Research
My work is focused on understanding the changing Arctic water cycle, primarily as a function of rapidly warming temperatures and the loss of sea ice. The reduction of sea ice has significantly altered ocean-atmosphere interactions, and has led to a freshening of both the Arctic atmosphere and ocean. The main tool I use to observe changing hydrologic cycle processes is to measure the isotopes of water in seawater, water vapor, precipitation, lakes, and ice cores. My research centers on tracing this new water - monitoring and quantifying new sources of evaporation, examining how and where this moisture is transported across the Arctic, determining where and how much precipitation will increase in response to this new moisture, identifying sources of freshwater to the Arctic seas (whether from increased precipitation and glacial meltwater), and delineating ocean water masses to observe changing ocean circulation as driven by this new freshwater.
Arctic Water Isotope Network At UAA, we have created a network of analyzers around the Arctic to continuously measure water vapor isotopes in order to trace moisture as it is transported into, within, and out of the Arctic. This network enables us to better investigate ocean-atmosphere-cryosphere interactions, and identify and quantify moisture sourced in the Arctic due to the loss of sea ice. There is large spatial variability in distribution of this new water vapor, so it is critical to monitor the changes across the Arctic to best understand the impacts to terrestrial and marine landscapes and systems. We have fostered a number of international collaborations to investigate the Arctic hydrologic cycle changes. Most notably, we have been working to pair our network of measurements with those taken on board the R/V Polarstern during the MOSAiC Expedition in the central Arctic. |
Research cruise participation:
In addition to these cruises, this research work has provided me opportunities to travel to some other incredible places, including to Thule in coastal northwest Greenland (summer 2019): |
In Thule, we are examining how the hydrologic cycle is changing from a variety of perspectives. Our main focus is through measuring the water vapor isotopes, where we have had a continuous water vapor analyzer collecting data from fall 2016 through today. This has allowed us to observe the critical role of sea ice over Baffin Bay in largely driving the local water cycle, as well as identify a substantial contribution of water vapor from sublimation off the Greenland Ice Sheet in the summer months.
In several summer field seasons, we have also collected liquid water samples from the many lakes that cover the landscape and meltwater rivers that drain the Greenland Ice Sheet (locally, the Tuto Ice Dome). From the lake water isotopes measurements, our goal is to identify the relative roles of the key drivers of lake water balance, in order to inform how these lakes will change in the future (or may have changed in the past). From the meltwater isotope measurements, we are monitoring the contribution of various sources - recent precipitation, melt of the previous winter's snowfall, or glacial melt. |
Select Media Coverage
Media from my contributions:
Other recent media from our group's work:
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