Geology topics

Brandy N. Armstrong

Publications and source records attributed to Brandy N. Armstrong.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS2015

Workgroup for Hydraulic laboratory Testing and Verification of Hydroacoustic Instrumentation

An international workgroup was recently formed for hydraulic laboratory testing and verification of hydroacoustic instrumentation used for water velocity measurements. The activities of the workgroup have included one face to face meeting, conference calls and an inter-laboratory exchange of two acoustic meters among participating laboratories. Good agreement was found among four laboratories at higher tow speeds and poorer agreement at the lowest tow speed.

Conference Paper↗

USGS2015

Coastal Change Processes Project data report for observations near Fire Island, New York, January to April 2012

An oceanographic field study during January through April 2012 investigated processes that control the sediment-transport dynamics near Fire Island, New York. This report describes the project background, field program, instrumentation configuration, and locations of the sensors deploymed. The data collected and supporting meteorological observations are presented as time series plots for data visualization. Additionally, individual, links to the database containing digital data files are available as part of this report.

New York↗

USGS2015

Coastal Change Processes Project data report for oceanographic observations near Fire Island, New York, February through May 2014

An oceanographic field study during February through May 2014 investigated processes that control the sediment-transport dynamics along the western part of Fire Island, New York. This report describes the project background, field program, instrumentation configuration, and locations of the sensors deployed. The data collected, including meteorological observations, are presented as time-series plots for data visualization. Additionally, individual links to the database containing digital data files are available as part of this report.

New York↗

USGS2014

Inner-shelf circulation and sediment dynamics on a series of shoreface connected ridges offshore of Fire Island, NY

Locations along the inner-continental shelf offshore of Fire Island, NY, are characterized by a series of shoreface-connected ridges (SFCRs). These sand ridges have approximate dimensions of 10 km in length, 3 km spacing, and up to ∼8 m ridge to trough relief and are oriented obliquely at approximately 30° clockwise from the coastline. Stability analysis from previous studies explains how sand ridges such as these could be formed and maintained by storm-driven flows directed alongshore with a key maintenance mechanism of offshore deflected flows over ridge crests and onshore in the troughs. We examine these processes both with a limited set of idealized numerical simulations and analysis of observational data. Model results confirm that alongshore flows over the SFCRs exhibit offshore veering of currents over the ridge crests and onshore-directed flows in the troughs, and demonstrate the opposite circulation pattern for a reverse wind. To further investigate these maintenance processes, oceanographic instruments were deployed at seven sites on the SFCRs offshore of Fire Island to measure water levels, ocean currents, waves, suspended sediment concentrations, and bottom stresses from January to April 2012. Data analysis reveals that during storms with winds from the northeast, the processes of offshore deflection of currents over ridge crests and onshore in the troughs were observed, and during storm events with winds from the southwest, a reverse flow pattern over the ridges occurred. Computations of suspended sediment fluxes identify periods that are consistent with SFCR maintenance mechanisms. Alongshore winds from the northeast drove fluxes offshore on the ridge crest and onshore in the trough that would tend to promote ridge maintenance. However, alongshore winds from the southwest drove opposite circulations. The wind fields are related to different storm types that occur in the region (low-pressure systems, cold fronts, and warm fronts). From the limited data set, we identify that low-pressure systems drive sediment fluxes that tend to promote stability and maintain the SFCRs while cold front type storms appear to drive circulations that are in the opposite sense and may not be a supporting mechanism for ridge maintenance.

New York↗

USGS2013

Carolinas coastal change processes project data report for nearshore observations at Cape Hatteras, North Carolina

An oceanographic field study conducted in February 2010 investigated processes that control nearshore flow and sediment transport dynamics at Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. This report describes the project background, field program, instrumentation setup, and locations of the sensor deployments. The data collected, and supporting meteorological and streamflow observations, are presented as time-series plots for data visualization. Additionally, the data are available as part of this report.

North Carolina↗

USGS2012

Ocean-atmosphere dynamics during Hurricane Ida and Nor'Ida: An application of the coupled ocean-;atmosphere–wave–sediment transport (COAWST) modeling system

The coupled ocean–atmosphere–wave–sediment transport (COAWST) modeling system was used to investigate atmosphere–ocean–wave interactions in November 2009 during Hurricane Ida and its subsequent evolution to Nor'Ida, which was one of the most costly storm systems of the past two decades. One interesting aspect of this event is that it included two unique atmospheric extreme conditions, a hurricane and a nor'easter storm, which developed in regions with different oceanographic characteristics. Our modeled results were compared with several data sources, including GOES satellite infrared data, JASON-1 and JASON-2 altimeter data, CODAR measurements, and wave and tidal information from the National Data Buoy Center (NDBC) and the National Tidal Database. By performing a series of numerical runs, we were able to isolate the effect of the interaction terms between the atmosphere (modeled with Weather Research and Forecasting, the WRF model), the ocean (modeled with Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS)), and the wave propagation and generation model (modeled with Simulating Waves Nearshore (SWAN)). Special attention was given to the role of the ocean surface roughness. Three different ocean roughness closure models were analyzed: DGHQ (which is based on wave age), TY2001 (which is based on wave steepness), and OOST (which considers both the effects of wave age and steepness). Including the ocean roughness in the atmospheric module improved the wind intensity estimation and therefore also the wind waves, surface currents, and storm surge amplitude. For example, during the passage of Hurricane Ida through the Gulf of Mexico, the wind speeds were reduced due to wave-induced ocean roughness, resulting in better agreement with the measured winds. During Nor'Ida, including the wave-induced surface roughness changed the form and dimension of the main low pressure cell, affecting the intensity and direction of the winds. The combined wave age- and wave steepness-based parameterization (OOST) provided the best results for wind and wave growth prediction. However, the best agreement between the measured (CODAR) and computed surface currents and storm surge values was obtained with the wave steepness-based roughness parameterization (TY2001), although the differences obtained with respect to DGHQ were not significant. The influence of sea surface temperature (SST) fields on the atmospheric boundary layer dynamics was examined; in particular, we evaluated how the SST affects wind wave generation, surface currents and storm surges. The integrated hydrograph and integrated wave height, parameters that are highly correlated with the storm damage potential, were found to be highly sensitive to the ocean surface roughness parameterization.

Ocean Modelling↗

USGS2011

Carolinas Coastal Change Processes Project data report for observations near Diamond Shoals, North Carolina, January-May 2009

This Open-File Report provides information collected for an oceanographic field study that occurred during January - May 2009 to investigate processes that control the sediment transport dynamics at Diamond Shoals, North Carolina. The objective of this report is to make the data available in digital form and to provide information to facilitate further analysis of the data. The report describes the background, experimental setup, equipment, and locations of the sensor deployments. The edited data are presented in time-series plots for rapid visualization of the data set, and in data files that are in the Network Common Data Format (netcdf). Supporting observational data are also included.

North Carolina↗

USGS2010

High resolution near-bed observations in winter near Cape Hatteras, North Carolina

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Coastal and Marine Science Center in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, is leading an effort to understand the regional sediment dynamics along the coastline of North and South Carolina. As part of the Carolinas Coastal Change Processes Project, a geologic framework study in June of 2008 by the Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center's Sea Floor Mapping Group focused on the seaward limit of Diamond Shoals and provided high resolution bathymetric data, surficial sediment characteristics, and subsurface geologic stratigraphy. These data also provided unprecedented guidance to identify deployment locations for tripods and moorings to investigate the processes that control sediment transport at Diamond Shoals. Equipment was deployed at three sites from early January, 2009 through early May, 2009: north and south of the shoals at 15 m depth, and at the tip at 24 m depth. Many strong storm systems were recorded during that time period. Mounted on the tripods were instruments to measure surface waves, pressure, current velocity, bottom turbulence, suspended-sediment profiles, and sea-floor sand-ripple bedforms. Many instruments were designed and programmed to sample in high resolution in time and space, as fast as 8 Hz hourly bursts and as small as 6 cm bin sizes in near bottom profiles. A second tripod at the north site also held a visual camera system and sonar imaging system which document seafloor bedforms. The region is known for its dynamics, and one of the tripods tipped over towards the end of the experiment. A preliminary look at the data suggests the region is characterized by high energy. Raw data from a burst recorded at the south site on Mar. 26 th show instantaneous flow speed at 150 cm/s at 0.5 m above the seabed. This paper reports preliminary highlights of the observations, based on raw data, and lessons learned from a deployment of large tripod systems in such a dynamic location.

North Carolina↗