Coastal hazard field investigations in response to the November 2011 Bering Sea storm, Norton Sound, Alaska

Contemporary shoreline retreat rates at Meshik in Port Heiden, Alaska

“…These visits included the collection of coastal elevation profiles using a survey-grade GPS system consisting of two dual-frequency Topcon HiPer II GNSS receivers and an FC-250 field controller running TopSURV software. With post processing, this configuration typically yields total vertical uncertainty of < 5 cm (Kinsman and DeRaps, 2012). Repeat elevation profiles were collected at four transects in the study area in October 2013.…”

Hindcast storm events in the Bering Sea for the St. Lawrence Island and Unalakleet Regions, Alaska

“…C, Photograph showing beach sediment, which is primarily composed of medium grained sands (courtesy of Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys). D, Photograph taken near transect U16 modified from Kinsman and DeRaps (2012). E, Aerial photograph of Unalakleet taken in 2010 (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration photograph by John Cloud downloaded from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unalakleet,_Alaska).…”

“…For Unalakleet, four profiles (U7, U13, U15, U16) identified by Kinsman and DeRaps (2012) were used in the simulations ( fig. 5A and B).…”

“…Modeled and measured water levels are plotted for the November 2011 storm in figure 13A. This storm affected most of Norton Sound including Unalakleet (Kinsman and DeRaps, 2012). The overall shape is well captured but the peak is underestimated.…”

“…In particular, regions of the State in or adjacent to the Bering Sea ( fig. 1) were subjected to some notable storms in recent years, such as the low-pressure system that traversed the Bering Sea and Norton Sound in early November 2011 with wind gusts as great as 26 meters per second (m/s) (Kinsman and DeRaps, 2012). Just 3 years later in 2014, Alaskans braced for another November storm that was expected to intensify into the strongest low-pressure system ever recorded in the Bering Sea, but fortunately it turned and dissipated, leaving only little damage in its trail (Hansen, 2014).…”