Science: Research Projects at NSIDC

NSIDC scientists are known internationally for their expertise in a range of fields related to the cryosphere. In-house scientists investigate the dynamics of Antarctic ice shelves, monitor the links between Arctic sea ice and climate, study new techniques for the remote sensing of snow and freeze/thaw cycles of soil, account for snow in hydrologic modeling, research large-scale shifts in polar climate, investigate seasonally and permanently frozen ground, and work to improve understanding of river and lake ice. Browse the table below to view project summaries.

Scientists pursue their work as part of the CIRES Cryospheric and Polar Processes Division, at the University of Colorado at Boulder. National agencies fund research through the peer review proposal process.

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ARCTIC PEOPLES [top] Principal Investigator
Bridging Perspectives from Remote Sensing and Inuit Communities on Changing Sea Ice Cover in the Baffin Bay Region Walt Meier
Data Management for a Community-Based Monitoring Network: A Pilot Project Roger Barry
The Dynamics of Human-Sea Ice Relationships: Comparing Changing Environments in Alaska, Nunavut, and Greenland (also referred to as the "Siku-Inuit-Hila" project) Shari Gearheard
Igliniit Project Shari Gearheard
An Integrated Assessment of the Impacts of Climate Variability on the Alaskan North Slope Coastal Region Jim Maslanik (CCAR)
An Integrated Investigation of Coupled Human and Sea Ice Systems: A Comparison of Changing Environments and Their Uses in the North American Arctic Roger Barry
ARCTIC HYDROLOGY & CLIMATE [top] Principal Investigator
Collaborative Research: A Heat Budget Analysis of the Arctic Climate System Mark Serreze
Collaborative Research: A Land Surface Model Hind-cast of the Terrestrial Arctic Drainage System Mark Serreze
Collaborative Research – IPY: Arctic System Reanalysis Mark Serreze
Hydrologic Responses to a Shrinking Arctic Sea Ice Cover Mark Serreze
Pan-Arctic Land Surface Modeling Andrew Slater
Satellite Studies of Arctic Climate Connections Between Sea Ice, the Greenland Ice Sheet, the Adjacent Land and Atmospheric Cloud Properties Julienne Stroeve
Synthesis of Modes of Ocean-Ice-Atmosphere Covariability in the Arctic System from Multivariate Century-Scale Observations Mark Serreze
ANTARCTIC GLACIOLOGY & CLIMATE [top] Principal Investigator
Antarctic Glaciological Data Center: Continued Data Collection and Management for Antarctic Glaciology Ted Scambos
"At Risk" Ice Shelves and Outlet Glaciers Ted Scambos
Building the VELMAP Database for Antarctic Outlet Glaciers Ted Scambos
Collaborative Research: Characteristics of Snow Megadunes and their Potential Effects on Ice Core Interpretation Ted Scambos
Detecting Change in Glacier Systems (GLIMS) Richard Armstrong
Detecting Ice Sheet Changes via Optical Image Differencing Ted Scambos
Improved Ice Sheet DEMs Using MODIS and GLAS Ted Scambos
An International Workshop on the Ice and Climate System of the Antarctic Peninsula Ted Scambos
Investigating Iceberg Evolution During Drift and Break-Up: A Proxy for Climate-Related Changes in Antarctic Ice Shelves Ted Scambos
CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE CRYOSPHERE [top] Principal Investigator
Collaborative Research: A Heat Budget Analysis of the Arctic Climate System Mark Serreze
The Contribution of Land-Surface Processes to Climate Change on the Tibetan Plateau Oliver W. Frauenfeld
The Dynamics of Human-Sea Ice Relationships: Comparing Changing Environments in Alaska, Nunavut, and Greenland (also referred to as the "Siku-Inuit-Hila" project) Shari Gearheard
An International Workshop on the Ice and Climate System of the Antarctic Peninsula Ted Scambos
State of the Cryosphere Web Site Richard Armstrong
GLACIERS & ICE SHEETS [top] Principal Investigator
"At Risk" Ice Shelves and Outlet Glaciers Ted Scambos
Building the VELMAP Database for Antarctic Outlet Glaciers Ted Scambos
Detecting Change in Glacier Systems (GLIMS) Richard Armstrong
Detecting Ice Sheet Changes via Optical Image Differencing Ted Scambos
Improved Ice Sheet DEMs Using MODIS and GLAS Ted Scambos
An International Workshop on the Ice and Climate System of the Antarctic Peninsula Ted Scambos
Investigating Iceberg Evolution During Drift and Break-Up: A Proxy for Climate-Related Changes in Antarctic Ice Shelves Ted Scambos
Satellite Studies of Arctic Climate Connections Between Sea Ice, the Greenland Ice Sheet, the Adjacent Land and Atmospheric Cloud Properties Julienne Stroeve
FROZEN GROUND [top] Principal Investigator
Biogenic Heat Production in Frozen Tundra and Permafrost: Adaptation to Cold and Impact on Biogeochemical Processes Tingjun Zhang
Changes in Freeze-Thaw Cycle and Permafrost Dynamics, and their Hydrological Implications over the Russian Arctic Drainage Basin Tingjun Zhang
Freezing and Thawing Cycle of Soils at Local, Regional, and Global Scales Tingjun Zhang
Hydrological Response to Changes in Active Layer and Permafrost Conditions in the Russian Arctic Tingjun Zhang
Interactions Between Frozen Ground in the Russian Arctic and Atmospheric Circulation Oliver Frauenfeld
Investigation of the Spatial and Temporal Variations of the Seasonally Frozen Ground in the Contiguous United States Tingjun Zhang
Permafrost Models Intercomparison Project Tingjun Zhang
SEA ICE [top] Principal Investigator
Bridging Perspectives from Remote Sensing and Inuit Communities on Changing Sea Ice Cover in the Baffin Bay Region Walt Meier
Diagnosing the Declining Arctic Ice Cover Julienne Stroeve
The Dynamics of Human-Sea Ice Relationships: Comparing Changing Environments in Alaska, Nunavut, and Greenland (also referred to as the "Siku-Inuit-Hila" project) Shari Gearheard
Hydrologic Responses to a Shrinking Arctic Sea Ice Cover Mark Serreze
Ice Freeboard, Roughness and Topography from UAV Laser Profilometry, Satellite and Surface Observations: Relationships to Ice Dynamical and Thermodynamical Properties Jim Maslanik (CCAR)
An Integrated Investigation of Coupled Human and Sea Ice Systems: A Comparison of changing Environments and Their Uses in the North American Arctic Roger Barry
Investigations of Sea Ice State using Multisensor Data, Time History and Lagrangian Tracking Julienne Stroeve
Kalman Filter Techniques for the Assimilation of Ice Concentration Data into an Ice Prediction Model Walt Meier
Potential Improved Sea Ice Analyses and Forecasts via Assimilation of Sea Ice Motions Walt Meier
Satellite Studies of Arctic Climate Connections between Sea Ice, the Greenland Ice Sheet, the Adjacent Land and Atmospheric Cloud Properties Julienne Stroeve
Synthesis of Modes of Ocean-Ice-Atmosphere Covariability in the Arctic System from Multivariate Century-Scale Observations Mark Serreze
Twentieth Century Sea Ice Conditions in the Eurasian Arctic from a Comprehensive Reconstitution and Synthesis of Russian Data Sources with Modern Satellite Data Roger Barry
SNOW COVER & SNOW HYDROLOGY [top] Principal Investigator
Collaborative Research: Characteristics of Snow Megadunes and their Potential Effects on Ice Core Interpretation Ted Scambos
Improving Operational Streamflow Forecasting in the Upper Colorado River Basin Andrew Slater
Monthly EASE-Grid Snow Water Equivalent Climatology Richard Armstrong
Radiative Effects of Desert Dust Deposits in Alpine Snow: Hydrologic Aspects Thomas H. Painter
Snow Cover Validation Case Study: Tibet Plateau Richard Armstrong
Validation of AMSR-E Snow Products Richard Armstrong
REMOTE SENSING & ALGORITHM DEVEOLOPMENT [top] Principal Investigator
Bridging Perspectives from Remote Sensing and Inuit Communities on Changing Sea Ice Cover in the Baffin Bay Region Walt Meier
Building the VELMAP Database for Antarctic Outlet Glaciers Ted Scambos
Improved Ice Sheet DEMs Using MODIS and GLAS Ted Scambos
Investigations of Sea Ice State Using Multisensor Data, Time History, and Lagrangian Tracking Julienne Stroeve
Merging of Precursor and EOS Data Sets: Resampling of AMSR-E Swath TBs to EASE-Grid Richard Armstrong
Monthly EASE-Grid Snow Water Equivalent Climatology Richard Armstrong
Observations for SEARCH: Data Integration for Arctic Reanalysis and Change Detection Florence Fetterer
Snow Cover Validation Case Study: Tibet Plateau Richard Armstrong
Validation of AMSR-E Snow Products Richard Armstrong
CARBON CYCLE [top] Principal Investigator
Impacts of Soil Freeze/Thaw Dynamics on the North American Carbon Cycle Tingjun Zhang
Carbon Data Assimilation Wouter Peters (CIRES)
Flux Tower Spatial Coherence Chris Williams (University of Maryland)
DATA MANAGEMENT [top] Principal Investigator
Antarctic Glaciological Data Center: Continued Data Collection and Management for Antarctic Glaciology Ted Scambos
Data Management for a Community-Based Monitoring Network: A Pilot Project Roger Barry
Detecting Change in Glacier Systems (GLIMS) Richard Armstrong
Exchange for Local Observations and Knowledge of the Arctic (ELOKA) Shari Gearheard
NOAA@NSIDC Florence Fetterer

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News
6 October 2009
Arctic sea ice extent remains low; 2009 sees third-lowest mark
17 September 2009
Media Advisory: Arctic sea ice reaches lowest extent for 2009
9 June 2009
BBC films NSIDC researcher at work in Nunavut, Canada
19 May 2009
Mark Serreze named NSIDC director
 
See Also

Scientists at NSIDC

 
Contacts

General public and data users: nsidc@nsidc.org or
+1 303.492.6199

Members of the press: leitzell@nsidc.org or
+1 303.492.1497

 

This page was last updated 27 January 2009.


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