Tracking Drought in Alaska: Developing New Indicators and Tools

Speakers: Charlie Parr, UAF Scenarios Network for Alaska and Arctic Planning (SNAP) and Rick Thoman, Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Preparedness

Although Alaska is often thought of as a water-rich state, drought can have significant impacts on communities, ecosystems, hydropower generation, subsistence resources, agriculture, wildfire, and water supplies. In this webinar, Charlie and Rick will introduce a new set of drought indicators developed for Alaska using ERA5-Land, a global climate dataset that combines weather observations with computer models to provide consistent estimates of historical weather and land surface conditions. They will discuss how the indicators are generated using a repeatable process that allows them to be updated regularly over time, their strengths and limitations, and how they can support environmental monitoring and decision-making. They will also invite feedback from participants to help improve these tools and ensure they meet the needs of Alaska communities, resource managers, and other users.

Charlie Parr is a geospatial programmer and analyst with the Scenarios Network for Alaska & Arctic Planning (SNAP) at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. He develops workflows and web-based tools that transform climate and geophysical data into accessible resources for researchers, resource managers, and decision-makers across Alaska.

Rick Thoman is a the Climate Specialist with the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Preparedness (ACCAP). Rick and has many years of experience producing reliable Alaska climate information and graphics describing Alaska’s changing environment. His work spans the bridge between climate modeling, Alaska communities, and the media.