Landsat imagery timelapse showing coastal change at Stebbins, Alaska

Supported by Title VII of Division N of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, the Typhoon Merbok Disaster Emergency Recovery Efforts project addresses critical data and capacity gaps in coastal Alaska by generating high resolution environmental datasets, hazard analyses, and monitoring tools needed to quantify erosion, flooding, and permafrost-related risks at the community scale.

Extreme storm events, such as Extratropical-Typhoon Merbok that hit the coast of Western Alaska in September 2022, are stark reminders of the devastating impacts coastal storms can have on Alaska Native community’s livelihoods and infrastructure. A chronic lack of environmental monitoring and technical assistance in rural Alaska present major barriers to communities affected by Typhoon Merbok...