After testing the UAV performance in Svalbard in March, I realised the original 'tripod' landing assembly was not going to cut it for work in the Arctic. To prevent damage from landing in cryoconite holes and to spread the drone's weight when landing on snow, I have added some ski's modified from off-the-shelf landing gear for … Continue reading Final UAV mods
Category: Science/Tech
General science and tech tutorials, reviews and essays
New AGU paper: Microbes change the colour and chemistry of Antarctic snow
In recent decades there has been a significant increase in snow melt on the Antarctic Peninsula and therefore more 'wet snow' containing liquid water. This wet snow is a microbial habitat In our new paper, we show that distance from the sea controls microbial abundance and diversity. Near the coast, rock debris and marine fauna … Continue reading New AGU paper: Microbes change the colour and chemistry of Antarctic snow
New TCD paper: Dark ice on Greenland Ice Sheet
Our new discussion paper, led by Black and Bloom PDRA Andrew Tedstone, examines in detail why there is a stripe of dark, fast-melting ice on the Greenland Ice Sheet, particularly in the south-west. This 'dark zone' is clearly visible in satellite imagery of the Greenland Ice Sheet and is important because darker ice melts faster. … Continue reading New TCD paper: Dark ice on Greenland Ice Sheet
Bioalbedo: new model and TCD paper
I'm very pleased to report our new paper is now in open discussion in The Cryosphere. The paper presents a new model for predicting the spectral bioalbedo of snow and ice, which confirms that ice algae on ice surfaces can change its colour and by doing so enhance its melt rate ("bioalbedo"). We also used … Continue reading Bioalbedo: new model and TCD paper
Svalbard UAV: Lessons learned
Here are a few things I learned after ten days of field testing the UAV multispectral data acquisition in Svalbard... Video showing take off in stabilize mode, switch to loiter mode at about 5 m, quick control test then into automatic mission. 1. The UAV is surprisingly robust. The aircraft was transported to the sites … Continue reading Svalbard UAV: Lessons learned
Svalbard UAV tests
Having made successful UAV test flights at home in the Peak District, we have relocated to Svalbard for a week to test the equipment in the most challenging possible conditions. We are flying in temperatures as low as -10 C, in gusty wind and after pulling the UAV to the field site in its flight … Continue reading Svalbard UAV tests
High bradfield: UAV test flights
The past few weeks have been spent working down in the robotics department at the University of Sheffield building a UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle, a.k.a drone). Ultimately, it will be used to make measurements of spectral reflectance of the ice surface in Greenland. It's been great fun working in robotics - entering the lab is like … Continue reading High bradfield: UAV test flights
Challenges in quantifying ‘bioalbedo’
On Wednesday last week I traveled to the University of Bristol to give a seminar at the Centre for Glaciology. I presented a new physical model for the spectral albedo of ice with algal growth, along with some field data from 2016. Preparing for the talk, discussions with fellow researchers and insightful questions in the … Continue reading Challenges in quantifying ‘bioalbedo’
JGR Paper: Predictive model for bioalbedo of snow
Online Early version here. The 'bioalbedo effect' is the accelerated melting of snow and ice due to living organisms growing on it. Life can change the colour of the snow or ice, increasing its efficiency as an absorber of solar energy and causing it to heat up. Our new paper, just accepted by Journal of Geophysical … Continue reading JGR Paper: Predictive model for bioalbedo of snow
Life on Greenland’s Ice: 2 short videos
Here are two short films that Peter Sinclair (DarkSnow and Climate Crocks) made over summer 2016. The first is an interview with me about Greenlan's surface reflectivity. The second is about the microbiology of algal blooms on the ice surface by fellow Black and Bloom postdoc Chris Williamson. see more at the Black and Bloom … Continue reading Life on Greenland’s Ice: 2 short videos
To The Poles 