SBR-9625709 Gregory Stone Louisiana State University This Small Grant for Exploratory Research (SGER) supports a one-year program to measure the post-storm recovery of a particular barrier island on the north Florida (panhandle) coast, after Hurricane Opal (a Category 3 storm on the Saffir Simpson Scale, with sustained winds of 130 mph). The measurements include: beachfront core samples taken at 500-meter intervals monthly; monthly sediment samples at a grid that includes a cross-section of five zones from step and mid-tide levels to upper-beach, new foredunes, and backbarrier areas; daily meteorological data; and daily wind direction and speed. The most important of the process questions to be asked are the roles and the interactions of wind, wave, and current transport processes in the sediment erosion and deposition processes in post-storm recovery. The National Parks Service will close the area to human activity for at least one year, so the investigator will be able to observe the natural process of regeneration Our understanding of the initial phases of island recovery after severe storms is based primarily on supposition, largely governed by our interpretation of the day-to-day dynamics of barrier islands. This research will generate high-quality field data, culminating in the development of a heuristic model designed to identify and elucidate the importance of separate yet interrelated post-storm recovery processes and the morphological features of the site.
