Research
Our research interests evolve in time, but at the heart of our work is the desire to understand how ice sheets behave, interact with the Earth’s climate, and their impact on sea level. This work is captured by this word cloud. We use a combination of tools that range from mathematics, models and satellite observations. Models are amazing as they allow to test “what if” questions and put together pieces of the puzzle that ice sheets represent. We work with simple models, but also more complex models for continental ice sheets and climate models.
Sophie's favorite projects are community efforts such as the Sea level Response to Ice Sheet Evolution (SeaRISE) and its follow-on efforts: the Ice Sheet Model Intercomparison Project for CMIP6 (ISMIP6 and ISMIP7). ISMIP6/7 brings together a consortium of international ice sheet models and coupled ice sheet-climate models to explore the sea level contribution from the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets. ISMIP6/7 is a collaboration between ice sheet and climate modelers, along with remote sensing experts for the polar regions. Check out ISMIP6 wiki for a description of the framework, participants and publications. We are now starting ISMIP7! Another super cool project is Ghub.
Research Projects
The research projects that I have been involved with are listed below:
PI on Eric and Wendy Schmidt Foundation Gift “Machine Learning and computation tools for climate change modeling” ($ 125,000)
Co-PI on NSF 2021 award “Collaborative Research: Response of the Greenland Ice Sheet to ocean and atmosphere forcing in a changing Arctic systém – integrating data and modeling to quantify rates of change” ($ 1,479,049). PI J. Briner UB
Co-PI on NASA ROSES 2020 award “Integration of ICESat-2 Observations into Ice Sheet Elevation Change Record to Investigate Ice Sheet Processes” ($ 550,000). PI B. Csatho UB
Co-PI on NASA ROSES 2019 award “A sea level early warning sysrem using MERRA2 and ISSM”. PI E. Larour JPL (UB amount $ 88,808)
PI on NASA ROSES 2019 award “Combining multi-satellite observations, modeling and Earth system data assimilation for understanding observed and projected sea level change” ($ 1,716,083)
PI on NASA ROSES 2016 award “Understanding current and projected sea level change with multi-satellite observations, modeling and climate system” ($ 1,830,118)
PI on NASA ROSES 2016 award “Improving the representation of ice sheet-ocean interactions in global climate models” ($ 1,045,219)
PI on NASA ROSES 2015 award “Leading the next generation of ice sheet modeling for sea level (ISMIP6)” ($ 700,000)
Co-PI on NASA ROSES 2015 award “Recent sea ice and ice sheet changes and their relation to the coupled ocean-atmosphere system” PI D. Menemenlis JPL
PI on NASA ROSES 2013 award “Feedback, processes and impacts of contemporary changes in the Arctic” ($ 1,076,687)
Co-PI on NASA ROSES 2012 award “Informing 100 year sea level rise projections using a coupled ISSM-CISM-ModelE capability” PI E. Larour JPL
PI on NASA ROSES 2010 award “Climate impact of improved ice-sheet ice-shelf ocean atmosphere interactions” ($ 2,126,746)
Co-PI on NASA ROSES 2010 award “Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean, Phase III (ECCO3): improved representation of ocean-ice interactions in earth system models” PI D. Menemenlis JPL (GSFC amount $100,000)
PI on NASA ROSES 2010 award “Estimating ice sheet contributions to sea level” ($ 632,006)
PI on NASA ROSES 2009 award “Investigation of optimal flight lines for bedrock sampling” ($ 106,921)
