Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Norfolk, Virginia Federal Flood Risk Management Study, Jian Shen, Rico Wang, Mac Sisson

Reports

The City of Norfolk and Norfolk District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), are partnering to conduct a Coastal Storm Risk Management Study (CSRM) study to determine the Federal interest and feasibility of alternatives to mitigate coastal flooding risk in the City. The CSRM is in the Feasibility Study (FS) phase in which alternatives are proposed and developed to conceptual/preliminary design level, benefit/cost analyses are conducted, and environmental studies are completed to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The magnitude of the feasibility study will require an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).

A component of the FS/EIS is the …

James River Water Quality Model Refinement And Scenario Simulations, Jian Shen, Qubin Qin

Reports

This project was part of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality’s (DEQ) study to evaluate the protectiveness of chlorophyll criteria and consider potential criteria revisions, along with implications for the James River portion of the Chesapeake Bay TMDL.

Anthropocene Sea Level Change: A History Of Recent Trends Observed In The U.S. East, Gulf, And West Coast Regions, John D. Boon, Molly Mitchell, Jon Derek Loftis, David L. Malmquist

Reports

Relative sea level (RSL) observations since 1969 at U.S. tide stations exhibit trends in RSL rise rate and acceleration that vary in response to both global and regional processes. Trend histories display a high degree of similarity between locations in coastal regions that are experiencing similar processes. With the exception of the U.S. Northeast Coast and Alaska,every other coastal location in the continental U.S. has experienced an upturn in RSL rise rate since 2013-2014 despite wide differences in the magnitude and trending direction of RSL acceleration. High RSL acceleration along the U.S. Northeast Coast has trended downward since 2011 while …

Incorporating Sea Level Change Scenarios Into Norfolk Harbor Channels Deepening And Elizabeth River Southern Branch Navigation Improvements Study : Final Report On The “Hydrodynamic Modeling”, Zhuo Liu, Harry V. Wang, Yinglong J. Zhang, Fei Ye

Reports

The Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) team has applied a 3D unstructured-grid hydrodynamic model SCHISM in the study of the impact of channel dredging on hydrodynamics in the lower Chesapeake Bay project area. This report is a companion report to that of Zhang et al. (2017; doi:10.21220/V5MF0F) and focuses on the impact of channel dredging specifically under the projected future sea-level change (SLC) of 1 meter rise by 2100. This is an average of the high end of semi-empirical, global sea-level rise (SLR) projections adopted by the Virginia Port Authority (VPA) and the Army Corps of Engineers, Norfolk District, …

Assessment Of Hydrodynamic And Water Quality Impacts For Channel Deepening In The Thimble Shoals, Norfolk Harbor, And Elizabeth River Channels : Final Report On The “Hydrodynamic Modeling”, Yinglong J. Zhang, Harry V. Wang, Fei Ye, Zhengui Wang

Reports

For over twenty years, the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the Virginia Port Authority (VPA), representing the Commonwealth Secretary of Transportation, have collaborated on projects key to port development that also preserve the environmental integrity of both Hampton Roads and the Elizabeth River. The USACE and the VPA are working to investigate channel deepening in this region to provide access to a new generation of cargo ships (e.g., Panamax-class). The main goal of this project is to investigate the feasibility for Norfolk Harbor channel deepening in the lower James and Elizabeth Rivers and assess the environmental impact …

Incorporation Of Sea Level Change Scenarios Into Norfolk Harbor And Channels Deepening Study & Elizabeth River Southern Branch Navigation Improvements Study : Final Report, Rico Wang, Jian Shen, Mac Sisson

Reports

Previously the VIMS modeling group has studied the impact of channel deepening on the water quality in lower James River, including Norfolk Harbor and Elizabeth River. A study of the response of the water quality to future Sea Level Change (SLC) is required by present USACE guidance (ER 1100-2-8162 and ETL 1100-2-1). ETL 1100-2-1 recommends analyzing the effects of SLC on the projects at three future time periods of post-construction, including 20 years, 50 years, and 100 years. The future change of sea level is mainly caused by the sea level rise (SLR) in this region. This document provides results …

Assessment Of Hydrodynamic And Water Quality Impacts For Channel Deepening In The Thimble Shoals, Norfolk Harbor, And Elizabeth River Channels, Jian Shen, Rico Wang, Mac Sisson

Reports

To investigate the feasibility for Norfolk Harbor channel deepening in the lower James and Elizabeth Rivers, one of the key services of the project is to evaluate the impacts of deepening the Atlantic Ocean Channel to 55 feet (from 50 feet), Thimble Shoal Channel to 55 feet (from 50 feet), Elizabeth River (north of Lambert Point) to 50 feet (from 45 feet) and the Southern Branch (north of the I64 Bridge) to 50/45/45 feet. In general, the shipping channel dredging will result in enhancement of estuarine gravitational circulation, accentuate the tidal and wind wave influence upstream, and affect the ecosystem …

Hampton Roads Crossing Study Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement: Evaluation Of Potential Impact On Surface Water Elevation, Flow, Salinity, And Bottom Shear Stress, Yinglong J. Zhang, Harry V. Wang, Zhuo Liu, Mac Sisson, Jian Shen

Reports

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the potential impacts of the proposed alternatives for the highway crossing in Hampton Roads on physical characteristics of surface water elevation, flow, salinity, and bottom shear stress. The analysis is part of the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), the Federal Highway Administration, and other stakeholders’ Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) for Hampton Roads Crossing Study (HRCS).

Evaluation Of The Potential Impact On Flow And Sediment Transport From Proposed James River Crossings, Yinglong J. Zhang, Harry V. Wang, Zhuo Liu, Mac Sisson, Jian Shen

Reports

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the potential impact on flow and sedimentation potential due to the proposed new crossings on the lower James River by VDOT. This project was built upon previous effort in the same area (Boon et al. 1999); the latter used VIMS’ 3D Hydrodynamic-Sedimentation Model (HYSED) to study the impact of the bridge-tunnel infrastructure on the physical characteristics (including tides, currents, circulation, salinity and sedimentation) under the existing and alternative scenarios. Due to various limitations at that time, smaller bridge pilings were not resolved but instead parameterized. In this update study, we used an …

Chesapeake Bay Land Subsidence And Sea Level Change : An Evaluation Of Past And Present Trends And Future Outlook, John D. Boon, John M. Brubaker, David R. Forrest

Reports

Ten Chesapeake Bay water level stations presently have a combined total of 647 years of water level measurements with record lengths varying between 35 years (1975-2009) at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, VA, and 107 years (1903-2009) at Baltimore, MD. All ten stations, with the exception of Gloucester Point, VA, are active stations in the National Water Level Observation Network of water level stations maintained by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services.

New technologies such as sea surface range measurements from earth-orbiting satellites now provide a global assessment of absolute sea level …

Three Dimensional Hydrodynamic Modeling Study, Craney Island Eastward Expansion, Lower James River And Elizabeth River, Virginia, Harry V. Wang, S. C. Kim, John D. Boon, A. Y. Kuo, G. M. Sisson, J. M. Brubaker, J. P-Y. Maa

Reports

The Craney Island Eastward Expansion Hydrodynamic Model Study was conducted in three phases: 1) model calibration and verification for the Elizabeth River, 2) model testing of four Craney Island expansion options using single variable runs (using a single variable, tidal range, for model input), 3) model testing of two expansion options using historical runs (using multiple variables in real time for model input). The expansion option designs were evaluated for both global and local hydrodynamic change through simulation comparisons with the Base Case condition.

Three Dimensional Hydrodynamic-Sedimentation Modeling Study : Hampton Roads Crossing, Lower James River, Virginia, John D. Boon, Harry V. Wang, S. C. Kim, Albert Y. Kuo, G. M. Sisson

Reports

A three-dimensional hydrodynamic-sedimentation computer model, HYSED-3D, was used to evaluate the effect of bridge-tunnel infrastructure for a proposed highway crossing of Hampton Roads on the physical characteristics (tides, currents, circulation, salinity, and sedimentation) of the James River estuary in Virginia. Model-represented infrastructure included tunnel islands and bridges on pilings connecting the islands to interstate highways in Newport News, Hampton, Norfolk, and Portsmouth, Virginia. Combinations of these elements occur in each of three proposed crossing routes designated Alternative 1 (Hampton-Norfolk), Alternative 2 (Hampton-Norfolk, Norfolk-Portsmouth), and Alternative 9 (Newport News-Portsmouth-Norfolk). Simulation comparisons were made between the existing waterways and infrastructure in Hampton …

User's Manual For The Environmental Fluid Dynamics Computer Code, John M. Hamrick

Reports

No abstract provided.

A Three-Dimensional Hydrodynamic-Eutrophication Model (Hem-3d) : Description Of Water Quality And Sediment Process Submodels, Kyeong Park, Albert Y. Kuo, Jian Shen, John M. Hamrick

Reports

Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) has been developing a general purpose three-dimensional hydrodynamic and sediment transport model, Environmental Fluid Dynamics Computer Code (EFDC; Hamrick 1992). The real-time model simulates density and topographically-induced circulation as well as tidal and wind-driven flows, and spatial and temporal distributions of salinity, temperature and sediment concentration. The model also is capable of handling the wetting and drying of shallow area, hydraulic control structures, vegetation resistance for wetlands and Lagrangian particle tracking. The information of physical transport processes, both advective and diffusive, simulated by the hydrodynamic model can be used to account for the transport …

A Three-Dimensional Environmental Fluid Dynamics Computer Code : Theoretical And Computational Aspects, John M. Hamrick

Reports

This report describes and documents the theoretical and computational aspects of a three-dimensional computer code for environmental fluid flows. The code solves the three-dimensional primitive variable v1ertically hydrostatic equations of motion for turbulent flow in a coordinate system which is curvilinear and orthogonal in the horizontal plane and stretched to follow bottom topography and free surface displacement in the vertical direction which is aligned with the gravitational vector. A second moment turbulence closure scheme relates turbulent viscosity and diffusivity to the turbulence intensity and a turbulence length scale. Transport equations for the turbulence intensity and length scale as well as …

Vims-Blm Second Order Wave Climate Model And Wave Climatology Of Baltimore Canyon Trough Shelf Area, Victor Goldsmith

Reports

The Wave Climate Model of the Baltimore Canyon Trough Shelf area encompassing the designated lease blocks was extended, refined, and comparisons made with real wave data, as part of this year's contract (Figures 15-la and 15-lb). This modified model w.as produced to refine the 1975 model so that more definitive statements and interpretations could be concluded, based on more detailed data, in the evaluation of the baseline data. A set of computer-generated graphics utilizing a greater depth data point density (0.25 NM), to al.low site-specific evaluation of conditions within the lease block area, were produced.

Middle Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf Environmental Studies Volume Ii-A. Chemical And Biological Benchmark Studies, E. M. Burrreson, D. F. Boesch, B. L. Laird

Reports

The Middle Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf Environmental Studies is comprised of three volumes.

• Volume I. Executive Summary.
• Volume IIA, IIB, IIC and IID. Chemical and Biological Benchmark Studies.
• Volume III. Geologic Studies.

This is the first of four sections of the Chemical and Biological Benchmark Studies

• CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION by E. M. Burreson
• CHAPTER 2. BENCHMARK STUDIES by Donald F. Boesch, William D. Athearn, and John G. Brokaw
• CHAPTER 3. PHYSICAL OCEANOGRAPHY AND CLIMATOLOGY by C. S. Welch and E. P. Ruzecki
• CHAPTER 4. MIDDLE ATLANTIC BIGHT ZOOPLANKTON: SECOND YEAR RESULTS AND A DISCUSSION OF …

Middle Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf Environmental Studies Volume Ii-C: Chemical And Biological Benchmark Studies, E. M. Burreson, D. F. Boesch, B. L. Laird

Reports

The Middle Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf Environmental Studies is comprised of three volumes.

• Volume I. Executive Summary.
• Volume IIA, IIB, IIC and IID. Chemical and Biological Benchmark Studies.
• Volume III. Geologic Studies.

This is the third of four sections of the Chemical and Biological Benchmark Studies

• CHAPTER 9. COMMUNITY STRUCTURE ANALYSIS AND FOOD HABITS OF FISHES by George R. Sedberry, Eric J. Foell and John A. Musick
• CHAPTER 10. HISTORICAL COMMUNITY STRUCTURE ANALYSIS OF FINFISHES by John A. Musick, James A. Colvocoresses and Eric J. Foell
• CHAPTER 11. BACTERIOLOGY by Howard J. Kator

Chapters of …

Middle Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf Environmental Studies Volume Ii-B: Chemical And Biological Benchmark Studies, E. M. Burreson, D. F. Boesch, B. L. Laird

Reports

The Middle Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf Environmental Studies is comprised of three volumes.

• Volume I. Executive Summary.
• Volume IIA, IIB, IIC and IID. Chemical and Biological Benchmark Studies.
• Volume III. Geologic Studies.

This is the second of four sections of the Chemical and Biological Benchmark Studies

• CHAPTER 5. BOTTOM SEDIMENTS AND SEDIMENTARY FRAMEWORK by Donald .F. Boesch
• CHAPTER 6. BENTHIC ECOLOGICAL STUDIES: MACROBENTHOS by Donald F. Boesch
• CHAPTER 7. BENTHIC ECOLOGICAL STUDIES: MEIOBENTHOS by D.J. Hartzband and Donald F. Boesch
• CHAPTER 8. BENTHIC ECOLOGICAL STUDIES: FORAMINIFERA by Robert L. Ellison

Chapters of this report contain …

Middle Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf Environmental Studies Volume Ii-D: Chemical And Biological Benchmark Studies, E. M. Burreson, D. F. Boesch, B. L. Laird

Reports

The Middle Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf Environmental Studies is comprised of three volumes.

• Volume I. Executive Summary.
• Volume IIA, IIB, IIC and IID. Chemical and Biological Benchmark Studies.
• Volume III. Geologic Studies.

This is the fourth of four sections of the Chemical and Biological Benchmark Studies

• CHAPTER 12. HISTOPATHOLOGICAL STUDIES by Craig Ruddell
• CHAPTER 13. TRACE METALS by Richard L. Harris, Raj Jolly, George Grant, and Robert Huggett
• CHAPTER 14. HYDROCARBONS by C. L. Smith, C. W. Su, W. G. Macintyre, R. H. Bieri, and M. Kent Cueman
• CHAPTER 15. VIMS-BLM SECOND ORDER WAVE CLIMATE …

Hydrography And Hydrodynamics Of Virginia Estuaries. Xvii, Mathematical Ecosystem Modeling Study Of The York River, P. V. Hyer, A. Y. Kuo, C. S. Fang, W. J. Hargis Jr.

Reports

The York River drainage basin is rural, with an economy based on farming, logging, fishing and recreation. Water quality conditions are generally good, with low chlorophyll and nutrients and low fecal coliform counts. Dissolved oxygen concentrations are high except for periodic deoxygenation of the water deeper than 8 m in the reach extending 10 km upstream of the mouth.

A quasi-three dimensional tidal average model was constructed and calibrated using intensive field data collected in June and July, 1976 and verified using slack water run data from September, 1976. The model components are: salinity, fecal coliform, chlorophyll, CBOD, dissolved oxygen, …

Beach Erosion And Accretion At Virginia Beach, Victor Goldsmith, Susan C. Strum, George R. Thomas, Coastal Engineering Research Center (U. S. )

Reports

This report is published to provide coastal engineers with a description of beach erosion and accretion at Virginia Beach, Virginia, including the effect of continuing beach replenishment, and the apparent unimportance of land use in determining erosion. This report also provides bench-mark data on coastal processes at the shore north of the CERC Field Research Facility at Duck, North Carolina. The work was carried out under the beach evaluation program of the U.S. Army Coastal Engineering Research Center (CERC).

Delineation Of A Wave Climate For Dam Neck, Virginia Beach, Virginia, Andrew L. Gutman

Reports

No abstract provided.

Southern Chesapeake Bay Water Color And Circulation Analysis, Maynard M. Nichols, Hayden H. Gordon

Reports

Satellite imagery from two EREP passes over the Rappahannock Estuary of the Chesapeake region are analyzed to chart colored water types, to delineate color boundaries and define circulatory patterns.

On The Use Of Drift Bottle And Seabed Drifter Data In Coastal Management, Christopher S. Welch, John J. Norcross

Reports

The use of drift bottle and seabed drifter information for use in coastal management is discussed. The drift bottle/seabed drifter portion of VIMS project MACONS (Mid Atlantic Continental Shelf) is described as an example of how a comprehensive survey using drift bottles and seabed drifters provides data useful for coastal management. The data from MACONS are analyzed to answer specific questions of interest to several different coastal managers: a manager siting a deep oil port, one siting a sewage outfall, a manager responsible for setting up emergency beach protection procedures before an accident occurs, and a manager responsible for the …

Bathymetry Of The Chesapeake Bay, Victor Goldsmith, Carolyn H. Sutton

Reports

Coordinates: W 77⁰30ʹ--W 75⁰30ʹ/N 39⁰30ʹ--N 37⁰.

Bathymetry based on depths from National Ocean Survey sounding sheets, contoured to mean low water datum.

Scale 1:224,700 at 37⁰ latitude.

Original chart size 141x80cm. | 55.5x31.5inches

Bathymetric Chart Series No. 2.

Physical And Geological Studies Of The Proposed Bridge-Tunnel Crossing Of Hampton Roads Near Craney Island, C. S. Fang, B. J. Neilson, A. Y. Kuo, R. J. Byrne, C. S. Welch

Reports

Part 1: James River Hydraulic Model Tests

Part 2: Impact on Shoreline, Hampton Flats and Newport News Point Area

Part 3: Drogue Study, Hampton Flats and Newport News Point

Part 4: Hydraulic Model Test Results

Final Report On Results Of Operation James River; An Evaluation Of The Physical And Biological Effects Of The Proposed James River Navigation Project, William J. Hargis Jr.

Reports

A comprehensive study of the physical and biological characteristics of the James Estuary has been carried out by oceanographers of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science under contract with the Virginia Commission of Fisheries. This research project, under way for three years, has been directed especially to the effects of the proposed James River Navigation Project channel dredging on physical features--i·~.,the structure and dynamics, of the estuary, and indirectly on oyster production. Five separate phases were carried out under the project (called Operation James River). These involved: 1) accumulation and study of relevant literature and data, 2) research into the …