The primary interest of our research group is to understand the interactions of ice and climate, in particular to determine how the ice sheets in Antarctica and Greenland will respond to climate change in the coming century and how they will affect global sea level.

-- BREAKING NEWS -- August 18, 2011

We completed the first complete ice velocity map of Antarctica (link to our MEaSUREs page). This project is the outcome of a coordinated effort between NASA, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the European Space Agency (ESA), the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), as well as the Alaska Satellite Facility (ASF) and MacDonald, Dettwiler & Associates Ltd. (MDA). Results are published in Science (link to publication page with new entry), the paper is already available online on Science Express (link to Science Express).

“This is like seeing a map of all the oceans’ currents for the first time. It’s a game changer for glaciology. We’re seeing amazing flows from the heart of the continent that had never been described before.”
Eric Rignot, UCI

“These researchers created something deceptively simple: a map of the speed and direction of ice in Antarctica. But they used it to figure out something fundamentally new: that ice moves by slipping at its bed, not just at the coast but all the way to the deep interior of Antarctica.”  
Thomas Wagner, NASA

"Large scale mosaicking of moving ice with different satellites must have been very time consuming and frustrating work. We want to express our sincere respects to the JPL/UCI team. The continental velocity map greatly enhances people's knowledge on how the ice is moving on the unknown continent. It will also increase expectations for a follow-up map in several years." Masanobu Shimada, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency

“…one of the cardinal goals of International Polar Year's Space Task Group (IPY-STG) was to "achieve the first pole to coast velocity map of Antarctica. Spaceborne SAR imaging is recognized as the only way to achieve this goal … . I am really satisfied to see the fruits of your labour, and to see the achievement of this significant "first" for the benefit of Antarctic glaciology and cryospheric scientific discovery. Undoubtedly, one of the other immediate beneficiaries of your results will be the IPCC AR5 report.” Mark Drinkwater, ESA and Chair of IPY-STG

“To our knowledge, this is the first time that a tightly knit collaboration of civilian space agencies has worked together to create such a huge dataset of this type. It is a dataset of lasting scientific value in assessing the extent and rate of change in polar regions.” Yves Crevier, Canadian Space Agency

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Glaciology mixes a variety of scientific and engineering disciplines. Our research combines

• satellite remote sensing techniques (imaging radar, laser altimetry, radio echo sounding)
• airborne geophysical surveys,
• field surveys (GPR, GPS) and
• numerical modeling (ice sheet motion and ocean circulation near glaciers)

Our research group currently has 5 members at UCI (2 PhD, 2 staff scientists, 1 Professor) and 4 members at JPL (2 PhD, 2 full time researchers). The two teams collaborate closely. Check out the opportunities to join our team.

Rapid changes are taking place in polar and sub-polar regions. At the same time, we are able to look at entire ice sheets at an unprecedented level of spatial detail. This is therefore an exciting time of exploration, discovery, major scientific advances, and emerging new science of high societal relevance. In addition, there are many opportunities to connect with amazing natural landscapes.