AK RWO 266: modeling of vertical lake profile data in southwest alaska parksperiod of performance: 09 19 2025 - 09 30 2026ABSTRACT summary: project abstract summary AK new RWO include a plain language…

AK RWO 266: modeling of vertical lake profile data in southwest alaska parksperiod of performance: 09 19 2025 - 09 30 2026ABSTRACT summary: project abstract summary AK new RWO include a plain language description award purpose (avoid acronyms or federal or agency-specific terminology) - the purpose of this project is to use existing lake water quality data collected over more than ten years by the national park service to model trends in lake water quality data across lakes in southwest alaska national parks. The research will be guided by questions about how lakes may differ from one another, depending on their environmental characteristics such as lake depth and basin or water surface area, and also how their water quality may be changing over time and may be forecast to change further in the future. These lakes are also important habitat for rearing bristol BAY sockeye salmon, and conditions in these lakes will be assessed to understand how lake water quality may influence the growth requirements of these fish in their early life stages. Activities to be performed - activities will include a synthetic analysis throught statistical modeling of these data to explore changes in water quality over time, to characterize water quality conditions over space within a lake and across a lake gradient, and to identify any consistent trends in water quality across lakes to allow forecasting of future conditions. Additional modeling will focus on the bioenergetic demands of sockeye salmon in these lakes, and how lake water quality may be influencing their growth across lakes and over time. Activities under this award will be based on analysis of existing data, with no new fieldwork or data collection anticipated. Deliverables and expected outcomes -expected products include annual progress memos, a final report in the form of publication(S) in peer-reviewed scientific journals, and presentations at one or scientific conferences at the state or national level. Intended beneficiary(IES) -the principal beneficiaries of the research carried out under this award will be managers and research personnel associated with southwest alaskan national parks. Secondary beneficiaries include other state and federal entities with an interest in water quality monitoring within the state of alaska, as well as a broad array of commercial, recreational, and subsistence fishing interests who rely on bristol BAY sockeye salmon populations. Subrecipient activities, if known or specified at the time of award -none specified at this time.