Computing discharge using the entropy-based probability concept
John W, Fulton, Frank L. Engel, Jack R. Eggleston, Chao-Lin Chiu
2025, Techniques and Methods 3-A26
This report describes the techniques and methods for computing the mean-channel velocity and discharge using the entropy-based probability concept (probability concept). The method is an alternative to or augments standard streamgaging methods adopted by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Although sensor technology for measuring the mean velocity and discharge has...
RIce-Net: Integrating ground-based cameras and machine learning for automated river ice detection
Mahmoud Ayyad, Marouane Temini, Mohamed Abdelkader, Moheb Henein, Frank L. Engel, R. Russell Lotspeich, Jack R. Eggleston
2025, Environmental Engineering & Software (190)
River ice plays a critical role in controlling streamflow in cold regions. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) qualifies affected water-level measurements and inferred streamflow by ice conditions at a date later than the day of the actual measurements. This study introduces a novel computer vision-based framework, River Ice-Network (RIce-Net), that...
A two-dimensional, reach-scale implementation of space-time image velocimetry (STIV) and comparison to particle image velocimetry (PIV)
Carl J. Legleiter, Paul J. Kinzel, Frank L. Engel, Lee R. Harrison, Gregory Hewitt
2024, Earth Surface Processes and Landforms (10) 3093-3114
Image-based algorithms have become a powerful tool for estimating flow velocities in rivers. In this study, we generalize the space-time image velocimetry (STIV) framework for reach-scale application rather than along a cross section. The new algorithm provides information on both the magnitude and orientation...
Discharge estimation using video recordings from small unoccupied aircraft systems
Jennifer G Duan, Frank L. Engel, Ammon F Cadogan
2023, Journal of Hydraulic Engineering (149)
Measurement of river discharge during flooding events has especially been a challenging and dangerous task in the southwestern US, where flows can be flashy, laden with sediment, and at high velocity. Small unoccupied aircraft systems (sUAS) can be deployed to access unsafe field sites and capture imagery for measuring surface...
Evidence for density-dependent effects on body composition of a large omnivore in a changing Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
Andrea Corradini, Mark A. Haroldson, Francesca Cagnacci, Cecily M. Costello, Daniel D. Bjornlie, Daniel Thompson, Jeremy M. Nicholson, Kerry A. Gunther, Katharine R. Wilmot, Frank T. van Manen
2023, Global Change Biology (29) 4496-4510
Understanding the density-dependent processes that drive population demography in a changing world is critical in ecology, yet measuring performance–density relationships in long-lived mammalian species demands long-term data, limiting scientists' ability to observe such mechanisms. We tested performance–density relationships for an opportunistic omnivore, grizzly bears...
Community for data integration 2019 project report
Amanda N. Liford, Caitlin M. Andrews, Aparna Bamzai-Dodson, Joseph A. Bard, David S. Blehert, John B. Bradford, Wesley M. Daniel, Sara L. Caldwell Eldridge, Frank L. Engel, Jason A. Ferrante, Amy K. Gilmer, Margaret E. Hunter, Jeanne M. Jones, Benjamin Letcher, Frances L. Lightsom, Richard R. McDonald, Leah E. Morgan, Sasha C. Reed, Leslie Hsu
2023, Open-File Report 2022-1120
The U.S. Geological Survey Community for Data Integration annually supports small projects focusing on data integration for interdisciplinary research, innovative data management, and demonstration of new technologies. This report provides a summary of the 14 projects supported in fiscal year 2019 and outlines their goals, activities, and accomplishments. Proposals in...
Uncertainty analysis of index-velocity meters and discharge computations at the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal near Lemont, Illinois, water years 2006–16
Thomas M. Over, Marian Muste, James J. Duncker, Heng-Wei Tsai, P. Ryan Jackson, Kevin K. Johnson, Frank L. Engel, Crystal D. Prater
2022, Open-File Report 2022-1007
Monitoring discharge in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal is critical for the accounting done by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers of the diversion of water from Lake Michigan to the Mississippi River Basin by the State of Illinois. The primary streamgage used for this discharge monitoring, the Chicago...
Particle tracer analysis for submerged berm placement of dredged material near South Padre Island, Texas
Jens Figlus, Youn-Kyung Song, Coraggio K. Maglio, Patrick L. Friend, Jack Poleykett, Frank L. Engel, Douglas James Schnoebelen, Kristina Boburka
2021, Journal of Dredging (19) 14-31
The fate of unconfined dredged sediment placed as a submerged “feeder” berm in the nearshore region of South Padre Island (SPI), Texas, was investigated through a particle tracer study over the duration of 15 months. Unconfined sediment feeder systems can be a desirable alternative to traditional direct beach placement of...
Flood-inundation maps for a 23-mile reach of the Medina River at Bandera, Texas, 2018
Namjeong Choi, Frank L. Engel
2019, Scientific Investigations Report 2019-5067
In 2018, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Bandera County River Authority and Groundwater District and the Texas Water Development Board, studied floods through the period of record to create a library of flood-inundation maps for the Medina River at Bandera, Texas. Digital flood-inundation maps for a...
Flood warning toolset for the Medina River in Bandera County, Texas
Frank L. Engel, Namjeong Choi
2019, Fact Sheet 2019-3043
OverviewFloods are the most common natural disaster in the United States. The Medina River in Bandera County, Texas, is in the Edwards Plateau, where high-intensity rain rates and steep terrain frequently contribute to severe flash flooding capable of causing loss of life and property. For example, the July...
Operationalizing small unoccupied aircraft systems for rapid flood inundation mapping and event response
Frank L. Engel, Rogelio Hernandez
2019, Conference Paper, Proceedings of SEDHYD 2019
Small Unoccupied Aircraft Systems (sUAS) offer the capability to collect rapid and accurate aerial survey data during flood response. The rapid collection of aerial flood data can potentially enable scientists to produce detailed geospatial products and related datasets in time for decisional support. A workflow for sUAS event response before,...
Flow hydraulics and mixing characteristics in and downstream from Brandon Road Lock, Joliet, Illinois
Frank L. Engel, P. Ryan Jackson, Elizabeth A. Murphy
2018, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5094
The Brandon Road Lock and Dam on the Des Plaines River near Joliet, Illinois, has been identified for potential implementation of aquatic nuisance species (ANS) control measures. To provide additional information concerning the flow hydraulics and mixing characteristics of the lock and downstream approach channel, the U.S. Geological Survey performed...
Effects of tow transit on the efficacy of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal Electric Dispersal Barrier System
Jeremiah J. Davis, Jessica Z. LeRoy, Matthew R. Shanks, Patrick Ryan Jackson, Frank L. Engel, Elizabeth A. Murphy, Carey L. Baxter, Michael K. McInerney, Nicholas A. Barkowski
2017, Journal of Great Lakes Research (43) 1119-1131
In 2016, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers undertook a field study in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal near Romeoville, Illinois to determine the influence of tow transit on the efficacy of the Electric Dispersal Barrier System (EDBS) in preventing...
Entrainment, retention, and transport of freely swimming fish in junction gaps between commercial barges operating on the Illinois Waterway
Jeremiah J. Davis, P. Ryan Jackson, Frank L. Engel, Jessica Z. LeRoy, Rebecca N. Neeley, Samuel T. Finney, Elizabeth A. Murphy
2016, Journal of Great Lakes Research (42) 837-848
Large Electric Dispersal Barriers were constructed in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal (CSSC) to prevent the transfer of invasive fish species between the Mississippi River Basin and the Great Lakes Basin while simultaneously allowing the passage of commercial barge traffic. We investigated the potential for entrainment, retention, and transport...
Three-dimensional flow structure and patterns of bed shear stress in an evolving compound meander bend
Frank L. Engel, Bruce L. Rhoads
2016, Earth Surface Processes and Landforms (41) 1211-1226
Compound meander bends with multiple lobes of maximum curvature are common in actively evolving lowland rivers. Interaction among spatial patterns of mean flow, turbulence, bed morphology, bank failures and channel migration in compound bends is poorly understood. In this paper, acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) measurements of the three-dimensional (3D)...
Evaluation of a mass-balance approach to determine consumptive water use in northeastern Illinois
P.C. Mills, James J. Duncker, Thomas M. Over, Marian Domanski, Marian Domanski, Frank L. Engel
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5176
A principal component of evaluating and managing water use is consumptive use. This is the portion of water withdrawn for a particular use, such as residential, which is evaporated, transpired, incorporated into products or crops, consumed by humans or livestock, or otherwise removed from the immediate water environment. The amount...
Integrated carbon budget models for the Everglades terrestrial-coastal-oceanic gradient: Current status and needs for inter-site comparisons
Tiffany G. Troxler, Evelyn Gaiser, Jordan Barr, Jose D. Fuentes, Rudolf Jaffe, Daniel L. Childers, Ligia Collado-Vides, Victor H. Rivera-Monroy, Edward Castañeda-Moya, William Anderson, Randy Chambers, Meilian Chen, Carlos Coronado-Molina, Stephen E. Davis, Victor C. Engel, Carl Fitz, James Fourqurean, Tom Frankovich, John Kominoski, Chris Madden, Sparkle L. Malone, Steve F. Oberbauer, Paulo Olivas, Jennifer Richards, Colin Saunders, Jessica Schedlbauer, Leonard J. Scinto, Fred Sklar, Thomas J. Smith III, Joseph M. Smoak, Gregory Starr, Robert Twilley, Kevin Whelan
2013, Oceanography (26) 98-107
Recent studies suggest that coastal ecosystems can bury significantly more C than tropical forests, indicating that continued coastal development and exposure to sea level rise and storms will have global biogeochemical consequences. The Florida Coastal Everglades Long Term Ecological Research (FCE LTER) site provides an excellent subtropical system for examining...
