Outburst flood monitoring at Mendenhall Glacier’s Suicide Basin, Juneau, Alaska

Abstract

Since 2011, Mendenhall River has experienced several large outburst floods that originate at Mendenhall Glacier’s Suicide Basin. The floods have resulted in inundated homes along the river, flooded and evacuated campsites, and closure of several residential roads. In this project we observe the evolution of lake level, ice dynamics, and ice surface mass balance in Suicide Basin, using in-situ and remote sensing instruments such as water level gauges, time-lapse cameras, and drones. These measurements support longer-term flood risk assessments and constrain real-time flood modeling efforts. The project is in collaboration with the U.S. Geological Survey, the NOAA Weather Service office, and the City and Borough of Juneau, and involves graduate and undergraduate students from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and the University of Alaska Southeast.