In this Q&A, CPOM Professor Ali Banwell discusses why she was honoured to be featured in a STEM colouring book, and why representation matters so much in science careers.

What led you into your career as a polar scientist? Was there somebody or something that initially inspired you to pursue STEM?

My mum was a huge influence. She studied engineering at Cambridge when almost no women did (<1%), and later became a maths teacher, then software engineer. Her confidence in maths and physics – subjects not always ‘cool’ for girls – helped shape mine. I also grew up climbing and hiking in the UK mountains with my aunt, who sparked my curiosity about how glaciers once shaped those landscapes. Even though glaciology wasn’t taught at my school, by the time I reached university I knew I wanted to study Earth sciences, specialising in glaciology specifically.

Can you describe what you’re doing in the image that inspired the drawing in the book? What’s the science behind it (in a nutshell)?

Can you tell us a little more about your research?

Broadly, my research focusses on investigating the impact of Earth’s past and future climate on the cryosphere – so all of Earth’s icy regions – with a current focus on the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets, including their floating ice shelves.

Specifically, I specialise in integrating satellite Earth Observation techniques, including optical, microwave, and altimetry data, with field observations to investigate ice sheet and ice shelf surface melt and hydrology, and implications of these processes for ice dynamics. I also work closely with numerical modellers to integrate our new observations and process understanding of ice dynamics into models, ultimately to help provide better forecasts of future glacier ice loss and sea level rise.

I am fortunate to have been to Antarctica six times previously, and I’ve just arrived back there now. I’m at McMurdo, the U.S. station at the edge of the Ross Ice Shelf. Unfortunately, however, I’m a glaciologist who really hates being cold… But I do love penguins!

Where do you see the biggest uncertainties or knowledge gaps in our current understanding of polar ice dynamics, and what will it take to close them?

One of the biggest uncertainties in polar ice dynamics is how quickly ice sheets and ice shelves will respond as the climate continues to warm, including the potential ‘feedbacks’ and ‘tipping points’ that could accelerate change. To reduce these uncertainties, and better constrain future sea-level rise, we need sustained, high-quality Earth Observation records from new satellite missions, supported by targeted fieldwork and modelling. We also need to rethink how we do polar science so that it is more carbon-efficient, whether through using more computationally efficient AI-based models, lower-emission fieldwork logistics, or greater international coordination to minimise our environmental footprint. Closing these knowledge gaps will require long-term investment, interdisciplinary collaboration, and a commitment to monitoring and understanding the polar regions in more sustainable ways.

What is your role at CPOM?

I have joined CPOM as a PI in Land Ice/Ice Shelf Earth Observation, and more broadly as a Professor in Glaciology within Northumbria’s School of Geography and Natural Sciences. After 7.5 years in the U.S. at the University of Colorado Boulder, I’m excited to build new collaborations and expand my research horizons within CPOM and the wider UK glaciological and environmental science communities. Working closely with CPOM’s experts in Earth Observation and modelling, across both land ice and sea ice, will strengthen my research and open up new opportunities for interdisciplinary polar science.

What does being featured in a STEM colouring book mean to you, and what advice would you give to early career researchers considering a career in this field?

You can find out more and purchase the book from the link below.

Image Credits: From STEM Super Stars: Women of Today Changing the World (KN Storycraft Press, 2025)

In early November 2025, CPOM Researcher Diego Moral Pombo (Lancaster University) collaborated with artist James Hooton to create “Still Waters Run Deep”, a beautiful light installation, that transformed Lancaster Castle, and brought the Earth’s ice sheets and glaciers to life, as part of the Light Up Lancaster festival 2025.

In this video we take you behind the scenes, from the initial inspiration to the technological innovation that went into translating polar science into an immersive experience using art, light and music. The case study features insights from Diego, James and CPOM Co-Director for Science, Professor Mal McMillan.

Mal explains more about the GLOBE project (Greenland Subglacial Lake Observatory) which uses high resolution satellite imaging and technology to detect, monitor and predict how hidden (subglacial) lakes interact with the ice sheet above. This project, funded via the European Research Council and UK Research and Innovation, formed some of the inspiration for Diego’s concept, alongside other research into ice dynamics at Lancaster University and CPOM.

Diego said when asked why using art to communicate science is important: “Ice loss from the polar regions may feel like something very far away and something that doesn’t really affect us, but it does have a very local impact and it will end up affecting all of us. Just getting more people interested in the science is obviously great and if we get to spark some vocations and motivation in the youngest ones seeing the piece (installation) that would be great.”

Also included in the video is a clip of the illustration by faith-to.design in action, and beautiful original music from Amber Hooton. We have also included a clip of the stunning final installation.

The installation was supported by Lancaster City Council’s climate change team, UKRI’s Arts and Humanities Council, the UKRI Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, and Lancaster University Impact Acceleration Account Programme. It was also part of Lancaster University’s ‘Campus in the City’ event 2025.

This week, scientists joined the UK National Commission for UNESCO (UKNC) to launch the ‘Glaciers and Ice Sheets in a Warming World: Impacts and Outcomes’ report, edited by Professor David J. Drewry, which shares crucial UK-led scientific research on ice loss from Earth’s glaciers.

Key Findings

The report presents critical statistics on global glacier decline including:

• Glaciers have lost 6,542 billion tonnes of ice since 2000, threatening the water supply of more than a billion people
• Ice loss has accelerated by 36% over the past ten years, with glacier melt now accounting for approximately one-third of global sea level rise
• Fifteen million people are at risk from glacier lake outburst floods, whilst up to two billion depend on water from glaciers for energy, water and food

The full report is available on the UK National Commission for UNESCO (UKNC) website.

Monitoring Glaciers from Space

Chapter three of the report, authored by CPOM Associate Investigator in Land Ice Earth Observation Noel Gourmelen (University of Edinburgh and Earthwave Ltd) with Livia Jakob (Earthwave Ltd), explores how satellite missions monitor glacier decline from space. Using data from missions including the European Space Agency’s CryoSat-2, their chapter incorporates key findings from the Glacier Mass Balance Intercomparison Exercise (GLAMBIE) Report released earlier this year, which confirmed that since 2000, glaciers have lost 6,542 billion tonnes of ice. Their study also showed that there has been a 36% increase in loss during the second half of the time period (2012-2023) in comparison to the first half of the record (2000-2011).

About CryoSat-2

Launched in 2010, CryoSat-2 transformed our ability to monitor glacier ice from space by offering improved spatial resolution and accuracy, almost-complete polar coverage, and increased measurement density.

What is GLAMBIE?

The GLAMBIE exercise is a collaborative community effort that reconciles 233 estimates from 35 international research teams of ice mass balance from glaciers across all 19 glacierised regions worldwide. By integrating altimetry, gravimetry and DEM (Digital Elevation Model) -based approaches, the GLAMBIE team produces comprehensive and robust estimates for ice loss, which can be used by policymakers and government agencies when planning for future climate scenarios, including IPCC assessments.

Why Monitoring Glaciers Matters

Tracking glacier changes is essential for several reasons:

• When glaciers melt, they contribute significantly to global sea levels, impacting millions of people worldwide
• Increased glacier melting can cause glacial lakes to collapse, resulting in devastating floods
• Many millions of people rely on glacier water for energy, water supplies, crops and livestock

Professor David J Drewry has written about the threats posed by melting glaciers on the UK UNESCO website: https://unesco.org.uk/news/glaciers-shrink-water-is-scarce-lives-are-at-risk

Looking Ahead

The CRISTAL mission, part of the Copernicus Space Programme and scheduled for launch in 2027, aims to continue CryoSat-2’s legacy. As Noel Gourmelen and Livia Jakob emphasize in the report, it is vital to secure future Earth Observation missions like CRISTAL to ensure ongoing and uninterrupted accurate monitoring of Earth’s ice. Such observations and modelling of future scenarios are essential to inform decision-making around glacier preservation and to support strategies for protecting people and infrastructure from the risks posed by melting ice.

The International Year of Glacier Preservation

This report is timely! The United Nations has designated 2025 as the International Year of Glacier Preservation to highlight the importance of glaciers and to ensure that populations who rely on them, as well as those affected by glacier changes, receive the hydrological, meteorological and climate services they need.

For more information, visit www.un-glaciers.org/en.

Image credit: Professor Andrew Shepherd

Recent news stories have focused on the slowdown in the decline of Arctic sea ice and some have interpreted these as ‘good news stories’, but what does the science really show?

As sea ice is a vital aspect of the delicate and complex Earth system, it’s vital we understand exactly what is happening with sea ice as global temperatures continue to rise.

Sea ice should not be confused with icebergs, which break away from glaciers as they reach the ocean.

Sea ice forms when sea water freezes, creating ice floes that float on the surface. Sea ice is found year-round in the Arctic and Southern oceans, where the air is cold enough to freeze salt water.

Unlike land-based ice, when sea ice melts it does not contribute to sea level rise in a significant way, but it still has an impact on the Earth’s systems.

Sea ice helps regulate the Earth’s temperature

Sea ice has a higher ‘albedo’ than the surrounding sea water. This means it is more reflective due to its lighter colour. It reflects solar radiation from the sun back into space helping to keep the planet cool and regulating global temperatures.

When sea ice melts, there is a larger proportion of darker sea surface with a ‘low albedo’, absorbing more of the sun’s heat. This creates a feedback loop which means the planet warms further.

This process creates a ‘positive feedback mechanism’. This refers to changes in a system which creates effects that make that change even stronger. As melted ice exposes more dark ocean water, which absorbs more heat from the sun than ice does, the extra heat causes even more ice to melt, which exposes more dark water, and so on. The process reinforces itself and speeds up.

Sea ice helps drive ocean circulation patterns

Ocean currents, which determine weather patterns around the world and help drive the Earth’s wider carbon cycle, are driven by differences in temperature and salinity of the water. This is referred to as thermohaline circulation.

A complex series of processes take place during the sea ice life cycle. Sea water contains salt, making it more dense than fresh water. When it freezes, the ice crystals can’t retain all the salt and so some is rejected into the water around it, making it denser. When sea ice melts, it releases freshwater into the ocean. These fluxes in salt and freshwater dictate the movement of water within the polar oceans and have implications for wider ocean circulation.

One circulation pattern which is sensitive to declining Arctic sea ice is the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), a system of ocean currents that includes the gulf stream. The gulf stream relies on cold salty water sinking in the North Atlantic to drives the flow of waters from the Azores up towards northern Europe.

As sea ice in the Arctic melts, the water in the northern Atlantic Sea is becoming increasingly diluted and therefore not as heavy. This change has the potential to divert or even collapse these currents and change the patterns of weather Europe and northern United States have become used to, such as milder winters and warmer summers.

Sea ice is a habitat for some of the Earth’s most beautiful species

Sea ice also provides a habitat for a range of species including polar bears, whales, krill and seals. As it melts, these species are increasingly under pressure.

Key indicators of sea ice health

Scientists monitor sea ice using:

• Extent: The surface area of the sea where the ice is at least 15% ice concentration.
• Thickness: The vertical depth of the ice
• Ice volume: The actual amount of ice in volume.

Observing changes in these indicators helps scientists gain a robust understanding of climate change.

How headlines can misrepresent the science

There have been some viral social media stories suggesting that sea ice hasn’t changed over the decades and that sea ice decline is a myth.

There have been other stories that focus on how sea ice in the Artic is not declining at the rate we would expect considering the Arctic is warming four times faster than the rest of the planet.

These could seem like good news stories.

What the science reveals

• CPOM data show average Arctic sea ice thickness in October has reduced by 0.6 centimetres per year since 2010 suggesting an overall decline in sea ice volume even if extent has not reduced.
• Arctic sea ice has declined in both extent and volume throughout the year, with the most significant losses occurring in late summer, according to ESA satellite data.
• In this article, NASA reported that in 2025 global sea ice coverage was at a record low. This is due to a rapid decline in Antarctic sea ice extent. There is more information about the current state of sea ice cover in this report from NASA.

Explaining a complex system in one sentence

The problem with headlines is that you can’t capture a complex situation in one sentence, and sea ice is a dynamic and expansive puzzle.

• Some headlines focus on sea ice extent, which is only one indicator of sea ice coverage, ignoring thickness and volume. Even if the extent of the sea ice remains the same from one year to the next, if it is only half as thick, then the total volume of ice has also halved. The Arctic is losing its thickest multi-year ice, with the ice pack becoming increasingly seasonal. This means that overall there is less sea ice, and therefore more freshwater in the ocean. 
• Decline in sea ice may appear to slow down due to ‘seasonal variability’, which are ‘short-term variations’ while the overarching long-term trend, monitored over many decades, may still be one of decline. Scientists use climate model simulations to help understand and predict the behaviour of sea ice. Models show that as Arctic sea ice declines over multiple decades, we can expect periods of no change or even growth, due to natural variability within the climate system.
• As Julienne Stroeve points out in this article, even though sea ice melts during the summer, new ice forms again in winter when temperatures drop. A growth that can obfuscate some of the ice lost in summer. As winters get shorter, there will be less time for the ice to grow, and it won’t grow as thick meaning this “buffer” replacing lost ice is reducing.

The bigger picture

When media outlets report on scientific studies relating to changes in the cryosphere, the focus might be on one element. The problem with this is it might paint a picture of the state of Earth’s ice that may not reveal the full story.

Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW), long-term warming of the Earth’s climate due to human activities such as burning fossil fuels, is undeniably taking place. The WMO recently declared 2024 as the hottest year on record, and you can see a graph showing global temperatures since 1860 to see how temperatures have, and are rising over centuries.

The Earth’s ice still sees natural cyclical changes caused by ocean currents, short-term weather patterns and atmospheric conditions. This means sea ice extent may recover in the winters, but the long-term trend due to warming remains true.

Over the last three decades sea ice in the Arctic has declined during the summer months and winter ice is newer and thinner. Despite seasonal ups and downs, the net loss of ice is accelerating.

These trends are worrying, but there are some positives we can focus on.

Although the challenge is great, the world is equipped to tackle that challenge.

Monitoring sea ice is rapidly improving, and scientists are getting increasingly better at understanding these huge and dynamic areas of ice. This means we can better project future outcomes and plan and mitigate for future changes.

The fact that sea ice still shows seasonal recovery during winters means there is still the opportunity to protect it through working towards net zero and limiting global warming.

With increasingly sophisticated satellite missions and models, multi-agency projects and powerful movements pressing for change, we can adapt and protect our changing planet.

Featured image credit: Amy Swiggs

A new study published today in The Cryosphere revives and refines decades-old satellite altimetry data, offering the potential for a sharper view of how Greenland and Antarctica have changed.

Led by Maya Raghunath Suryawanshi (CPOM, Lancaster University and Interdisciplinary Centre for Water Research) the researchers used current state-of-the-art techniques to reprocess ERS-1, ERS-2 and Envisat altimeter data, dating from the early 1990s. This produced more accurate records of ice sheet elevation spanning two decades which is crucial for understanding long-term trends in ice loss.

As melting polar ice sheets are a key driver of sea level rise, monitoring and assessing these huge, remote and inhospitable terrains is vital if we are going to adapt to changing sea levels in the future. Understanding how quickly they are melting, and why, depends on data from past decades.

Over the last thirty years, satellite missions have enabled scientists to map the polar regions with increasing precision. Radar altimetry works by timing how long it takes radar pulses to bounce off the ice surface and return to the satellite. This allows researchers to track changes in ice elevation and, by extension, ice mass over time as well as the processes driving change.

Methods for processing satellite altimetry data have improved and been refined over time. It is therefore important to return to previous datasets using updated techniques to improve the quality of this long-term satellite record. This enhances confidence in our record of ice sheet change, places current observations within a longer-term context, and helps inform our understanding of potential future behaviour of the ice sheets.

Image credit: Suryawanshi et al, The Cryosphere

Suryawanshi and the team used the very latest techniques and algorithms when completing their processing. They then performed comprehensive assessments of these new datasets using airborne data to verify their results. The study demonstrated the improvements in data quality achieved by their new processing as they found their results were in closer agreement with this airborne data.

The team has also created a user-friendly version of this dataset which is free to access the European Space Agency website via https://earth.esa.int/eogateway/catalog/tdp-for-land-ice (ESA, 2023).

The research was performed as part of the ESA-funded Fundamental Data Records for Altimetry (FDR4ALT) project, and represents a collaboration between CPOM (led from Northumbria University), The Lancaster Environment Centre (Lancaster University), Interdisciplinary Centre for Water Research, Indian Institute of Science and Collecte Localisation Satellites.

Funding information

This study was primarily funded by the European Space Agency and UKRI NERC.

Publication information

Title: ‘New radar altimetry datasets of Greenland and Antarctic surface elevation, 1991–2012’

Authors: Maya Raghunath Suryawanshi, Malcolm McMillan, Jennifer Maddalena, Fanny Piras, Jérémie Aublanc, Jean-Alexis Daguzé, Clara Grau, and Qi Huang

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-2855-2025

New Story Image credit: Suryawanshi et al, The Cryosphere

Resolute Bay is part of the Qikigtaaluk Region at the northern end of Canada’s Northwest passage. One of the coldest inhabited places on Earth, it is also the stunning location of recent fieldwork involving CPOM scientists.

In April 2025 the all-female field team of polar scientists from UCL, including Julienne Stroeve, Rosemary Willatt, Carmen Nab and Alicia Fallows, with an airborne team led by Christian Haas from AWI, visited Resolute Bay to investigate the use of Ku- and Ka-band frequency radar and different polarisations on ice and snow.

Watch the team in action in this video case study.

What is KuKa?

KuKa is a dual-frequency radar operating at Ku-band (12-18 GHz) and Ka-band (30-40 GHz) frequencies.

KuKa radar can work in two ways; estimating the distance from the sensor to a surface looking straight down (using Altimeter mode); and also when looking at an incidence angle (using Scatterometer Mode). It can collect information about the polarisation of the waves, which is referred to as ‘Polarimetric Capability’ (You can find out more about this in this paper by Stroeve et al.) Scientists have found that polarisation can help to determine snow depth on Arctic and Antarctic sea ice, which could also help with estimation of sea ice thickness.

The team tested KuKa radar at two sea ice locations, on tundra, and on the frozen freshwater Resolute Lake, towing the KuKa radar on a qamutiik (traditional Inuit sled) at all four sites.

A Magnaprobe was used to determine the snow depth at many points along the same track as the KuKa was tested. A SnowMicroPen (SMP), was used to gain information on the penetration resistance of the snow and build understanding of the snowpack formation.

The Magnaprobe is a rod-like tool used in snow research which is pushed into the snow until it encounters resistance at the ice surface, thereby measuring the snow depth. A SnowMicroPen (SMP) is a device which estimates the snow structure, strength and density, by using a sensor to measure the penetration force in high resolution at intervals, while being forced through the snow.

The team dug snow pits to help identify the snow depth, measure temperature and salinity throughout the snowpack, and to understand physical properties of the snow. They also drilled at several locations, to take measurements of the sea ice thickness and lake ice thickness.

A broadband electromagnetic sensor (GEM) was used to estimate the total snow and ice thickness, and a drone and terrestrial laser scanner were used to create a 3D profile of the snow surface roughness and for images.

The team could then compare the data they gained from the Kuka device, against the measurements they took manually at the same locations.

This field campaign helps build a better understanding of how snow and ice properties affect radar signals, and retrieval of snow and ice thickness, therefore providing insights for future satellite missions such as the European Space Agency’s (ESA) upcoming CRISTAL space mission.

The concept of the CRISTAL mission is to combine Ku- and Ka-band data for simultaneous snow and ice freeboard measurements. A new technique using polarimetric information, discovered using KuKa, is also under development. This involves analysing how the electromagnetic waves scatter off a surface, which helps scientists to distinguish between the differing surfaces (ice, water or snow) in more detail.

Why is this important?

Field campaigns like these are crucial in understanding how Kuka radar can be used to provide increasingly accurate measurements of the Earth’s ice.

These missions provide information on the Earth system, including the polar regions which we use to assess ice mass balance, associated sea level rise as well as gain a clearer understanding of how global weather patterns are affected by melting ice. This scientific understanding is vital is we are to live and thrive in a changing climate.

Who funded this research?

This field campaign was part of the NERC DEFIANT project. It received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme via project CRiceS. This research was also supported by the Polar Continental Shelf Program. ESA NEOMI grant 4000139243/22/NL/SD supports development of the polarimetric altimetry concept.

Special Thanks

Thank you to local guide and bear guard, Sheldon, for his expert knowledge and for keeping the team safe on this fieldwork.

Glossary of terms:

Freeboard – the vertical distance between sea level and the top of the ice or snow.
A broadband EM sensor (GEM) – a geophysical electromagnetic induction sensor.
Site transects – the path (or line) along which the team recorded their observations and measurements.
Salinity – the amount of dissolved salt in the water.
Magnaprobe – a rod-like tool used in snow research which is pushed into the snow until it encounters resistance, thereby measuring the snow depth.
SnowMicroPen (SMP) – a device which measures measures the snow structure, strength and density, by using a sensor to measure the penetration force in high resolution at intervals, while being forced through the snow.
KuKa – a dual-frequency radar operating at Ku-band (12-18 GHz) and Ka-band (30-40 GHz) frequencies. KuKa radar can work in two ways; estimating the distance from the sensor to a surface (using Altimeter mode); and also measuring more uneven or rough surfaces (using Scatterometer Mode).
Polarimetric Capability – The ability of KuKa to measure how the electromagnetic waves scatter off a surface, which helps scientists to distinguish between the differing surfaces (ice, water or snow) in more detail.
NERC – Natural Environment Research Council
DEFIANT – Research Programme, led by BAS and funded by NERC – Drivers and Effects of Fluctuations in sea Ice in the ANTarctic. Read more.

Key Publications Relating to the topic

• Stroeve et al. (2020)
• Stroeve et al. (2020)
• Nandan et al. (2023)
• Willatt et al. (2023)
• Willatt et al. (2025)

Ice Sheets and Sea Level Rise – what we know and why it matters

Mean sea level has risen by 11.5cm since the early 1990s, due to the melting of land ice, changes in land-water storage (when water originally contained on land mass moves into the oceans) and thermal expansion of the oceans (water expanding as it warms).

Sea level rise is already affecting the UK, increasing coastal erosion and flooding, in particular during storm surges. This puts coastal communities, habitats and key infrastructure, such as power stations, at risk.

Monitoring the Ice Sheets

The Earth’s colossal ice sheets, in Greenland and Antarctica, are major contributors to sea level rise.

Thanks to advancements in Earth Observation satellite missions, technologies and computer modelling capabilities, we can now monitor these ice sheets accurately and project future scenarios. However, significant uncertainties remain around how the ice sheets are going to behave in the coming decades.

Insights from the Experts

In the ‘Sea Level Uncertainties From the Ice Sheets’ webinar (16 July) organised by the UK National Climate Science Partnership, Dr Inès Otosaka (CPOM) and Dr Rosie Williams from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) shared key findings.

Ice sheets are melting, and this is accelerating

Dr Otosaka explained:

• The Ice Sheet Mass Balance Inter-Comparison Exercise (IMBIE) led by CPOM has been utilising data from satellite missions to monitor the mass balance of the ice sheets and their contribution to sea levels.
• The Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets are contributing a quarter of all sea level rise and are driving its acceleration. Since 1979, ice sheets have added 3.2cm to sea level rise and the pace of loss is increasing.
• Greenland is melting faster than Antarctica now, but Antarctica is seeing mass loss in the West.
• Ice loss is tracking at the upper end of IPCC projections.

Why so much uncertainty?

Dr Williams explained that:

• Different models and climate forcings produce varying results.
• Subsurface processes such as under-ice melting are hard to observe from space.
• Smaller scale processes can have large impacts, for instance calving and fracturing of the ice sheet as they are taking place at inaccessible places and no laws around general calving currently exist.
• Instability processes such as Marine Ice Cliff Instability (MICI) are still not fully understood.

Rosie went on to explain some of the High Impact Low Likelihood (HILL) scenarios produced by the IPCC.

• The contribution of Antarctic ice melt will dominate all other sources of sea level rise in the coming years due to Marine Ice Cliff Instability.
• By 2100 we could see almost 2m of sea level rise.

The cost of inaction

The UK, and many other countries around the world, are vulnerable to the impacts of sea level rise, so we need to understand better what’s coming and when.

If we fail to adapt appropriately to sea level rise by 2050 the cost could exceed £24 billion a year, in comparison to the projected cost of £3.41 billion/year for ideal adaptation (Rising et al., 2022).

It is vital we understand the potential scenarios and can recognise when we are confronted with one. This is why there is an urgent need to continue to monitor and model the ice sheets.

What we can do

Despite the risks, there is still hope. The worst-case scenarios are not inevitable. Research conducted by the TerraFIRMA team using the UK Earth System Model (UKESM) simulations shows that every degree of warming matters when it comes to sea level rise.

If we act now to reduce emissions, boost our capabilities in monitoring and modelling the ice, and develop Early Warning Systems, we can still aim to thrive in a changing climate.

Watch the full presentation to find out more…

On Wednesday at the European Space Agency’s Living Planet Symposium 2025 we had a fantastic celebration of a very special satellite mission: CryoSat.

CryoSat-2 is very close to our hearts here at the UK Centre for Observation and Modelling (CPOM), due to the crucial role the intrepid Earth Explorer plays in gathering data on the Earth’s ice sheets, sea ice, ice shelves and glaciers. Without this information, we wouldn’t have made the significant leaps forward in polar and climate science over the last two decades.

In the session ‘Celebrating 15 Years of CryoSat for climate science’ led by Tommaso Parrinello (Aeolus and CryoSat Mission Manager, ESA) we heard from a range of scientists on the importance of this mission and how it has contributed to our understanding of the cryosphere, its impact on the wider Earth systems and sea level rise, as well as how it will continue to shape the future of climate science.

To mark this special occasion, we have put together this list of 10 cool things we love about CryoSat-2 from yesterday’s fascinating series of talks on the mission.

1. The idea for CryoSat was conceived by Sir Duncan Wingham, CPOM’s founding Director, but the first satellite was lost in a launch failure in 2005. Thankfully it was rebuilt and launched successfully five years later in 2010.
2. CryoSat’s original mission objectives were to monitor polar ice sheets and arctic sea ice, but today a large proportion of scientific papers using CryoSat data is on topics outside of the cryosphere, noted Andrew Shepherd in his presentation.
3. CryoSat has been instrumental in monitoring global ice losses! In 2021 a study led by CPOM’s Tom Slater showed that Earth is losing 1 trillion tonnes of ice each year. The Ice Sheet Mass Balance Inter-comparison Exercise (IMBIE) Project led by CPOM’s Inès Otosaka now produces annual assessments of ice sheet mass balance, taking advantage of CryoSat data alongside other satellite missions.
4. CryoSat even works on Canadian ice caps, said Professor Rene Forsberg! CryoSat can capture information on smaller ice caps and glaciers due to the advancement of the swath processing technique. Swath processing uses interferometry to map ‘broad swaths of surface elevation’ allowing for higher resolution (less than one kilometre) elevation measurements.
5. In 2023, CryoSat went global on glaciers! The first global assessment of global glacier mass change with radar altimetry was produced (Jakob & Gourmelen, 2023). This year the GLAMBIE project produced updated figures on glacier loss showing that from 2000 – 2023 glaciers across the globe lost 6542 billion tonnes of ice, contributing 18 mm to global sea level rise.
6. CryoSat-2 and ICESat-2 are complementary! A recent study led by CPOM’s Nitin Ravinder showed that CryoSat and ICESat-2 measured Greenland ice sheet elevation change measurements agree with each other to within 3%, confirming that results from these satellites can be combined to produce a more reliable view of ice sheets.
7. There is a CryoTEMPO product suite which uses CryoSat-2 data to produce easily accessible, user-friendly data products for a variety of thematic areas such as sea ice, land ice, polar oceans, coastal oceans and inland water.
8. CryoSat provides insights on sea level rise. Anny Cazenave (LEGOS) gave a wonderful overview on how CryoSat-2 has supported our understanding of sea level rise, sharing insights on altimetry-based sea level trends (2011-2022) AVISO.
9. Dr Livia Jakob (Earthwave) introduced us to the CryoSat Companion now available through ChatGPT! This new AI assistant supports people in using and understanding the data. It even told us an icy joke during the presentation.
10. CryoSat is inspiration of the new CRISTAL mission due to launch in 2027. Set to be a considerable advancement for polar science due to it’s dual-frequency Interferometric Radar altimeter for Ice and Snow (IRIS).

But this is just the tip of the iceberg (sorry!). There’s still so much to learn from CryoSat, and you can do that by following updates from @esa_cryosat on X.

CryoSat’s journey is not over yet, by any means!

In the session ‘Outlook for ESA’s Earth Observation programmes’ at the European Space Agency’s Living Planet Symposium 2025, we heard from Josef Aschbacher, Director General of European Space Agency – ESA, Simonetta Cheli – Director of Earth Observation at ESA, Charles Galland, Policy Manager at ASD-Eurospace, and Andrew Shepherd, CPOM Director (Northumbria University) on the planned funding proposal to EU Member States due later this year. Andrew stood as a representative of the scientific community due to his long-standing collaborative relationship with the European Space Agency and over two decades of experience of EO scientific research.

Josef Aschbacher said: “We are delivering data and services for citizens. Earth Observation is providing a lot of this: services for farmers, for health practitioners, for city planners, for forestry, for aviation, for disaster management to provide information in case of crises.”

Simonetta Cheli said: “There’s an increase of the relevance of space in support of resilience, in support of security, in support of defence needs, and there is also a geopolitical context where EO could provide a further opportunity to increase overall, not just at ESA level, the European leading role that we have in the sector on climate, on sustainability, and the current proposal is a really bold step in that direction.”

Charles Galland said: “This is a strategic investment in Europe’s industrial future. ESA must remain a scientific and technical leader but also increasingly become an economic and market enabler. Industry is ready for that.”

Andrew Shepherd said: “The science is what underpins action, by other people or by ourselves to address the problems the climate is facing and to adapt to the world that we are going to be living in.”

Andrew’s presentation highlighted that:

🌐 Climate science is founded on EO
🛰️ Science underpins action
🌳 Action is the green economy
🌍 Europe is leading the way
🚀 FutureEO is essential

This fascinating session was part of the Living Planet Symposium 2025.

🔗 For the full schedule visit: https://lps25.esa.int/

The UK Centre for Polar Observation (CPOM) is presenting a range of scientific studies and research this week at the European Space Agency (ESA) Living Planet Symposium in Vienna.

On Monday, CPOM Co-Director for Science, Professor Mal McMillan, presented results from the first phase of the CLEV2ER project, which is designing and building Level-2 processor prototypes for land ice and inland water, supporting the scientific readiness of the Copernicus Polar Ice and Snow Topography Altimeter (CRISTAL) ahead of the mission’s operational phase.

But what is CRISTAL?

The European Space Agency (ESA) is currently preparing for the launch of the Copernicus Polar Ice and Snow Topography Altimeter (CRISTAL) in 2027. Set to be a considerable advancement for polar science, CRISTAL will be equipped with a dual-frequency Interferometric Radar altimeter for Ice and Snow (IRIS) – a first for a satellite mission – and a passive microwave radiometer. This will give it the capability to monitor ice-sheet elevation as well as sea ice thickness and the overlying snow depth.

The mission is designed with long-term monitoring in mind, with two identical satellites CRISTAL A and CRISTAL B, with B replacing A before its lifespan finishes to ensure continued data collection.

What’s cool about the IRIS altimeter?

IRIS operates at Ku-band (13.5 GHz) and Ka-band (35.75 GHz) frequencies, known as KuKa. Using both frequencies, this radar can measure snow depth and sea ice thickness at the same time. CRISTAL will be able to measure the thickness of sea ice, the snow that covers it and the elevation of the world’s ice sheets and glaciers ensuring improvement and continuity from the CryoSat-2 mission. This information will be further complemented by data from a Microwave Radiometer providing even more precise information on surface-type classification and snow layer properties.

The ability to assess the depth of the snow overlying sea ice will increase the accuracy of sea ice thickness data, with importance for better understanding polar ice dynamics and global climate. Monitoring the height of ice sheets will support studies on ice mass balance and sea level rise attributed to melting ice sheets.

CRISTAL A is currently having components added by Airbus, with the satellite developed initially by ACPO Technologies. Thales Alenia Space is developing the IRIS altimeter, and the microwave radiometer will be provided by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. You can read more about CRISTAL on ESA’s website.

CPOM Postdoctoral Researcher Dr Karla Boxall (Lancaster University), will also present an overview of progress on the CLEV2ER project on Wednesday including details on analysis and improvements of the methodology used for uncertainty estimation, the retrieval of penetration depth from dual band altimetry, and the role of snowpack properties on penetration depth estimates.

Dr Karla Boxall said:

“CRISTAL’s advanced multi-frequency altimeter provides an exciting opportunity to measure snow depth and coverage, which will improve quality of sea ice thickness and ice sheet elevation data significantly compared to its predecessor, CryoSat-2. CRISTAL will also play a vital role in ensuring the long-term continuation of radar-derived ice elevation records.”

Working together with emerging technology to prepare for a changing future

It is vital for the scientific community to collaborate and build on existing observation and modelling capabilities to ensure the effective and sustainable use of emerging technologies.

The cryosphere is a critical system of our evolving planet where changes often foreshadow broader impacts across the Earth. Melting ice sheets are contributing to rising sea level, and the influx of cold meltwater is affecting our ocean circulation systems, impacting our weather. Government agencies therefore need comprehensive and timely information to plan effectively.

In recent decades our ability to assess the polar regions has improved significantly due to satellite missions such as ESA’s CryoSat-2 and NASA’s ICESat and ICESat-2, along with advancement of observation and computer modelling techniques used by scientists at CPOM. The development of the CRISTAL space mission, and its enhanced radar altimetry technology, will support governments and agencies across the world prepare for climate change, by providing continuous, accurate Earth Observation data to enhance climate models and their projections of future polar ice behaviour.

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• For the exciting full LPS25 schedule, visit the LPS website.

Image credit: ESA