Cryospheric Sciences

The bi-polar behaviour of surge-type glaciers – Heidi Sevestre

Nanna B. Karlsson February 9, 2015

Wahlenbergbreen, Svalbard, in full surge mode (credits: Heïdi Sevestre)

Surge-type glaciers are the bi-polar member of the family of glacier dynamics. Every now and then they go into a complete fury and nobody really understands why. What are surge-type glaciers? Surge-type glaciers typically go through what we call the “surge cycle”. It is divided into two phases; a long quiescent phase during which the glacier is more or less dormant, followed by much shorter phase ...[Read More]

Around the Poles in approx. 100 minutes: Earth Observation for Climate Science and the Cryosphere – Anna Maria Trofaier and Anne Stefaniak

Nanna B. Karlsson January 30, 2015

Credit: ESA Sentinel-1 project http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Observing_the_Earth/Copernicus/Sentinel-1

Everyday we come into contact with technology that has changed the way we work, live and even think. Yet it is still easy to forget how integral satellite technology is to our daily lives; over two thousand artificial satellites currently orbit our planet – satellites for navigation, for telecommunication, for meteorology, and for environmental and climate monitoring. The latter two categori ...[Read More]

4 Reasons Why You Should Get Involved as an Early Career Scientist (& a caveat) – Allen Pope

Nanna B. Karlsson January 5, 2015

You’re an early career scientist (ECS), or maybe you mentor one. So you know that we ECS are busy people, with responsibilities ranging from coursework to teaching, research to outreach, and labwork to fieldwork. And now there is this listicle (no, I’m not embarrassed about choosing this format) telling you to make time in your already packed day to volunteer some of your time to a(n early career) ...[Read More]

My drone summer – Johnny Ryan

Johnny Ryan December 9, 2014

UAV on its way back from a mission with Store Glacier, West Greenland, in the background. Credit: Johnny Ryan

In the summer of 2014, our group at Aberystwyth University and the University of Cambridge decided to pursue an ambitious but exciting field campaign in West Greenland. The aim was to survey Store Glacier once a day using a fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) (see photo above for a view from the UAV on its way back from a mission with Store Glacier, West Greenland in the background). The UAV ...[Read More]

Welcome!

Nanna B. Karlsson December 3, 2014

Hello and welcome to the blog of the EGU Cryosphere Division. This blog aims to spread the enthusiasm for ice in all its forms – from snow, glaciers and ice sheets, to ice crystals, extra-terrestrial ice bodies and isotopic ice composition. The blog will feature stories related to cryospheric research, particularly the latest in fieldwork programmes, research projects and scientific results. With ...[Read More]