Our first project is called Student Hydrology and Atmospheric Monitoring Network (SHAMN). This project will help the community understand and make decisions based on new technologies. It will support and encourage broad collection of basic surface water levels, groundwater and hydrologic pressure, meteorological forecasts and modeling of weather data to interpret for the general public and steward education in monitoring and analyzing collected data.
SHAMN is not a landslide prediction or warning system! There are LOTS of variables that factor into how the earth will move. However, SHAMN will fill many “holes” in the data that scientists need to study those slides. As we learn more about our surroundings, we will feel safer and more knowledgeable within our land.
SHAMN is a network of instruments spread across the entire borough from Lutak Spur, to Beach Road and Mud Bay, to Cathedral, to Klukwan and then out the road. The State of Alaska is installing a single weather station at the top of the Beach Road slide on the 17th. The HSC SHAMN network will enhance that single sensor with over 20 more data locations! The Haines Science Center will implement these sensors under our Workforce Development branch and in cooperation with the Haines Avalanche Center. This workforce development project will not only bring needed instrumentation into the region, it will integrate the science with the Haines Borough School District curriculum to create experiences for our youth that will enhance the education and propel them into their careers or higher education. SHAMN will be a multi-year effort with every year of new students adding more and more sensors to the network.