An affordable operational oil spill monitoring system in action: A diachronic multiplatform analysis of recent incidents in the southern Gulf of Mexico.

The coexistence of marine sensitive areas with the oil industry requires robust preparedness and rapid response capabilities for monitoring and mitigating oil spill events. Scientifically proven satellite-based methods for the visual detection of oil spills are widely recognized as effective, low-cost, transferable, scalable, and operational solutions, particularly in developing economies. Following meticulous design and implementation, we adopted and executed a relatively low-cost operational monitoring and alert system for oil spill detection over the ocean surface and alert issuance.

Stream flow composition and sediment yield comparison between partially urbanized and undisturbed coastal watersheds-case study: St. John, US Virgin Islands.

In steep dry-tropical islands, rural and urban development can lead to accelerated soil erosion and the delivery of land-based materials into marine ecosystems. The objective of this paper was to compare stream water composition, clay minerology, and sediment yield between a partially urbanized (Coral Bay) and an undisturbed (Lameshur) coastal watersheds in St. John, US Virgin Islands (USVI).

Modelling Runoff and Sediment Loads in a Developing Coastal Watershed of the US-Mexico Border.

Urbanization can increase sheet, rill, gully, and channel erosion. We quantified the sediment budget of the Los Laureles Canyon watershed (LLCW), which is a mixed rural-urbanizing catchment in Northwestern Mexico, using the AnnAGNPS model and field measurements of channel geometry. The model was calibrated with five years of observed runoff and sediment loads and used to evaluate sediment reduction under a mitigation scenario involving paving roads in hotspots of erosion.

Measuring ephemeral gully erosion rates and topographical thresholds in an urban watershed using unmanned aerial systems and structure from motion photogrammetric techniques.

Both rural and urban development can lead to accelerated gully erosion. Quantifying gully erosion is challenging in environments where gullies are rapidly repaired, and in urban areas where microtopographic complexity complicates the delineation of contributing areas. This study used unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and Structure-from-Motion (SfM) photogrammetric techniques to quantify gully erosion in the Los Laureles Canyon watershed, a rapidly urbanizing watershed in Tijuana, Mexico.

Stream channel erosion in a rapidly urbanizing region of the US-Mexico border: documenting the importance of channel hardpoints with Structure-from-Motion photogrammetry.

Urbanization can lead to accelerated stream channel erosion, especially in areas experiencing rapid population growth, unregulated urban development on erodible soils, and variable enforcement of environmental regulations. A combination of field surveys and Structure-from-Motion (SfM) photogrammetry techniques was used to document spatial patterns in stream channel geometry in a rapidly urbanizing watershed, Los Laureles Canyon (LLCW), in Tijuana, Mexico. Ground-based SfM photogrammetry was used to map channel dimensions with 1 to 2 cm vertical mean error for four stream reaches (100-300 m long) that were highly variable and difficult to survey with a differential GPS.

Modelling Ephemeral Gully Erosion from Unpaved Urban Roads: Equifinality and Implications for Scenario Analysis.

Modelling gully erosion in urban areas is challenging due to difficulties with equifinality and parameter identification, which complicates quantification of management impacts on runoff and sediment production. We calibrated a model (AnnAGNPS) of an ephemeral gully network that formed on unpaved roads following a storm event in an urban watershed (0.2 km) in Tijuana, Mexico.