A Coupled Antarctic Cryosphere System: Linking Ice Sheet Surface Mass Balance Processes and Ocean Surface Variability Across Coastal Antarctica

THE OVERALL SCOPE OF WORK AT TO BE COMPLETED AT PENN STATE DOES NOT CHANGE GREATLY FROM THAT ORIGINALLY PROPOSED TO OCCUR AT ROWAN UNIVERSITY. PI TRUSEL WILL LEAD OVERALL PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND PROVIDE EXPERTISE IN REMOTE SENSING OF ANTARCTIC SURFACE MELT ANTARCTIC CLIMATE AND CLIMATE MODEL APPLICATION IN ANTARCTICA. TRUSEL WILL ADVISE A PHD STUDENT AS PART OF THIS PROJECT WHO WILL PLAY A CENTRAL ROLE IN THE PROPOSED ICE SHEET REMOTE SENSING EFFORTS AND COLLABORATE WITH CO-PIS AT COLORADO AND MARYLAND AS WELL AS THE POSTDOC AT COLORADO IN TASKS RELATED TO MODEL/OBSERVATION COMPARISON. RESEARCH AT PENN STATE WILL PRIMARILY INVOLVE DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW SURFACE MELT DATASET AND THE ANALYSIS OF STATISTICAL RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN ICE SHEET OCEAN SURFACE AND ATMOSPHERIC CONDITIONS TOWARD A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF HOW OCEAN SURFACE CONDITIONS INFLUENCE THE MASS AND ENERGY BALANCES OF ICE SHELVES. PENN STATE WILL CONTRIBUTE TO THE DISSEMINATION OF PROJECT RESULTS VIA PUBLIC LECTURES PRESENTATIONS AT SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCES AND WRITING OF PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS. OWING TO THE DELAY IN PROJECT START DATE OUR TIMEFRAME WILL SHIFT ACCORDINGLY BUT THE OVERALL MILESTONES SUB-OBJECTIVES AND DELIVERABLES ARE NOT EXPECTED TO DEVIATE GREATLY FROM THOSE ORIGINALLY PROPOSED.