Identifying fine-scale fractures on Antarctic ice shelves using remote sensing

Project overview

Antarctic ice shelves are critical for controlling the stability of ice streams, and hence modulating the contribution of the Antarctic Ice Sheet to sea level rise. Recent work has focused on the vulnerability of ice shelves to meltwater-induced hydrofracture (e.g. Banwell et al. 2013) via surface features such as rifts and crevasses. Furthermore, remote sensing methods to identify fractures in ice shelves has progressed significantly (e.g. Izeboud and Lhermitte, 2023), but most work takes advantage of medium-resolution (10-30 m) satellite sensors such as Landsat-8/9, Sentinel-2, and Sentinel-1. However, the release of new sensors and datasets – such as ICESat-2 laser altimetry and the 2 m resolution Reference Elevation Model of Antarctica (REMA) version 2 – provide opportunities for comprehensive observation of time-evolving 3D topography across Antarctica at metre-scale resolutions.

This project aims to explore the limits of new datasets in mapping sub-decametre scale fracture features on Antarctic ice shelves. Recent work in Greenland has shown success in identifying these high-resolution fractures (Chudley et al. 2021) and the student would work with these methods, and others as directed by their interests, to map fine-scale fractures in Antarctica and explore their connections to the ice dynamic context, such as ice velocity and strain rate, ice shelf thickness, and their temporal evolution into larger rifts and instabilities.

Candidates possessing knowledge of glaciology and/or remote sensing and GIS are particularly welcome. Eligible applicants can apply to the Durham Inspired Climate Change and Polar Research Scholarship for funding support for this project.

CREDIT: https://www.pgc.umn.edu/projects/the-reference-elevation-model-of-antarctica-release-1/

If you are interested in this project, please contact the lead supervisors:

Prof Chris Stokes          c.r.stokes@durham.ac.uk

Dr Tom Chudley            thomas.r.chudley@durham.ac.uk

Key references

Banwell, A. F., MacAyeal, D. R., & Sergienko, O. V. (2013). Breakup of the Larsen B Ice Shelf triggered by chain reaction drainage of supraglacial lakes. Geophysical Research Letters, 40(22), 5872-5876. https://doi.org/10.1002/2013GL057694

Chudley, T. R., Christoffersen, P., Doyle, S. H., Dowling, T. P. F., Law, R., Schoonman, C. M., Bougamont, M. & Hubbard, B. (2021). Controls on water storage and drainage in crevasses on the Greenland ice sheet. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 126(9), e2021JF006287. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JF006287

Izeboud, M., & Lhermitte, S. (2023). Damage detection on Antarctic ice shelves using the normalised radon transform. Remote Sensing of Environment, 284, 113359. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2022.113359