the cryosphere and space - earth online · the cryosphere and space seymour laxon centre for polar...

Seymour Laxon2nd Envisat Summer School

The CryoSphere and Space

Seymour LaxonCentre for Polar Climate and Modelling,

University College London

•Why is ice important?•Are the polar ice caps melting?•Why use satellites?

Seymour Laxon2nd Envisat Summer School

Seymour Laxon2nd Envisat Summer School

Seymour Laxon2nd Envisat Summer School

Courtesy Planetary Visions Ltd.

Seymour Laxon2nd Envisat Summer School

Ice Sheet Mass Balance

Seymour Laxon2nd Envisat Summer School

Ice Sheet Mass Balance -2

Seymour Laxon2nd Envisat Summer School

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Courtesy Planetary Visions Ltd.

Seymour Laxon2nd Envisat Summer School

Europe after a 100m sea level rise

Seymour Laxon2nd Envisat Summer School

Sea Ice Feedbacks

Seymour Laxon2nd Envisat Summer School

Seymour Laxon2nd Envisat Summer School

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Seymour Laxon2nd Envisat Summer School IPCC, 2001

Seymour Laxon2nd Envisat Summer School

Seymour Laxon2nd Envisat Summer School

Arctic Ocean Stratification

Seymour Laxon2nd Envisat Summer School

Arctic Ocean Stratification

Seymour Laxon2nd Envisat Summer School

Seymour Laxon2nd Envisat Summer School

Seymour Laxon2nd Envisat Summer School

Seymour Laxon2nd Envisat Summer School

Seymour Laxon2nd Envisat Summer School

Predicted change sea ice cover 2080

Seymour Laxon2nd Envisat Summer School

Seymour Laxon2nd Envisat Summer School

HADCM3Sea Ice

Current

2xCo2

[Bitz and Roe, J. Climate, in Press]

GCM Predictions of Arctic Ice

Seymour Laxon2nd Envisat Summer School

Seymour Laxon2nd Envisat Summer School

Seymour Laxon2nd Envisat Summer School

Seymour Laxon2nd Envisat Summer School

Seymour Laxon2nd Envisat Summer School

Seymour Laxon2nd Envisat Summer School

Seymour Laxon2nd Envisat Summer School

• Interactions of the cryosphere with the climate are very complex

• The polar regions are very large but inhospitable and so are very poorly observed

• Models of the cryosphere are poorly constrained and therefore contain many uncertainties

Why is the picture so confusing?

Seymour Laxon2nd Envisat Summer School

Live from the North Pole

Seymour Laxon2nd Envisat Summer School

Live from the North Pole

Seymour Laxon2nd Envisat Summer School

October

Seymour Laxon2nd Envisat Summer School

November

Seymour Laxon2nd Envisat Summer School

December

Seymour Laxon2nd Envisat Summer School

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The Dangers of Working at the Poles

Seymour Laxon2nd Envisat Summer School

The Dangers of Working at the Poles

Seymour Laxon2nd Envisat Summer School

Solar & Terrestrial EmissionEn

ergy

UV Near IR

Visible - solar energy reflected

by Earth

Thermal - heat energy emitted

by Earth

Atmospheric Transmission

Thermal infrared Wavelength λ

Seymour Laxon2nd Envisat Summer School

RA(-2)

(A)ATSR

(A)SARMWR

Seymour Laxon2nd Envisat Summer School

Sea Ice Cover in the NH using visible and passive microwave data

• Visible channels provide direct measurement of surface albedo and ice cover but coverage is limited by clouds and darkness.

• Passive microwave data provides day/night almost all weather coverage.

Seymour Laxon2nd Envisat Summer School

Sea Ice Temperature from thermal readiometry

Seymour Laxon2nd Envisat Summer School

Temperature Forcing - Mark SerrezeKwok

Seymour Laxon2nd Envisat Summer School

Greenland Summer Melt

Liquid water in snow and firn changes the radar backscatter which can then be used to map the extent of the summer melt

**Albedo & Energy Balance

Seymour Laxon2nd Envisat Summer School

Satellite Altimetry

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Seymour Laxon2nd Envisat Summer School

Freeboard

h =ct2

Satellite Altimetry - Measurement Principle

Seymour Laxon2nd Envisat Summer School

ICESat

Seymour Laxon2nd Envisat Summer School

ICESat Antarctic Topography

Seymour Laxon2nd Envisat Summer School

CourtesyTom Agnew

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