Annual exceedance probabilities of the peak discharges of 2011 at streamgages in Vermont and selected streamgages in New Hampshire, western Massachusetts, and northeastern New York

Olson, Scott A.; Bent, Gardner C.

doi:10.3133/sir20135187

Cited by 16 publications

(23 citation statements)

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“…The peak flows provided herein supersede those published in Bent and others (2013), Olson and Bent (2013), Olson (2014), Suro and others (2016), and USGS annual water data reports (U.S. Geological Survey, 2012a).…”

Section: Peak Flowssupporting

confidence: 74%

Tropical storm Irene flood of August 2011 in northwestern Massachusetts

Bent¹,

Olson²,

Massey³

2016

Scientific Investigations Report

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Section: Peak Flowssupporting

confidence: 74%

Tropical storm Irene flood of August 2011 in northwestern Massachusetts

Bent¹,

Olson²,

Massey³

2016

Scientific Investigations Report

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“…Consequently, this study presents a continuous, 2100 year record of sediment accumulation in a natural in-stream lake (Amherst Lake, southeastern Vermont) as a means of quantifying long-term rates of sediment transfer from the surrounding watershed and identifying discrete, episodic depositional events resulting from floods and upstream landslides. Sediment deposition associated with Tropical Storm Irene (TSI), which caused widespread flooding and landslides in the northeastern United States in August 2011 [Olson and Bent, 2013;Dethier et al, 2015;Yellen et al, 2014], is used as a modern analogue for interpreting past depositional events. Periods of rapid sediment accumulation and inferred erosion are assessed in relation to a well-documented history of human land cover change, existing paleoclimate reconstructions, and historical flood records with the primary goal of quantifying human and climatic impacts on the magnitude and frequency of extreme erosional events.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Contrasting human versus climatic impacts on erosion

Cook

Yellen

Woodruff

et al. 2015

Geophysical Research Letters

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Both human activity and climate change can influence erosion rates and initiate rapid landscape change. Understanding the relative impact of these factors is critical to managing the risks of extreme erosion related to flooding and landslide occurrence. Here we present a 2100 year record of sediment mass accumulation and inferred erosion based on lacustrine sediment cores from Amherst Lake, Vermont, USA. Using deposition from August 2011 Tropical Storm Irene as a modern analogue, we identified distinct event deposits indicative of destructive erosion events. These deposits record a prolonged (multidecadal) interval of enhanced erosion following the initial storm‐induced landscape disturbance. The direct impact of human land cover alteration is minimal in comparison to the more recent twentieth century increase in the occurrence of catastrophic erosion linked to overall wetter conditions that favor high erosion rates and more easily trigger landslides during periods of extreme precipitation.

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“…The peak flow of 14,900 cubic feet per second (ft 3 /s) at the Hoosic River near Williamstown streamgage (01332500; fig. 1) is roughly equivalent to the 1-percent AEP flood of 14,500 ft 3 /s of the streamgage (Olson and Bent, 2013). The peak discharge at the discontinued North Branch Hoosic River at North Adams streamgage (01332000) was estimated, using indirect flow estimation techniques (Horton, 1907;Hulsing, 1967), to be 13,200 ft 3 /s, which is between a 1-and 0.5-percent AEP flood; the peak discharge at Hoosic River at Adams streamgage (01331500) was 2,690 ft 3 /s, which is between a 10-and 4-percent AEP flood; and the peak discharge at Green River at Williamstown streamgage (01333000) was 4,140 ft 3 /s, which is slightly less than a 2-percent AEP flood.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Flood-inundation maps for the Hoosic River, North Adams and Williamstown, Massachusetts, from the confluence with the North Branch Hoosic River to the Vermont State line

Lombard¹,

Bent²

2015

Scientific Investigations Report

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For more information on the USGS-the Federal source for science about the Earth, its natural and living resources, natural hazards, and the environment, visit http://www.usgs.gov/ or call 1-888-ASK-USGS.For an overview of USGS information products, including maps, imagery, and publications, visit http://www.usgs.gov/pubprod/ To order this and other USGS information products, visit http://store.usgs.gov/ Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.Although this information product, for the most part, is in the public domain, it also may contain copyrighted materials as noted in the text. Permission to reproduce copyrighted items must be secured from the copyright owner.Suggested citation: Lombard, P.J., and Bent, G.C., 2015, Flood-inundation AbstractA series of eight digital flood-inundation maps were developed for an 8-mile reach of the Hoosic River in North Adams and Williamstown, Massachusetts, by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and are available at the USGS flood inundation mapping website at http://water.usgs.gov/osw/flood_inundation. The coverage of the maps extends from the confluence with the North Branch Hoosic River to the Vermont State line. Peak flows with 20-, 10-, 4-, 2-, 1-, 0.5-, and 0.2-percent annual exceedance probabilities were computed for the reach from updated floodfrequency analyses. These peak flows were routed through a onedimensional step-backwater hydraulic model to obtain the corresponding peak water-surface elevations, and to place the tropical storm Irene flood of August 28, 2011 into historical context. The hydraulic model was calibrated by using the current (2014) stagedischarge relation at the USGS streamgage Hoosic River near Williamstown, Massachusetts (01332500), and from documented high-water marks from the tropical storm Irene flood, which had approximately a 1-percent annual exceedance probability.The hydraulic model was used to compute water-surface profiles for flood stages referenced to the streamgage and ranging from 9 feet (ft; 624.45 ft North American Vertical Datum of 1988 [NAVD 1988]), which is near bankfull, to 16.1 ft (631.59 ft NAVD 1988), which exceeds the maximum recorded water level at the streamgage and the National Weather Service major flood stage of 13.0 ft. The mapped stages, from 10.9 to 16.1 ft, were selected to match the stages of flows with annual exceedance probabilities between 20 and 0.2 percent, and thus do not fall at exact 1-ft increments. The simulated water-surface profiles were combined with a geographic information system digital elevation model derived from light detection and ranging (lidar) data having a 0.5-ft vertical accuracy to create a set of flood-inundation maps.The availability of the flood-inundation maps, combined with information regarding current (near real-time) stage from USGS streamgage Hoosic River near Williamstown, and forecasted flood stages from the National Weather Servic...

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Annual exceedance probabilities of the peak discharges of 2011 at streamgages in Vermont and selected streamgages in New Hampshire, western Massachusetts, and northeastern New York

Cited by 16 publications

References 0 publications

Tropical storm Irene flood of August 2011 in northwestern Massachusetts

Tropical storm Irene flood of August 2011 in northwestern Massachusetts

Contrasting human versus climatic impacts on erosion

Flood-inundation maps for the Hoosic River, North Adams and Williamstown, Massachusetts, from the confluence with the North Branch Hoosic River to the Vermont State line

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