​Coastal communities across Alaska are increasingly concerned about rising sea levels, coastal flooding, and inundation. Inundation refers to water that covers normally dry ground during flooding events. Along the coast, this can be caused by unusually high tides, storm surge, wind, and waves. In river systems and tidal estuaries, snowmelt, glacial runoff, and heavy rainfall can also lead to flooding. Western Alaska, in particular, experiences frequent inundation events throughout the year.

To support awareness and preparedness, NOAA has developed the Coastal Inundation Dashboard—a publicly accessible tool that provides real-time and historical information on coastal flooding. The dashboard pulls data from water level stations that are part of the National Water Level Observing Network (NWLON), operated by NOAA’s Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS).

In Alaska, 27 NWLON stations are currently active. The Alaska Water Level Watch (AWLW) initiative, in partnership with regional stakeholders, supports an additional 18 operational, non-NWLON water level observing sites. However, only six of these are currently visible on the dashboard.

While other regional IOOS (Integrated Ocean Observing System) partner stations across the U.S. are not yet included on the dashboard, AWLW is playing a key role in changing that. As a national leader in water level monitoring—through field observations, technology testing, and development of data and metadata quality standards—AWLW is helping shape best practices that could allow more partner station data to be integrated into the NOAA Coastal Inundation Dashboard in the future.

Screenshot below is of the NOAA Coastal Inundation Dashboard, with pins pointing to real-time water level observing sites. The cyan blue pins represent NOAA NWLON stations. The red pins, only seen in Alaska, are AWLW partner stations funded by AOOS and operated by Alaska Department of Natural Resources Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys.