Knowledge Gaps Update to the 2019 IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere: Prospects to Refine Coastal Flood Hazard Assessments and Adaptation Strategies With At-Risk Communities of Alaska

Abstract

This article reviews the status of knowledge gaps and co-production process challenges that impede coastal flood hazard resilience planning in communities of northwestern Alaska, where threat levels are high. Discussion focuses on the state of knowledge arising after preparation of the 2019 IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate and highlights prospects to address urgent needs. The intent is to identify some key steps necessary to advance the integration of relevant multidisciplinary observations with flood modeling and infrastructure mapping to co-produce new online hazard and risk assessment tools that inform local community planning and improve science collaboration among Federal, state, and regional partners for enhanced pre-storm preparations and post-storm recovery, including partial or complete relocation. By focusing coastal data integration for delivery of priority geospatial hazard map products through a consistent yet customized approach to adaptation planning, the broad collaborative effort in Alaska may yield a path of stakeholder service delivery that can be applied to many Arctic communities and other vulnerable regions of the world.

Interplay of Hydroperiod on Root Shear Strength for Coastal Wetlands

“…CPT to measure root and soil shear strength could also be of interest in terms of predicting the evolution of wetlands in rapidly changing coastal environments, where large‐scale mapping and connection of these properties could be used to identify areas at high risk of collapse and release of greenhouse gases within the root system (Cadigan, Jafari, et al., 2022; Chambers et al., 2019; Valentine et al., 2023). This could facilitate new collaborative applications: (a) Mapping wetland root strength under future SLR and climate change scenarios (IPCC, 2023; Koffi et al., 2020; Saintilan et al., 2023; Schoolmaster et al., 2022; Williams & Erikson, 2021), (b) Developing long‐term root shear strength trajectory metrics to determine the tipping point above the lower limit of productivity before the marsh collapses (Cadigan, Jafari, et al., 2022; Chambers et al., 2019; Morris et al., 2021), (c) Evaluating the efficacy of restoration interventions (thin layer placement of dredged material and river diversions) for restoring degraded marshes (Harris et al., 2021), and (d) Predicting wetland resistance toward hurricane‐induced uprooting, wave‐induced marsh retreat, and potential for compaction (Alizad et al, 2016a, 2016b, 2018; Cahoon et al., 2020).…”

Database and time series of nearshore waves along the Alaskan coast from the United States-Canada border to the Bering Sea

“…We caution, however, that this dataset is based on outdated bathymetry (see the "Bathymetry" section) and should be updated when modern bathymetric nearshore data are made available. The lack of modern nearshore bathymetric data and its importance in modeling coastal hazards along Alaska's shorelines is well recognized (Denali Commission, 2019;Hamilton, 2021;Williams and Erikson, 2021). Extensive efforts are underway to update the well-outdated (greater than [>] 50 year) nearshore bathymetric data along the roughly 4,000-kilometer (km) stretch of coast that this study addresses, but the data are not anticipated to be available for another 5 to 10 years (Alaska Mapping Executive Committee, 2020).…”

U.S. Geological Survey science strategy for Arctic Alaska, fiscal years 2022–24

“…USGS partners and external stakeholders, especially in Arctic Alaska, have come to expect a much deeper engagement with scientists and science agencies than previously exercised. "Co-production" and participatory science is the new collaborative model of research, by which we mean and endorse the concept of active engagement among multiple interested parties (scientists, Indigenous knowledge-holders, residents, policy makers) to produce new social outcomes, including advancement of knowledge, improved decisionmaking, and greater social equity (Miller and Wyborn, 2020;Williams and Erikson, 2021;NSTC, 2022). While not every scientific enterprise is well suited for co-production, both intellectual merit and social equity improves when the participatory science model is used with community input and undertaken through high-quality interactions.…”