Polar+ Ice Shelf

The aim of this project is to produce a suite of Earth Observation datasets to characterise how ice shelves in Antarctica have changed over the last decade, and to make use of these data sets to investigate the physical processes driving this evolution. This project will exploit the 25-year record of ESA satellite observations, including SMOS, S-1, S-2, and swath mode processed CryoSat-2 data, to produce a provides a comprehensive record of ice shelf change that extends the temporal coverage and improves the spatial resolution with which we can study Antarctic Ice Shelves. This will reveal small scale ice shelf features such as the propagation of cracks along the ice shelf surface, deep sub-shelf meltwater channels that can erode ice locally by up to 200 meters, and changes in the calving front and grounding line location. These datasets will improve our understanding of the way in which ice shelves around Antarctica are changing today, which we will use to discover new insights about the physical mechanisms driving change and affecting the future stability of ice shelves in this remote and inaccessible continent.