Webinars
Upcoming Events | Past Events
Juneau Hollings Scholar Presentations: Winds and Atmospheric Rivers
The Juneau National Weather Service Forecast office remotely hosted two NOAA Hollings Scholars during the summer of 2020. This webinar will cover the work of those two scholars.
Detecting, Projecting, and Attributing Changes in Extreme Events in Alaska
Online or In-person in Akasofu/IARC 407 2160 Koyukuk Drive, FairbanksIn a two part webinar, work on detecting and projecting changes in extreme temperature events over Alaska will be paired with a presentation on attributing the role of anthropogenic climate change in extreme events in Alaska.
Hollings Scholar Presentations: Exploration of the Hot Dry Windy Index and wildfire; Climate Change and overnight fire growth
Online or In-person in Akasofu/IARC 407 2160 Koyukuk Drive, FairbanksHollings Scholar students will present 1. An exploration of the Hot Dry Windy Index & its applicability to the Alaska wildfire environment 2. The challenge of a changing climate on nighttime fires in Alaska and its impacts on overnight fire growth
Bering Science: Spring 2020 Bering Region Ocean Update
Online or In-person in Akasofu/IARC 407 2160 Koyukuk Drive, FairbanksWe will be presenting some new data and information products, based on the needs of federal and state agency managers, coastal communities, tribes, and private industry, and invite webinar participants and other residents of western Alaska to join our conversation about their observations and their needs.
July 2020 National Weather Service Alaska Climate Outlook Briefing
Online or In-person in Akasofu/IARC 407 2160 Koyukuk Drive, FairbanksWe will review recent climate conditions around Alaska, review some forecast tools and finish up the Climate Prediction Center's forecast for August and the remaining summer/early fall season.
VAWS: Recent Advances in Water Vapor Products from Satellites for Forecasters
Online or In-person in Akasofu/IARC 407 2160 Koyukuk Drive, FairbanksForecasters routinely monitor total precipitable water (TPW) in the atmosphere via the NOAA operational blended TPW product. Upcoming improvements to these products will be discussed.
Alaska’s berries and their changing seasons
Online or In-person in Akasofu/IARC 407 2160 Koyukuk Drive, FairbanksDr. Spellman and Dr. Mulder will discuss the ongoing research by IARC and Institute of Arctic Biology that explores how earlier springs, warmer summers and wetter falls influence our amazing Alaska berries throughout their life cycles.
June 2020 National Weather Service Alaska Climate Outlook Briefing
Online or In-person in Akasofu/IARC 407 2160 Koyukuk Drive, FairbanksWe will review recent climate conditions around Alaska, review some forecast tools and finish up the Climate Prediction Center's forecast for July and the summer season.
VAWS: Responses of Permafrost Landscape to Surface Disturbances – Case studies in Siberian forest and Alaskan tundra
This presentation introduces several case studies on thermokarst subsidence observed in the field and by remote sensing in various time ranges.
May 2020 National Weather Service Alaska Climate Outlook Briefing
Akasofu 407 UAF International Arctic Research Center, Fairbanks, FairbanksSpeaker: Rick Thoman, ACCAP | We will review recent climate conditions around Alaska, review some forecast tools and finish up the Climate Prediction Center's forecast for the coming month and season.
VAWS: Radar Love – New Data, New Services, and the Rising Allure of SAR
Online or In-person in Akasofu/IARC 407 2160 Koyukuk Drive, FairbanksThis presentation will introduce you to some of these recent developments, specifically focusing on current and upcoming sensors as well as on new data products and services offered by the Alaska Satellite Facility, NASA's prime data center for SAR data.
Viewing historical and future wind information for Alaska
Online or In-person in Akasofu/IARC 407 2160 Koyukuk Drive, FairbanksACCAP has recently developed a visualization tool that displays wind information for 71 coastal and inland locations around Alaska, based on hourly station reports and hourly downscaled winds from two climate models.
2020 Alaska River Break-up Preview
Online or In-person in Akasofu/IARC 407 2160 Koyukuk Drive, FairbanksCrane Johnson with the NWS Alaska-Pacific River Forecast Center will review break-up basics and an overview of current conditions. ACCAP Alaska Climate Specialist Rick Thoman will provide the latest subseasonal outlooks that help inform the outlook.
April 2020 National Weather Service Alaska Climate Outlook Briefing
Akasofu 407 UAF International Arctic Research Center, Fairbanks, FairbanksSpeaker: Rick Thoman, ACCAP | We will review recent climate conditions around Alaska, review some forecast tools and finish up the Climate Prediction Center's forecast for the coming month and season.
VAWS: Future changes in Alaska snow conditions from statistically downscaled climate projections
Online or In-person in Akasofu/IARC 407 2160 Koyukuk Drive, FairbanksIn this presentation Jeremy Littell will describe snowpack projections from statistically downscaled precipitation and snow day fraction developed for Alaska.
March 2020 National Weather Service Alaska Climate Outlook Briefing
Akasofu 407 UAF International Arctic Research Center, Fairbanks, FairbanksSpeaker: Rick Thoman, ACCAP | We will review recent climate conditions around Alaska, review some forecast tools and finish up the Climate Prediction Center's forecast for the coming month and season.
Forecasting Green-up: It’s seems simple…but it’s not
Online or In-person in Akasofu/IARC 407 2160 Koyukuk Drive, FairbanksGreen-up, that time when leaves burst forth from Alaska's deciduous trees has important implications for the seasonal ecology, society and even meteorology in the state.
Recent Arctic Shipping in Bering Strait and the Russian Maritime Arctic
Online or In-person in Akasofu/IARC 407 2160 Koyukuk Drive, FairbanksThis talk will focus on recent marine operations and shipping in the U.S. maritime Arctic and along the length of the Russian marine Arctic.
February 2020 National Weather Service Alaska Climate Outlook Briefing
Akasofu 407 UAF International Arctic Research Center, Fairbanks, FairbanksSpeaker: Rick Thoman, ACCAP | We will review recent climate conditions around Alaska, review some forecast tools and finish up the Climate Prediction Center's forecast for the coming month and season.
VAWS: How NUCAPS and gridded NUCAPS can help you
Online or In-person in Akasofu/IARC 407 2160 Koyukuk Drive, FairbanksThis seminar will discuss NUCAPS data and how it can be used to provide useful information over Alaska, and offer suggestions of when it's likely to be most useful.
The climate has changed, have we? Reflections on 50 years of fire management in Alaska
Online or In-person in Akasofu/IARC 407 2160 Koyukuk Drive, FairbanksJointly sponsored and hosted by the Alaska Fire Science Consortium Speaker: Randi Jandt, Alaska Fire Science Consortium Randi Jandt talked about the evolution of Alaska firefighting practices--field and management--over the past 50 years. We are starting to be aware of the changes in climate and in Alaska forests: is the wildfire "problem" the same one…
VAWS: JPSS and GOES Satellite Training and Data Resources for NOAA and non-NOAA Users
Online or In-person in Akasofu/IARC 407 2160 Koyukuk Drive, FairbanksThis presentation will explore a comprehensive list of where NOAA and non-NOAA users alike can find JPSS and GOES satellite training resources on-line, via satellite teletraining along with conference workshops.
January 2020 National Weather Service Alaska Climate Outlook Briefing
Akasofu 407 UAF International Arctic Research Center, Fairbanks, FairbanksSpeaker: Rick Thoman, ACCAP | We will review recent climate conditions around Alaska, review some forecast tools and finish up the Climate Prediction Center's forecast for the coming month and season.
Alaska Garden Helper: Explore local growing conditions under a changing climate
Online or In-person in Akasofu/IARC 407 2160 Koyukuk Drive, FairbanksHow is climate change affecting agriculture in Alaska? This presentation will explore a new tool to answer that question.
December 2019 National Weather Service Alaska Climate Outlook Briefing
Akasofu 407 UAF International Arctic Research Center, Fairbanks, FairbanksSpeaker: Rick Thoman, ACCAP | We will review recent climate conditions around Alaska, review some forecast tools and finish up the Climate Prediction Center's forecast for the coming month and season.
VAWS: Ice, water, and people – a look into how glacial lake outburst floods impact Alaska communities
Online or In-person in Akasofu/IARC 407 2160 Koyukuk Drive, FairbanksDuring the webinar, you'll learn about how GLOFs happen, their presence in Alaska, how stakeholders have been affected by these events, what are the available resources to understand and monitor these events, and what is the potential outlook for AK.
Rapid Change: 2019 in Northwest Alaska’s Oceans and Impacts to Ecosystems and People.
Online or In-person in Akasofu/IARC 407 2160 Koyukuk Drive, FairbanksSpeakers: Gay Sheffield (Sea Grant), Donna Hauser (IARC), Rick Thoman (ACCAP) Summer 2019 was another remarkable year for the Bering and Chukchi Sea regions, with record early sea ice loss in the spring, very warm oceans and late freeze-up producing wide ranging impacts, from the ocean food web to individual and community activities. This webinar…
Tundra be dammed: Beaver colonization of the Arctic
Online or In-person in Akasofu/IARC 407 2160 Koyukuk Drive, FairbanksSpeaker: Ken TapeResearch Associate Professor Geophysical Institute Snow, Ice and Permafrost Group University of Alaska Fairbanks Using time series of satellite images, we have observed hundreds of new beaver ponds in tundra regions of western and northern Alaska. This talk will describe beaver movement into arctic tundra regions and some predicted implications for tundra ecosystems.
November 2019 National Weather Service Alaska Climate Outlook Briefing
Akasofu 407 UAF International Arctic Research Center, Fairbanks, FairbanksSpeaker: Rick Thoman, ACCAP | We will review recent climate conditions around Alaska, review some forecast tools and finish up the Climate Prediction Center's forecast for the coming month and season.
A Climatology of Snow to Liquid Ratios in Alaska
Online or In-person in Akasofu/IARC 407 2160 Koyukuk Drive, FairbanksSnow to liquid ratios (SLR) continue to be a large source of error for forecasters in the prediction of snow amounts during the winter months.
Strait Science Series: Winter Sea Ice and Climate Outlook
Part of the UAF Northwest Campus Strait Science SeriesIn-person at Grand Hall - NWC Education CenterOr join remotely via Zoom meeting information below:https://alaska.zoom.us/j/665398184Meeting ID: 665 398 184Dial by your location +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose) +1 929 205 6099 US (New York) Meeting ID: 665 398 184 Find your local number: https://zoom.us/u/aNdnrwuH
Working together to adapt to a rapidly changing North
Online or In-person in Akasofu/IARC 407 2160 Koyukuk Drive, FairbanksLandscape Conservation Cooperatives (LCCs) bring partners together to work on conservation solutions that help communities and decision makers adapt to and thrive in a rapidly changing north. This presentation will give an overview of the four Alaska LCCs.
October 2019 National Weather Service Alaska Climate Outlook Briefing
Akasofu 407 UAF International Arctic Research Center, Fairbanks, FairbanksSpeaker: Rick Thoman, ACCAP | We will review recent climate conditions around Alaska, review some forecast tools and finish up the Climate Prediction Center's forecast for the coming month and season.
September 2019 National Weather Service Alaska Climate Outlook Briefing
Akasofu 407 UAF International Arctic Research Center, Fairbanks, FairbanksSpeaker: Rick Thoman, ACCAP | We will review recent climate conditions around Alaska, review some forecast tools and finish up the Climate Prediction Center's forecast for the coming month and season.
VAWS: Weather and social media: the good, the bad, and the viral
Online or In-person in Akasofu/IARC 407 2160 Koyukuk Drive, FairbanksDave will talk about the challenges of communicating with a social media audience, and share tips and considerations for crafting an understandable, eye-catching message, and shareable message for your audience.
Climate change: from cutting-edge science to innovative solutions
UAF Salisbury Theatre 1718 Tanana Drive, FairbanksDr. Katharine Hayhoe is a climate scientist and director of the Climate Science Center at Texas Tech University. Join her on September 9 for a free public lecture as she shares her perspectives on climate change, science and future solutions.
Did Southeast Alaska drought conditions improve or worsen during the summer of 2019 and what will autumn/winter bring?
Online onlyThis talk will look at how the summer of 2019 turned out from a climate and drought perspective across the temperate rainforest of Southeast Alaska and look into if the region will see a wet autumn and snowy winter.
VAWS: What is an Atmospheric River and how do Alaska National Weather Service forecasters monitor these impactful events on communities and the hydrologic cycle?
Online onlyThis talk will review what we know of atmospheric rivers, how forecasters monitor these events, what type of impacts they can have on communities of Alaska, and ongoing research particular to Alaska.
August 2019 National Weather Service Alaska Climate Outlook Briefing
Akasofu 407 UAF International Arctic Research Center, Fairbanks, FairbanksSpeaker: Rick Thoman, ACCAP | We will review recent climate conditions around Alaska, review some forecast tools and finish up the Climate Prediction Center's forecast for the coming month and season.
The Emerging Risk of Algal Toxins in Western Alaska
Online onlyThis presentation will provide an overview of algal toxins and their impacts and a review of the recent changes in ocean climate that now make this a potential hazard for the coasts of western Alaska.
Incorporating Drought Information into Wildland Fire Management Applications: Recent Research and Tool Development in California and Nevada
This presentation highlights recent efforts to incorporate drought-wildfire linkages into the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) California-Nevada Drought Early Warning System.
VAWS: Satellite Hydrological Products and their Utility in the Alaska Region
Akasofu 407 UAF International Arctic Research Center, Fairbanks, FairbanksIn this presentation, a review of the methodology used to retrieve this information will be given, then followed by several practical applications for weather forecasting and climate monitoring.
July 2019 National Weather Service Alaska Climate Outlook Briefing
Akasofu 407 UAF International Arctic Research Center, Fairbanks, FairbanksWe will review recent climate conditions around Alaska, review some forecast tools and finish up the Climate Prediction Center's forecast for the coming month and season.
VAWS: Geostationary Satellite Improvements for Better Viewing of Alaska and Surrounding Areas
There have been many recent changes to better observe Alaska from the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) perspective. The most significant change was in February 2019, when GOES-17 became NOAA’s operational West geostationary satellite.
The WMO Arctic Regional Climate Center (ArcRCC) and Pan Arctic Regional Climate Outlook Forum (PARCOF)
This presentation will provide an overview of the ArcRCC and the latest information from the Third PARCOF held in Rovaniemi, Finland, May 8-9.
VAWS: NWS Support for Avalanche Forecasting Operations in Southcentral Alaska
This presentation will discuss ways in which various NWS offices provide support to avalanche forecasting operations and highlights how the NWS Anchorage office has engaged its core partners while providing vital support during significant avalanche events across Southcentral Alaska.
VAWS: Improving Communication of Coastal Flood Warnings to Alaska Communities
This presentation will highlight recent success the National Weather Service has had in improving two-way communication and warnings to western Alaska communities during coastal flood events.
VAWS: NESDIS Snowfall Rate Product and Assessment
This seminar will include a description of the snowfall rate product, algorithm validation, and its assessment at the Juneau and Anchorage WFOs.
VAWS: Using Satellite Climate Data Records to Study the Shortwave Radiation Budget of Snow vs Sea Ice and Arctic vs Antarctic
Satellite climate data records show that decreasing sea ice cover, not changes in terrestrial snow cover, has been the dominant radiative feedback mechanism over the last few decades.
VAWS: Insights and Resources to Guide Climate Change Communication
This talk will provide a summary of important ideas from the field of climate change communication, with a focus on practical recommendations for weather and climate professionals.
Analysis of Forecastability of Rapid Growth Periods of Alaska Wildfires in both Boreal and Tundra Ecosystems
The Hollings Scholars utilized an existing database of daily wildfire acreage back to at least the 1990s. They identified sub-monthly periods of rapid wildfire growth in both boreal and tundra ecosystems and performed analysis of associated atmospheric conditions and synoptic weather patterns using online and UAF available meteorological reanalysis data. This presentation will present the findings of their work.
Climate Change in Alaska: Impacts on the Entomofauna
Speaking: Derek Sikes, University of Alaska Museum The University of Alaska Museum Insect Collection is a biorepository for vouchers from varied projects throughout the state. A number of examples of possible and potential climate change impacts on the terrestrial invertebrates of Alaska will be presented. These will cover various taxa including snow-field associated rove beetles,…
VAWS: CIRA Development of Alaska-Relevant Satellite Applications from Suomi-NPP/JPSS-1 and GOES-R
The Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA), established at Colorado State University in 1980, works closely with NOAA to develop algorithms and applications based on its cadre of environmental satellites. Here, we present some of these applications, including the science behind them, with an eye toward their relevance to the Alaska Region.
Carbon Projects in Alaska: How they work and the risks and rewards
This presentation will focus on how carbon offset projects work and the different types of forest management activities involved, all with a focus on Alaska.
VAWS: The NOAA Microwave Integrated Retrieval System (MiRS): Products, Applications, and Improvements
The presentation will cover the background of the MiRS retrieval approach, and then move on to discussion of retrieval products, user applications, and recent work aimed at scientific improvements. Where possible, examples will be chosen that are relevant to users in high-latitude regions such as Alaska.
VAWS: Volcanic Cloud Monitoring in the North Pacific: The Dawning of the GOES-R Era
Volcanic clouds, which are a major aviation hazard, are complex and the background environment in which they reside is often complicated as well. Much of the complexity is due to the multi-composition nature of volcanic clouds, which frequently consist of some combination of volcanic ash, volcanic gases, and hydrometeors. Thus, volcanic cloud remote sensing is very challenging.
VAWS: New capabilities, opportunities, and challenges using GOES-17 in Alaska
This presentation will discuss the value of GOES-17, particularly the unique aspects and challenges for high latitudes.
River Ice Breakup: What Do We Know?
This presentation will focus on mechanical river ice breakup and the historical evolution of our understanding of this topic. The presentation will include discussions of ice cover formation and the typical resulting ice structure, wave-ice interaction, the physics of the cracking, and the current status of our understanding of breakup.
Understanding the Arctic Through A Co-Production of Knowledge
The Arctic is changing at an accelerated rate due to climate change and increased anthropogenic activity. Given the rate of change, never has it been more important to work toward a holistic understanding of the Arctic’s interconnecting systems.
VAWS: An Exploration of Kodiak Wind Events
In this presentation, the factors leading to this strong wind event will be explored in-depth. In addition, a climatology of the top 10 wind events to occur in Kodiak City will be presented and classified based on similar synoptic and mountain wave properties. Finally, a statistical gap wind tool has been developed to help forecasters anticipate wind events which will be shared.
VAWS: Integrating Polar-Orbiting Products into the Forecast Routine for Explosive Cyclogenesis & Extratropical Transition
This presentation seeks to show some early analysis and potential uses of the polar-orbiting datasets to compliment the geostationary imagery and therefore lead to earlier identification and possible warnings.
VAWS: Diagnosis and Validation of Surface Precipitation Type
In this talk, several issues related to surface hydrometeor classification are discussed. These include uncertainty in the observations, algorithms used to deduce the precipitation type from numerical weather prediction models, and the uncertainty in the models themselves.
VAWS: HRRR-AK: Status and Future of a High-Resolution Forecast Model for Alaska
This talk will cover the current configuration of HRRR-AK, known strengths and weaknesses, and ongoing work at GINA toward assimilating new satellite datasets for improved HRRR-AK forecasts.
VAWS: Seasonal Forecasting Using an Analog Technique
An IARC project with John Walsh and Rick Thoman, Brettschneider uses an analog technique to forecast seasonal conditions based on previous months’ conditions.
VAWS: A Five-Year Study of Lightning Patterns Across Southcentral Alaska
The five-year lightning climatology will be presented along with a discussion of weather patterns that lead to thunderstorms with varying frequencies of lightning strikes across Southcentral Alaska.
VAWS: VIIRS Imagery Applications for Fire Weather Monitoring
The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) aboard the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (NPP) satellite has been producing high-quality imagery since its launch in October 2011.
VAWS: Breaking Up is Hard to Do: The Use of Imagery from Weather Satellites to Anticipate and Observe Breakup Flooding in Alaska
A new generation of weather satellites is helping the National Weather Service (NWS) anticipate and monitor breakup flooding in new ways.
2018 National Climate Assessment: Overview, Alaska Chapter, and Public Input for the 2018 Report
The purpose of the presentation is to provide a brief background on the NCA, present some current topical areas will include, and seek public feedback. It is hoped that the audience can provides feedback on current landscape changes that are affecting their lifestyles.
Climate Scenarios and Vulnerabilities in the Aleutian and Bering Sea Islands
Nick Bond and John Walsh will briefly summarize the downscaling methods and output variables they are each generating from global climate models for the mid-21st century for the Aleutian and Bering Sea region.
Do Trophic Cascades Affect The Storage and Flux of Atmospheric Carbon? An Analysis for Sea Otters and Kelp Forests
We combined data collected over the last 40 years to estimate the indirect effects of sea otters on ecosystem carbon production and storage across their North American range from Vancouver Island to the western edge of the Aleutian Islands. We find that sea otters, by suppressing sea urchins, substantially increase kelp ecosystem productivity and have a strong influence on kelp carbon flux and storage.
A Human Health Perspective on Climate Change: Promoting Community-Based Adaptation Planning for Climate Change in Alaska
In this presentation, Drs. Driscoll and Sunbury describe the monitoring system and the information it provides for improving public-health decision making.
Climate Change Research on the Copper River Delta: The Emerging Effect of Local Variation
There are two areas of emphasis: (1) the timing of emergence of aquatic invertebrates in ponds across the entire Copper River Delta; and (2) variation in thermal regimes among streams and the associated salmon populations on the Delta.
Climate Change and Potential Impacts on Bristol Bay Sockeye Salmon Populations
This webinar will describe a conceptual model that is used to synthesize results from over 150 peer-reviewed journal articles to describe current trends in salmon populations, responses to climate change, predicted responses to climate change, and research needs in Alaska.