COASTAL OBSERVING SYSTEMS: KEY TO THE FUTURE OF COASTAL DYNAMICS INVESTIGATIONS

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1 COASTAL OBSERVING SYSTEMS: KEY TO THE FUTURE OF COASTAL DYNAMICS INVESTIGATIONS Gregory W. Stone 1, 2, Xiongping Zhang 1, Jian Li 1 and Alex Sheremet 1, 2 1 Coastal Studies Institute, Louisiana State University 2 Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences, Louisiana State University ABSTRACT Several new local, regional and national initiatives involving distributed coastal ocean observing systems are being implemented around the U.S. The primary goal of these efforts is to raise, to a new plateau, the understanding of, and the ability to predict, critical processes that operate in the coastal seas and estuaries of the southeast. Improved models of these physical, chemical and biologic phenomena will permit more accurate prediction of coastal hazards, threats to human health, and short and long term changes in coastal ecosystems. These predictions will guide coastal stewardship, enable planning for extreme events, facilitate safe and efficient maritime operations, and support coastal military security and homeland security. Here we present a new observing system, WAVCIS, developed off the Louisiana coast and present unique data sets measured during two tropical cyclones, TS Isidore and H Lili, both of which made landfall along coastal Louisiana in Implementation and maintenance of these coastal observatories is providing unique opportunities for scientists working on the coast to investigate new phenomena pertaining to high energy events and resultant hydrodynamic and geological response. INTRODUCTION Several local, regional and national initiatives involving distributed coastal ocean observing systems have been implemented throughout the U.S. in order to sustain/develop meteorological and oceanographic arrays offshore. While these observing systems have a myriad of applications including forecasting, emergency preparedness during hazardous conditions and offshore accidents, and homeland security to mention a few, they are poised to take coastal dynamics studies to a new level in that most systems will report in real time. In this paper we present a system being developed and implemented off the Louisiana coast WAVCIS (Wave-Current-Surge Information System, to address a number of cutting edge scientific questions, primarily pertaining to storms (winter and tropical cyclones) along the coast. Examples of data measured by this system is presented for two tropical cyclones, Tropical Storm Isidore and Hurricane Lili, both of which made landfall seven days apart along the Louisiana coast in These data sets are extremely unique and were available in real time as these storms developed in strength, entered the 783

2 Gulf of Mexico and made landfall along coastal Louisiana. Prior to presenting these data, an overview of existing observing systems is provided followed by some technical specifications of the WAVCIS program. OVERVIEW OF EXISTING OBSERVATION SYSTEMS Measurement techniques affect planning a measurement program. Depending on the purpose, two general groups can be set forth: the first requires information on typical ocean hydrodynamic conditions that are representative of a monthly, seasonal, or annual time-scale. This application includes selection of vessels, and planning of time periods for offshore operations. Most ocean observation systems around coastal Louisiana can be categorized in this group. The second group requires information that is representative of the most severe hydrodynamic conditions that occur over time periods of many years. These applications primarily deal with the design of coastal and offshore structures. This type of observing system usually requires deployment of the instrument at a fixed location with the objective of collecting a long term time series. The following discussions will briefly overview the second type of observation system. Along the coast of the United States, over one hundred observation stations have been established, many of these in the recent past. The largest national network is operated by NOAA s (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) data buoy center (NDBC). The network has approximately 70 buoys and 60 CMAN stations. These moored buoys and onshore/nearshore platforms (CMAN stations) are used for oceanographic and meteorological observations. Two CMAN stations exist along the Louisiana coast; BURL1 which is located in Southwest Pass at the mouth of the Mississippi River and GDIL1, located on the east end of Grand Isle (Figure 1). Both stations measure basic meteorological information including wind, atmospheric pressure, tide, air and water temperature, and visibility. There are no buoys within the inner continental shelf off Louisiana. The recently built NDBC is located 205 km south of Timbalier Island in a water depth of 1500 meters. The other buoy, NDBC 42001, is located 330 km south of Southwest Pass at the 3000 m isobath. Another national observation network is NWLON (National Water Level Observation Network). This program is a network of tide gauge and water level stations managed by NOAA s National Ocean Service (NOS), Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO- OPS). Other national networks include PORTS (Physical Oceanographic Real-Time System) with 18 stations, NERR (National Estuarine Research Reserve) with 22 stations, operated and maintained by NOAA s NOS for very specific regions and purposes around the nation. The Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory at USACOE (United States Army Corps of Engineers) maintains a network for collecting, processing, analyzing, and reporting wave data at approximately 29 stations around the US coast. None of these programs have sensors along the Louisiana coast. Some other systems around the US coast have been developed in recent years: e.g. West Florida Coastal Ocean Monitoring and Prediction System (COMPS) in Florida, the Coastal Data Information Program operated by the Ocean Engineering Research Group (OERG) of the Center for Coastal Studies (CCS), Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO), and the New Jersey Coastal Monitoring Network (NJ CMN). Along the Texas coast, TABS (Texas Automated Buoy System) has been developed as a real time current observation system by Texas A&M University. The Texas Coastal Ocean Observation Network (TCOON) has being developed and run by the Conrad Blucher Institute for Surveying and Science at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi for observing water level and temperature. Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium (LUMCON) Environmental Monitoring operated by LUMCON, consists of three stations. One is at the LUMCON Marine Center in Cocodrie, southwest of New Orleans, another is in Terrebonne Bay, and the third is in Lake Pontchartrain. At present, there is no wave and current information available from these stations. It is important to recognize that these U.S. observing systems and monitoring programs serve the needs of many, both academic and applied. It is equally important that these observing ele- 784 GCAGS/GCSSEPM Transactions Volume

3 Figure 1. Location of WAVCIS stations and NDBC buoys and CMAN stations. ments are not evenly distributed along the coast, nor are they integrated to constitute a complete system and for this reason are not as cost effective nor as useful as they could be. More attention has been paid in recent years to the idea that Louisiana needs an observing system which can be integrated with other systems. Some national partnership programs have been proposed, e.g. SCOOP (SURA Coastal Ocean Observing Program) by SURA (Southern Universities Research Association), COTS (Coastal Observation Technology System) by NOAA, and GOOS (Global Ocean Observing System). The WAVCIS program is actively involved in these groups and plays an important role. The importance of GIS coupled with observation systems has now been noted. Recently, with the development of wireless communication and computer processing speed, real-time data transfer from offshore has become an important factor in ocean observing. 785

4 THE WAVCIS PROGRAM WAVCIS is a scientifically designed, regional online ocean observing system along the Louisiana coast. This system automatically measures offshore sea state and processes oceanographic and meteorological information which is subsequently made available on the World Wide Web. The system is optimized by researchers at Coastal Studies Institute, Louisiana State University where personnel have expertise in oceanographic and meteorological processes as well as information technology. Implementation of GIS in WAVCIS is one of the critical features of this program. The program began in 1998 through seed funding provided by the Louisiana Board of Regents and was initially tested in Mississippi Sound by funding from the National Park Service. WAVCIS has played a significant role in coastal planning and for the research community since its deployment. WAVCIS utilizes the latest technology from satellite communications, state-of-the-art instrumentation, advanced data process theory, and GIS technology. This program has been developed not only as a cost-effective tool to observe the ocean routinely, but it also employs effective methods to extract information from the data that are collected and integrated from multiple sources. Data and data products can be distributed to all users through the Internet on a real time basis. Figure 2 shows the conceptual framework of WAVCIS. The meteorological and oceanographic data gathered offshore are being transmitted by wireless communication to a base station in the WAVCIS data processing laboratory at Louisiana State University. Instruments are either mounted on the platform or on the seafloor measuring data around the clock. Table 1 summaries the parameters WAVCIS provides real-time online from either directly measured by the instruments or derived from the measured parameters. Table 1. List of parameters measured by WAVCIS. Category Meteorological Oceanographic Parameters Wind speed, wind gust, wind direction, visibility, humidity, air temperature, air pressure Significant wave height, maximum wave height, mean wave period, dominant wave period, wave direction, directional and non-directional wave spectrum, current speed, current velocity, current profile, sea surface temperature, water level, turbidity, salinity. Thirteen stations have been proposed to be deployed along the Louisiana and Mississippi coast. Several thousand oil/gas platforms exist along the Louisiana continental shelf allowing ideal infrastructure for WAVCIS stations. One operational station, CSI 5, was built on a platform as shown in Figure 3. The robust structure and high elevation ensures normal operation during severe storms offshore. Four major north-south arrays cover the entire area on the shallow inner continental shelf (Figure 1). The west proposed array south of Cameron, consists of two stations, CSI 1 and CSI 2, located at water depths of approximately 10 and 20 meters respectively. These stations will be designed to measure sea state for the area with less suspended sediment discharged from the Atchafalaya and Mississippi rivers. Two stations in the second array will be located south of Vermilion Bay which is characterized by a wide shallow muddy seabed. These two stations are CSI 3 and CSI 4. The third array, which is the primary array in the WAVCIS program, is located south of Terrebonne Bay. It consists of 6 stations. The stations in this array extend from the interior marsh coast, CSI 12, to the shallow bay area, CSI 11, and extend from a shallow offshore area to near the continental slope, CSI 5, CSI 6, CSI 7 and CSI 8. This north northwest to south southeast array was designed after considering the orientation of historical hurricane tracks. In conjunction with the 786 GCAGS/GCSSEPM Transactions Volume

5 Figure 2. Instrumented platform concept used in the WAVCIS program. NDBC buoys and in deep water, this array can measure storm wave evolution from deep water to the coast. There are two stations, CSI 9 and CSI 10, in the forth array which are located in depths between 10 and 50 meters south of Grand Isle. One operational station is located in Mississippi Sound for measuring hydrodynamic and meteorological phenomena east of the Mississippi River. As of October 2003, five WAVCIS stations were operational. They are CSI 3, CSI 5, CSI 6, CSI 11, and CSI 13. Table 2 lists the geographical locations and water depth for these 5 operational stations. CSI 11 and CSI 13, are located in Terrebonne Bay, Louisiana and Mississippi Sound, Mississippi respectively. CSI 3, CSI 5, CSI 6 are located offshore. CSI 3, 18 km south of Marsh Island, and CSI 5, 2.5 km south of Timbalier Island, are located in water depths of approximately 5 meters and 7 meters respectively. CSI 6 is located 20 km south of Timbalier Island at a depth of approximately 20 meters. In conjunction with NDBC buoy and NDBC buoy 42001, the array constituted by CSI 11, CSI 5, CSI 6 can provide a metocean data profile from the middle of the Gulf of Mexico in deep water, across the inner shelf to the interior bay. As discussed later, this array is essential in providing critical surge and wave information during major storms in the Gulf. 787

6 Figure 3. CSI 5 offshore platform south of Terrebonne Bay. USE OF WAVCIS TO UNDERSTAND TROPICAL CYCLONE DYNAMICS Data from WAVCIS have been captured during several tropical cyclones in 2002 and 2003 and part of the impetus for developing the program is linked to the high incidence of storms that impact the northern Gulf. Historical records suggest that the southeast of the U.S. experiences among the greatest number of tropical cyclone landfalls around the globe with the Gulf of Mexico experiencing a large number of them (Figure 4). In a recent study that focused on the frequency of tropical systems impacting the Louisiana coast, evidence was presented showing that along with Key West, Florida, south-central Louisiana ranked the highest over a one hundred year period ( ) in frequency of strikes of major storms (category 3 and above) for an area extending from Texas to North Carolina (Muller and Stone, 2001). Several recent scientific studies have underscored the Table 2. Location of WAVCIS stations. Station Average Name Latitude Longitude Depth (m) Location CSI km south of Marsh island, LA CSI km south of Timbalier Island, LA CSI km south of Timbalier Island, LA CSI Terrebonne Bay, LS CSI Mississippi Sound, MS 788 GCAGS/GCSSEPM Transactions Volume

7 Figure 4. Upper: An example of the frequency of landfalls of hurricanes in the Atlantic basin over a one hundred year period during the 20th century. Lower: Example of the spatial distribution of hurricane trajectories and landfalls for the same time period in the Gulf of Mexico (data obtained from the National Hurricane Center). significance of tropical and extratropical storms in driving coastal erosion along the Louisiana coast (Stone and Finkl, 1995; Stone et. al., 1993; 1995; 1997; 1999; 2003; Muller and Stone, 2001). Winter storms in addition to tropical cyclones have frequently impacted the coast and more often than not, resulted in severe overwashing and breaching of the barrier and mainland systems. This is largely due to the fact that the beach and dune system elevation is exceptionally low, typically less than ~3 m above sea level. Thus, the cumulative impact of these events over time is a gradual but significant decline in the physical stability of this coast. The combination of storms, sea level rise, subsidence and a reduction in sediment supply to the coast has resulted in rapid deterioration of the barrier islands in Louisiana. 789

8 Figure 5. Satellite images of cyclones Isidore (upper) and Lili (lower) in the GOM. The islands are particularly vulnerable to breaching during storms and post-storm recovery is generally not accomplished, or slow between storm events. Reviews of the importance of hurricanes and tropical storms on coastal Louisiana can be found in Penland et al., (1989); Stone et al., (1993; 1996; 1997; 1999; 2003). Recent work also shows that with the gradual demise of barrier islands along south-central Louisiana, wave energy conditions in the bays are increasing with time (Stone and McBride, 1998). This phenomenon is apparent during fair-weather wave conditions and during storms when lower frequency waves propagate through wider inlets and breaches along the barrier system. 790 GCAGS/GCSSEPM Transactions Volume

9 Figure 6. Storm tracks for cyclones Isidore and Lili. Figure 7. Image showing Isidore and Lili storm tracks and location of WAVCIS array. 791

10 Figure 8. (A) Spectral evolution during Isidore and Lili at CSI 5. (B) Spectral evolution for same storms at CSI 11 in Terrebonne Bay. TROPICAL CYCLONES ISIDORE AND LILI The 2002 Hurricane Season proved to be one of the most active seasons for the State of Louisiana in more than 100 years. Four storms Bertha, Hanna, Isidore and Lili made landfall along the Louisiana coast, the greatest number of storms to strike the Louisiana coast in a single season in recorded history. Bertha was the first landfalling tropical cyclone to strike the coast since Danny in Isidore and Lili (Figure 5), however, had the most significant impact on the coast. Upon crossing Cuba and entering the Gulf of Mexico on 20 Sep 2002, Isidore became the Gulf s first hurricane of the 2002 Atlantic Hurricane Season. The cyclone tracked westward towards the Yucatan Peninsula, and meandered over that landmass for two days (Figure 6). Although more than 800 km south of the U.S. central Gulf Coast, the tropical cyclone already was having an impact on coastal Louisiana. The cyclone was interacting with a ridge of high pressure over the continental 792 GCAGS/GCSSEPM Transactions Volume

11 Figure 9. (A) Time series of H s (m) at 5 locations from the central GOM to Terrebonne Bay along the path of TS Isidore (left). (B) Time series of H s (m) from the central GOM to CSI 3 along the path of H Lili. U.S. and generating a Gulf-wide pressure-gradient, and the resulting northeasterly and easterly winds began increasing water levels along the southeast Louisiana coast. Isidore began its long-anticipated northward advance on 24 Sep. Satellite imagery suggests that a steady intrusion of dry air on the southwestern and southern flanks of the system was at least partly responsible for the lack of significant strengthening. The National Hurricane Center esti- 793

12 Figure 10. Time series of spectra shows the spectral evolution of Isidore and Lili. Sept. 18-Oct. 3, 2002 measured at CSI 3. Figure 11. Swell and sea generated by the same storm in opposing directions. mates indicate peak sustained winds ranged from ms -1 (50-55 kts) as Isidore crossed the GOM. Data indicate that the center of the storm passed directly over NDBC Buoy (27.50ºN, 90.50ºW) at approximately 0000 UTC on 26 Sep. Peak sustained winds recorded at Buoy exceeded 17 ms -1 (33 kt), but briefly dropped to less than 1 ms -1 while the center of the system was over the buoy. Tropical-storm force winds began arriving along the Louisiana coast at approximately 0000 UTC on 26 Sep. Wind gusts exceeded 26 ms -1 (> 50 kt) near Grand Isle, with sustained winds in excess of 17 ms -1 (> 33 kt) extending along the storm s path as the system made landfall. 794 GCAGS/GCSSEPM Transactions Volume

13 Lili originated from a tropical wave that moved over the tropical Atlantic Ocean from the west coast of Africa on 16 Sep. On the 21st, the system was upgraded to a tropical depression. For the remainder of the month, Lili underwent phases of strengthening and weakening but on 1 Oct. the center of the hurricane moved over the western mainland of Cuba, with wind speeds as high as 47 ms -1 (90 kt) gradually accelerating its forward speed to approximately 8 ms -1 (15 knots). Lili turned northward and made landfall along the western Louisiana coast on the 3 Oct., with an estimated 42 ms -1 (80 kt) maximum wind speed. However, between Cuba and Louisiana, Lili intensified to 65 ms -1 (125 kt) earlier that day over the north-central Gulf of Mexico and then rapidly weakened during the 13 hours until landfall. Lili was absorbed by an extratropical low on 4 Oct. while moving northeastward near the Tennessee/Arkansas border. Lili was the first hurricane to make landfall in the United States since Irene hit Florida in Figure 12. Wave/wind direction vectors point 90 degrees counter-clockwise to the path between the eye and the measurement. Figure 13. Time series of significant wave height, water level and mean current velocity for hurricane Lili. 795

14 HYDRODYNAMIC RESPONSE Four stations comprising a portion of the WAVCIS array were ideally located to capture unique hydrodynamic (and meteorological) data during both storms. As shown in Figure 6, Isidore generally paralleled the north-south array (CSI 11, 5 and 6) offshore to NDBC CSI 3 was located in the eye wall of Hurricane Lili near landfall. Plots of time evolution of wave spectra at CSI 5 (Figure 8A) bear the distinct signature of Isidore (longer duration - 5 days, less energetic associated wave field) and Lili (2 days, strong event). The two peaks, at approximately 0.8 Hz, separated in time by some 3 days, correspond to the two phases in Isidore s evolution, separated by the decrease in intensity during the time the storm spent over the Yucatan Peninsula. Lili entered the Gulf approximately 6 days later with a rapid forward speed, intensifying quickly. As a result, its wave system was more energetic but had a shorter duration. The bimodal spectral distribution at Terrebonne Bay (CSI 11, Figure 8B) is likely due to swell propagating into the bay through Cat Island Pass (located between CSI 11 and 5) and strong local generation of high frequency waves ( Hz) by wind. Dissipation in the long wave band (frequency less than 0.2 Hz) was likely due to strong refractional scattering through Cat Island Pass and bottom friction. At this location, locally generated short waves (frequency > 0.2 Hz) dominate the spectrum. The difference in strength between the two systems is illustrated also by the stronger seas associated with Hurricane Lili. TS Isidore followed a general south-north path which took it over 5 observation stations from the central GOM (42001) north to Terrebonne Bay, over a distance of >400 km. A time series of significant wave height during Isidore s passage is presented in Figure 9A. At the peak of the storm, deep water stations recorded waves with significant heights in excess of 6 m. Very energetic wave conditions (5 m significant wave height) were observed closer to the coast (CSI 6, near 20 m isobath). Figure 6B shows a similar plot for H. Lili as measured at CSI 3. The very steep ramping and decay of wave height at CSI 3, agrees with previous observations during winter storms where strong attenuation of both swell and sea have been observed along the west Louisiana shelf which is characterized by cohesive sediment on the shelf (Sheremet and Stone 2003). SPECTRAL EVOLUTION The evolution of each storm emphasizing the bimodal characteristics is presented in Figure 10 and is based on ADCP measurements taken at CSI 3. Hurricane Lili generated long waves (12-18s) which moved out radially as they dispersed with swell waves arriving first along the western Louisiana coast. Because the wavelength was long, the swell refracted normal to the shelf bathymetry and by the time it reached CSI 3 it was predominantly south or shore normal. This refraction can be seen in the wave direction of the swell and as shown in Figure 11, the higher frequency end of the swell formed a tail that tends toward the southeast. Also evident in Figure 11 are the high frequency sea waves propagating from the northeast. The storm rotated counter clockwise and as the leading edge of the hurricane approached the coast, a wave spectrum some 90 degrees to the radius of the storm developed. As the eye of the hurricane approached CSI 3, wind speed increased and sea state increased for the offshore waves. The opposing direction for the wind-sea and swell leaves a conspicuous gap in the wave height spectrum, at frequencies just above the swell. Offshore wind, opposing onshore swell waves, attenuated higher frequency swell ( Hz) as the offshore spectrum built in the opposite direction ( Hz). Figure 9 demonstrates the changing direction of the wind-sea. As the eye of the storm approached CSI 3, the radius of curvature decreased and the wind speed increased. Wind-sea rotated from northeast to southeast as the eye wall passed over and then to southwest as it moved toward landfall. As the eye wall passed both sea and swell spectra merged. Isidore showed the same rotation of wind-sea direction, but in the opposite direction since the eye passed more than 100 km to the east of CSI GCAGS/GCSSEPM Transactions Volume

15 Figure 14. Water level during both storms measured on the inner shelf (CSI3 and 5) and in Terrebonne Bay (CSI 11). 797

16 CURRENT AND SURGE EVOLUTION Time series of significant wave height, water level and mean current velocity are presented in Figure 13. All three are seen to be out of phase. Wave energy (top, green) increased first because the spectrum included both local wind-sea and swell that was generated earlier in the storm. The advancing storm created storm surge (middle, blue) where the pressure of the storm forced water out before it. The storm surge presented in Figure 10 (bottom, red) is shown with onshore current magnitudes on the order of >1 m/sec (3-4 knots). These currents peaked just a few hours before the maximum water level was reached (middle, light blue). Water elevations measured on the shelf (CSI 3 and 5) and in Terrebonne Bay (CSI 11) are presented in Figure 14. During Isidore, surge levels approximated 0.5 m on the inner shelf and adjacent bay at the CSI 5 and 11 location. Setdown of approximately 0.5 m occurred at CSI 5 in western Louisiana where coastal waters responded to offshore winds as the system made landfall to the east. Lili generated surge levels of ~1.5 m at CSI 3, approximately double that measured at CSI 5 to the east. North of CSI 5 in Terrebonne Bay, however, surge levels of ~1.2 m were measured. Ongoing work in which various surge models are being skill assessed suggests that some numerical models are over estimating surge along this portion of coast by between 3-6 fold. CONCLUSIONS A powerful and robust ocean observing system, WAVCIS, has been developed for the Louisiana coast and has captured highly unique data sets during several tropical cyclones in the Gulf of Mexico. The system has provided new insight on the dynamics of these and less severe winter storms and has also provided a workbench for new experiments being performed along the muddy coast of western Louisiana (see Sheremet and Stone, in press; 2003; Sheremet et al., this volume; Bentley et al., this volume). An expanded array farther west to Texas and east to Florida will formulate the infrastructure support for a new initiative, to be funded by the U.S. Navy/Office of Naval Research, on heterogeneity of inner shelf sediments and effects on hydrodynamics. New areas of research will involve skill assessment of numerical models using in situ observations. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors acknowledge the following current sponsors of the WAVCIS program: Louisiana Department of Natural Resources, Contract # ; Federal Emergency Management Agency, Contract # ; National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration #NA160C2938; Louisiana Applied Oil Spill Research and Development Program, # ChevronTexaco is acknowledged for infrastructure and logistical support. REFERENCES Bobbitt, A.M., Dziak, R.P., Stafford, K.M., and Fox, C.G., GIS Analysis of remotely sensed and field observation oceanographic data. Marine Geodesy, 20(2-3): Earle, M.D, McGehee, D., and Tubman, M., Field wave gaging program, wave data analysis standard. US Army Corps of Engineers. Glenn, S.M. and Schofield, M.E., The New Jersey shelf observation system. Rutgers University. marine.rutgers.edu/mrs. Guinasso, N.L., Lee, L.L., Joseph, Y., Walpert, J.N., Reid, R.O., Brooks, D.A., Bender, L.C., Hetland, R.D., Howard, M., and Martin, R.D., Observing and forcasting coastal currents: Texas Automated Buoy System (TABS). Penland, S., Suter, J.R., Sallenger, A.H., Williams, S.J., McBride, R.A. Westphal, K.E., Reimer, P.D. and Jaffe, B.E., Morphodynamic Signature of the 1985 Hurricane Impacts on the Northern Gulf of Mexico. Proc. Sisixth Symposium on Coastal and Ocean Management (ASCE July 11-14, 1989, Charleston, South Carolina), Muller, R.A. and Stone, G.W., A Climatology of Tropical Storms and Hurricane Strikes to Enhance Vulnerability Predicition for the Southeast U.S. Coast. Journal of Coastal Research, 17, 4, GCAGS/GCSSEPM Transactions Volume

17 McBride, R. A., Penland, Shea, Hiland, M. W., Williams, S. J., Westphal, K. A. Jaffe, B. E., and Sallenger, A. H., Jr., 1992, Analysis of barrier shoreline changes in Louisiana from 1853 to 1989, in Williams, S. J., Penland, Shea, and Sallenger, A. H., Jr., eds., Louisiana barrier island erosion study-atlas of barrier shoreline changes in Louisiana form 1853 to 1989: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Investigations Series I-2150-A, p Nowlin, W.D., Jr., and Malone, T.C., Toward a U.S. plan for an intergrated, sustained ocean observing system. NORLC. Ocean U.S., Building consensus: Toward an integrated and sustained ocean observing system. Airline House, Warrenton, Virginia. Sheremet, A. and Stone, G.W., Wave Dissipation due to Heterogeneous Sediments on the Inner Louisiana Shelf. Proc. Coastal Sediments 03 (this volume). Stone, G.W., A new wave-current online information system of oil spill contingency planning (WAVCIS). Proceedings of the 24 th Arctic and Marine Oil spill program (AMOP) Technical Seminar. Environment Canada, Stone, G.W. and Finkl, C.W. (eds.), Impacts of Hurricane Andrew on the Coastal Zones of Florida and Louisiana: August, Coastal Education and Research Foundation, Fort Lauderdale, Fl., 364 pp. Stone, G. W., Grymes, J., Steyer, K., Underwood, S., Robbins, K., and Muller, R. A., A Chronologic Overview of Climatological and Hydrological Aspects Associated with Hurricane Andrew and its Morphological Effects Along the Louisiana Coast, U.S.A. Shore and Beach. 61, 2, Stone, G. W., Xu, J.P. and Zhang, X.P, Estimation of the Wave Field During Hurricane Andrew and Morphological Impacts along the Louisiana Coast, in Impacts of Hurricane Andrew on the Coastal Zones of Florida and Louisiana: August 22-26, G. W. Stone and C. W. Finkl (eds.). Journal Coastal Research Special Issue, 21, Stone, G.W., Grymes, J.M., Armbruster, C.A. and Huh, O.K., 1996 Overview and Impacts of Hurricane Opal on the Florida Coast. EOS, Transactions of the American Geophysical Union, 77, Stone, G.W., Grymes, J.M., Dingler, J.W. and Pepper, D.A., Overview and Significance of Hurricanes on the Louisiana Coast, USA. Journal of Coastal Research, 13, 3, Stone, G.W. and McBride, R.A., Louisiana barrier Islands and their Importance in Wetland Protection: Forecasting Shoreline Change and Subsequent Response of Wave Climate. Journal of Coastal Research, 14, 3, Stone, G.W., Wang, P., Pepper, D.A., Grymes, J.M., Roberts, H.H., Zhang, X.P., Hsu, S.A. and Huh, O.K., Researchers Begin to Unravel the Significance of Hurricanes on the Northern Gulf of Mexico Coast. EOS, Transactions of the American Geophysical Union,80, 27, Stone, G.W., Sheremet, A., Zhang, X., Walker, N.D., Grymes, J.M., Huh, O.K., Hsu, S.A., Blanchard, B., Bentley, S.J., A Decade of Tropical Cyclones in one Hurricane Season; Impacts of Isidore and Lili on the Louisiana Coast. (in prep.) 799