Screenshot of the Alaska Earthquake Center’s interactive tsunami hazard map centered on Cordova, Alaska. A satellite image shows the community, harbor and surrounding forested terrain, with a yellow boundary tracing the tsunami hazard area along the shoreline.

New interactive Alaska tsunami hazard map helps communities prepare

October 2, 2026
A new and interactive tsunami hazards tool created by the Alaska Earthquake Center brings evacuation information, hazard maps and other community...
Read more  
Explore

Ice flights

September 30, 2026
The 16-foot Supercooled Water Experimental Arctic Tower, or SWEAT, puts UAF on the leading edge of keeping drones airborne in winter
Read more  
Doctoral student Morakinyo Labiran stands at ACUASI’s ice tower beside his planned test item, a small rotor assembly mounted on metal rails and surrounded by wiring. He wears a heavy blue winter coat and gloves inside the translucent plastic-lined, scaffold-supported enclosure.

Drone research gets a lift from UAF ice tower

September 30, 2026
Traveling through any of Alaska’s major airports in winter usually means taking a shower. An aircraft de-icing shower. Ice buildup on wings...
Read more  
ACUASI’s yellow, white and blue Windracers ULTRA drone carrying chilled human blood samples takes off from Nenana Municipal Airport on Aug. 19, 2026. The twin-engine aircraft climbs with its landing gear still extended against a bright blue sky with thin clouds.

UAF drone program tests long-distance blood sample delivery

September 17, 2026
Alaska’s drone research program successfully completed a 1,000-kilometer test flight carrying human blood samples for the International Testing...
Read more  
Illustration showing orange solar wind flowing toward Earth and interacting with the blue and purple magnetic field around the planet. Labels compare the measured solar wind strength near L1 with the true solar wind strength closer to Earth, while two graphs below explain measurement uncertainty.

Extreme solar storms can hit Earth harder than thought

August 28, 2026
Scientists have greatly underestimated the impact an extreme solar storm can have on Earth, according to new research. A new way to account for...
Read more  
A glowing Alaska Defense Forum sign sits on a table at the 2025 event at the 8 Star Event Center in Fairbanks. The circular sign features an outline of Alaska over a globe, with conference attendees visible in the background.

Alaska Defense Forum 2026 focuses on community-military ties

August 21, 2026
Leaders in national defense, research and policy are gathering with local partners this week in Fairbanks for the annual Alaska Defense Forum...
Read more  
Rainy silver metal pedestrian bridge crosses Montana Creek in Juneau, surrounded by dense evergreen forest. The wet metal bridge deck leads into the trees, with the creek visible below on the right.

Alaska climate report: A wet and cool July

August 13, 2026
Talkeetna got soaked. The community nearly 200 air miles south of Fairbanks had its wettest July in just over a century, according to the monthly...
Read more  
Satellite map of the Nenana area in central Alaska showing locations for the three components of the Aug. 20, 2025, earthquake. Red markers north of Nenana identify the foreshock and very-low-frequency earthquake and the main shock location. A green marker shows the nearby NEA2 seismic station.
Explore

A whisper from within

July 27, 2026
An unusual signal seconds ahead of an Alaska earthquake could help solve a seismic mystery
Read more  
A helicopter carrying a water bucket flies beside a massive plume of gray and brown smoke rising above a forest from the lightning-caused Starry Fire, which started June 20 near Anderson.

Alaska climate report: A quiet June … except for all that lightning

July 21, 2026
June was mostly a meteorologically mild month across Alaska, with temperatures near or slightly below normal. Precipitation was below average in...
Read more  
Map of the United States showing the newest NSF Regional Innovation Engine awards to 12 teams across 20 states. Labeled markers identify each engine’s region, including the NSF Critical Mineral Accelerator Engine in Alaska; solid dots represent Cohort 1 and gear-shaped symbols represent Cohort 2.

National Science Foundation funds UAF-led critical minerals coalition

July 14, 2026
The U.S. National Science Foundation announced today that it will fund a major critical minerals project led by the University of Alaska...
Read more  
Satellite map of the Nenana area in central Alaska showing locations for the three components of the Aug. 20, 2025, earthquake. Red markers north of Nenana identify the foreshock and very-low-frequency earthquake and the main shock location. A green marker shows the nearby NEA2 seismic station.

Unusual seismic signal detected in 2025 central Alaska earthquake

July 7, 2026
An unusual seismic signal recorded less than a minute before a widely felt magnitude 4.2 earthquake in central Alaska may have given scientists a...
Read more  
Part of Fourth Avenue in downtown Anchorage lies collapsed after subsiding nearly 11 feet during the 1964 Great Alaska Earthquake, with damaged buildings, cars and trucks visible along the broken street.
Explore

A history of Alaska's seismic monitoring

June 30, 2026
Tracking Alaska's ground motion started with a single station installed in 1904. A second station was established in Fairbanks in 1935.
Read more  
A New York Air National Guard LC-130 Skibird cargo aircraft sits on a snow runway atop the Greenland Ice Cap under a clear blue sky. The ski-equipped aircraft, operated by the 109th Airlift Wing, is parked on the windswept ice with a small field camp, flags and support structures visible.

Frozen Arctic lakes becoming less capable of supporting cargo aircraft

June 4, 2026
The ability to land a military cargo plane on a frozen Arctic lake is becoming less likely as a warming environment reduces the number of...
Read more  
Visitors on the Geophysical Institute summer tour will learn about the large blue satellite antenna atop the Elvey Building and the sounding rocket installation displayed on the lawn outside. The photo shows the rocket model rising in the foreground in front of the building under a partly cloudy sky

Geophysical Institute, Poker Flat Research Range announce summer tours

May 26, 2026
The University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute is offering free public tours this summer to showcase some of its science facilities...
Read more  
A sled dog stands alert on a snowy porch in early April in Two Rivers, just outside of Fairbanks, Alaska, watching a pair of moose among birch and spruce trees in the forest beyond. Sunlight filters through the trees onto the snow-covered ground as the moose partially hide in the woods.

Alaska climate report: April brought sharp weather swings

May 18, 2026
April was a month of meteorological change in Alaska, as expected each year. What stood out this time, however, was the wide range of conditions...
Read more  
A NASA sounding rocket carrying the FOXSI-5 mission lifts off from Poker Flat Research Range north of Fairbanks at 11:23 a.m. Thursday, May 14, 2026. A bright plume of flame and smoke rises from the launch pad as the rocket climbs above a dense forest of spruce and leafless birch trees.

Mission to study solar flares launches from Poker Flat

May 15, 2026
A NASA sounding rocket launched from Poker Flat Research Range at 11:23 a.m. Thursday in a continuing mission that uses X-rays to study the sun...
Read more  
Explore

Waiting to fail

May 6, 2026
Research about 2025 Alaska landslide and tsunami warns that more are coming
Read more  
A wide aerial view shows the landslide scar, descending from a steep mountainside into the fjord near a glacier terminus. Gray rock and debris cut through the center of the mountain, reaching the water below, where floating ice and sediment spread across the fjord.

Study of 2025 Alaska landslide and tsunami contains warnings

May 6, 2026
Scientists studying the massive August 2025 landslide and tsunami in Southeast Alaska warn that the likelihood of similar large-scale events has...
Read more  

About

Since it was established by an Act of Congress in 1946, scientists at the Geophysical Institute have studied geophysical processes from the center of the Earth to the surface of the sun and beyond, turning data and observations into information useful for state, Arctic and national priorities.

Contact info

The GI is located on the West Ridge of the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus.

2156 Koyukuk Drive
University of Alaska Fairbanks
Fairbanks, AK 99775

We acknowledge the Alaska Native nations upon whose ancestral lands our campuses reside. In Fairbanks, our Troth Yeddha' Campus is located on the ancestral lands of the Dena people of the lower Tanana River.

The University of Alaska is an equal opportunity/equal access employer and educational institution. The university is committed to a policy of nondiscrimination against individuals on the basis of any legally protected status.

UA is committed to providing accessible websites. Learn more about UA’s notice of web accessibility.

Please report any problems or feedback concerning this website to uaf-gi-public-info@alaska.edu.

©2026 Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks.