Funding opportunity part of Investing in America agenda
A disrupted boardwalk runs near dead and slumping boreal forest Alaska birch trees, standing in floodwaters amid thawing permafrost and snowmelt, at Creamer’s Field on May 2, 2023 in Fairbanks, Alaska. (Image credit: Getty images)
Today, the Department of Commerce and NOAA announced a $1.1 million funding opportunity for satellite-based monitoring of potentially destructive floods and ice-jam events in Alaska. These funds, which are a part of a larger $2.27 million project on Alaska flood monitoring, are made possible by the Biden-Harris Administration’s Inflation Reduction Act, the largest climate investment in U.S. history.
NOAA has published a competitive notice of funding opportunity, with an award anticipated in early 2025 to support up to three years of work. The awardee will explore how to employ high-resolution data from privately managed satellites to fill observation gaps during Alaska’s flood and ice-jam events and provide the satellite data for application in flood and other prediction models.
“The Biden-Harris Administration will be investing in the data infrastructure needed to help communities in Alaska prepare for severe flooding,” said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. “This funding opportunity, made possible thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, will help forecasters better track developing flood conditions, keep residents safe and mitigate the economic impacts caused by these climate disasters.”
Alaska’s ‘unique’ challenges call for better flood forecasting, monitoring data
Alaska has experienced major destruction and disruptions from flooding in recent years.
For example, more than 35 communities along the western Alaska coastline were inundated offsite link after Typhoon Merbok in 2022 and an ice jam flooded villages offsite link along the Yukon River in 2023.
Just last month, the glacier-dammed lake at Suicide Basin released into Juneau's Mendenhall River, causing it to crest a foot above the previous record. More than a hundred homes and other dwellings were damaged, prompting the Alaska governor to declare a state disaster emergency.
Alaska flood monitoring has different challenges compared to monitoring capabilities in the contiguous United States, including:
- Dense forest cover and limited road access.
- Variable river-water levels and flows.
- Limitations caused by frequent cloud cover.
- Unique flooding conditions such as glacier-dammed lake floods.
"Our ability to prepare the public for destructive floods that threaten communities, homes resources and critical infrastructure will benefit from this investment," said NOAA National Weather Service Alaska Region Director Scott Lindsey, Ph.D. "Satellites play an increasingly important role for NOAA in identifying conditions that could lead to flooding in Alaska, detecting where floods are occurring and improving the forecast accuracy of their magnitude, extent, timing and potential impacts."
How to apply for funding
Application information is available on the Grants.gov website. Letters of intent should be submitted via email to Sean Helfrich, Water Surface Conditions (WSC)/SAR Applications Lead, at sean.helfrich@noaa.gov and Rachel Zinn, Program Analyst, at Rachel.C.Zinn@noaa.gov by October 18, 2024. NOAA will invite promising respondents to apply with full proposals, which will be due December 23, 2024. Eligible applicants are institutions of higher education, other nonprofits, international organizations, and state, local and Indian tribal governments.
More: Visit NOAA’s Inflation Reduction Act web portal to learn about current and future funding opportunities.
Climate, weather, and water affect all life on our ocean planet. NOAA’s mission is to understand and predict our changing environment, from the deep sea to outer space, and to manage and conserve America’s coastal and marine resources.
Media contact
John Leslie, john.leslie@noaa.gov
