Arne Skaugset

Associate Professor
Registered Professional Forester, CA RPF #2176
Engineer-In-Training, OR
BS, 1977 Colorado State University
MS, 1980 Oregon State University
BS, 1992 Oregon State University
PhD, 1997 Oregon State University
Email:

Watersheds Research Cooperative Web Page

 

Current Research & Research Interests

Arne's research interests revolve around finding pragmatic, applied solutions to environmental problems that result from the intensive management of forested terrain. Two areas of interest to Arne are the forest road system and the management of headwater watersheds. In both of these areas there is a special emphasis on the management of landslide-prone headwater watersheds. For forest roads, research projects include the hydrology of forest roads, road/hillslope interactions, the effect of forest roads on the hydrology of watersheds, forest roads and sediment, and the engineering and design of environmentally effective drainage systems for forest roads. For landslide-prone terrain, research projects include identifying high-hazard landslide areas, identifying mechanisms and processes that trigger landslides and how management affects them including rainfall intensity, roots, and the canopies of forest vegetation. Finally, for headwater watersheds, research projects include investigating the downstream effects on perennial fish-bearing streams of forest management activities on upstream non-fish bearing streams including effects on flow, temperature, and sediment.

Current Programs

  • Propagation of harvesting related stream temperatures downstream during summer low flows in forested headwater streams
  • Attenuation of high intensity rainfall by forest vegetation
  • Hydrology of forest roads
  • The interaction of forest roads and hillslopes
  • Forest roads and watershed hydrology
  • The effect of DEM error and grid resolution on predicting landslide locations using terrain analysis and topographic indices
  • The spatial and temporal variability of rainfall and its influence on the occurrence of landslides

Courses

  • FE 430/530: Watershed Processes
  • FE 434/534: Forest Watershed Management
  • FE 532: Forest Hydrology
  • FE 533: Forest Hydrology Lab
  • FE 536: Forest Erosion Processes

Selected Recent Publications

Keim, R.F., A.E. Skaugset, and D.S. Bateman. (2002) Physical aquatic habitat II. Pools and cover affected by large woody debris in three western Oregon streams. North American Journal of Fisheries Management. 22: 151-164.

Keim, R.F. and A.E. Skaugset. (2002) Physical aquatic habitat I: Errors associated with measurement and estimation of residual pool volumes. North American Journal of Fisheries Management.22: 145-150.

Beschta, R.L., M.R. Pyles, A.E. Skaugset, and C.G. Surfleet. 2000. Peakflow responses to forest practices in the western Cascades of Oregon, USA. Journal of Hydrology, 233:102-120.

Keim, R.F., A.E. Skaugset, and D.S. Bateman. 2000. Dynamics of coarse woody debris places in three Oregon streams. Forest Science. 46(1):13-22.

Keim, R.F., A.E. Skaugset, and D.S. Bateman. 1999. Digital terrain modeling of small stream channels with a total-station theodolite. Advances in Water Resources 23:41-48.

Wing, M.G., R.F. Keim, and A.E. Skaugset. 1999. Applying geostatistics to quantify distributions of large woody debris in streams. Computers & Geosciences 25:801-807.

Hayes, J.P., M.D. Adam, E. Dent, W.H. Emmingham, K.G. Maas, and A.E. Skaugset. 1996. Integrating research and forest management in riparian areas of the Oregon Coast Range. Western Journal of Applied Forestry. 11(3):1-5.