Simulating polarisation of EM radiation in snow and ice for climate change observations via advanced remote sensing of the cryosphere
Project ID: 2531bd1669
(You will need this ID for your application)
Research Theme: Physical Sciences
Research Area(s):
Engineering design
Sensors and instrumentation
Ground engineering
UCL Lead department: Earth Sciences
Lead Supervisor: Rosemary Willatt
Project Summary:
Earth’s cryosphere includes ice sheets and ice shelves, glaciers, permafrost and sea ice. It shapes the Earth’s climate through absorption of sun-light, regulating sea level and freshwater storage, and as habitats for a multitude of species.
Remote sensing using satellites has provided valuable insights into ice loss, especially in remote polar regions. Electromagentic (EM) radiation interacts with snow and ice in complex ways. As their physical condition change, their dielectric properties response, thus altering their remote sensing signatures. A particular challenge relates to retrievals of sea-ice thickness, a heterogeneous layer of ice atop the polar oceans, via satellite radar altimetry. The IPCC note this knowledge gap and relate it to uncertainties including the depth of snow on the sea ice.
Willatt et al. (2023; 2025) reported an exciting discovery, using a similar instrument to those deployed on satellite platforms. The thickness of snow on Arctic and Antarctic sea ice could be retrieved using the EM polarisation. This has since been observed over snow in other cryosphere locations (Stroeve, Willatt et al., in prep).
The student will investigate the physical basis behind the scattering mechanisms, which will support development of the next generation of satellite missions and products. They will use the Snow Microwave Radiative Transfer (SMRT) modular, open source code for modelling of EM radiation interaction with snow and ice including polarisation. They will consider how the polarisation-based concept could become a new remote sensing concept for observations of climate change.
The student will work with the supervisors and groups including: UCL Earth Sciences (remote sensing, cold laboratories) UCL Polar Group (remote sensing, polar fieldwork activities) Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling
The student will need to have strong Physics and computer programming skills to use SMRT and other modelling approaches for simulation of polarisation changes, data processing and visualisation.