For several summers this deeply incised melt channel transported overflow from a large melt lake to a Moulin (a conduit drains the water through many hundreds of feet to the ice sheet’s bed). (note people near left edge for scale).

Welcome! We are the Ice Sheets and Climate research group, led by Jan Lenaerts. We are part of the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences (ATOC).

In our group, we try to understand and answer the following scientific questions:

How do ice sheets respond to climate and climate change? 

What are the main processes driving this ice sheet response?

How can we improve the models that represent these processes?

Our research focuses on the interaction between the ice and snow in the polar regions and the remainder of the global climate system. We are interested in the processes that drive this change, especially in the atmosphere (large-scale atmospheric circulation, atmospheric warming), but also in the snow and ice (surface melt, runoff) and especially these processes that are a combination of the two (albedo-melt feedback, drifting snow, polar clouds, etc.). Our main tools are climate models, which we try to understand & improve by combining observations (in-situ, remote sensing) with knowledge on the physical processes. 

Our group is strongly involved in the Community Earth System Model (CESM) consortium. As members of the Land Ice Working Group, we aim to understand ice sheet changes in a global context.

ice sheets in the snow

Ice Sheets and Climate group in weather they love the most - snow and cold (February 6, 2019). From left to right: Michael (Drew) Camron,  Jan Lenaerts, Devon Dunmire, Nander Wever, Lynn Montgomery, and Eric Keenan.

Group picture

Ice Sheets and Climate group in typical Spring weather conditions (March 14, 2018). From left to right: Jan Lenaerts, Michael (Drew) Camron, Nander Wever, Tessa Gorte, Lynn Montgomery, Alexandra Gossart (KU Leuven, visiting Jan-March 2018), Marissa Dattler.