Centre for Polar Observation & Modelling
The Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling (CPOM) is a research centre that studies processes in the Earth's polar latitudes that may affect the Earth's albedo, polar atmosphere and ocean circulation, and global sea level. We use theoretical and laboratory-derived understanding to form new mesoscale models of interactions between the ice, ocean and atmosphere, and use ground and satellite observations to test the predictions of these and other climate models. CPOM is funded by the Natural Environment Research Council and is part of the National Centre for Earth Observation. It has research groups in the Department of Earth Sciences at University College London, at the Bristol Glaciology Centre at the University of Bristol, at the Department of Meteorology, University of Reading, and in the School of Earth and Environment at the University of Leeds.
Research at CPOM
CPOM pursues a wide range of projects as part of its program, typically of three years duration. The research page has a summary of the projects and provides a good summary of the range and nature of CPOM research. The research is performed by CPOM staff and students, each of whom has an entry in the people page. CPOM has a seminar series and hosts scientific meetings on polar matters of national interest, which are described in the meetings/seminars page. Links to our collaborators and other useful sites are described on the useful links page.
News
Feb 2013 CryoSat-2 mission reveals major Arctic sea-ice loss
Arctic sea ice volume has declined by 36 per cent in the autumn and 9 per cent in the winter between 2003 and 2012, a CPOM-led team of scientists has discovered. Researchers, led by Professor Seymour Laxon, used new data from the European Space Agency’s CryoSat-2 satellite spanning 2010 to 2012, and data from NASA’s ICESat satellite from 2003 to 2008 to estimate the volume of sea ice in the Arctic. Read more here, and as reported by the BBC.
Jan 2013 Professor Seymour Laxon
It is with a profound sense of shock and deep sadness that we report the death of our friend and colleague, Seymour Laxon, aged 49, following an accident on New Year’s Day. Seymour was at the heart of all the achievements and successes of the Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling at UCL over the past two decades. His innovative research allowed him and his colleagues to use satellite altimetry over the ice covered Arctic Ocean, revealing its gravity field, surface circulation, the thickness of its sea ice cover, and, more recently still, how the changing ice cover is affecting the coupling between the Arctic Ocean and the atmosphere. Seymour’s work provided much of the evidence which eventually led to the launch of the CryoSat mission, which is now - as his last paper describes - providing the first observations of the annual cycle of sea ice growth and decay throughout the Arctic Ocean. Read more here:
April 2012 Cryosat results revealed at London's Royal Society
The first map of Arctic sea-ice seasonal variability, generated by CPOM, was presented at the Royal Society on Tuesday 24th April. The map, using data from ESA's Cryosat-2, shows the changes in sea-ice thickness over the period October 2010 to March 2011. Read more at ESA and BBC.
March 2012 First Globice project datasets released
The UCL-led ESA Globice project to model sea ice dynamics using radar data from the Envisat and ERS missions has released its first validated datasets for the Arctic winters of 2004–11. Read more here:
Jan 2012 Western Arctic Ocean freshwater storage increased by wind-driven spin-up of the Beaufort Gyre
CPOM scientists have discovered that the freshwater stored in the western Arctic Ocean has increased by 8000 km3 between the mid 1990s and 2010 by looking at changes in the sea surface height measured by the European Space Agency Satellites ERS-2 and Envisat. Read more here:
Jan 2012 New PHD Studentships
Five new PHD Studentships available. Find out more here
November 2011 Duncan Wingham appointed as Chief Executive of the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)
Professor Duncan Wingham will be taking over as NERC's Chief Executive from 1 January 2012. In a message to CPOM's members, past and present, he says "I have aways been proud of, and taken pleasure in, the impact that CPOM has had in the polar domain in the short period of its existence.". CPOM will of course miss Duncan and the excellent scientific insight and guidance he has provided to CPOM members over the years. CPOM wishes Duncan all the best for his new role at NERC. Read more here:
June 2011 Duncan Wingham presents the results from the first year of the CryoSat-2 mission at the Paris Air and Space show
Professor Duncan Wingham unveiled the latest scientific results from the CPOM-led CryoSat-2 satellite at the Paris Air and Space show today. Since the launch last year CPOM and ESA scientists have been examining the data and designing new processing systems to turn measurements made from 700 km in space into maps of the ice cover in the Arctic and Antarctic and of the Arctic Ocean surface. Today marked the culmination of that effort with the presentation of the first ice maps from CryoSat-2. Read more here:
April 2011 CPOM Team head to the Arctic to Validate the ESA Cryosat Mission
Three members of CPOM are heading up to ALert, Canada, to participate in an experiment to validate data from the UCL led CryoSat mission. Read about thier progress here:
Jan 2011 Melt-induced speed-up of Greenland ice-sheet offset by efficient subglacial drainage
Hotter summers may not be as catastrophic for the Greenland ice sheet as previously feared and may actually slow down the flow of glaciers, according to new research by CPOM.
Dec 2010 First scientific results from CryoSat2
CPOM has used data from CryoSat to generate the first near complete map of Arctic Ocean Dynamic Topography.
May 2010 Melting icebergs causing sea level rise
CPOM Scientists have discovered that changes in the amount of ice floating in the polar oceans are causing sea levels to rise.
Apr 2010 Successful launch for CryoSat2
CryoSat-2 was launched on 8/4/10 at 15:57 CEST (13:57 UTC) on a Dnepr rocket provided by the International Space Company Kosmotras from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The signal confirming that it had separated from the launcher came 17 minutes later from the Malindi ground station in Kenya.
Dec 2010 First scientific results from CryoSat2
CPOM has used data from CryoSat to generate the first near complete map of Arctic Ocean Dynamic Topography.
Apr 2010 Successful launch for CryoSat2
CryoSat-2 was launched on 8/4/10 at 15:57 CEST (13:57 UTC) on a Dnepr rocket provided by the International Space Company Kosmotras from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The signal confirming that it had separated from the launcher came 17 minutes later from the Malindi ground station in Kenya.
Sept 2009 Nature paper on the thinning of the Greenland & Antarctic ice sheets
The most comprehensive picture of the rapidly thinning glaciers along the coastline of both the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets has been created using satellite lasers.
Sept 2009 The CryoSat2 mission
The CryoSat-2 mission is ready to map the ice fields of the Arctic and the Antarctic. Duncan Wingham explains the mission on BBC News - "Ice mission returns for a second go".
Aug 2009 Duncan Wingham talks to The Observer
"Britain's ice man ready for a second space shot with rebuilt CryoSat probe" - the importance of launching the CryoSat-2 probe.
Aug 2009 BBC report on GRL paper on the thinning of the Pine Island Glacier
A new study, funded by NERC and led by Duncan Wingham and Andrew Shepherd, shows the Pine Island Glacier in West Antarctica is losing ice four times as fast as it was a decade ago.