Glacial lake drainage from satellite remote sensing in Antarctica

Duration: 4-6 months, Start date: January (ideally)

Internship context
We are looking for a motivated M2 student, for a fully funded 4-6 months internship at the Institut des Géosciences de l’Environnement (IGE) in Grenoble. This position will use multiple sensor satellite remote sensing observations to quantify supra and subglacial lake drainages in the most vulnerable sectors of the Antarctic ice sheet, which remain the largest uncertainty in sea level rise projections.

Objectives
This internship will explore how Antarctic lakes form and drain, using cutting-edge satellite data and innovative methods. The goal is to build a system which will allows to map visible or hidden water bodies, and shed light on how they may affect the stability of the Antarctic Ice Sheet. Ideally, the internship will be composed of the following three main parts:
• Part 1 – Surface lakes position: You’ll use satellite images (Landsat, Sentinel-2) to detect lakes on top of the ice sheet and on ice shelves at the periphery of Antarctica. This involves testing existing approaches, developing your own Python tools to process and visualize the data, and analyzing how often lakes appear and drain.
• Part 2 – Drainage volume and subglacial lakes: Using satellite altimetry from the European Space Agency (Cryosat-2, SWOT), you will quantify the volume of freshwater that has drained. Investigating elevation change pattern, you will also identify subglacial lake drainages, which are occuring beneath the ice sheet.
• Part 3 – Ice shelf impact: Compare lake drainages with changes like ice cracks, melting, and flow speed to see how they might affect the strength and stability of ice shelves.
You’ll work with an international team of researchers as part of the ERC project IceDaM, which investigates how Antarctic ice shelves are weakening and how it will impact future sea level rise.

Strengths
• A comprehensive experience with satellite remote sensing in glaciology
• A training on open-source software and open science practices
• Integration within an interdisciplinary environment and a dynamic team of researchers at IGE
• Collaboration with international partners (Norway, Denmark)

Required skills:
• Background in Earth sciences (or equivalent), with an interest in glaciology and a motivation for satellite remote sensing
• Curiosity, independence and motivation for team work
• Proficiency in Python programming and knowledges of Bash
• Experience with HPC is a plus
• Proficiency in English

To apply:
Send a CV and motivation letter at romain.millan univ-grenoble-alpes.fr