Professor Mal McMillan
Professor in Earth ObservationResearch Overview
Summary
I am Co-Director of the joint Lancaster University-UKCEH Centre for Environmental Data Science, and co-lead for the UK Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling (CPOM) land ice altimetry activities. My research uses satellite measurements to study Earth's polar regions, specifically the ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica.
Research Interests
My interests lie in the continental-scale monitoring of Earth’s ice sheets, with a particular focus on utilising data from new satellite missions. I use these satellite data to assess how Greenland and Antarctica are changing, and what their contribution is to global sea level rise. More broadly, I aim to develop the observations required to understand the underlying forcing mechanisms that drive contemporary ice loss. You can find out more about some of my research under the publications tab below, or on my google scholar page.
Active Projects
- Cryo-TEMPO (further details).
- Earth Observation for Surface Mass Balance (further details).
- 4D Greenland (further details).
- Digital Twin Antarctica.
- 4D Antarctica (further details).
- Fundamental Data Records for Altimetry (further details).
Completed Projects
- Sentinel-3 Performance Improvement for Ice Sheets (further details).
- Sentinel-3 Tandem for Climate (further details).
- Polar Monitoring Mission, Assessment & Consolidation of Requirements.
I am also a member of several expert advisory groups for the European Space Agency:
- The Sentinel-3 Mission Performance Centre.
- The Sentinel-3 Validation Team.
- The CryoSat-2 Quality Working Group.
More broadly, some of the research topics that I am currently interested in are:
- SAR altimetry processing innovation over ice sheets.
- New satellite altimeter mission concepts.
- Assessments of Greenland Ice Sheet mass loss.
- Mapping subglacial outburst floods using radar altimetry.
- SAR altimeter measurements over glaciers and ice caps.
- Uncertainty of ice sheet altimeter retrievals.
Media
You can read about a selection of my research via the following links:
- Antarctica's increasing contribution to sea level over the past 25 years (World Economic Forum).
- First view of Antarctic change from Sentinel-3 (BBC).
- Increased ice loss from Antarctica (BBC).
- Dynamic activation of an Arctic Ice Cap (Washington Post).
- Subglacial lake drainage beneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet (BBC).
- Measuring Greenland’s Ice Loss (Washington Post, The Guardian, BBC).
Career Details
2018 – present | Reader in Environmental Sensing | Lancaster University.
2018 | Associate Professor | University of Leeds.
2014 – 2018 | Academic Research Fellow | University of Leeds.
2012 – 2014 | Postdoctoral Researcher | University of Leeds.
Qualifications
2012 | PhD in Satellite Geodesy | University of Edinburgh
2006 | MSc in Remote Sensing & Image Processing | University of Edinburgh
2003 | MA in Mathematics & Philosophy | University of Edinburgh
PhD Opportunities
I am always keen to hear from motivated students who are interested in pursuing a PhD in satellite geodesy, Earth Observation, and Polar Science. I welcome enquiries from students with a background in subjects such as Mathematics, Physics, Engineering and Computer Science, who are interested in applying numerical techniques to some of the most challenging environmental problems. If this is you then please get in touch to discuss current opportunities.
DSI: CryoSat-2 ThEMatic PrOducts | Cryo-TEMPO (Phase 2.1)
01/01/2022 → 31/12/2022
Research
DSI: 4DGreenland
19/11/2020 → 18/11/2022
Research
DSI: CryoSta-2 ThEMatic PrOducts | Cryo-TEMPO (Phase 1)
01/10/2020 → 31/12/2021
Research
DSI: Antarctica4d - supplement
15/09/2020 → 14/09/2021
Research
DSI: Earth Observation 4 Surface Mass Balance
01/09/2020 → 31/08/2022
Research
DSI: Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S)
01/08/2020 → 31/03/2023
Research
DSI: Antarctica4d
15/11/2019 → 15/10/2022
Research
Polar Monitoring Mission, Assessment and Consolidation of Requirements and Analysis of Campaign Data
03/12/2018 → 31/12/2021
Research
DSI: Centre for Polar Observation and Monitoring
01/11/2018 → 31/03/2021
Research
SEOM- Sentinel 3 Performance Improvements for ICE sheets (“SPICE”)
01/11/2018 → 31/08/2019
Research
Sentinel-3 Tandem for Climate (S3TC)
15/06/2018 → 31/12/2021
Research
DSI: Fundamental Data Records for Altimetry (FDR4ALT)
01/01/1900 → …
Research
NERC Centre for Polar Observation & Modelling
01/01/1900 → …
Research
- Centre of Excellence in Environmental Data Science
- DSI - Environment
- Geospatial Data Science