Introduction

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) measured atmospheric pressure, water levels, and waves on Dauphin Island, Alabama, from July 22 through November 20, 2013, as part of the Barrier Island Evolution Research (BIER) Project, which aims to assess the effects of individual, short-term storms on the historical and geological evolution of the coastal system. Barrier islands are dynamic systems that can experience substantial morphological change (erosion and deposition) during storms. Water levels around barrier islands are influenced by winds, waves, and atmospheric pressure during the passage of storms, and the morphological effects of storms depend, in part, on the magnitude of inundation and water-level gradients across the island. Direct water-level measurements on barrier islands during storms are somewhat uncommon because equipment is often lost, buried, or destroyed during these high-energy events.

This report describes the instrumentation, field methods, and data processing techniques used to measure water levels and waves with relatively inexpensive pressure sensors in a rapidly evolving barrier island system (fig. 1). These water-level and wave measurements can be used to validate numerical models and help interpret the morphological response of barrier islands to storms.