Stakes for Stakeholders
Community-based monitoring is a core part of the ACGL’s approach to understanding and responding to coastal hazards in rural Alaska. Through the Stakes for Stakeholders program, the ACGL works with Tribal governments and local partners to document shoreline change using repeatable, field-based methods that can be sustained locally over time. The program responds to community-identified concerns about erosion affecting infrastructure, subsistence access, and culturally important sites.
Community members are trained to collect erosion data using stake-based surveys, time-lapse cameras, and site observations. These measurements are integrated with higher-resolution scientific surveys to produce erosion rate summaries, maps, time-series visualizations, and hazard assessment reports that directly support local planning, grant applications, and Tribal Hazard Mitigation Plans.
By building technical capacity and long-term partnerships, the ACGL’s community-based monitoring produces actionable science grounded in Indigenous knowledge, lived experience, and community priorities.
Coastal Mapping
The ACGL partners with and supports Alaska coastal communities to carry out Coastal Hazard Assessments that document erosion and flooding risks using high-resolution field and geospatial data. Building on the Stakes for Stakeholders program, this work trains community members to collect topographic measurements with real-time kinematic (RTK) GNSS systems, conduct repeat cross-shore elevation profiles, and support drone surveys used to create detailed maps of the coastline and community infrastructure.
These data are used to generate digital elevation models, orthomosaics, and shoreline-change and flood-exposure maps that communities can apply directly to hazard mitigation planning, infrastructure assessments, and funding proposals. By combining community participation with rigorous geospatial methods, the ACGL produces actionable science while building long-term local capacity to monitor and respond to rapidly changing coastal conditions.
Sediment Core Collection and Analysis
Sediment core research is a central component of our work. The ACGL uses sediment cores from lagoons, lakes, estuaries, and offshore environments to understand coastal change over thousands of years. The main use of these archives is to study paleotempestology—the reconstruction of past storm activity preserved in sedimentary records—and identify evidence of extreme storms, storm surge flooding, and overwash events that extend far beyond the short instrumental record.
The ACGL also uses sediment cores to reconstruct paleoenvironmental conditions used in projects ranging from deciphering earthquake histories to analyzing ancient environments of the Bering Land Bridge to archaeological site reconstructions at Cape Espenberg. This work helps link coastal change, extreme events, and human occupation of Alaska through time.
Through field collection, laboratory analysis, and modeling, the ACGL provides long-term hazard context that informs coastal risk assessments, cultural resource protection, and climate adaptation planning.
Hydrographic Monitoring
Hydrographic monitoring is a key part of the ACGL’s effort to support coastal hazard assessments, storm surge modeling, and emergency forecasting in Alaska’s coastal communities. The ACGL is building a hydrographic observation network that includes offshore ocean moorings, nearshore wave buoys, and water-level and weather gauges to deliver high-quality, real-time oceanographic data.
Working with community partners, the ACGL helps identify local observing needs and designs tailored sensor packages that reflect community priorities and site conditions. These instruments measure waves, water levels, and coastal ocean conditions critical for understanding flooding and storm impacts. Data from the network are quality-controlled and made publicly available through regional data systems, supporting community planning, scientific research, and operational forecasting.
By combining advanced instrumentation with community-driven design and open data access, the ACGL’s hydrographic monitoring provides essential information that improves coastal resilience, emergency preparedness, and long-term hazard planning.
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