Methane continues to increase in our atmosphere, and now researchers want to quantify the role of high Northern latitudes to this increase. Earth-observing satellites open the window to this remote, rapidly changing environment. Carbon cycle in the Arctic and boreal regions links strongly to the evolving cryosphere – ice, snow and frost. Especially natural methane …
The overarching objective of this activity is to explore the potential of GOCE to improve lithospheric modelling over Antarctica, to reduce uncertainties in bedrock topography and to study the implication on GIA modelling based on the derived information. This ismotivated by recent scientific developments, applications and new products that have emerged from ESA’s GOCE mission. …
The multi-disciplinary, long-term, satellite-based Earth Observations (EO) form a tremendous synergy of data and information products that should to be more systematically and consistently explored, from the short synoptic time scales to the longer decadal time scales. This lays the rationale for the ESA funded Arktalas Hoavva study project. A stepwise multi-modal analyses framework approach …
Ice sheets are a key component of the Earth system, impacting on global sea level, ocean circulation and bio-geochemical processes. Significant quantities of liquid water are being produced and transported at the ice sheet surface, base, and beneath its floating sections, and this water is in turn interacting with the ice sheet itself. Surface meltwater …
The Arctic is warming twice as fast as the global average, with consequences felt across the whole planet. A better scientific understanding of the complexities of the fragile Arctic environment is critical for policy decisions on climate-change mitigation and adaptation, and for setting up a framework for managing Arctic development sustainably. The Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory …
Why has Antarctic sea ice experienced a small increase in extent over the past decades in stark contrast to the rapid decline observed in the Arctic? What role are the Southern Ocean and sea ice playing in controlling the Deep Water formation and thermohaline circulation and the melting of the Antarctic ice shelves and sea …
Lack of in-situ measurements of ice temperature (boreholes) limit our capabilities to understand ice sheet dynamics. Researchers combined L-band (1.4 GHz) passive microwave observations from SMOS over Antarctica with glaciological and emission models to infer information on glaciological properties of the ice sheet at various depths, including temperature. Comparison with existing models showed that differences …
7 years of CryoSat-2, jointly with other satellite altimetry data allowed scientists from DTU Space to develop an altimetric gravity model and exploit it to derive the first ever Arctic bathymetry map predicted from marine gravity. This has been combined with the existing IBCAO bathymetry map (derived from sparse ship soundings) to create a new …
The A+5 study belongs to the STSE ARCTIC+ cluster of projects and specifically contributes to the Year of Polar Prediction (YoPP). A+5 is constructing a flexible system for Arctic Mission Benefit Analysis (ArcMBA) that evaluates in a mathematically rigorous fashion the observational constraints imposed by individual and groups of EO (and in situ) data products …
Ice sheet dynamics is strongly related to basal melting and geothermal heat flow, which in turn is influenced by crustal thickness variations. On the other hand, the lithosphere of the Antarctic continent is still poorly known. Different datasets (airborne gravity and magnetic measurements, seismological campaigns) exist but mostly suffer from limited spatial coverage over large …
