The Effect of Hurricane Irma Storm Surge on the Freshwater Lens in Big
Pine Key, Florida using Electrical Resistivity Tomography
Abstract
On September 10, 2017, Hurricane Irma made landfall in the Florida Keys
as a category 3 storm. Storm surge inundation heights in the lower Keys
were in excess of 2m. In this study, we investigate the effect of the
Hurricane Irma storm surge on the freshwater lens of Big Pine Key, FL
using Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) on three transect lines of
222 m, 250 m and 278 m length. Two transects, B1 and B3, were situated
near the shoreline and crossed the lateral boundary of the previously
mapped freshwater lens whereas, the third transect, B2, was inland in
the interior of the lens. All transects experienced storm surge flooding
from Irma. In this paper, we compare ERT imaging results of baseline
data collected 6 years before Irma (November 2011) with data collected
3-4 months (November, 2017/January, 2018) and 8 months (May 2018) after
the storm. The data were inverted using a difference inversion algorithm
which uses the previous inversion results as a starting model. The
resistivity models were then converted to salinity by applying an
electrical formation factor. For the November 2017/January 2018 data,
all profiles showed low resistivity/high salinity zones in the upper 2 m
corresponding to saline water emplaced on top of the freshwater lens by
the storm surge. The increase in salinity is most pronounced in the low
elevation portions of the transects. On transects B1 and B2, the high
salinity zones are mostly continuous. However, on the higher elevation
sections of transect line B3, the high salinity zone is broken up and
appears to be moving downward through the freshwater lens. The nearshore
transects, B1 and B3 also show a greater amount of saltwater intrusion
adjacent to the shoreline at depths below 5m. The May 2018 data were
collected at the end of the climatological dry season but were collected
immediately after 2 weeks of intense precipitation. These data show some
limited recovery of the freshwater lens. This recovery is most
pronounced in the lower elevation portions of the transects where
standing water was observed during data collection. This suggests that
both the impact of storm surge and the freshwater recovery due to
precipitation are most pronounced in low elevation regions where both
saline and fresh water can collect at the surface.