Geology topics

Amanda R. Whaling

Publications and source records attributed to Amanda R. Whaling.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS2026

Streamflow characterization and effects of Interstate 26 highway construction on water-quality and channel morphology conditions of the French Broad River in Buncombe and Henderson Counties, North Carolina, 2019–22

The North Carolina Department of Transportation began a series of highway construction projects to upgrade Interstate 26 (I–26) in Buncombe and Henderson Counties, North Carolina, starting in early 2020. The North Carolina Department of Transportation and the U.S. Geological Survey partnered in 2019 to monitor and assess water-quality and geomorphic conditions throughout the French Broad River corridor in areas near Interstate 26 highway construction activities. This report summarizes findings from multi-year water-quality and channel morphology monitoring from 2019 through 2022 in the French Broad River corridor near ongoing highway construction activities. Dissolved oxygen, pH, specific conductance, turbidity, and water temperature were monitored at six gaging locations, three of which were near highway sections undergoing construction during the study period from June 1, 2019, through December 31, 2022. Water quality was compared across three monitoring locations before and during construction using Brunner-Dette-Munk statistical tests, a nonparametric form of analysis of variance used for unbalanced datasets. Most Brunner-Dette-Munk test results detected insignificant effects of highway construction on water-quality conditions when controlling for monitoring location, except for the test of daily maximum specific conductance values. However, the effects of highway construction could not be isolated from other external factors that may have affected specific conductance, including an extended period of low streamflow and possible road salt application after winter storms. Additional Brunner-Dette-Munk tests, controlling for flow magnitude (streamflow quantiles) or hydrograph position (“rising limb,” “falling limb,” or “base flow”), did not suggest that highway construction affected water-quality conditions in the study area. Geomorphic surveys of the streambed and streambanks were performed in a 1-kilometer reach from 2019 through 2022 to assess geomorphic changes during the reconstruction of a bridge spanning the French Broad River. Bathymetric surveys of the streambed and light detection and ranging (lidar) scans of the streambanks were collected from a canoe using motion-compensated, real-time positioning solutions. Initial geomorphic surveys were used as a baseline to which subsequent repeat surveys were compared using geomorphic change detection analysis. Detectable elevation changes were determined using statistically robust thresholds, ensuring only changes exceeding measurement uncertainty were considered for interpretive analyses. Change detection results identified that 16.4 percent of the reach experienced detectable geomorphic change during the study period, with inter-survey changes ranging from 3.5 to 12.4 percent of the total reach. Most detectable change is attributed to the installation and reconfiguration of temporary construction pads; other changes are attributed to enlargement of a scour hole and upstream deposition near the bridge. Although anthropogenic activities and changes in streamflow regime contributed to these observations, the approach used in this study provides confidence that reported values reflect real geomorphic changes and not noise.

North Carolina↗

USGS2026

Assessment of long-term trends in streamflow statistics within and near the Mobile Bay and Perdido Bay watersheds, United States, 1950–2022

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council, assessed monotonic trends for a variety of streamflow statistics for 69 long-term U.S. Geological Survey streamgages within either the Mobile Bay or Perdido Bay watersheds that were active through at least at the end of calendar year 2019. Long-term data were defined for this investigation as having at least 50 years of cumulative record within the period since January 1, 1950, with a requirement for a complete record of streamflow during the 2010s (2010–19). The 69 streamgages have at least 54 years and as many as 73 years of daily mean streamflow data; the median period of record is 72 years; and 15 of the streamgages are identified as “major nodes” on the basis of the criteria described. The occurrence of statistically monotonic significant trends for the 69 streamgages at the 0.05 significance level is spatially shown for six statistics. For the major node streamgages, the study depicts (1) time-series graphics of annual mean, annual harmonic mean, decadal 10th, 50th, and 90th-percentile streamflows, and (2) a variation on Quantile-Kendall plots of Kendall’s tau and streamflow nonexceedance probabilities for each of the 365 days of a year. Trend assessment synthesis shows that, except for a few streamgages with relatively greater counts of statistically significant trends than others, the majority (about 93 percent) of individual trend tests indicate no trend in the streamflow and ecological metrics considered.

Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi,↗

USGS2025

The acoustic-Doppler current profiler (ADCP): A comprehensive tool for river-reach hydromorphodynamics

This paper introduces the use of acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) measurements as input for the Acoustic Mapping Velocimetry (AMV) method, a technique for characterizing the dynamics of riverine bedforms. The performance of this new approach, ADCP-AMV, is compared with input from a multibeam echosounder through a field study conducted on the Mississippi River (USA). A virtual ADCP tool has been created to support the ADCP-AMV measurements with optimal data density predictions. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first time ADCP measurements have been used in conjunction with the AMV dune-tracking method. Subsequently, the paper discusses the coupling of ADCP-AMV measurements with ancillary data extracted from the ADCP. These ancillary data are processed using previously developed protocols to characterize hydrodynamics and the suspended sediment distribution in the water column. This paper emphasizes the capability of ADCPs to characterize open-channel river hydromorphodynamic parameters with high spatiotemporal resolution. Recommendations to accurately and efficiently acquire these multi-variable measurements and derived datasets are discussed.

Tennessee↗

USGS2024

Magnitude and frequency of floods in the Coastal Plain region of Louisiana, 2016

To improve flood-frequency estimates for rural streams in the Coastal Plain region of Louisiana, generalized least-squares regression techniques were used to relate corresponding annual exceedance probability streamflows for 211 streamgages in the region to a suite of explanatory variables that include physical, climatic, pedologic, and land-use characteristics of the streamgage drainage area. The resulting generalized least-squares models can be used to estimate selected annual exceedance probability streamflows for rural ungaged locations in the Coastal Plain region of Louisiana. For the 211 streamgages in the Coastal Plain region of Louisiana and surrounding States, annual peak-streamflow data available through the 2016 water year were used in this study. Two unique flood regions, the Mississippi Alluvial Plain and Coastal Plain, were identified as separate hydrologic regions based on statistical evaluation and significance of categorical variables representing the regions regressed against the 1-percent annual exceedance probability streamflow (the 100-year flood). Regional regression equations for estimating annual exceedance probability streamflow for the Mississippi Alluvial Plain region have been previously published; therefore, the purpose of this study was to generate updated regional regression equations for the Coastal Plain region of Louisiana. The final regression models used drainage area and channel slope as explanatory variables based on performance metrics.

Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas↗

USGS2024

Application of a workflow to determine the feasibility of using simulated streamflow for estimation of streamflow frequency statistics

Streamflow records from hydrologic models are attractive for use in operational hydrology, such as a streamflow frequency analysis. The amount of bias inherent to simulated streamflow from hydrologic models is often unknown, but it is likely present in derivative products. Therefore, a workflow may help determine where streamflow frequency analysis is credibly feasible from simulated streamflow and allow for a systematic way to assess and correct for bias. The proposed workflow consists of hydrologically matching model output locations with streamflow-gauging station (stream gauge) locations, computing the desired statistic from the simulated and observed streamflow record, computing the differences between the simulated and observed statistic (i.e., the bias), and constructing generalized additive models (GAMs) from the differences to determine bias corrections. The US Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council and the US Environmental Protection Agency, is testing the proposed workflow on a low-streamflow frequency (LFF) analysis. Simulated streamflows for the LFF analysis were sourced from a machine-learning model that estimated daily streamflow at Level-12 hydrologic unit code (HUC12) pour points (outlets) in the southern and southeastern US for 1950–2010. The comparison data set consists of 497 stream gauges that are coincident with a HUC12 outlet. The simulated LFF statistics were being overestimated on average; thus, there are limits to using simulated streamflow for frequency analysis. The magnitude of the overprediction generally increases where no-flow conditions are common. Bias corrections determined from the GAMs decreased the magnitude of bias observed in the simulated LFF statistics on average, suggesting it is feasible to expand the operational use of simulated streamflows to frequency analyses with the proposed workflow. The proposed workflow could be advantageous to practitioners interested in leveraging existing and future simulated streamflow data sets with regional and or global coverage.

Journal of Hydrologic Engineering↗

USGS2020

Water levels and selected water-quality conditions in the Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer in eastern Arkansas, 2014

In 2014, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Arkansas Geological Survey and the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission, determined water-level altitudes in 468 wells in eastern Arkansas and collected water-quality samples from 144 wells. Water-level altitudes were calculated based on the measured depth to water in each well and used to construct a potentiometric-surface map of the Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer, and the water-quality samples were analyzed for chloride and bromide concentrations. Upon completion of the potentiometric-surface map, 10 depressions in the potentiometric surface were identified in the Mississippi Alluvial Plain: two large depressions, five small depressions, and three areas of decreased water levels. Analyses of water-quality samples identified several areas of elevated chloride/bromide ratios. A water-level altitude difference map was constructed using 345 groundwater levels measured in 2010 and 2014. Differences in water-level altitude ranged from –10.2 feet in Craighead County to 18.00 feet in Prairie County. Analysis of the overall water-level altitude differences indicated a decline in approximately 84 percent of the wells measured in both 2010 and 2014, including in areas where previous studies indicated water-level altitude increases between 2008 and 2012. Analysis of long-term hydrographs of wells in the study area indicated that mean annual water levels declined in all but two counties. The decline in water levels observed in the hydrographs suggests continued growth of the cones of depression caused by groundwater use in the Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer.

Arkansas↗