2017 Ablation Zone Photos
In July 2017 I spent 1 week at a field location in the ablation zone in the Issunguata Sermia catchment. This field site was where scientists from the University of Montana and University of Wyoming installed inclinometers and temperature sensors throughout the ice column in 9 boreholes. I helped to dismantle the field experiments and map the bed using ground penetrating radar.
2017 Ablation Zone Photos
In July 2017 I spent 1 week at a field location in the ablation zone in the Issunguata Sermia catchment. This field site was where scientists from the University of Montana and University of Wyoming installed inclinometers and temperature sensors throughout the ice column in 9 boreholes. I helped to dismantle the field experiments and map the bed using ground penetrating radar.
2017 Ablation Zone Photos
Ian McDowell
NSF Postdoctoral Fellow
Cornell University
ABOUT
I am a glaciologist that studies the interactions between water and firn. I am interested in studying how firn structure affects water flow, and how water, in turn, alters firn structure and influences future water movement. These feedbacks between water and firn structure control the meltwater storage capacity of ice sheets and influences ice shelf stability. This research is crucial for understanding how ice sheets contribute to sea level rise now and in the future. I address questions such as:
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Is seawater infiltration into ice shelves prevalent and persistent enough to impact ice shelf stability across Antarctica?
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How does the spatial distribution of brine layers in Antarctic ice shelves compare to projected locations of future meltwater firn aquifers?
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How does microscale (grain scale) firn structure impact water flow through firn?
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How does firn structure influence the character of melt layers formed by "extreme" melt events?
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How will firn structure evolve in a warming climate?
I use a combination of field/laboratory observations, remote sensing, and numerical models to address these questions.
Currently, I am a National Science Foundation Office of Polar Programs Postdoctoral Fellow at Cornell University. I work with Dr. Riley Culberg and am a member of the Cornell Hydrology, Ice, and Radar Physics Lab. Previously, I completed my Ph.D. at the University of Nevada, Reno with Dr. Kaitlin Keegan and I received an M.S. at the University of Wyoming with Dr. Neil Humphrey.
CURRENT RESEARCH
PREVIOUS PROJECTS
PHOTOS FROM THE FIELD
I have been fortunate enough to have traveled to Greenland four times. It is a place of extreme beauty and welcoming people. Click on the pictures below to see more photos from different towns in Greenland and three different field camps on the ice sheet!