Coastal Hydrodynamics & Sediment Dynamics

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      CHSD personnel collect a box-core sediment sample in the Lynnhaven River. Photo by Grace Cartwright.  
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      Filtering water to collect suspended sediment in Chesapeake Bay. Photo by Grace Cartwright.  
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      A CHSD relay station for real-time observations of water-column and seabed properties. Photo by Grace Cartwright.  
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    ROSE   The CHSD ROSE profiler about to sample in San Francisco Bay. ROSE stands for Real-time Ocean Sensing Equipment. Photo by Grace Cartwright.  
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      Subsampling sediment cores in the York River estuary. Photo by Grace Cartwright.  
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    ADCP   Using an acoustic Doppler current profiler catamaran to survey a tidal creek cross-section in a Massachusetts tidal marsh. Photo by Grace Cartwright.  
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      Measuring Eh profiles of sediment cores from the Potomac River. Photo by Grace Cartwright.  
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      The CHSD ROSE profiler sampling in the York River estuary. ROSE stands for Real-time Ocean Sensing Equipment. Photo by Grace Cartwright.  
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      The VIMS data buoy is the first step in a long-term project to provide real-time data for accurate predictions of ecosystem processes in Lower Chesapeake Bay.   Photo by Carl Friedrichs.
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The Coastal Hydrodynamics & Sediment Dynamics Program (CHSD) at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science aims to apply our understanding of coastal and estuarine physics and material transport to problems important to interdisciplinary issues spanning geology, biogeochemistry, ecology, and coastal management.

Ongoing topics of interest include

  • structure of the upper seabed, including controls on bed erodibility,
  • suspended particle properties and controls on particle settling velocity,
  • estuarine water clarity and water quality,
  • acoustic properties of suspended sediment and the upper seabed,
  • morphologic controls on estuarine physical oceanography,
  • hydrodynamics and sediment dynamics of tidal estuaries, flats, and marshes,
  • improving hydrodynamic, sediment transport, and water quality models.

Our technical approach involves fieldwork, laboratory analysis, analytical and numerical modeling, and the utilization of coastal observation and prediction systems.

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Lab director:  Grace Massey

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Tel: 804-684-7206  |  Fax: 804-684-7250

Deliveries (U.S. Mail and Courier):
Virginia Institute of Marine Science
1370 Greate Road
Gloucester Point, VA, 23062-1346, USA

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