#Tag · bonfire.cafe

Sentinel-1's decade of essential data over shifting ice sheets

Ice velocity is a key parameter in measuring the effects of #ClimateChange. The speed at which #glaciers and #IceSheets move tells us the rate at which they discharge ice and water into the sea, feeding into estimations on future #SeaLevelRise. Data on ice velocity also help to keep track of the break-up of ice sheets, such as calving events or damage to the ice sheets.
Since its first satellite was launched in 2014, the #Copernicus #Sentinel1 mission has provided a step change in the capabilities of polar satellite Earth observation. Its 12-m-long advanced #SAR instrument works in C-band. This makes it a reliable tool for acquiring high-resolution imagery for continuous monitoring and emergency response efforts. It is able to capture data through cloud cover, smoke and during lack of sunlight.

https://phys.org/news/2026-01-sentinel-decade-essential-shifting-ice.html

#ClimateScience
#RemoteSensing
#Cryosphere
#ClimateCatastrophe

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Ice flow velocity on the Antarctic ice sheet, 2014–2024. Credit: European Space Agency

The data visualization of Antarctica (see image below) shows details of ice flows moving at speeds between 1 m and 15 m per day. The Sentinel-1 data is averaged over the period 2014–2024. Regions shown on the map include the Antarctic Peninsula and Alexander Island, as well as large parts of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet and East Antarctic Ice Sheet. Most of the coastal areas were captured at either six or 12-day intervals.
On the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (on the left of the image), the Pine Island Glacier is clearly visible below the Antarctic Peninsula. Over the period of the study, the velocity of ice flow at the glacier's grounding line—the point where grounded ice detaches from the bedrock underneath it and becomes a floating ice shelf—increased continuously from approximately 10.6 m per day to 12.7 m per day. Other nearby glaciers also showed increased ice flow. These changes are caused by a range of factors including ocean-induced thinning of the floating ice shelves combined with a retreat of the grounding line. — Ice flow velocity on the Antarctic ice sheet, 2014–2024. Credit: European Space Agency The data visualization of Antarctica (see image below) shows details of ice flows moving at speeds between 1 m and 15 m per day. The Sentinel-1 data is averaged over the period 2014–2024. Regions shown on the map include the Antarctic Peninsula and Alexander Island, as well as large parts of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet and East Antarctic Ice Sheet. Most of the coastal areas were captured at either six or 12-day intervals. On the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (on the left of the image), the Pine Island Glacier is clearly visible below the Antarctic Peninsula. Over the period of the study, the velocity of ice flow at the glacier's grounding line—the point where grounded ice detaches from the bedrock underneath it and becomes a floating ice shelf—increased continuously from approximately 10.6 m per day to 12.7 m per day. Other nearby glaciers also showed increased ice flow. These changes are caused by a range of factors including ocean-induced thinning of the floating ice shelves combined with a retreat of the grounding line.

Ice velocity on Greenland ice sheet, 2014–2024. Credit: ESA (Data source: Wuite, J. et al. 2025).

The study shows the rapid flow of ice, moving at average speeds of up to 15 m per day, from glaciers and ice sheets at points around the Greenland Ice Sheet (see image below). Half-way up the western coast of Greenland, Sermeq Kujalleq, also known as the Jakobshavn Glacier, is one of the fastest outlet glaciers in the world with velocities reaching, at times, as much as 50 m per day.
The North-East Greenland Ice Stream (NEGIS), is also clearly visible on the Greenland Ice Sheet and begins far inland at the "ice divide," shown as a dark blue band of nearly stagnant ice in Greenland's interior.

The dataset offers unprecedented spatial detail, with resolution up to 200–250 m, as well as timeframes for tracking movement ranging from less than a week to more than a decade. — Ice velocity on Greenland ice sheet, 2014–2024. Credit: ESA (Data source: Wuite, J. et al. 2025). The study shows the rapid flow of ice, moving at average speeds of up to 15 m per day, from glaciers and ice sheets at points around the Greenland Ice Sheet (see image below). Half-way up the western coast of Greenland, Sermeq Kujalleq, also known as the Jakobshavn Glacier, is one of the fastest outlet glaciers in the world with velocities reaching, at times, as much as 50 m per day. The North-East Greenland Ice Stream (NEGIS), is also clearly visible on the Greenland Ice Sheet and begins far inland at the "ice divide," shown as a dark blue band of nearly stagnant ice in Greenland's interior. The dataset offers unprecedented spatial detail, with resolution up to 200–250 m, as well as timeframes for tracking movement ranging from less than a week to more than a decade.

O=C=O

@tuxom@climatejustice.social · last week

Sentinel-1's decade of essential data over shifting ice sheets

https://phys.org/news/2026-01-sentinel-decade-essential-shifting-ice.html

#ClimateScience
#RemoteSensing
#Cryosphere
#ClimateCatastrophe

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joene 🏴🍉 boosted

💧🌏 Greg Cocks

@GregCocks@techhub.social · last month

Peak Glacier Extinction In The Mid-Twenty-First Century
--
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-025-02513-9 <-- shared paper
--
“📉 KEY FINDINGS
• At +4 °C, only ~18,000 glaciers remain worldwide by 2100
• At +1.5 °C, ~100,000 glaciers survive
• [They] identif[ed] “Peak Glacier Extinction”:
– ~2041 at +1.5 °C (~2,000 glaciers lost per year)
– ~2055 at +4 °C (~4,000 glaciers lost per year)
🏔️ THE ALPS
• At +2.7 °C, only ~110 glaciers remain by 2100.
• At +4 °C, this drops to just ~20.
Can you imagine the Alps with almost no glaciers left?...”
#model #modeling #global #glacier #loss #glacial #cryosphere #spatialanalysis #spatiotemporal #GloGEM #OGGM #PyGEM #extinction #climate #climatechange #globalwarming #water #hydrology #freshwater #surfacewater #count #metrics #volume #thickness #size #sealevelrise #tourism #culture #usecase #waterresources #Alps #TheAlps #worldwide #melted #melting

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Peak glacier extinction in the mid-twenty-first century

💧🌏 Greg Cocks

@GregCocks@techhub.social · last month

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Peak glacier extinction in the mid-twenty-first century

Jeremy ⁂ boosted

Adam Steer

@adamsteer@mapstodon.space · 4 months ago

Part of being a field researcher is lab work.

The linked notebook comes from hours of slicing up and weighing ice cores in a -20C freezer to make density profiles of sea ice we sampled.

It shows a new method to estimate sea ice density when ice is less dense than a fluid medium it is weighed in (see image alt). With great curvy corner plots using code by @metasomite 🙏

A cool story of innovation and teamwork. I'm super keen to do more!

#cryosphere #climate #fedihireme

https://gitlab.com/npolar/aen/sea-ice/-/blob/main/jupyter-notebooks/AeN-ice-density-summary.ipynb

Shows a white bucket on a scale on a lab bench. In the bucket is a chunk of ice, with a fish-shaped weight on top. Yes! It is a fishing lure! The ice and lure sit in a bath of parafin. Because the ice is less dense than the parafin it does not exert pressure on the scale, so it is weighed down by the lure. We know the density and mass of the lure, so we can work out the density of the ice using a two-part composite density equation. Most of the time, sea ice is more dense than parafin - and sinks, exerting pressure on the scale - so this detail is not needed.