple wavelength
On the potential for remote observations of coastal morphodynamics from surf-cameras
The Coastal Imaging Research Network (CIRN)
Hotspot dune erosion on an intermediate beach
Sea state from single optical images: A methodology to derive wind-generated ocean waves from cameras, drones and satellites
SurfRCaT: A tool for remote calibration of pre-existing coastal cameras to enable their use as quantitative coastal monitoring tools
Science and Products
USGS CoastCams
State of Our Nation's Coast
Using Video Imagery to Study Storm Events at Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge
Using Video Imagery to Study Coastal Change: Sand Key, Florida
Video Remote Sensing of Coastal Processes
Using Video Imagery to Study Coastal Change: Madeira Beach, Florida
USGS CoastCam at DUNEX: Timestack Imagery and Coordinate Data
USGS CoastCam at DUNEX: Calibration Data
USGS CoastCam at Isla Verde, Puerto Rico: 2018-2019 Calibration and GNSS Topography Survey Data
USGS CoastCam at Waiakāne, Moloka'i, Hawai'i: 2018 Calibration and GNSS Topography Survey Data
USGS CoastCam at Waiakāne, Moloka'i, Hawai'i: 2018 Timestack Imagery and Coordinate Data
USGS CoastCam at Tres Palmas, Rincón, Puerto Rico: Timestack Imagery and Coordinate Data
USGS CoastCam at Tres Palmas, Rincón, Puerto Rico: Calibration and GNSS Topography Survey Data
USGS CoastCam at Isla Verde, Puerto Rico: 2018-2019 Timestack Imagery and Coordinate Data
USGS CoastCam at Sand Key, Florida: Timestack Imagery and Coordinate Data
USGS CoastCam at Sand Key, Florida: Calibration Data
USGS CoastCam at Madeira Beach, Florida: Timestack Imagery and Coordinate Data
Information supporting a cumulative effects assessment of restoration in barrier island and shoreline systems of the north central Gulf of Mexico
Coastal communities on the Great Lakes may experience coastal change, including dune erosion. The USGS and NOAA are developing the Total Water and Coastal Change Forecast at sites like this one in Ontanogan, Michigan to provide communities with real-time information for decision making.
Coastal communities on the Great Lakes may experience coastal change, including dune erosion. The USGS and NOAA are developing the Total Water and Coastal Change Forecast at sites like this one in Ontanogan, Michigan to provide communities with real-time information for decision making.
The wavelength and height of wave generated ripples can be more accurately predicted with the method developed in the new manuscript, available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2022.105509.
The wavelength and height of wave generated ripples can be more accurately predicted with the method developed in the new manuscript, available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2022.105509.
![Two women and a man stand behind a table with a green USGS table cloth covered with handouts.](https://d9-wret.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/assets/palladium/production/s3fs-public/styles/masonry/public/media/images/USGS%20at%20USF%20Civic%20Engagement%20Fair.jpg?itok=Li1ocayi)
SPCMSC staff attended the annual Civic Engagement Fair at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg Campus to welcome students to campus, foster collaborations, and help them find volunteer and internship opportunities.
SPCMSC staff attended the annual Civic Engagement Fair at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg Campus to welcome students to campus, foster collaborations, and help them find volunteer and internship opportunities.
A team from the USGS St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center went to Puerto Rico to install new Coast Cams to monitor how the beach and shoreline change through time. These cameras will allow the team to make predictions of how the coast will respond during storms and hurricanes.
A team from the USGS St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center went to Puerto Rico to install new Coast Cams to monitor how the beach and shoreline change through time. These cameras will allow the team to make predictions of how the coast will respond during storms and hurricanes.
USGS scientists survey the precise location of a camera calibration target. The surveyed locations are used to georeference USGS CoastCam imagery.
USGS scientists survey the precise location of a camera calibration target. The surveyed locations are used to georeference USGS CoastCam imagery.
Vortex trapping of sand grains over ripples under oscillatory flow
Evaluation of nearshore bathymetric inversion algorithms using camera observations and synthetic numerical input of surface waves during storms
Nearshore bathymetry is difficult to measure using survey methods when wave heights approach the breaking limit. Remote sensing using digital cameras offers a way to observe the surf zone and calculate water depths based on phase speed but comes with its challenges of potentially noisy data that can introduce error into estimates of frequency and wavenumber used in phase speed calculation. This st
Operational forecasts of wave-driven water levels and coastal hazards for US Gulf and Atlantic coasts
Remotely sensed short-crested breaking waves in a laboratory directional wave basin
Toward a total water level forecast of the Great Lakes
Modeling total water level and coastal change at Pea Island, North Carolina, USA
The DUring Nearshore Event eXperiment (DUNEX) was carried out on Pea Island, North Carolina, USA between September-October 2021. We use a coupled numerical model (Windsurf) to hindcast the evolution of the DUNEX transect and produce a time series of hourly water levels at the shoreline from the model output. In addition to assessing the ability of Windsurf to reproduce TWL, we use model output pai