| NSF Org: |
OCE Division Of Ocean Sciences |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | October 13, 2017 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | October 13, 2017 |
| Award Number: | 1762157 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Baris Uz
bmuz@nsf.gov (703)292-4557 OCE Division Of Ocean Sciences GEO Directorate for Geosciences |
| Start Date: | October 15, 2017 |
| End Date: | September 30, 2019 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $134,964.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $134,964.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
400 HARVEY MITCHELL PKY S STE 300 COLLEGE STATION TX US 77845-4375 (979)862-6777 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
1204 Eller O&M Building College Station TX US 77843-3146 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | Hurricane Harvey 2017 |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.050 |
ABSTRACT
The unexpected and unprecedented flooding in Houston caused by Hurricane Harvey poses several human health and coastal ecosystem risks due to toxins remobilized by the floodwaters and severe modifications to salinity of regional coastal waters. Following the extreme flushing event, the salinity of Galveston Bay was set to near zero, an extreme condition that can impact the ecosystem and biodiversity of the area. The goal of this project is to understand how Galveston Bay and the adjacent coastal waters respond to this extreme freshwater forcing event. Time-critical measurements of currents, temperature and salinity will be undertaken at various locations within Galveston Bay and offshore, and at three different times following the flooding event. The measurements will allow: (1) quantification of residence time of Galveston Bay; (2) characterization of salinity structure within the bay; and (3) identification of the salinity structure and extend of the offshore plume from Galveston Bay. Analysis of the data will assist in establishing the time scales required for the reintroduction of salt into Galveston Bay, following the extreme flushing event that reset the Bay?s salinity to near zero. Through the new and timely observations generated by this proposal, a more accurate prediction of baroclinic circulation, which controls transport and fate of pollutants introduced into flood waters will be achieved. Thirteen superfund sites were flooded by this event; chemical plants were compromised; automobiles and households were inundated; and, unknown amounts of resuspension may have exposed buried contaminants. The results of this study will provide an understanding of the fate of these chemicals in the aquatic ecosystem. The data collected will be instrumental in testing and improving numerical models using extreme conditions, thus allowing for better and more accurate predictions. The observations in combination with a numerical modeling suite that will quantify and predict circulation and tracer concentrations in the region will serve as a template for coastal managers to create a nowcast/forecast system for future extreme events.
Theory suggests that the net mixing that occurs across a near-field or tidal plume is scaled by the density difference between the outflow and receiving waters and is proportional to the discharge. These variables are also often confounded, since high discharge is associated with fresher estuarine outflow. Hence, a large density difference between the estuarine outflow and receiving waters is expected. Since there has been significant rainfall runoff throughout coastal watersheds up coast of Galveston Bay, and because of the position of the Mississippi/Atchafalaya plume, the receiving waters offshore of Galveston Bay are expected to be very fresh. At the same time, the discharge from the Bay is still quite high. This offers a unique opportunity to examine a large near-field, river plume (the outflow from Galveston Bay) dynamics, in a high discharge scenario with much smaller density anomalies than those typically observed. Such conditions will allow the discharge and density anomaly effects on the near-field mixing and tidal plume dynamics to be disentangled.
PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
Hurricane Harvey released an unprecented amount of rain on Texas in August 2017 which caused major impacts to people in and around Houston and to ecosystems in Galveston Bay. During Hurricane Harvey, Houston was flooded for days and Galveston Bay was completely freshened ? more than previously on record. Impacts were huge for people and ecosystems alike; for example oyster reefs in part of Galveston Bay were decimated by the lingering fresh water. This trend continues, too: there have been five "500 year" floods in Houston in the past five years.
With funding from NSF through a RAPID project, we measured properties of the water inside and outside Galveston Bay several times after the flooding to help understand the impact of this massive inflow of freshwater. We have studied in detail how much fresh water inflowed to Galveston Bay during the flooding. This is important for many other fields of research and human health matters such as pollutant transport and dilution, sediment transport, and context for determining the origin of material as marine or terrestrial. We have also connected with state agencies like the Texas Water Development Board to share data and give long term context for how such a large flood event like during Harvey fits into typical inflow conditions for Galveston Bay. The data we gathered is freely available at: https://data.nodc.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/iso?id=gov.noaa.nodc:0204989.
Last Modified: 10/30/2019
Modified by: Kristen Thyng
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