ACC ACTION Project
Alaska Coastal Cooperative for Co-producing Transformative Ideas and Opportunities in the North
ACTION is part of Navigating the New Arctic, a National Science Foundation initiative that tackles convergent scientific challenges in the rapidly changing Arctic.
The Arctic is experiencing the fastest climate-driven temperature increases in the world, leading to rapid and sometimes catastrophic shifts in environmental conditions for coastal communities, disrupting both landscapes and livelihoods. The ACTION project is a commitment to addressing locally identified priorities such as coastal erosion, storm-driven flooding, and permafrost thaw through actionable community-driven science and STEM education.
The project advances convergence science and observing, identifies community priorities, informs engineering solutions, integrates existing knowledge, and improves communication across multiple stakeholder groups to effectively respond to a rapidly changing Arctic.
ACTION is led by the Alaska Coastal Cooperative at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) in collaboration with 12 Indigenous Arctic coastal communities, Arizona State University, University of Northern Iowa, and the University of Texas El Paso. Government and non-governmental organizations, including Alaska Ocean Observing System (AOOS), and private environmental firm partners are also critical collaborators. Community collaborators include Chignik Intertribal Coalition, Nelson Lagoon, Atka, St. Paul Island, Hooper Bay, Gambell, Point Lay, and Tuktoyaktuk (Canada).
As the project grows, it combines place-based, existing, and new biogeophysical knowledge to lead to new understanding and modeling frameworks and science-informed solutions, increasing relevance for communities and decision-makers.
R/V Sikuliaq deploys a wave buoy in Chignik Bay.
Data Resources
AOOS hosts the ACTION project’s data on the AOOS Ocean Data Explorer portal and the Alaska Water Level Watch data portal. ACTION Sofar Wave Buoys participate in the Friends of Backyard Buoys program, and these data are available on the mobile-friendly Backyard Buoys App.
- All ACC real-time data streams, including wave buoys and water level available on the AOOS Ocean Data Explorer (Category: sensor stations)
- ACTION project drifter data visualizations on the AOOS Ocean Data Explorer (Category: moving platforms):
- ACC water level specific data streams available on the AWLW Data Portal (Category: sensor stations)
- Access and download the Backyard Buoys mobile app
- ACTION Project Data – Arctic Data Center, the primary data repository for NSF.
AOOS Role
AOOS Contact:
Carol Janzen
janzen@aoos.org