Enhancing Decision Support Services for Coastal Flooding in Alaska

Coastal flooding in Alaska is a major hazard for many remote coastal communities. As Arctic sea ice declines and the length of the open water season increases, these communities are increasingly vulnerable to the impacts of storms. Several communities are considering relocating entirely due to eroding shorelines and the increasing threat of serious inundation. Forecasts and decision support for these events must be accurate and issued with significant lead time for communities to take actions and evacuate by air if necessary.

In collaboration with the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys (DGGS), the National Weather Service Alaska Region has developed a Coastal Flood Guidance (CFG) tool to equip meteorologists with more robust guidance and procedures to forecast and disseminate flood threat information to impacted communities. The CFG tool allows for a conversion from model output storm surge levels into real world impacts that are easily understood by forecasters, emergency managers, community members, and other stakeholders. Configurable components allow for information including observations, forecasts, inundation maps, and decision support slides to be generated, viewed, and handled all within one base interface. Built in ArcGIS online as an Alaska region group project using common data formats, flood mapping for additional communities and updates to current maps can easily be made when new elevation data becomes available from the DGGS. The CFG tool optimizes coastal flood event management and allows meteorologists to provide NWS partners and stakeholders with improved forecasts and decision support services, helping to build a Weather-Ready Nation.