Field Activity 2017-635-FA

Identifier 2017-635-FA
Also known as Carmel River fieldwork
Purpose Measure topography and sediment properties of the Carmel River channel and Los Padres reservoir, studying watershed response to disturbances including dam removal and large floods.
Location Carmel River, California, USA
Summary Data updated to include Los Padres Reservoir UAS SfM survey and sediment sampling in 2017.
Info derived Topography, Turbidity, Imagery
Comments Location-Elevation - Profiles: TOTAL STATION Location-Elevation - Benchmarks: TOTAL STATION Entries for this field activity are based on entries from Field Activity 2015-638-FA Entries for this field activity are based on entries from Field Activity 2016-638-FA
Projects
Platform
on foot
survey conducted on foot
Vehicles
None
Itinerary
Start Carmel, CA 2017-04-11
End Carmel, CA 2017-12-31
Days in the field 15
Bounds
West -121.855
East -121.62661133
North 36.56060076
South 36.37770156

Personnel

Organization
2885 Mission Street
Santa Cruz, CA95060
(831) 460-7401
Principal investigators Amy East
Crew members
Joshua Logan
Scientist, Staff
Information specialist(s)
Joshua Logan
Specialist, Information
Affiliate principal Lee Harrison (NMFS)

Data types and categories

Data category: Sampling, Environmental Data, Imagery, Location-Elevation
Data type: Geology, Temperature, Turbidity, Photo, Benchmarks, Navigation, Profiles

Equipment used

Equipment Usage description Data types Datasets
pistoncore Geology 2
watersamples Conductivity, CTD, Dissolved Oxygen, Fluorescence, Nitrate, pH, Temperature, Turbidity, Wave 1
Sensors - temperature Temperature (no data reported)
Total Station Benchmarks, Profiles, Transects 3
Structure from Motion - crewed aircraft Photo (no data reported)
Structure from Motion - UAS Photo 5
totalstation Navigation 1

Datasets

Datasets produced in this activity

Dataset name Equipment Description Dataset contact
Grain size and charcoal abundance in sediment samples pistoncore Sediment samples were collected from Los Padres reservoir using a CME-45 barge-mounted drill rig, to characterize sedimentary properties in the reservoir deposits following the Soberanes Fire of 2016 and high river flows in winter 2017. Amy East
Lead, Radium, Cesium, and Thorium isotope activity in sediment samples pistoncore Sedimentary properties in the reservoir deposits following the Soberanes Fire of 2016 and high river flows in winter 2017. Thomas D Lorenson
Aerial imagery from the UAS survey Structure from Motion - UAS This portion of the data release presents the raw aerial imagery collected during the unoccupied aerial system (UAS) survey of the Los Padres Reservoir delta, Carmel River valley, CA, 2017-11-01. Joshua Logan
Digital surface model (DSM) and digital elevation model (DEM) Structure from Motion - UAS This portion of the data release presents a digital surface model (DSM) and digital elevation model (DEM) of the exposed Los Padres Reservoir delta where the Carmel River enters the reservoir. The DSM represents the elevation of the highest object within the bounds of a cell. The DEM represent the elevation of the ground surface where it was visible to the acquisition system. Joshua Logan
Ground control point locations for the UAS survey Structure from Motion - UAS This portion of the data release presents the locations of the temporary ground control points (GCPs) used for the structure-from-motion (SfM) processing of the imagery collected during the unoccupied aerial system (UAS) survey of the Los Padres Reservoir delta, Carmel River valley, CA, 2017-11-01. Joshua Logan
Orthomosaic imagery Structure from Motion - UAS This portion of the data release presents a high-resolution orthomosaic image of the exposed Los Padres Reservoir delta where the Carmel River enters the reservoir. Joshua Logan
Topographic point cloud Structure from Motion - UAS This portion of the data release presents a topographic point cloud of the exposed Los Padres Reservoir delta where the Carmel River enters the reservoir. The point cloud was derived from structure-from-motion (SfM) processing of aerial imagery collected with an unoccupied aerial system (UAS) on 2017-11-01. Joshua Logan

Datasets compiled from multiple sources

Dataset name Equipment Description Dataset contact
Turbidity data from the Carmel River, central California, 2014 to 2017 watersamples This data provides river turbidity measurements collected on the Carmel River, CA. Turbidity was measured to study any changes in the Carmel River's sediment loads following the removal of the San Clemente Dam. The USGS-run DTS-12 turbidity sensor was deployed above the Sleepy Hollow Weir on the Carmel River, CA (instrument was located at 36.445250 degrees North, 121.710494 degrees West). Deployment began on December 9, 2014. After June 16, 2016, the instrument was removed for calibration. A new instrument was re-deployed on October 14, 2016, and continued to record until recovery on July 13, 2017. Due to the instrument removal and calibration, there exists an approximately 4-month long gap in data collection from June 16 to October 14, 2016. The sensor recorded turbidity, water temperature, and battery voltage at 15-minute intervals. The data are in Formazin Nephelometric Units (FNU), which are similar to Nephelometric Turbidity Units (NTU) in that both measure scattered light at 90 degrees from the incident light beam. FNU are measured with an infrared light source (by the ISO 7027 method), whereas NTU requires a white light source (EPA method 180.1). For more information on FNU and water turbidity data, please visit http://or.water.usgs.gov/grapher/fnu.html. Apparently spurious data points were removed during processing. Those included: data points in which the temperature reading dropped abruptly to zero [both temperature and turbidity values were set to "NaN" (Not A Number)], data points in which the turbidity value abruptly dropped from a non-zero value to zero and recovered immediately to near the original non-zero reading (in which case turbidity, but not temperature, values were set to "NaN"), and several points were deleted in the record in which turbidity spiked rapidly by two or three orders of magnitude and then immediately returned to much lower values. This may occur, for example, if a leaf blocked the sensor momentarily, but we considered it was likely not a real increase in turbidity. Several rapid apparent increases in turbidity remain in the record. These may be real or spurious, they did not appear abrupt enough to be clearly spurious, and so are left in the record. Turbidity spikes were also removed that coincided with equipment deployment at the site. Amy East
High resolution topography for two pools on the Carmel River, central California, 2014 to 2019 Total Station High-resolution topographic surveys were conducted at two pools on the Carmel River between 2014 and 2019 using a survey-grade total station. The Dam Reach pool (DMPOOL) is located within the Dam Reach, approximately 450 meters downstream of the former site of the San Clemente Dam. The Sleepy Hollow pool (SHPOOL) is located within the Sleepy Hollow reach, approximately 2.25 kilometers downstream of the former site of the San Clemente Dam. Both pools were surveyed in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2019 using a total station, in conjunction with the channel cross-section surveys also conducted as part of this study (see accompanying file within this data release for topographic survey transect data). For the 2015 survey, a kayak-mounted single-beam echosounder was also used to augment the data collected with the total station. Horizontal and vertical coordinates are provided for each point surveyed. Vertical coordinates are referenced to the NAVD88 vertical datum, in units of meters. Horizontal coordinates are referenced to the NAD83(2011) reference frame, projected in Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) coordinates (zone 10N), in units of meters. Amy East
Topographic survey transect endpoint coordinates along the Carmel River, central California, 2013 to 2021 (ver. 2.0, March 2022) Total Station This dataset contains the easting, northing, and elevation values of the river-right and river-left transect endpoint reference benchmarks (RBM and LBM) from survey transects at 10 survey reaches along the Carmel River, central California. Topographic surveys were completed on these transects during eight summer surveys (in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020 and 2021). See accompanying file within this data release for elevation measurements. All data were collected in NAD83 UTM10N horizontal coordinates and NAVD88 Geoid 12B vertical coordinates, in units of meters. The positions of some reference marks were selected using only horizontal reference, the elevation values for these marks are set to a no data value of "NULL" in the data file. Amy East
Topographic survey transect data along the Carmel River, central California, 2013 to 2021 (ver. 2.0, March 2022) Total Station Topographic surveys were completed during eight summer surveys (in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020 and 2021) at 10 sites along the Carmel River, CA: Berwick (BW), Control Reach (CR), Crossroads (CRO), DeDampierre Lower (DDL), DeDampierre Upper (DDU), Dam Reach (DM), Reservoir Reach (RS), San Carlos (SC), Sleepy Hollow (SH), and Schulte Road (SR)). Topographic measurements were made at multiple locations along four to six cross-section transects per site using a total station (at sites CR, RS, DM and SH) and with an auto level and survey rod (at sites DDU, DDL, BW, SR, SC and CRO). This dataset contains the cross-sectional elevation measurements for each transect and survey year. The elevation measurement locations along each transect were located by measuring distances between corresponding endpoint coordinates, starting from river left (see accompanying file within this data release for topographic survey transect endpoint coordinates). For the transects measured with a total station (CR, RS, DM and SH), horizontal coordinates, elevation and distance from the left bank end point are provided. For the transects measured with an auto level (DDU, DDL, BW, SR, SC and CRO), only elevation and distance from left bank end point are provided (horizontal coordinates are defined as NULL for these transects). Vertical coordinates are referenced to the NAVD88 vertical datum, in units of meters. Horizontal coordinates are referenced to the NAD83(2011) reference frame, projected in Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) coordinates (zone 10N). These data supersede grain-size data originally published in 2017 at https://doi.org/10.5066/F74M93HF. Amy East
Grain size data from the Carmel River, central California, 2013 to 2021 (ver. 2.0, March 2022) totalstation Pebble-count data were collected during summer surveys (2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021) at ten sites along the Carmel River, California. Grain-size measurements were made at four to six transects per site using a 0.5 by 0.5 m sampling frame, with approximately 100 sediment-particle counts per transect. Each transect was defined by coordinates on the left and right sides of the river, and sediment grain sizes were measured at five equally spaced locations within the bankfull channel on the transect defined by those endpoint coordinates (see accompanying file within this data release for transect endpoint coordinates). The grain-size data file reports spatial information as being the midpoint of the transect. Grain-size diameters were measured using a gravelometer. We report grain-size values to the next size class up in this spreadsheet, that is, the size gradation that the sediment grain passed through on the gravelometer frame, with the data being analogous to the percent passing in sieve analyses. These data supersede grain-size data originally published in 2017 at https://doi.org/10.5066/F74M93HF. Amy East

Publications

Samples collected during this field activity

Images collected during this field activity, from the Imagery Data System

1033 images are associated with this activity.