ACRC Researcher Eran Hood Awarded $1M NSF Grant to Study Glacial Outburst Floods
ACRC’s Eran Hood is a Co-Principal Investigator for a project funded by a newly awarded grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF). This research effort is being led by Jason Amundson (UAS) and is focused on glacial outburst floods, known asjökulhlaups—a term of Icelandic origin describing sudden, catastrophic floods caused by the rapid drainage of water from a glacier-dammed basin.
As Juneau has witnessed first-hand,jökulhlaupsfrom the Mendenhall Glacier pose major hazards with the potential to inundate homes and infrastructure in the Mendenhall Valley within hours, leaving major environmental and economic impacts in their wake.
The project will study Áak’w T’aak Glacier (Mendenhall Glacier) and Suicide Basin to develop and apply computer models to improve our understanding and forecasting of these floods. Researchers will combine field data, remote sensing observations, and physical glacier flow models to:
Assess how glacier retreat affects the storage capacity of ice-dammed basins.
Evaluate how flood magnitudes may evolve over time.
Extend the findings from the Áak’w T’aak Glacier to create a regional flood hazard model.
By collaborating with federal and state agencies, the project aims to develop practical tools and strategies to mitigate the risks associated with jökulhlaups, helping to safeguard our community and others living in regions that are subject to glacier outburst floods.
