Martin A. Briggs
(he/him)Martin Briggs (he/him) is a Research Hydrologist for the Hydrologic Remote Sensing Branch of the USGS Water Resources Mission Area Observing Systems Division.
At the USGS Hydrologic Remote Sensing Branch (HRSB) Marty works on a wide range of pressing hydrological issues across climates and hydrogeological terrain. As a national office, one of HRSB’s primary functions is to support regional USGS Water Science Centers through providing hydrogeophysical tools, training, and collaboration on novel water research. As central missions at the Branch are training and methods development, Marty often travels to provide workshops, participate in outreach events, and to field-test new methods that are then utilized for research applications. Although his specialty is in surface water/groundwater exchange processes, Marty works on a wide range of pressing national hydrological issues where geophysical and remotely sensed data lend insight. Marty also contributes to several Water Mission Area Programs including the Next Generation Water Observing System and co-advises graduate students at the University of Connecticut through a Cooperative Agreement, leveraging reimbursable projects. Marty asks that you please reach out if you are interested in discussing objectives, methods, and/or research related to his work.
Professional Experience
Development of new heat tracing methodology and refinement of existing methods for location and quantifying groundwater/surface water exchanges over a range of scales including the development of several software tools to improve accessibility to such methods. These tools include: VFLUX2, DTS-GUI, 1DTempPro2, GW-SW MST
Extensive characterization of groundwater preferential groundwater discharge zones and related physical processes across a range of headwater and mainstem river settings nationally
Repeat expeditions to Alaska as field team leader to characterize discontinuous permafrost dynamics using seismic, electrical, radar, thermal and mechanical methods coupled with processed-based models
Measuring and modeling dual-domain mass transfer of contaminated groundwater and natural anoxic microzones involving the novel use of combined electrical and chemical methods
Installation of sea water intrusion monitoring network on a remote Pacific atoll to monitor the effects of climate change and sea level rise on atoll fresh water and identify controlling geologic processes that were tested in a numerical modeling framework
Innovative characterization of endangered shellfish and native brook trout habitat in a variety of systems, particularly in the context of groundwater discharge to surface water
Education and Certifications
Ph.D., 2012. Syracuse University, (Hydro) Geology.
M.S., 2009. Colorado School of Mines. Hydrology.
Honors and Awards
2022 American Geophysical Union Edward A. Flinn III Award (group award)
2017 Geologic Society of America Hydrogeology Division Kohout Early Career Award
Exceptional rating, USGS performance review 2013, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 21
Syracuse University College of Arts and Sciences Doctoral Dissertation Prize, 2012
Science and Products
Seismic data for study of shallow mountain bedrock limits seepage-based headwater climate refugia, Shenandoah National Park, Virginia
Chemical and geophysical data collected along Oh-be-joyful Creek, Gunnison National Forest, Colorado
Electrical Geophysical Data Collected in the Scott M. Matheson Wetlands Preserve Near Moab, Utah
Thermal infrared and photogrammetric data collected by small unoccupied aircraft system for hydrogeologic analysis of Oh-be-joyful Creek, Gunnison National Forest, Colorado, August 2017
Temperature and seepage data from a lake-bottom permeable reactive barrier, Ashumet Pond, Falmouth, MA, 2004-2015.
Fiber-optic distributed temperature data collected along the streambed of the East River, Crested Butte, CO, USA
Temperature data for study of shallow mountain bedrock limits seepage-based headwater climate refugia, Shenandoah National Park, Virginia
Streambed temperature data for the manuscript: Heat as a hydrologic tracer in shallow and deep heterogeneous media: analytical solution, spreadsheet tool, and field applications
Experimental shifts of hydrologic residence time in a sandy urban stream sediment-water interface alter nitrate removal and nitrous oxide fluxes
Seasonal manganese transport in the hyporheic zone of a snowmelt-dominated river (East River, Colorado)
Paired air-water annual temperature patterns reveal hydrogeological controls on stream thermal regimes at watershed to continental scales
Hillslope groundwater discharges provide localized ecosystem buffers from regional PFAS contamination in a gaining coastal stream
Emerging groundwater contaminants such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) may impact surface-water quality and groundwater-dependent ecosystems of gaining streams. Although complex near-surface hydrogeology of stream corridors challenges sampling efforts, recent advances in heat tracing of discharge zones enable efficient and informed data collection. For this study we used a combinatio
Seasonal subsurface thaw dynamics of an aufeis feature inferred from geophysical methods
Formation criteria for hyporheic anoxic microzones: Assessing interactions of hydraulics, nutrients and biofilms
Heterogeneity in hyporheic flow, pore water chemistry, and microbial community composition in an alpine streambed
Streambed flux measurement informed by distributed temperature sensing leads to a significantly different characterization of groundwater discharge
Quantitative guidance for efficient vertical flow measurements at the sediment-water interface using temperature-depth profiles
Evaluation of groundwater resources in the Spanish Valley Watershed, Grand and San Juan Counties, Utah
Evaluation of stream and wetlands restoration using UAS-based thermal infrared mapping
Return flows from beaver ponds enhance floodplain-to-river metals exchange in alluvial mountain catchments
Science and Products
Seismic data for study of shallow mountain bedrock limits seepage-based headwater climate refugia, Shenandoah National Park, Virginia
Chemical and geophysical data collected along Oh-be-joyful Creek, Gunnison National Forest, Colorado
Electrical Geophysical Data Collected in the Scott M. Matheson Wetlands Preserve Near Moab, Utah
Thermal infrared and photogrammetric data collected by small unoccupied aircraft system for hydrogeologic analysis of Oh-be-joyful Creek, Gunnison National Forest, Colorado, August 2017
Temperature and seepage data from a lake-bottom permeable reactive barrier, Ashumet Pond, Falmouth, MA, 2004-2015.
Fiber-optic distributed temperature data collected along the streambed of the East River, Crested Butte, CO, USA
Temperature data for study of shallow mountain bedrock limits seepage-based headwater climate refugia, Shenandoah National Park, Virginia
Streambed temperature data for the manuscript: Heat as a hydrologic tracer in shallow and deep heterogeneous media: analytical solution, spreadsheet tool, and field applications
Experimental shifts of hydrologic residence time in a sandy urban stream sediment-water interface alter nitrate removal and nitrous oxide fluxes
Seasonal manganese transport in the hyporheic zone of a snowmelt-dominated river (East River, Colorado)
Paired air-water annual temperature patterns reveal hydrogeological controls on stream thermal regimes at watershed to continental scales
Hillslope groundwater discharges provide localized ecosystem buffers from regional PFAS contamination in a gaining coastal stream
Emerging groundwater contaminants such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) may impact surface-water quality and groundwater-dependent ecosystems of gaining streams. Although complex near-surface hydrogeology of stream corridors challenges sampling efforts, recent advances in heat tracing of discharge zones enable efficient and informed data collection. For this study we used a combinatio