Upload
others
View
0
Download
0
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
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
QuickTime™ and aSilicon Graphics JPEG decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
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
QuickTime™ and aDV/DVCPRO - NTSC decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
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
QuickTime™ and aYUV420 codec decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
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
QuickTime™ and aH.263 decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
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
QuickTime™ and aCinepak decompressor
are needed to see this picture.