Eyes on the Ice: Remote Sensing of Arctic Sea Ice
Arctic sea ice, once a thick, healthy, extensive barrier between the atmosphere and ocean, is consistently retreating to extents lower than the long-term average. Although models tend to agree that sea ice is diminishing quickly, there is a wide spread of predictions of when we will reach an ice-free summer Arctic. To best predict the future extent and thickness of Arctic sea ice, we must refine our understanding of processes represented in models. This seminar focuses on the work to extract detailed information from remotely sensed observations to study ocean and sea ice properties and processes at both large and small scales. Dr. Buckley uses high-resolution satellite and airborne imagery and altimetry to understand the evolution of the ice cover through spring and summer. As the Arctic warms and the sea ice continues to disintegrate and become less reliable and stable for in situ measurements, remote sensing will become increasingly important for monitoring the polar regions, an indicator of global climate change.
Bio: Dr. Ellen Buckley is an Assistant Professor in Earth Science and Environmental Change at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Her research aims to understand the ongoing changes in the polar oceans by synthesizing information from remote sensing observations. She was previously a graduate student member of the NASA Ice Cloud and land Elevation Satellite -2 (ICESat-2) and the NOAA Ocean Remote Sensing Sea Ice and Polar Dynamics Science Team. Ellen received her PhD in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at the University of Maryland in 2022 for studying melt ponds on Arctic sea ice from airborne and spaceborne imagery and altimetric data.
