Air temperature distribution across melting glaciers: implications for melt models and glacier response to climate.

Near surface air temperature, Ta, is the most important variable determining the melt rate at a snow or ice surface. For input to models of glacier melt, Ta is normally extrapolated from point measurements, on or off glacier, to the glacier-wide area using constant elevation lapse rates, which are commonly assumed to be uniform in time and space. Recent field studies have show these assumptions to be false and this fact, together with the lack of detailed Ta measurements across glaciers, is a fundamental limitation in modelling the melt response of glaciers to climate. This project will address this important issue through two objectives: i) to characterise and understand the spatio-temporal variability of Ta over melting glaciers and identify its main controls and physical drivers; and ii) to develop numerical models of glacier Ta regimes, including the main controls identified in i), but which can be driven using glacier topographic and morphometric characteristics obtained from digital elevation models, remote sensing and published glacier inventories, together with outputs from weather forecast models and reanalysis meteorological data. The outcomes of this work will help to provide more realistic assessments of glacier response to climate change, used, for example, in water resource management in mountain regions. The project will involve detailed measurements of spatial and temporal Ta variability, together with other meteorological measurements, at dense networks of sensors on a debris-free and a debris-covered Alpine glacier. Field data will be combined with outputs from a numerical atmospheric model (COSMO) and reanalysis meteorological data, to develop general models of Ta regimes over melting glaciers. The project has a significant fieldwork component and offers an exciting opportunity to develop skills in field meteorological measurement and numerical modelling. The student and supervisors will work closely with project partners at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich.

Enquiries regarding this studentship should be made to Dr Benjamin Brock: [Email Address Removed]

Applicants should hold a first or upper second class honours degree (in a relevant subject) from a British higher education institution, or equivalent. Students who are not UK/EU residents are eligible to apply, provided they hold the relevant academic qualifications, together with an IELTS score of at least 7.0.

You should apply using the University’s Research Application Form, available via the link on this page. Applications should be submitted to:
Ms Jem Pendlington
School of the Built and Natural Environment
Wynne Jones 202
Northumbria University
Ellison Place
Newcastle Upon Tyne
NE1 8ST
tel: +44(0)191 243 7234
email: [Email Address Removed]