The Bay Area is known for its many microclimates. On a typical summer day one does not have to go... more The Bay Area is known for its many microclimates. On a typical summer day one does not have to go far to experience big changes in temperature, cloud cover, and humidity. We thought it would be interesting to measure how rapidly the weather can change as one moves around the Bay Area. On five separate days during August 2005, we
Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5133 COVER Photograph of one of the archeological sites in ... more Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5133 COVER Photograph of one of the archeological sites in Grand Canyon National Park where topographic change was investigated. This site (AZ:B:10:0225) has both sand dunes and (in foreground) gully erosion. Inset is the resultant 5-cm gridded output map of topographic change for this site, showing erosion (warm colors) and deposition (cool colors).
Process dynamics in fluvial-based dryland environments are highly complex with fluvial, aeolian, ... more Process dynamics in fluvial-based dryland environments are highly complex with fluvial, aeolian, and alluvial processes all contributing to landscape change. When anthropogenic activities such as dam-building affect fluvial processes, the complexity in local response can be further increased by flood-and sediment-limiting flows. Understanding these complexities is key to predicting landscape behavior in drylands and has important scientific and management implications, including for studies related to paleoclimatology, landscape ecology evolution, and archaeological site context and preservation. Here we use multi-temporal LiDAR surveys, local weather data, and geomorphological observations to identify trends in site change throughout the 446-km-long semi-arid Colorado River corridor in Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA, where archaeological site degradation related to the effects of upstream dam operation is a concern. Using several site case studies, we show the range of landscape responses that might be expected from concomitant occurrence of dam-controlled fluvial sand bar deposition, aeolian sand transport, and rainfall-induced erosion. Empirical rainfall-erosion threshold analyses coupled with a numerical rainfall-runoff-soil erosion model indicate that infiltration-excess overland flow and gullying govern large-scale (centimeter-to decimeter-scale) landscape changes, but that aeolian deposition can in some cases mitigate gully erosion. Whereas threshold analyses identify the normalized rainfall intensity (defined as the ratio of rainfall intensity to hydraulic conductivity) as the primary factor governing hydrologic-driven erosion, assessment of false positives and false negatives in the dataset highlight topographic slope as the next most important parameter governing site response. Analysis of 4+ years of high resolution (four-minute) weather data and 75+ years of low resolution (daily) climate records indicates that dryland erosion is dependent on short-term, storm-driven rainfall intensity rather than cumulative rainfall, and that erosion can occur outside of wet seasons and even wet years. These results can apply to other similar semi-arid landscapes where process complexity may not be fully understood.
this report, we do identify geomorphic settings where dam operations are either more or less like... more this report, we do identify geomorphic settings where dam operations are either more or less likely to affect archeological site stability. This information can be used to assist with future monitoring efforts of these sites and identification of similar conditions for other archeological sites along the Colorado River corridor in Glen Canyon.
This data release includes information used to support the manuscript "Linking mesoscale met... more This data release includes information used to support the manuscript "Linking mesoscale meteorology with extreme landscape response: effects of narrow cold frontal rainbands (NCFR)". The included datasets and supplement include information related to the 22 March 2018 NCFR and associated shallow landslides in the Toulumne Canyon triggered by this event. The three datasets and one supplemental information document are: 1) mapped landslides where we created polygons for each landslide that occurred (Tuolumne Canyon Landslide Data Storm of 22 March 2018.kmz), 2) soil grain size data for landslide source and depositional zones (Tuolumne Canyon Grain Size Data Storm of 22 March 2018.xlsx), 3) a time series of rainfall data from five locations (Tuolumne Canyon Rainfall data Storm of 22 March 2018.xlsx), and 4) a document that supports several of the analyses presented in the manuscript (Tuolumne Canyon Supplements Storm of 22 March 2018.pdf).
The Bay Area is known for its many microclimates. On a typical summer day one does not have to go... more The Bay Area is known for its many microclimates. On a typical summer day one does not have to go far to experience big changes in temperature, cloud cover, and humidity. We thought it would be interesting to measure how rapidly the weather can change as one moves around the Bay Area. On five separate days during August 2005, we
Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5133 COVER Photograph of one of the archeological sites in ... more Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5133 COVER Photograph of one of the archeological sites in Grand Canyon National Park where topographic change was investigated. This site (AZ:B:10:0225) has both sand dunes and (in foreground) gully erosion. Inset is the resultant 5-cm gridded output map of topographic change for this site, showing erosion (warm colors) and deposition (cool colors).
Process dynamics in fluvial-based dryland environments are highly complex with fluvial, aeolian, ... more Process dynamics in fluvial-based dryland environments are highly complex with fluvial, aeolian, and alluvial processes all contributing to landscape change. When anthropogenic activities such as dam-building affect fluvial processes, the complexity in local response can be further increased by flood-and sediment-limiting flows. Understanding these complexities is key to predicting landscape behavior in drylands and has important scientific and management implications, including for studies related to paleoclimatology, landscape ecology evolution, and archaeological site context and preservation. Here we use multi-temporal LiDAR surveys, local weather data, and geomorphological observations to identify trends in site change throughout the 446-km-long semi-arid Colorado River corridor in Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA, where archaeological site degradation related to the effects of upstream dam operation is a concern. Using several site case studies, we show the range of landscape responses that might be expected from concomitant occurrence of dam-controlled fluvial sand bar deposition, aeolian sand transport, and rainfall-induced erosion. Empirical rainfall-erosion threshold analyses coupled with a numerical rainfall-runoff-soil erosion model indicate that infiltration-excess overland flow and gullying govern large-scale (centimeter-to decimeter-scale) landscape changes, but that aeolian deposition can in some cases mitigate gully erosion. Whereas threshold analyses identify the normalized rainfall intensity (defined as the ratio of rainfall intensity to hydraulic conductivity) as the primary factor governing hydrologic-driven erosion, assessment of false positives and false negatives in the dataset highlight topographic slope as the next most important parameter governing site response. Analysis of 4+ years of high resolution (four-minute) weather data and 75+ years of low resolution (daily) climate records indicates that dryland erosion is dependent on short-term, storm-driven rainfall intensity rather than cumulative rainfall, and that erosion can occur outside of wet seasons and even wet years. These results can apply to other similar semi-arid landscapes where process complexity may not be fully understood.
this report, we do identify geomorphic settings where dam operations are either more or less like... more this report, we do identify geomorphic settings where dam operations are either more or less likely to affect archeological site stability. This information can be used to assist with future monitoring efforts of these sites and identification of similar conditions for other archeological sites along the Colorado River corridor in Glen Canyon.
This data release includes information used to support the manuscript "Linking mesoscale met... more This data release includes information used to support the manuscript "Linking mesoscale meteorology with extreme landscape response: effects of narrow cold frontal rainbands (NCFR)". The included datasets and supplement include information related to the 22 March 2018 NCFR and associated shallow landslides in the Toulumne Canyon triggered by this event. The three datasets and one supplemental information document are: 1) mapped landslides where we created polygons for each landslide that occurred (Tuolumne Canyon Landslide Data Storm of 22 March 2018.kmz), 2) soil grain size data for landslide source and depositional zones (Tuolumne Canyon Grain Size Data Storm of 22 March 2018.xlsx), 3) a time series of rainfall data from five locations (Tuolumne Canyon Rainfall data Storm of 22 March 2018.xlsx), and 4) a document that supports several of the analyses presented in the manuscript (Tuolumne Canyon Supplements Storm of 22 March 2018.pdf).
Uploads
Papers by Skye C Corbett