U.S.-Chile Cooperative Research: Southern Patagonian Icefield; Geophysical Observations and Modeling Studies

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

9802764RaymondThis Americas Program award will fund a three-year cooperative research project between Dr. Charles Raymond, University of Washington and Dr. Gino Rogazinski Casassa, Universidad de Magallanes, Punta Arenas, Chile, to study the Patagonian Icefields, one of the largest accumulation of non-polar ice in the Southern Hemisphere, and one of the largest in the world. Observations confined to the marginal areas of these icefields show evidence of substantial loss of ice mass over the last half century that would contribute to rising sea levels. The collaborators seek to use modern remote sensing, ground measurements, and modeling methods, with the purpose of initiating field work to get critical new information on the ice discharge from the interior of the Southern Patagonian Icefield. This information will be significant with regard to the potential hazard of seal level rise from Patagonian ice and how imminent it could be. The proposal involves collaboration, not only with the Universidad de Magallanes, but also with the Universidad de Chile, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the University of Washington and the University of Alaska. Results of this initial research will allow the formulation of a more extensive research proposal to address the mass balance and climate control of Patagonian ice. ***