RAPID: Post-Fire Geomorphic Change Detection in a Small Mountainous River Estuary

该项目将重点研究加州斯科特河河口野火后洪水和泥石流对地貌和物理功能的影响。斯科特溪流域在2020年8月的CZU闪电复合火灾中几乎完全被烧毁，在最近的过去，河口经历了人类直接管理和海平面上升的巨大变化。由于火灾破坏了山坡的稳定，增加了径流的产生，即使在相对较小的风暴事件中，斯科特溪也可能会被水和沉积物淹没河口。容易发生野火的沿海山区，如美国太平洋沿岸地区，也是人类生活、基础设施和经济重要性的集中地。更好地了解野火后泥石流对沿海系统影响的控制过程，对于在先前人类活动和海平面上升的背景下有效管理和恢复这些系统至关重要。该项目的科学进展还将为灾害管理提供信息，以保护受野火影响的沿海地区的人类健康和繁荣。这项工作是由一个研究小组进行的，致力于为地球科学中代表性不足的群体创造机会，这将通过该项目的实施，与其他早期职业科学家一起对结果数据集进行未来分析，并将结果纳入加州大学河滨分校的教育材料中。该项目将提供急需的易逝数据，为研究斯科特溪流域野火对地貌变化的影响提供新的机会。在2021年雨季，将在每次暴雨或暴雨群前后进行测量和采样。将分别使用高分辨率激光扫描和回声测深技术对河口静水面以上和以下的地表进行测量。还将从河口各地收集沉积物和水样，调查其物理和化学特征，以提供有关沉积物来源和水动力运输条件的信息。这些数据将被用于对火灾后河口的长期（多年）地貌和生态变化进行更全面的研究，重点关注有助于地貌和沉积物沉积发展的过程，以及它们对物理和生态功能的影响。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project will focus on the impacts of flooding and debris flows on the landforms and physical functioning of the estuary of Scott Creek, California after wildfire. The Scott Creek watershed almost completely burned in the August, 2020 CZU Lightning Complex Fire, and in the recent past the estuary has experienced dramatic changes from direct human management and sea-level rise. Because fire has destabilized hillslopes and increased the production of runoff, Scott Creek will likely flood its estuary with water and sediment during even relatively minor storm events. Mountainous coastal regions prone to wildfire, such as those of the US Pacific Coast, are also concentrations of human lives, infrastructure and economic importance. Better understanding of the processes controlling the impacts of debris flows on coastal systems after wildfire is critical to informing effective management and restoration of these systems in the context of previous human modification and sea-level rise. The scientific advances from this project will also inform hazard management for the protection of human health and prosperity in coastal regions impacted by wildfire. This work is conducted by a research group dedicated to creating opportunities for underrepresented groups in the geosciences, which will be advanced through this project’s conduct, future analysis of resultant datasets with additional early career scientists, and incorporation of results into educational materials at the University of California, Riverside.This project will provide urgently needed, perishable data supporting a novel opportunity to investigate the impacts of wildfire on landform change in the Scott Creek watershed. Surveying and sampling will be conducted before and after each rainstorm or rainstorm cluster during the 2021 wet season. The ground surface of the estuary, both above and below standing water, will be surveyed using high resolution laser scanning and echo sounder techniques, respectively. Sediment and water samples will also be collected from locations throughout the estuary and investigated for physical and chemical characteristics that provide information about sediment source and hydrodynamic transport conditions. These data will be leveraged into a more comprehensive study of longer term (multi-year) geomorphic and ecological changes in the estuary following the fire with a focus on the processes contributing to the development of landforms and sediment deposits, and their impacts on physical and ecological function.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.