Corte Madera Marsh, located in northern San Francisco Bay, California, is experiencing shoreline erosion. Determining whether the eroded sediment is exported to the bay or imported via tidal channels and deposited on the marsh platform is critical to understanding the long-term response of the marsh to wave attack and sea-level rise. Quantifying water-column sediment flux helps to characterize the role of tidal channels in this process, and water discharge is a key component of sediment flux. Tidal creek discharge was measured repeatedly over diurnal tidal cycles in a tidal channel located in the central, Muzzi marsh region of Corte Madera marsh, California during the summer of 2022 and during the winter of 2023. These transect data were collected using a downward-looking Teledyne RDI RiverPro 1200-kilohertz acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) from a moving boat.

Whales Tail Marsh, a restored salt pond in South San Francisco Bay, California, is experiencing rapid shoreline erosion. Determining whether the eroded sediment is exported to the ocean or imported via tidal channels and deposited on the marsh platform is critical to understanding the long-term response of the marsh to wave attack and sea-level rise. Quantifying water-column sediment flux helps to characterize the role of tidal channels in this process, and water discharge is a key component of sediment flux. To that end, discharge was measured repeatedly over diurnal tidal cycles in the tidal channels of the Whales Tail Marsh, within Eden Landing Ecological Refuge, California in the summer of 2021 and during king tides in the winter of 2021-2022. These transect data were collected by using a downward-looking Teledyne RDI RiverPro 1200-kilohertz acoustic doppler current profiler (ADCP) from a moving boat.

CTD profiles were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center to measure the physical characteristics of Corte Madera tidal creek over the course of a tidal cycle during one of the largest spring tides in both Winter and Summer. Conductivity, temperature, and pressure data were collected, as well as suspended-sediment concentration in the water column Each profile was collected from surface to bed. Profiles were collected on 4 days: August 8 and 9 of 2022 and January 19 and 20 of 2023. Data files are grouped by season (summer or winter). Users are advised to assess data quality carefully.

Topographic data were collected in the Corte Madera Marsh, San Pablo National Wildlife Refuge Marsh, and at the time-series stations in the shallows adjacent to each marsh in Northern San Francisco Bay between April 2022 and September 2023. The topographic data were acquired using global satellite navigation system receivers that were either mounted on backpacks and hiked over the marsh surface or mounted on a survey rod held shipside against a deployed platform or on the water surface. Sometimes an additional staff was used in conjunction with the shipside survey rod to reach the platform, which we refer to as an integrated collection method.

Tidal water discharge within two breaches constructed in a former flood-control levee of a restored agricultural area in Port Susan, Washington, was measured repeatedly during several tidal cycles. Measurements were made on March 27, 2014, April 16, 2014, May 18, 2014, and May 29, 2014 at breach PSB1, and on May 29, 2014 at breach PSB2. These data were collected using a boat-mounted Teledyne RDI RiverRay 600 kHz acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) or a Teledyne RDI StreamPro 2000 kHz ADCP, depending on date. ADCP transect data were collected and initially reviewed using WinRiver II software and reprocessing and final review was completed with QRev software.

Hydrodynamic and sediment transport time-series data, including water depth, velocity, turbidity, conductivity, and temperature, were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center at shallow subtidal and intertidal sites in Corte Madera Bay and San Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge (SPNWF) in San Francisco Bay, CA, as well as on the marsh plain of SPNWF marsh and in a tidal creek and on the marsh plain of Corte Madera Marsh, in 2022 and 2023. Data files are grouped by station, San Pablo subtidal, San Pablo intertidal, San Pablo marsh, Corte Madera subtidal, Corte Madera intertidal, Corte Madera marsh, or Corte Madera tidal creek, then by instrument type. At most stations there were periods of low water when sensors were no longer submerged, resulting in spurious data. In addition, most instruments experienced some degree of biofouling, particularly at the subtidal and intertidal stations. The subtidal stations also occasionally show signs of platform rocking or movement due to strong water flow, and/or from accidental fisher/boater interference. Users are advised to assess data quality carefully, and to check the metadata for instrument information, as platform deployment times and data-processing methods varied.

The U.S. Geological Survey Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center collected data to investigate sediment dynamics in the shallows of San Pablo Bay in two deployments: February to March 2011 (ITX11) and May to June 2012 (ITX12). This data release includes time-series data and grain-size distributions from sediment grabs collected during the deployments. During each deployment, time series of current velocity, water depth, and turbidity were collected at several stations in the shallows, and one station in the channel. Velocity and depth (pressure) were collected at high frequency (10 Hz) to allow calculation of wave parameters and turbulence statistics.

Water samples were collected in San Pablo Bay, Corte Madera Bay, and a tidal creek in Corte Madera Marsh between April 2022 and June 2023 to measure suspended-sediment concentrations and percent carbon of suspended sediment. The water samples were collected near the USGS instrument platforms (see time-series data page) with a peristaltic pump, via a Niskin sampler, or directly with a sample bottle.

This dataset includes processed, high-resolution chirp seismic-reflection data collected in 2014 by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in San Pablo Bay, northern California.

A three-dimensional hydrodynamic and sediment transport model of San Pablo and Suisun Bays was constructed using the Delft3D4 (D3D) modeling suite (Deltares, 2021a) to simulate water levels, flow, waves, and suspended sediment for time period of Nov 1 to Dec 31, 2014. This data release describes the construction and validation of the model application and provides input files suitable to run the model on D3D software version 4.04.01.