About us

The Polar and Alpine Science group’s focus is on improving our understanding of ice-climate interactions. In our current work, we study changes across the Arctic, Antarctic and Himalayas using Earth observation, geophysical modelling, fieldwork, laboratory and data science techniques. Our research covers a broad range of cryospheric topics that furthers understanding of:

• Ice mass, volume and elevation changes from altimetry and DEMs.
• Surpraglacial and subglacial hydrology from SAR and optical satellite imagery, altimetry and numerical modelling.
• Ice shelf calving and stability using a combination of earth observation data and AI.
• The impacts of extreme Arctic events on ice masses and the role of interactions between land ice, sea ice, the atmosphere and the ocean.
• Englacial and subglacial ice properties from field-based borehole investigations.
• Iceberg detection in SAR satellite imagery using machine learning and computer vision.
• Nutrient and solute dynamics in glacial systems from geochemical analysis.
• Deep learning and machine learning applications of earth observation data.

Through advancing knowledge of glaciated environments, our work develops insight into how the cryosphere responds to climate change, ultimately aiding in the development of effective adaptation and mitigation strategies.