Water Scientists Preparing to Weather Big Storms

Water Scientists Preparing to Weather Big Storms



 
May 2007 -   With the start of the 2007 Atlantic 
hurricane season less than a week away, the U.S. Geological Survey, USGS, 
says it is better prepared than before to help the nation cope with the 
three to five major storms forecast for this year. 
The federal agency says it can offer improved monitoring of conditions on 
the ground from flooding and storm surge, enhanced ability to navigate in 
a disaster zone, and better assessments of the effects of storms on 
coastlines and ecology. 
"These coordinated actions will ensure timely and uninterrupted water 
information for forecasters, emergency managers, scientists and the 
general public," says Robert Hirsch, USGS associate director for water. 
"Improved flood monitoring and assessment will help reduce the risks to 
coastal communities, property, and human life," he said. 

USGS scientist checks the inner workings of a stream gage. 
During the devastating 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, many USGS stream 
gages along and inland of the Gulf of Mexico were damaged or destroyed by 
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. 
The damage resulted in interruptions of streamflow and water-level data 
needed during the storm by forecasters, emergency managers, and dam and 
levee operators. 
With another very active hurricane season forecast this year, four major 
actions are underway to prepare for monitoring storm flooding, Hirsch 
explained. 
The USGS will strengthen streamgages along the Gulf Coast; place rapidly 
deployable, mobile gages on streams; develop capabilities to measure 
hurricane-driven storm surges; and install an emergency satellite 
communications and data distribution system. 
The USGS has a nationwide network of more than 7,400 stream gages but it 
does not cover every stream in the country. 
The USGS is currently strengthening or "hardening" 120 gages along the 
Gulf Coast from Florida to Texas. Additionally, eight to 10 open-water 
tidal/water-quality gages are being hardened in Mississippi and Louisiana. 

Streamgage data is critical for emergency managers during storms, 
therefore, the USGS has developed new, rapidly deployable, mobile stream 
gages to provide short term, water-level data in unmonitored areas where 
flooding is anticipated. These mobile gages also serve as emergency 
replacements for damaged or destroyed gages. 
Storm-Surge Sensors 
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita demonstrated that storm surge can be as 
dangerous as riverine floods. 
In order to track the timing, extent, and magnitude of hurricane-driven 
surge waters and waves, the USGS has designed and developed a network of 
rugged, inexpensive water level and barometric-pressure sensors, called 
storm-surge sensors, that can be installed quickly in anticipation of a 
storm. 
Hurricane Katrina's massive storm surge threw a barge inland and scattered 
cargo containers along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. September 2005. (Photo 
courtesy FEMA)
This information will be used to calibrate the storm-surge models used by 
forecasters along the Gulf and Atlantic Coasts to help them forecast what 
lands will be inundated and to what depth in future hurricanes. 
Currently, USGS water data are relayed almost hourly from stream gages to 
a single command-and-data acquisition station at Wallops Island, Virginia. 

But this station is located near the coast, vulnerable to hurricanes and 
other storms. 
To ensure the continuity of continuous critical data in real time, the 
USGS and its partners are establishing an emergency satellite data 
acquisition and dissemination capability at the USGS EROS Data Center, 
located far inland at Sioux Falls, South Dakota. This unit is expected to 
be operating by the end of 2007. 
To acquire more complete satellite data, the USGS has worked with 
commercial satellite imagery firms to expand the global team of government 
and commercial space and satellite agencies that are members of an 
agreement known as the International Charter, Space and Major Disasters. 
This agreement provides emergency response satellite data free of charge 
to those affected by disasters anywhere in the world. The Charter has been 
activated about 125 times since it began in November 2000, including here 
in the U.S. for Hurricane Katrina in 2005. 
Geoaddressing 
When Hurricane Katrina breached New Orleans' levees, flooding the city, 
conventional road maps became almost useless to locate people in distress. 


As New Orleans is evacuated due to flooding caused by hurricane Katrina, 
members of the FEMA Urban Search and Rescue Task Force attempt to find 
hurt and stranded residents. August 31, 2005. 
"Geoadressing," using GPS, satellite, and other remotely obtained 
geospatial information, proved crucial for search and rescue operations. 
This season, the USGS has established a Geospatial Information Response 
Team, GIRT, to handle geospatial information for emergency responders on 
the Gulf and East coasts. 
The GIRT is responsible for putting in place and monitoring procedures for 
geospatial data acquisition, processing, and archiving; data discovery, 
access, and delivery; and anticipating geospatial data needs. 
During national emergencies, the GIRT can provide post-event airborne 
imagery within 24 hours upon request of the Federal Emergency Management 
Agency. 
Science Response Vehicle 
In Lafayette, Louisiana, the USGS has based a new science response vehicle 
which can be immediately deployed to hurricane sites along the Gulf of 
Mexico and Atlantic coasts. It was tested during a mock hurricane drill 
earlier this month. 
Equipped with state-of-the-art satellite computer systems, the new vehicle 
will provide critical communications when other sources fail. 
The vehicle receives weather and emergency information and also serves as 
a mobile laboratory, allowing collection and processing of field samples, 
including water quality testing on site. 
It provides geoaddressing of 911 calls and reports of problems with 
critical infrastructure, such as levees, bridges, pumping stations. 
The vehicle provides living quarters for a small team of scientists and 
response personnel for about a week. 
Coastal Laser Mapping 
The 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons resulted in loss of sand from barrier 
islands along parts of the Gulf of Mexico and Florida east coasts, making 
these areas even more vulnerable to storm surge and waves this hurricane 
season. 
In the coming months, the USGS and partners at NASA and the U.S. Army 
Corps of Engineers will assess the erosion and sand loss using airborne 
laser mapping before and after all major hurricanes that make landfall in 
the southeast United States. The data will be made readily available for 
emergency planning and disaster response and recovery. 
After the hurricanes of 2005, USGS analysis showed an immediate loss of 
217 square miles of coastal lands.

A FEMA Inspector checks beach erosion caused by Hurricane Katrina at 
Grande Isle, Louisiana. October 20, 2005. 
These findings are updated each growing season to evaluate coastal 
recovery from hurricanes and the persistence of coastal wetlands to global 
climate change and relative sea-level rise. 
USGS is developing a special website and databases of biological and other 
data along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts that can be accessed immediately 
for scientific response, including more than 70 years of wetland change 
data. The site is online at: 
http://www.nwrc.usgs.gov/hurricane/hurricane_land_change.htm. 
USGS scientists conduct a host of other hurricane-related studies, such as 
the tracking and visualization of coastal restoration projects. 
Some researchers do radar-tracking of migratory birds during the fall 
migration period to assess possible effects of hurricanes on migration 
patterns. Others study the spread of invasive species via hurricane-force 
winds. 
Still others study global climate change and effects of sea-level rise on 
coastal wetlands and forests.    

       
      

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