CPOM News
Successful launch for CryoSat2
April 2010
ESA PR 07-2010. Europe's first mission dedicated to studying the Earth’s ice was launched today from Kazakhstan. From its polar orbit, CryoSat-2 will send back data leading to new insights into how ice is responding to climate change and the role it plays in our 'Earth system'.
The CryoSat-2 satellite was launched 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. More...
For the BBC News report on the launch please click here.
Nature paper on the thinning on the margins of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets
September 2009
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. The findings are an important step forward in the quest to make more accurate predictions for future sea level rise. Reporting in Nature, researchers from British Antarctic Survey and the University of Bristol (School of Geographical Sciences) describe how analysis of millions of NASA satellite measuremetns from both of these vast ice sheets shows that the most profound ice loss is a result of glaciers speeding up where they flow into the sea.
Click here for the BAS press release. The paper can be downloaded from Nature.
The CryoSat2 mission
September 2009
The CryoSat2 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 second go". More...
Duncan Wingham talks to The Observer
August 2009
Duncan Wingham talks to The Observer ("Britains ice man ready for a second space shot with rebuilt CryoSat probe") on the importance of launching the CryoSat-2 probe to study the impact of global warming on the Arctic and Antarctic ice. More...
BBC report on GRL paper on the thinning of the Pine Island Glacier
August 2008
According to a new study led by Duncan Wingham the thinning of the gigantic glacier in Antarctica is accelerating. The research, funded by the UK Natural Environment Research Council, shows that the Pine Island Glacier in West Antarctica is losing ice four times as fast as it was a decade ago. More...
Please click here for the UCL Press Release
Geophysical Research Letters paper on the thinning of the Arctic sea ice
October 2008
Last winter, the thickness of sea ice in large parts of the Arctic fell by nearly half a metre (19 per cent) compared with the average thickness of the previous five winters. This followed the dramatic 2007 summer low when Arctic ice extent dropped to its lowest level since records began.
Up until last winter, the thickness of Arctic sea ice showed a slow downward trend during the previous five winters, but after the summer 2007 record low extent, the thickness of the ice also nose-dived. What is concerning is that sea ice is not just receding but it is also thinning.
Click here for the press release. The paper can be downloaded from GRL (subscription required)
Steve Palmer awarded a Japan Society for the Promotion of Science fellowship
May 2008
Steve Palmer has been awarded a fellowship by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science to fund a visit to the Japanese National Institute for Polar Research (NIPR). Whilst at NIPR, Steve will use satellite remote sensing to observe changes in the velocity of the Shirase glacier in East Antarctica. The fellowship covers the costs of a three month visit, which Steve expects to take up some time during the next year.
Dr Andrew Shepherd wins Philip Leverhulme Prize 2007
September 2007
The Philip Leverhulme Prizes were established to reward outstanding young scholars of substantial distinction and promise; the Prizes commemorate the late Third Viscount Leverhulme, who died in 2000. The prize announcement states:
"Dr Shepherd's research uses satellite remote sensing to advance our understanding of the motion of large ice sheets, such as those in Greenland and Antarctica. Using sophisticated quantitative techniques, he has been able to provide continental-scale information on the rate and pattern of ice sheet melt over periods of several years. As a result, he is an authority on how large ice sheets are resonding to and influencing global environments, and is making major contributions to our understanding of global environmental change more generally."
Science paper on Sea-level contributions of the polar ice sheets
16 March 2007
After a century of polar exploration, the past decade of satellite measurements has painted an altogether new picture of how Earth's ice sheets are changing. As global temperatures have risen, so have rates of snowfall, ice melting, and glacier flow. Although the balance between these opposing processes has varied considerably on a regional scale, data show that Antarctica and Greenland are each losing mass overall. Click here to see the paper and links to other related Science articles.
Articles relating to the paper can also be found in the Guardian, Independent and Washington Post.
CPOM research featured in New Scientist
2 December 2006
CPOM research on a rapid discharge from an Antarctic sub-glacial lake recently published in Nature has been
featured on the front cover of the 2nd December special issue of the New Scientist on the "Hidden World Beneath Antarctica's Ice". The full article and New Scientist's weekly podcast discussing this feature can be found on the New Scientist website.
Dr Daniel Feltham wins Philip Leverhulme Prize 2006
November 2006
The Philip Leverhulme Prizes were established to reward outstanding young scholars of substantial distinction and promise. The prize announcement states:
"Daniel Feltham has made major contributions to our understanding of the formation of ice in polar seas. This plays an important role in the interaction between the polar oceans and the overlying atmosphere and has a long-term effect on climate. He has developed theoretical models, confirmed by laboratory experimentation and tested against data from field experiments, of the mechanical and thermodynamic properties of sea ice. Of particular importance is his model, one of the very first in this area, of the evolution of melt-water ponds which form on the surface of ice during the summer. These melt ponds can considerably lower the albedo, which is a measure of the reflectivity and hence the degree of input solar radiation that is reflected, rather than captured, of the Earth's surface. Dr Feltham has already established himself as one of the scientific leaders in this field, building a group tackling central problems in this area. His future research will focus on the interactions between polar oceans, sea ice and ice shelves and the processes that drive the global redistribution of heat by the ocean."
Nature paper on Antarctic subglacial lakes
April 2006
The existence of many subglacial lakes provides clear evidence for the widespread presence of water beneath the Antarctic ice sheet. Recent studies by CPOM staff of ice-sheet surface elevation changes indicate that these lakes, far from being a static ecosystem cut off from each other, are in fact connected. Changes indicating a rapid discharge of water from one lake to another were detected, and it is possible that the entire subglacial drainage basin is flushed through periodically by massive water transfers. Click here to see the paper and links to other related Nature articles. 
ESA confirms CryoSat recovery mission ESA PR 08-2006
Feb 2006
At the latest meeting of the European Space Agency's Earth Observation Programme Board, which took place at ESA's Headquarters in Paris on 23 and 24 February, ESA received the green light from its Member States to build and launch a CryoSat recovery mission, CryoSat-2. The launch of the CryoSat spacecraft was unfortunately aborted on 8 October 2005 due to a malfunction of its Rockot launcher, which resulted in the total loss of the spacecraft.