GLIMPSE Project
Encyclopedia
GLIMPSE is a 5-year project to investigate the controls on thinning at the margin of the Greenland Ice Sheet
. It is based in the Glaciology Group at the School of the Environment and Society, Swansea
University
. The project is headed by Professor Tavi Murray
and is funded through a Leverhulme Trust
Research Leadership Award presented to Murray in mid-2007.
s we use to predict sea level rise do not include outlet glacier dynamic processes, and consequently underestimate Greenland’s sea level contribution (Alley et al. 2005). Moreover, our available records of thickness changes are not long enough to be sure whether they represent profound alterations in the ice sheet’s behaviour or simply expected natural variability. GLIMPSE is building a world-leading and multi-disciplinary group in Swansea which collaborates with international experts to address these deficiencies. This research will place the known volume change observations in a longer temporal context, identify controls on outlet glacier dynamics, and incorporate these controls within ice sheet models. The key result will be better predictions of the future extent and behaviour of the Greenland ice sheet and therefore of future sea level rise.
Project partners include:
Greenland ice sheet
The Greenland ice sheet is a vast body of ice covering , roughly 80% of the surface of Greenland. It is the second largest ice body in the world, after the Antarctic Ice Sheet. The ice sheet is almost long in a north-south direction, and its greatest width is at a latitude of 77°N, near its...
. It is based in the Glaciology Group at the School of the Environment and Society, Swansea
Swansea
Swansea is a coastal city and county in Wales. Swansea is in the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. Situated on the sandy South West Wales coast, the county area includes the Gower Peninsula and the Lliw uplands...
University
Swansea University
Swansea University is a university located in Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom. Swansea University was chartered as University College of Swansea in 1920, as the fourth college of the University of Wales. In 1996, it changed its name to the University of Wales Swansea following structural changes...
. The project is headed by Professor Tavi Murray
Tavi Murray
Tavi Murray is a glaciologist, one of only 8 women to have won the Polar Medal.-Education:After school in Twickenham Murray gained a First Class Honours degree in Physics and Computer Science from the University of Wales, Aberystwyth...
and is funded through a Leverhulme Trust
Leverhulme Trust
The Leverhulme Trust was established in 1925 under the will of the First Viscount Leverhulme, William Hesketh Lever, with the instruction that its resources should be used to support "scholarships for the purposes of research and education."...
Research Leadership Award presented to Murray in mid-2007.
Rationale
Southern Greenland’s margins and outlet glaciers are thinning at a dramatic rate, and this rate appears to be accelerating. These changes will have profound implications for global sea levels, ocean circulation, regional climate, and society. The acceleration in the rate of thinning represents more than simply melting, and coincides with major changes in the dynamics of outlet glaciers (e.g. Rignot & Kanagaratnam 2006). The ice sheet modelIce sheet model
Ice sheet models use quantitative methods to simulate the evolution, dynamics and thermodynamics of ice sheets, such as the Greenland ice sheet, the Antarctic ice sheet or the large ice sheets on the northern hemisphere during the last glacial period...
s we use to predict sea level rise do not include outlet glacier dynamic processes, and consequently underestimate Greenland’s sea level contribution (Alley et al. 2005). Moreover, our available records of thickness changes are not long enough to be sure whether they represent profound alterations in the ice sheet’s behaviour or simply expected natural variability. GLIMPSE is building a world-leading and multi-disciplinary group in Swansea which collaborates with international experts to address these deficiencies. This research will place the known volume change observations in a longer temporal context, identify controls on outlet glacier dynamics, and incorporate these controls within ice sheet models. The key result will be better predictions of the future extent and behaviour of the Greenland ice sheet and therefore of future sea level rise.
Project Members
At its peak GLIMPSE will consist of 5 post-doctoral resarchers and 3 postgraduate researchers. Currently the project consists of:- Professor Tavi MurrayTavi MurrayTavi Murray is a glaciologist, one of only 8 women to have won the Polar Medal.-Education:After school in Twickenham Murray gained a First Class Honours degree in Physics and Computer Science from the University of Wales, Aberystwyth...
, Principal Investigator - Dr Timothy James, Project Manager and postdoctoral researcher
- Dr Kilian Scharrer, Postdoctoral Researcher
- Dr Anna Hughes, Postdoctoral Researcher
- Dr Adam Booth, Postdoctoral Researcher
- Nick Selmes, Postgraduate Research Student
- Sue Cook, Postgraduate Research Student
- Jonathan McGovern, Postgraduate Research Student
- Laura Cordero Llana, Postgraduate Research Student
Project partners include:
- Dr Ian Rutt, Swansea University, UK
- Dr Adrian Luckman, Swansea University, UK
- William Krabill, NASA, Cryospheric Sciences Branch, USA
- Dr Matt King, Newcastle University, UK
- Dr Tollý Aðalgeirsdóttir, DMI, Denmark