NNA Planning: Community-based Mitigation and Adaptive Strategies for River Flooding and Erosion in Alaska Native Communities

新北极航行（NNA）是NSF的十大创意之一。NNA项目解决快速变化的北极地区的趋同科学挑战。这项北极研究需要为国家、更大地区和地球仪的经济、安全和复原力提供信息。NNA授权从地方到国际规模的新的研究伙伴关系，使下一代北极研究人员多样化，加强正规和非正规教育的努力，并在适当的情况下整合知识的共同生产。该奖项通过支持具有明确潜力的规划活动来实现这一目标的一部分，以开发新颖，前沿的研究思路和方法来实现NNA目标。它整合了自然环境、建筑环境和社会系统的各个方面，解决了重要的社会挑战，创造了重要的教育机会，并与当地和土著社区合作。许多阿拉斯加原住民（AN）村庄位于阿拉斯加的育空-Kuskokwim（Y-K）三角洲，受到大量洪水事件的影响，这些洪水事件是由于暴雨、积雪融化、洪水泛滥和洪水泛滥造成的。以及河冰堵塞导致沿着河岸侵蚀。社区已开始制定灾害和适应计划，但许多社区缺乏预测洪水和侵蚀风险所需的准确模型。目前，预测Y-K三角洲洪水和侵蚀所需的模型有限，部分原因是该地区的数据很少，河流数量众多，农村地区缺乏监测设备。此外，减缓气候变化战略往往不考虑当地文化或社区优先事项;事实上，这些战略往往只反映技术决定。迫切需要在当地知识与工程和科学方法的交汇处找到解决办法。实地测量和数据与土著知识的融合可以指导更好地应对迫在眉睫的威胁，例如将受到威胁的房屋从侵蚀的海岸线迁移或将建筑物提升到洪水线以上。这项规划拨款是朝着解决Y-K三角洲地区AN村庄洪水和侵蚀风险的长期目标迈出的第一步。该项目在水文建模、土壤特性和土著知识的交叉点上创建了方法和工具;这些工具是保护AN居民免受环境威胁所必需的。该项目利用不同领域的专业知识，组建一个研究人员团队，弥合不同领域，包括物理和工程系统（土木工程），自然和生态系统（大气科学，洪水，地貌学）和社会系统（人类学）。该项目小组培训学生，包括阿拉斯加土著学生，以社区为基础的方法，共同生成和共同生产的数据和科学方法。这些趋同的方法有望提高我们对北极条件变化引起的灾害缓解和适应规划的理解，并开始组建一个新的研究团体，该团体在地理和学科上具有多样性和综合性。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来支持。

Navigating the New Arctic (NNA) is one of NSF's 10 Big Ideas. NNA projects address convergence scientific challenges in the rapidly changing Arctic. This Arctic research is needed to inform the economy, security and resilience of the Nation, the larger region and the globe. NNA empowers new research partnerships from local to international scales, diversifies the next generation of Arctic researchers, enhances efforts in formal and informal education, and integrates the co-production of knowledge where appropriate. This award fulfills part of that aim by supporting planning activities with clear potential to develop novel, leading edge research ideas and approaches to address NNA goals. It integrates aspects of the natural environment, built environment, and social systems, and addresses important societal challenges, builds significant educational opportunities, and engages with local and Indigenous communities.Many Alaska Native (AN) villages located in the Yukon-Kuskokwim (Y-K) Delta in Alaska have been affected by a large number of flooding events due to torrential rains, melting snow packs, and river ice jams causing erosion along riverbanks. Communities have begun developing hazard and adaptation plans, however many communities lack accurate models that are needed to predict flooding and erosion risk. Currently, models required to forecast flooding and erosion in the Y-K Delta are limited, due in part to the minimal data in the region, the large number of rivers, and the lack of monitoring equipment in rural areas. Furthermore, too often climate mitigation strategies do not incorporate local cultures or community priorities; in fact, they often reflect technical decisions only. The need is urgent to identify solutions at the convergence of local knowledge and engineering and scientific approaches. Convergence of field measurements and data with Indigenous knowledge can guide better responses to immediate threats, such as relocating imminently threatened homes away from an eroding shoreline or elevating buildings above flood lines.This planning grant is the first step toward a long-term goal of addressing flooding and erosion risks in AN villages in the Y-K Delta region. The project creates methodologies and tools at the intersection of hydrologic modeling, soil characterization and Indigenous knowledge; these tools are necessary to protect AN residents from the environmental threats. This project draws from diverse areas of expertise to assemble a team of researchers that bridge distinct areas, including physical and engineering systems (civil engineering), natural and ecological systems (atmospheric sciences, flooding, geomorphology) and social systems (anthropology). The project team trains students, including Alaska Native students, in community-based methods for co-generation and co-production of data and scientific methods. These convergent approaches promise to improve our understanding of hazard mitigation and adaptation planning due to changing Arctic conditions, and commence the assembly of a new research community which is geographically and disciplinarily diverse and integrative.This 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.