2018 Hurricane Season: RAPID : Are short-lived storm surge events the key sources of long-term saltwater intrusion in coastal aquifers impacted by tropical cyclone activity? Grant uri icon

abstract

  • 4 years), it is not clear the mechanism by which saltwater intrusion is occurring in the region. For the RAPID project, we propose to test the hypothesis that short-lived storm surge events are the key sources of long-term saltwater intrusion in coastal aquifers impacted by tropical cyclone activity. The RAPID funding mechanism is the appropriate avenue for supporting this project because time sensitive groundwater, surface water, and soil quality data may be lost if we do not go the field site immediately. Project funds will be used to augment pre storm surge data with (a) groundwater data (e.g., water levels, specific capacity/salinity, etc.) collected at various depths in the subsurface, (b) surface water data (e.g., water levels, specific capacity/salinity etc.) collected in nearby ditches, creeks and Sound, and (c) soil quality parameters (e.g., high soluble salts, pH, exchangeable sodium percentage etc.,) acquired in fields that have experienced salt water intrusion. Methods will include field-based, statistical, analytical and/or numerical approaches to assess flow and transport processes in the subsurface. In addition to improving our understanding of how salt water incursion driven by storm surge events is related to groundwater flow and solute transport, the results from this project will be beneficial to environmental managers, rural communities and farmers to better prepare for, respond to, and recover from future storm water events that accompany tropical cyclone activity. The data generated will also be useful for additional research that would focus on assessing the impact of environmental change on the extent and magnitude of future storm surge events.

date/time interval

  • November 2018 - November 2019

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