Alaska Water Level Watch
Mission
The AWLW steering committee will establish a framework for a sustained collaborative team consisting of state and federal agencies, local governing entities, non-profits, private businesses, and communities to:
- Enable the effective and efficient sharing of information.
- Foster leveraging of available resources.
- Provide improved services to mutual customers.
- Provide assistance in identifying and prioritizing actions to fill water level monitoring gaps.
- Promote advancement of water level sensing technologies for use in Alaska’s coastal waters.
Our Vision
Increase public access to water level data and products through innovative technologies and collaborative partnerships and to expand the coastal water level observation capacity across Alaska’s coastline.
Access and Contribute Data
Alaska Water Level Watch is a forum for crowd-sourced water level data including high water marks from past storms and real-time or short-term sensor deployments. Data are contributed and accessed through the AWLW data portal. Contributing data is easy! Use our station log template and instruction forms to provide metadata with your water level data.
Water Level Build-Out Plan
Identify existing sensor assets, remaining gaps, and updated priorities in this web map. Also access other information and tools about water levels like the most up-to-date projections of relative sea level rise.
Featured Stories
Ex-Typhoon Merbok Post-Storm Data Response
Sept. 15, Extratropical Typhoon Merbok transited the Bering Sea impacting 40 Alaska Native communities and more than 1,300 miles of coastline. Visit this site to see the story about the post-storm data collection effort that was immediately coordinated to provide...
What Was the Biggest Flood We Had?
The Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys works with Alaska Water Level Watch partners to maintain photos and resources on historical floods in western Alaska. These resources are the only insights into how high past floods reached in and around...
Water Level Sensor Installed to Monitor Flooding at Kwigillingok
October 22, 2021 By Jacquelyn Overbeck, Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys Early in spring of 2021, the community of Kwgillingok experienced coastal flooding from a high tide (see...
Resources
Observations
- Alaska Water Level Gauges and Tide Predictions
- NOAA NWLON Water Level Gauges
- Alaska DGGS Storm Photo Database
- GPS Reflectometry (coming soon)
- Community-Based Observations
- Rapid Deploy Sensors
Education
- Minute Physics: What is Sea Level? video
- About Tidal Datums
- Introduction to Geodetic and Tidal Vertical Datums
- Tide Datums and their Applications
- Fantastic Tidal Datums
Tools
- Convert Between Tidal and Geodetic Datums for Alaska
- Convert Between Geodetic Datums
- Southeast Alaska VDatum
- Compute Tidal Datums from Water Level Time Series, JOA
- Access Tidal Benchmark Sheets(select advanced and historic data)
- NGS Tidal Elevation Page
Flood and Risk Mapping
- Introduction to FEMA Coastal Floodplain Mapping
- Alaska Coastal Hazards Program
- Flood Histories and Coastal Flood Categories (coming soon)
- Color-Indexed Maps
Published Resources
Data Gaps and Priorities
Community Monitoring
Monitoring flooding is critical for understanding current and future flood risk to communities. Anyone can monitor floods by simply taking photos during flood events.
To help monitor floods:
- See more information on the Water Level Observation Sheets
- Submit photos via email.
Coastal flood documented in Kotlik, Alaska, August 2019. Photo credit: Harold Okitkun and Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys
Coastal flood photographed in Golovin, Alaska, November 2011. Photo credit: John Peterson and Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys
Annual Meetings
Alaska Water Level Watch holds annual meetings to discuss progress on minimizing Alaska’s water level sensing gaps, strategize collaborative deployment opportunities, and set priorities for future activities. The summary of these activities is the Alaska Water Level Watch Build-Out Plan.
2020 Meeting Summary
April 29 held via teleconference
Please see the meeting notes for a summary of the meeting.
For more information, contact Jacquelyn Overbeck.
Presentations
Introduction, Overbeck
AOOS/IOOS Update, McCammon
Data Portal, Koeppen and Austin
Real-time Water Levels GNSS-R, Stromberg
Tidal Datums GNSS-R, Oppegard
Other Water Levels Flood Histories and Categories at Communities, Buzard
Alaska Coastal Mapping Strategy, Kumle
2019 Meeting Summary
April 24, Anchorage, Alaska
Please see the meeting notes for a summary of the meeting.
For more information, contact Jacquelyn Overbeck.
Presentations
2018 Meeting Summary
May 22-23, Anchorage, Alaska
Making Progress: Integrated Water Level Observation Network in Alaska was held in two sessions, Day 1. water level sensing technologies and Day 2. stakeholder and partner engagement. There were approximately 35 participants throughout the meeting, representing state and federal agencies, private industry, research institutions, a regional Native corporation, and a non-profit. The meeting included presentations and discussions to identify the appropriate technologies to fill Alaska’s water level monitoring gaps and the priority locations and uses of water level data.
Presentations
Steering Committee
Jacquelyn Overbeck
National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration Office for Coastal Management (committee lead)
Carol Janzen
Alaska Ocean Observing System
Nathan Wardwell
Management Association of Private Photogrammetric Surveyors and Managing Partner, JOA Surveys, LLC
Timothy Steffen
National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration
National Weather Service
Jason Lehto and Steve Bassett
National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration
Center for Operational Oceanographic Products & Services
Contact Details
For more information regarding the Alaska Water Level Observing Network, contact Jacquelyn Overbeck, National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration Office for Coastal Management.