Focused CoPe: Building Community Sensor Networks for Coastal Hazards and Climate Change Impacts in Southeast Alaska

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This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2).The high precipitation rates and steep topography of Southeast Alaska combine to create flooding and landslides that endanger lives and destroy property. This Focused CoPe hub will bring geoscientists, atmospheric scientists, and local residents together to deploy and monitor a network of natural hazard sensors across the region. The hub will integrate weather forecasts with real-time sensor data in a project dashboard. The on-line dashboard will enable members of six Alaska tribal communities to plan and prepare for extreme rainfall hazards and the subsequent impacts on subsistence activities. An innovative, community-led project, this hub seeks to respond to research questions of local relevance while increasing engagement and opportunities for experiential learning among rural and Alaska Native students and community members, who are underrepresented in STEM disciplines. The sensor networks that are the foundation of this hub include tipping-bucket rain gauges, stream gauges, and soil moisture and groundwater sensors connected to the regional dashboard via satellite telemetry. The dashboard will incorporate machine learning and Bayesian analysis of real-time sensor data to create a landslide warning system that may be modified for use in other hazard-prone U.S. communitiesThis award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.