140G0321Q0197_SOW.pdf

STATEMENT OF WORK

Coastal Flood and Sediment Transport Modeling

The U.S. Geological Survey seeks professional modeler services to support coastal flood and sediment transport modeling efforts along the U.S. West Coast, including Puget Sound, Washington, San Francisco Bay, California, and Alaska. The work informs coastal hazard risk management, climate adaptation, and coastal sediment management. Services are needed to help in the development and refinement of coastal flood models to evaluate future flooding associated with sea level rise and storms. In addition, services are needed to help develop an operational coastal flooding model that considers the dynamic interaction between estuarine/ocean flooding and watershed flooding for San Francisco Bay. Lastly, services are needed to support our understanding of nearshore sediment transport patterns to aid California state agency interests in more effective coastal sediment management. The contractor will help refine and apply a coastal storm model to support a vulnerability assessment of Washington State’s Puget Sound shorelines to impending sea-level rise and climate change using the USGS Coastal Storm Modeling System (CoSMoS) modeling framework. The contactor will work in close cooperation with the USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center.

TASKS

1)developing more sophisticated and efficient hydrodynamic, sediment transport and coastal flood modeling approaches,

2) model validation of water levels, waves, and flooding events, and

3) novel methods for enhancing efficiency in modeling through integration of diverse modeling software and parameterization of physical processes that operate across a wide range of temporal and spatial scales. The work requires strong programming skills using languages such as Python, Matlab, and windows batch processes to automate the data processing and integration of boundary condition information for use with Delft3D-Flow, Delft3D-WAVE (SWAN), XBeach, SFINCS, and GIS tools for outputs and visualization. Intimate knowledge of oceanography, coastal hazards, sediment transport, and nearshore processes is essential. Working experience developing, applying, and troubleshooting numerical models is required.

WORKLOAD EXPECTATIONS

This work requires the ability and willingness to work professional hours outside the standard work schedule in order to accomplish work objectives. This is likely to include long hours at a workstation under tight deadlines, as well as studying coastal sediment transport, winter extreme storm events, nearshore waves and their impacts along diverse shorelines, and river floods, all of which may occur outside of regular working hours and often in cold, wet weather. Work schedules will comply with nonstandard work-hour guidelines. The research scientist frequently uses independent judgment to insure efficient accomplishment of work tasks.

Supports the implementation and further development of the CoSMoS modeling system including code to advance communication and integration of data between web-based sources and stand-alone numerical models (including Delft3D, XBeach, SFINCS, and WaveWatchIII) using Matlab, Python and XML codes.

Extensive testing and development of more efficient coastal flood and sediment transport models, algorithms and products.

Performs post-processing of large model data sets, field data, and model-measurement comparisons. Prepares written reports or parts of reports (illustrations, plots, maps) describing data collection, analysis techniques and interpretation for publication of reports and peer-reviewed journal articles, and for presentations at scientific meetings.

CONTRACTOR QUALIFICATIONS

• PhD in coastal oceanography, civil and environmental engineering, coastal geology, coastal engineering, environmental sciences or related field, with strong knowledge in hydrodynamics, sediment transport, nearshore processes, and coastal hazards.

• Field, laboratory and modeling experience is required and background in programming, applied mathematics, statistics and machine learning is strongly preferred. Extensive experience with Matlab, Python, FORTRAN, Delft3D, XBeach, and XML, as well as super computing systems.

• Knowledge of physical processes and data types characterizing nearshore coastal physical processes and hazards, especially coastal flooding and sediment transport. Working familiarity and expertise with statistical analyses and data analysis techniques including filtering, time-series analyses, hydraulic engineering to examine relationships between hydrodynamic processes that interact with sediment transport, vegetation, and morphologic change.

• Skill and knowledge to evaluate quality and interpret modeling and oceanographic data.

• Strong oral and written communication skills, with the ability to effectively communicate project components to both a technical and general public audience.

• Experience with data collection and data quality assurance/quality control procedures, maintaining comprehensive notes of field and analytical tasks and training others in such procedures.

• Physical ability to work in the field including wading in streams, wetlands, along intertidal beaches and work from a boat commonly in cold, rainy/snowy conditions;

CONTRACTOR EXPERIENCE REQUIRED

• Practical field and laboratory data collection in coastal geology/oceanography, environmental, and/or natural resources.

• Analytical and numerical modeling of coastal flooding due to waves and storm surge.

• Experimental and modeling knowledge of hydrodynamic processes in an open coast and estuarine environment.

• Coastal storm and sediment transport modeling using Delft3D and model calibration-validation with remote sensing data.

• Interpreting coastal geologic processes and landforms.

• Production-level computer programming, scripting, and coding in Python, Matlab, and

FORTRAN.

• Time series analysis and forecasting

DELIVERABLES

Coastal flood and/or sediment transport models are constructed/refined for San Francisco Bay, select locations along the outer coasts of California and Alaska, and for communities within Puget Sound (WA) with open-source Delft3D and reports are submitted as the following phases of the modeling are completed: (1) construction/refinement and stability testing, (2) initial validation and sensitivity testing of water levels and flood extents, (3) initial simulations of interactions between water levels, currents, waves, fluvial discharge and morphology representative of the setting as measured by the team. Report also summarizes code used to process data, run models, and evaluate results.

Presentation of project results at team meetings (2-3 times per year) Peer-reviewed publication of coastal flood and sediment transport model development and application

PERFORMANCE CRITERIA

Requirement Metric Standard Modeling Stability/Sensitivity

Analyses Models are stable and can simulate river and tidal water levels, flow velocities and wave heights representative of the area and within 10-20% of measured values.

Coastal Flood and Sediment Transport Modeling Reports (n=3)

Clarity/Delivery Reports summarizing each step of the modeling (e.g. model construction/stability testing, initial validation/sensitivity testing, and simulation results) are completed according to timelines determined through meetings with USGS team within 60 days of start date.

Presentations Clarity/Delivery Presentations are delivered once each year at team meetings to summarize activities and to gain technical input from the team.

TRAVEL

Travel will be required to collaborate with the USGS modeling team and partners throughout California and across Puget Sound in Washington. Two trips to Bellingham, Washington and two trips to the Bay Area are expected.