Click on figure for larger image.

Figure 1. Maps showing, at increasingly greater scales, the study area and locations of sensors used to monitor atmospheric pressure, water level, and waves in the Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana, during 2012 and 2013. A, Gulf of Mexico; B, northern Gulf of Mexico; C, northern Chandeleur Islands and sensor locations; and D, locations of recovered buried well sensors within the area designated by the inset in C. Red dots indicate sensor locations..

Introduction

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) measured atmospheric pressure, water levels, and waves in the barrier island system of the Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana, during 2012 and 2013 as part of the Barrier Island Evolution Research (BIER) project. 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 effect of storms depends, 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 to help interpret the morphological response of the islands to storms.