Postdoctoral Fellowship: EAR-PF: Investigation of High Mountain Asia Glacial Lake Variations Under a Warming Climate

Sonam Futi Sherpa博士被授予NSF地球科学博士后奖学金，在布朗大学Laurence C.Smith教授的指导和监督下开展研究和专业发展活动。亚洲的高山冰川湖充满了冰川融化的湖水，储存了大量的水。冰川湖泊面积的迅速增加表明了全球气候变化导致的气温上升的影响。这些冰川湖泊和冰川融化是生活在下游的人们的水源。但冰川湖泊的破裂(爆发)会导致冰川湖暴发洪水(GLOF)。GLOF是在安第斯山脉、阿尔卑斯山、喜马拉雅山脉等山区观察到的一种自然灾害。HMA正在经历着不同的冰川融化和冰川湖泊的不同演化。虽然冰川湖泊的数量和规模以前也有报道，但在气候变暖和季风的情况下，冰川湖泊和GLOF事件的趋势和模式是如何变化的，需要进一步研究。夏尔巴博士将使用最近启动的SWOT(地表水和海洋地形)任务来观察冰川湖的大小和GLOF的出现。她将建立方法和科学途径来了解水的可获得性和危险。在她的项目中，她计划指导来自STEM(科学、技术、工程和数学)和计算领域历史上被排除在外的本科生。她将通过研讨会、科学期刊和社交媒体，包括布朗现有的多样性、公平性和包容性平台来交流她的结果。她的研究将产生大量与水循环变化相关的公开数据。政策制定者、公众和科学界将能够访问这些数据集。这些公开数据允许在新的地区复制结果和实施方法。她的工作有助于制定与气候有关的水政策和科学进步。亚洲高山(HMA)经历了不同的冰川质量损失模式和冰川湖泊的不同演化。尽管一些研究曾报道冰川湖泊的数量和范围(面积、体积)增加，但在气候变暖和季风的影响下，冰川湖泊和冰川湖暴发洪水(GLOF)的趋势和模式正在发生怎样的变化，还需要进一步研究。Sonam Futi Sherpa博士将利用尖端技术，例如来自地表水和海洋地形(SWOT)任务的干涉合成孔径雷达(InSAR)和其他SAR卫星数据来估计冰川湖泊的高分辨率时空演变。她将进一步利用气候模拟技术的成果来研究气候变暖下冰川融化和冰川湖泊扩张之间的联系。她的工作有助于从根本上理解冰川湖量演变的模式和趋势，目前在解决冰川对气候变化的水文反应的模型中被忽视，以进行水资源管理。此外，她的工作还可以量化来自GLOF的危险，以进行风险管理。在她的研究中开发和使用的方法和科学框架可以用于任何全球或地方系统，包括安第斯山脉、喜马拉雅山脉、阿尔卑斯山、格陵兰、泛北极或全球其他冰川地区。夏尔巴博士的研究解决了美国国家科学基金会地球科学部(EAR)的优先科学问题：“地球的水循环是如何改变的？”以及“地球科学研究如何降低地质灾害的风险和伤亡？她计划致力于促进和指导来自STEM和计算机领域历史上被排除在外的本科生。她将通过以下途径向受众传播她的研究成果：1)科学界(通过科学会议和同行评议的期刊)；2)本科生和研究生通过计算和科学交流研讨会；3)通过社交媒体和现有的布朗大学多元化、公平和包容性(DEI)推广计划进行公众宣传。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Dr. Sonam Futi Sherpa has been awarded an NSF Earth Sciences Postdoctoral Fellowship to carry out research and professional development activities under the mentorship and supervision of Prof. Laurence C. Smith at Brown University. High Mountain Asia’s glacial lakes, filled with melt from glaciers store large volumes of water. The rapid increase in the size of glacial lakes shows the impact of rising temperatures from global climate change. These glacial lakes and glacier melts are a source of water for people living downstream. But a breaking (outburst) of glacial lakes causes Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs). GLOFs are a natural hazard observed in mountain regions such as the Andes, the Alps, the Himalayas, and others. HMA is experiencing contrasting glacier melt alongside different evolution of glacial lakes. Although the increased number and size of glacial lakes have been reported before, how trends and patterns of glacial lakes and GLOFs events are changing under warming climate and monsoons need further investigation. Dr. Sherpa will use the recently launched SWOT (Surface Water and Ocean Topography) mission to observe glacial lake size and occurrences of GLOFs. She will build methods and scientific approaches to understanding water availability and hazard. During her project, she plans to mentor undergraduates from historically excluded groups in the field of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) and computing. She will communicate her results through workshops, science journals, and social media, including Brown’s existing diversity, equity, and inclusion platforms. Her study will generate a large volume of open data related to changing water cycle. Policymakers, the public, and scientific communities will be able to access these datasets. These open data allow results to be reproduced and methods to be implemented in new regions. Her work helps in climate-water-related policymaking and scientific advancement.High Mountain Asia (HMA), experiences contrasting glacier mass loss patterns alongside varying evolution of glacial lakes. Although increased number and extent (area, volume) of glacial lakes have been reported previously by several studies, how trends and patterns of glacial lakes and Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs) events are changing under warming climate and monsoon require further investigation. Dr. Sonam Futi Sherpa will utilize cutting-edge technologies, such as Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) from Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission and other SAR satellites data to estimate high-resolution spatio-temporal evolution of glacial lakes. She will further utilize the outputs of climate modeling techniques to investigate association between melting of glaciers and the expansion of glacial lakes, under a warming climate. Her work contributes to a fundamental understanding of patterns and trends of glacial lake volume evolution that are currently neglected in models addressing the hydrological responses of glaciers to climate change for water management. Furthermore, her work allows quantification of hazards coming from GLOFs for risk management. The methodological and scientific framework developed and used in her study could be utilized in any global or local system including the Andes, Himalayas, Alps, Greenland, pan-Arctic, or other glaciated parts of the globe. Dr. Sherpa’s research addresses the National Science Foundation’s Division of Earth Sciences (EAR) priority science questions “How is Earth’s water cycle changing?” and “How can Earth science research reduce the risk and toll of geohazards? She plans to work on the promotion and mentorship of undergraduates from historically excluded groups in STEM and computing. She will disseminate the results of her research to audiences from: 1) the scientific community (through scientific conferences and peer-reviewed journals); 2) undergraduate and graduate students through computational and science communication workshops and 3) public outreach through social media and existing Brown University diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) outreach programs.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.