Coastal Erosion Study
Oliktok and Barter Island Long Range Radar Sites

Previous studies have shown that the U.S. Air Force radar sites at Oliktok and Barter Island are especially vulnerable to coastal erosion along the Arctic coast of Alaska. AERC partnered with researchers from the University of Alaska Anchorage’s College of Engineering and BEM Systems, Inc. to develop comprehensive predictive models of shoreline positions over the next 50 years. These models account for expected increases in coastal erosion due to climate change and help to inform the U.S. Air Force’s decision-making process.

Project goals: Perform remote field work to document oceanographic conditions, collect sediment core samples from onshore and offshore areas adjacent to the sites, develop site-specific erosion models incorporating Global Climate Model predictions and local observation data, and evaluate models to determine their predictive skill through comparisons to existing models and a rigorous third party Quality Assurance/Quality Control process.