University of Alaska Southeast professor of environmental science Christian Kienholz gets his drone ready for flight on a rock outcrop near Suicide Basin on Friday, June 21, 2019. (Nolin Ainsworth | Juneau Empire)

University of Alaska Southeast professor of environmental science Christian Kienholz gets his drone ready for flight on a rock outcrop near Suicide Basin on Friday, June 21, 2019. (Nolin Ainsworth | Juneau Empire)

Drones on ice: Scientists take to the air to study Suicide Basin

UAS students use drones for environmental science research

Standing over an iceberg-littered Suicide Basin on a sunny Friday, University of Alaska Southeast environmental science professor Christian Kienholz gives some background on glacier lake outburst floods, or jökulhlaups, that originate here.

“There’s some kind of pipe that it finds down there and then it just drains,” said Kienholz, making a small circle with his thumb and pointer finger. “It might be a small pipe at the beginning, a small conduit, and because you have more and more water going out, it’s this exponential increase of this pipe.”

A number of local scientists are studying changes to Suicide Basin, but Kienholz is one of the only ones using drones to analyze ice and water levels in the basin. The use of drones for environmental monitoring has become so common in the professional arena that Kienholz started to teach the methods to students.

“The whole glacier is thinning, it changes year to year, so we’re using drones to measure how fast the ice dam is thinning because that affects the volume of water that can be stored behind the ice dam,” Kienholz said.

Suicide Basin, with Suicide Glacier in the top left corner, seen on Friday, June 21, 2019. (Nolin Ainsworth | Juneau Empire)

Suicide Basin, with Suicide Glacier in the top left corner, seen on Friday, June 21, 2019. (Nolin Ainsworth | Juneau Empire)

Most Juneau residents first became acquainted with Suicide Basin in 2011, when water from the bowl adjacent to the Mendenhall Glacier flooded Mendenhall Lake and Mendenhall River. The jökulhlaup has taken place every summer since then, sometimes flooding riverside homes and campsites.

The Suicide Glacier, a hanging glacier located high above the basin, once occupied Suicide Basin. However, sometime in the last 30 years, the glacier split in two parts, with the lower part eventually forming a lake bordered on one side by the Mendenhall Glacier.

The aerial images collected from the drones — flown in a grid pattern over the basin— are turned into photo maps and digital elevation models using special software. By taking comparing these maps and models over time, Kienholz and others can measure things like the lowering of the ice dam, volume of ice in the basin and how much water has left the basin in a flooding event.

Christian Kienholz, research assistant professor of environmental science at the University of Alaska Southeast, speaks with Gabriel Wolken, research assistant professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, while surveying Suicide Basin using a drone on Friday, June 21, 2019. (Nolin Ainsworth | Juneau Empire)

Christian Kienholz, research assistant professor of environmental science at the University of Alaska Southeast, speaks with Gabriel Wolken, research assistant professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, while surveying Suicide Basin using a drone on Friday, June 21, 2019. (Nolin Ainsworth | Juneau Empire)

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) and Alaska Climate Adaption Science Center have worked closely with UAS to carry out the research.

“We’re doing all the drone work and elevation models, but then we use all the USGS products to actually analyze it more in depth,” Kienholz said. “We’re tracking it over time and seeing how the water is going up using camera images.”

Skye Hart, 20, was one of the students in the drones class, and is helping with the research on Suicide Basin. In the class, students learned drone operation, photogrammetry, GIS (Geographic Information System) skills and GPS skills while studying the erosion of the banks of the Mendenhall River.

“It was really relevant to what we do now,” Hart said. “I get to learn more about what we did in the class and actually use the skills I learned directly.”


• Contact reporter Nolin Ainsworth at 523-2272 or nainsworth@juneauempire.com.


More in News

Michael Penn / Juneau Empire File
The Aurora Borealis glows over the Mendenhall Glacier in 2014.
Aurora Forecast

Forecasts from the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Geophysical Institute for the week of March. 19

Gov. Mike Dunleavy discusses his proposed budget for the 2024 fiscal year during a press conference at the Alaska State Capitol in December 2022. A lower-than-expected revenue forecast is raising questions about what the state's spending plan will ultimately look like. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire File)
Lower revenue forecast increases budget woes for state lawmakers

Coming up with a spending plan for next year and beyond will be a complex series of negotiations.

Office Max at the Nugget Mall in the Mendenhall Valley advertised Permanent Fund dividend sales in July 2020. Alaskans have until the end of the month to apply for the PFD. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire File)
PFD application deadline is next week

Amount in flux as state revenue forecasts lower than expected.

This is a photo of the current site plan of the proposed Capital Civic Center. On Monday night the Assembly authorized $5 million to go toward the project that is expected to cost $75 million. (City and Borough of Juneau)
City OKs $5M toward proposed Capital Civic Center

The money is intended to show the city’s commitment to the project as it seeks federal funding

(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire File)
Police calls for Tuesday, March 21, 2023

This report contains information from law enforcement and public safety agencies.

This September 2015, photo provided by NOAA Fisheries shows an aerial view of adult female Southern Resident killer whale (J16) swimming with her calf (J50). New research suggests that inbreeding may be a key reason that the Pacific Northwest’s endangered population of killer whales has failed to recover despite decades of conservation efforts. The so-called “southern resident” population of orcas stands at 73 whales. That’s just two more than in 1971, after scores of the whales were captured for display in marine theme parks around the world. (NOAA Fisheries / Vancouver Aquarium)
The big problem for endangered orcas? Inbreeding

Southern resident killer whales haven’t regularly interbred with other populations in 30 generations.

Juneau Brass Quintet co-founding member Bill Paulick along with Stephen Young performs “Shepherd’s Hey” to a packed house at the Alaska State Museum on Saturday as part of the quintet’s season-ending performance. Friends of the Alaska State Library, Archives and Museum sponsored the event with proceeds going to the musicians and FoSLAM. (Jonson Kuhn / Juneau Empire)
Top brass turns out for event at State Museum

Free performance puts a capt on a busy season.

Alaska’s state legislators are slated to get the equivalent of 6,720 additional $5 bills in their salary next year via a $33,600 raise to a total of $84,000 due to a veto Monday by Gov. Mike Dunleavy of bill rejecting raises for legislative and executive branch employees. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File)
Veto negates rejection of pay hikes for governor, legislators

Dunleavy clears way for 67% hike in legislative pay, 20% in his to take effect in coming months

Most Read