4 Aug 2026

Tacoma Harbor Navigation Improvement Project: Ship Simulation Study

Abstract: The US Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC), in collaboration with the US Army Corps of Engineers Seattle District, conducted a preengineering design (PED)–level ship simulation study. The study aimed to validate and finalize proposed modifications to the federally maintained waterways in the Blair Waterway in the Port of Tacoma, Washington, and to assess the potential effects of such modifications on navigation. The proposed designs incorporate recommendations from feasibility-level ship simulations that ERDC con-ducted by in 2019. The proposed modifications to the Port of Tacoma include channel deepening, realignment, widening, and enlargement of the Blair Waterway turning basin. Additionally, the study evaluated the potential effects of a beneficial use of dredged material site, referred to as East Commencement Habitat Opportunity (ECHO), which would be located near the entrance to the Hylebos Waterway.

4 Aug 2026

Modeling Evaluation of a Bird Island Design in Hampton Roads, Virginia

Abstract: This report documents a numerical modeling investigation on the sediment transport and morphology changes surrounding designed marine habitats for seabirds in Hampton Roads, Virginia. It assembles and analyzes historical and newly collected wave and hydrodynamic data from the study area. The datasets are used to calibrate and validate coastal wave, hydrodynamic, and sediment transport models. It describes developments of model alternatives that correspond to different bird island designs. It evaluates current and sediment transport fields and seabed volume changes around the island under a representative normal year (2020) and under a storm simulation condition for a 50 yr return synthetic storm with corresponding sea level rise. Model simulations show weak current and sediment transport fields prior to the island construction. With alternative designs of the island, model results show significant changes in magnitudes and spatial distributions of current and sediment transport rate. Analysis of model bed volume changes demonstrates different erosion and deposition trends under the normal environment and under the storm simulation condition. The island design and configuration, including island orientation, island slopes, and material coverage, respond differently to the impact of physical forcing applied in the modeling.

3 Aug 2026

Environmental Data Intelligence Ecosystem (EDIE):Software Requirements Specification (SRS) v1.0

Abstract: The objective of this report is to evaluate the software requirements necessary to define the minimal viable product supporting the Environmental Data Intelligence Ecosystem (EDIE) software suite. The EDIE is designed to aid alignment of Defense State Memorandum of Agreement systems with Formerly Used Defense Sites systems and any future Environmental Division software packages into one common environment. Further the EDIE application will consolidate access and authentication, at the system level, to align with necessary Single Sign On requirements. The EDIE systems will serve as a hub for common communication and information dissemination among Environmental tools and systems.

3 Aug 2026

Customer Support Ticketing Analysis and Comparisons

Abstract: This report evaluates existing tools capable of satisfying the needs of our customer, whilst also identifying the possibilities of creating our own solution from scratch. As a vast majority of businesses use some form of information technology service management, many options already exist to solve this problem. We identify core values important to our customer and evaluate three different solutions and how they will support those values.

3 Aug 2026

Mississippi Coastal Improvements Program (MsCIP) Barrier Island Restoration Long-Term Directional Wave, Circulation, and Water Level Analysis

Abstract: The Mississippi Sound barrier islands, including Ship Island, protect the Mississippi coast from wave-induced erosion during storms. Hurricane Camille (1969) breached Ship Island, and Hurricane Katrina (2005) widened the Camille Cut, increasing the mainland coast’s exposure to waves. To protect the coast, the US Army Corps of Engineers filled the cut with sand and restored Ship Island to its pre-Camille condition in 2020. To evaluate changes in wave height and potential changes in tides and residual currents, field observations via moorings and roving surveys were conducted pre- (2014–2016) and postrestoration (2022–2024). The tidal range and currents were found to be similar pre- and postrestoration, with slight decreases behind Ship Island. Behind and in front of Ship Is-land, the tidal ellipses shifted to being more shore parallel. The residual currents were primarily wind driven and showed little change in magnitude and direction around Ship Island during both summer and winter conditions. Waves passing through the Camille Cut were reduced, and the ratio of significant wave height behind to in front of Ship Island decreased from 0.40 to 0.25 following restoration. The Ship Island restoration reduced wave heights without significantly changing the tidal and residual currents in the Mississippi Sound.

3 Aug 2026

An Innovative Approach of Vibration Testing of Concrete Structure Using Performance Based Evaluation Techniques

Abstract: Many of our nation’s critical water resource infrastructures have already surpassed their intended design lives. Therefore, there is a critical need to develop assessment procedures that will transform dam operations and stabilization mechanisms that can extend the service life of these vital structures. These actions are crucial for ensuring safe and secure public services. Performance-based testing using a cold gas thruster (CGT) is a new and innovative nondestructive testing technique that is being implemented to better assess critical infrastructure. The CGT is an instrument that delivers a high-magnitude, short-duration impulse load that produces an impulse response in the structure. Using these dynamic responses, the structure’s behavioral response and key performance indicators can be determined. Furthermore, a high-fidelity numerical model that accurately predicts behaviors can be developed with the use of these dynamic responses.

27 Jul 2026

Size, Weight, Power, and Cost (SWaP-C) Evaluation for Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Receivers and Antennas

Abstract: The purpose of this technical note is to provide a brief assessment of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers and antennas, focused specifically on vertical positioning. The work compares multiple GNSS receivers at various cost points and antennas of different types during static testing against a known benchmark. Results show that high-cost GNSS receivers do provide better results than low-cost GNSS receivers, but there are likely use cases that the low-cost receiver should provide adequate results. The geodetic-survey GNSS-type antenna provide better results than the helical-style antennas, but similarly, there are use cases that justify usage of the smaller and lighter helical-style antennas.

24 Jul 2026

Feasibility of a Photothermal Noncontact Dry Film Thickness Measurement Device for Automated Inspection of Department of Defense Coating Systems on Steel Substrates

Abstract: The quality and reliability of coatings for steel structures are critical to the longevity of the Department of Defense’s infrastructure. Coatings are the first line of defense against the environmental degradation of steel and require inspection. Nondestructive techniques (NDT) are commonly employed to assess a coating’s condition and inform maintenance decisions. This study sought to examine a photothermal (PT) noncontact NDT method to measure coating dry film thickness, with potential for robotic vehicle attachment. The performance of the noncontact method was com-pared to a trusted contact nondestructive method within a laboratory environment. This study evaluated the method’s accuracy, consistency, repeatability, and limitations. Results demonstrated the noncontact NDT method’s capabilities and limitations. The research highlights the challenges associated with implementing noncontact NDT for complex coating systems and informs future development efforts.

23 Jul 2026

Advances in Spatiotemporal Storm Surge Emulation: Database Imputation and Multi-Mode Latent Space Projection

Abstract: Surrogate models, also known as metamodels or emulators, have emerged as a valuable tool for storm surge hazard estimation. They are developed using numerical model results from a database of synthetic storms and have the potential to provide highly-accurate and efficient surge predictions for new storms beyond those in the database. Frequently, metamodels need to provide spatiotemporal predictions for the storm surge evolution over time, across a large geographic domain represented through appropriately chosen save points (SPs). This paper focuses on a specific type of metamodel, Gaussian process (GP) emulation, that has been proven versatile in past studies for this specific application. The development of the spatiotemporal metamodel in this setting may involve: (a) an imputation step to fill in missing data, associated with instances that nearshore and onshore SPs are dry; and (b) a dimensionality reduction step for projection to a latent space to improve the computational efficiency for the metamodel calibration and predictions. Advances are established across both these aspects by treating spatiotemporal storm surge responses as a three-dimensional tensor (across storm, time, and spatial domains), and by integrating techniques designed specifically for this tensor structure. For data imputation, low-rank tensor completion (LRTC) is adopted. LRTC leverages response correlations across all tensor dimensions, leading to improved imputation performance compared to established alternatives (for example, geospatial interpolation), by ensuring time-series smoothness between the imputed data and the available data in the original database. A combination of LRTC with imputation based on geospatial interpolation is also discussed. As a dimensionality reduction technique, higher-order singular value decomposition (HOSVD) is applied to separately reduce the spatial and temporal dimensions of the database, enabling the preservation of principal information associated with response correlation separately from each dimension within the latent space. Compared to the past use of principal component analysis for the augmented spatiotemporal dimensions, the separation promoted through HOSVD improves the latent output ability to capture complex surge variations, accommodating higher prediction accuracy for the metamodels developed based on this enhanced latent output structure. To improve efficiency in the metamodel calibration, different strategies are examined for grouping the HOSVD-based latent outputs. Beyond advancements associated with the metamodel development, the improvement in accuracy of the predicted surge time-series around its peak is also considered by introducing a correction step using predictions from a supplementary metamodel developed to strictly predict the peak-surge. The proposed advances are demonstrated using the Coastal Hazards System–North Atlantic (CHS-NA) database.

22 Jul 2026

Snow Model Complexity Evaluation for Real-Time Streamflow Forecasting

Abstract: The prediction and forecasting of flooding within snow-dominated watersheds is critical to understanding the risk to downstream infrastructure and population centers and providing the public accurate and timely flood warnings. The ability for flood and water resource management agencies like the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to accurately forecast flooding events has become increasingly important due to growing likelihood of rain-on-snow (ROS) flooding events in recent years. Three snow methods, in ascending order of complexity, i) Temperature Index (TI), ii) Hybrid (RTI), and iii) Energy Balance (EB), can be used to model snowpack and streamflow, however, to our knowledge a comprehensive comparison of all three snow methods using the same modeling framework has never been published. We used the USACE Hydrologic Engineering Center’s Hydrological Modeling System (HEC-HMS) with a pseudo-bootstrapping approach to determine the ability of each snow method to model three water years with significant ROS flooding events in the Truckee River watershed. Comparing four model validation statistics (KGE, NSE, RSR, and PBIAS) we found minimal differences between the snow methods in their ability to simulate snow water equivalent and streamflow at distinct locations within the Truckee River watershed. Our results also indicate that the calibration period is an important factor in the simulation skill of all three snow methods. Total model time (model set up, calibration, and computational time) for the Hybrid and Energy Balance methods was 5-7x and 8-10x longer than the TI method. Using our results, we provide recommended use cases for each snow method.