CHL has 1.5 million square feet of unique and specialized physical research facilities in Vicksburg, Mississippi, including 1) three real-time Ship Tow Simulators that simulate ports, harbors, inland waterways and any other maritime environment; 2) a 4 million gallon Full-Scale Test Facility to study levees and develop new methodologies to assist in flood fighting efforts; 3) a Large-Scale Sediment Transport Facility (LSTF) that simulates nearshore hydrodynamics and sediment transport processes using wave generators, beach, recirculation system, instrumentation and sand traps; 4) a SEDFlume that estimates gross erosion rates of fine-grained and mixed fine/coarse-grained sediments; and 5) the Estuarine Experimental Flume which is used in unsteady, non-uniform flow and transport research in all hydrographical zones to advance understanding of hydrodynamic processes important to water resource conservation and management.

Remotely, CHL has an internationally recognized coastal observatory, the Field Research Facility in Duck, North Carolina, consisting of 176 acres with an 1840 ft. pier. Here, specialized vehicles and instruments are used to constantly record changing waves, winds, tides, and currents.