The Basal Roughness of Ice-Sheets from Radio-Echo Sounding: A Marie Skłodowska-Curie Global

Fellowship Case Study

Tom Jordan,School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol.

(soon to be joint with Department of Geophysics, Stanford University)

Image from NASA

My academic background

BSc, Physics & Theoretical Physics, University of Manchester.

PhD, Biological Optics, Biological Sciences and Complexity Sciences, University of Bristol.

Postdoc, Radio Glaciology, Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol.

• Radar geophysics.

• Optical materials.• Engineering biomimicry.• Sensory biology.

• Ice-sheets.• Remote sensing.

Visible light

Radio waves

Image from NASA

Talk structure

Background to the fellowship proposal• Radio-echo sounding and ice-sheet research.• Introducing the two research groups and advisors.• My motivation for applying.• Timeline for my application.

Step-by-step guide to fellowship application1. Excellence. 2. Impact.3. Implementation. 4. CV of researcher.Other information

• Evaluator feedback.• Resources available. • Hints and tips.

Airborne Radio-Echo Sounding

• A geophysical technique that can determine internal and basal properties of ice-sheets.

Bed echo

NASA P3 Orion with onboard radar sounder

Radio-echo sounding data

Radar flight-tracks for Greenland ice-sheet

Bamber et al. 2013a

l

Image from CReSIS

Image from NASA

Digital elevation maps for Greenland Ice Sheet

Bed elevation Ice thickness

(km)

0

1

2

3

0

1

2

3

(km)

4

Bed 2017 preview images from Chris Williams, Bristol.

• RES data has been complied to map the ice thickness and topography of Greenland Ice sheet.

• Essential boundary condition for modelling ice-sheet dynamics & sea-level prediction.

• If melted, ice sheet would contribute ~ 7.5 m to sea-level change

Exploring the subglacial environment using radio-echo sounding

Hydrological systems (channels, rivers and lakes)

Bed roughness (relates to past and present ice sheet motion)

• The challenge: turning `electromagnetic information’ into useful `geographical information’.

Geology & lithology (largely unconstrained in interior of the ice sheets)

Dawes et al. 2009

Deretsky et al. 2012

The two research groups

• Electromagnetic data analysis & signal processing.• Radar systems development and design.• Radar sounding of icy moons.

• Remote sensing of Greenland and Antarctica.• Development of digital data products and maps.• Global mass balance and sea level change.

Jonathan Bamber, Professor of Physical Geography,Bristol Glaciology Centre,University of Bristol.

Dustin (Dusty) Schroeder, Assistant Professor of Geophysics, Radio Glaciology group,Stanford University

Bamber et al. 2013b

My motivation for applying• Skills development: To continue in radar geophysics

(either in academia or industry) I required more knowledge of radar instrumentation and signal processing.

• Research networks: Majority of radio-echo sounding is led by American research teams (e.g. NASA).

• Teaching opportunities: Being based in geophysics would give me teaching opportunities related to my skill set.

• Working environment: A unique opportunity to join a newly formed lab.

• Freedom: I enjoy defining my own research problems.

• Leisure: California has world class rock climbing.

Timeline for my application

• Aug 2015 – First met Dusty at glaciology conference in Cambridge.

• April 2016 –Began collaborating with existing Greenland work.

• May 2016 – Decide to write MC fellowship for application round in September 2016.

• June 2016 – Fellowship idea generation phase.

• July 2016/Aug 2016 – Wrote fellowship*.

• Sep 2016 – Submitted fellowship.

• Jan 2017 – Application result.

* ~ 4 weeks full time work hours….

Step-by-step guide to fellowship application:

1st document (10 pages)

1. Excellence ~ 6 pages & 50 % of marks

2. Impact ~ 2 pages & 30 % of marks

3. Implementation~ 2 pages & 20 % of marks

2nd document (5 pages)

Your CV and research experience (used to support content in 1st

document)

1.1 Quality and credibility of the research/innovation action

1.1 Excellence

• Introduced Radio-Echo Sounding & importance in providing boundary condition for ice-sheet models.

• Proposed `hidden geographical information’ was present in the RES data (hydrology, thermal state, geology, lithology), which required refining analysis methods.

• Mentioned that basal roughness is known to be a crucial control upon ice dynamics (this is not extracted from RES in a useful way for ice-sheet models).

• Identified that roughness at a finer length-scales is required, and requires development of more sophisticated electromagnetic inversion techniques.

Overview of action:

• Primary and subsidiary goals of fellowship

`The primary goal of this fellowship to derive

systematic, quantitative estimates of metre-scale

roughness for the bed of ice sheets using established

concepts from EM theory and the latest advances in

RES processing and data acquisition.’

`Subsidiary goals include: developing EM scattering

models for fractal interfaces specific to ice penetrating

radar; identifying and mapping regions of deformable

bed; and developing a framework for combining EM

scattering information from different radar systems.’

of ice sheets’

• Overarching aim

`An overarching aim will be to provide radar-derived information to the ice-sheet

modelling community regarding the basal boundary condition.

Introduction of work packages

Work Package 1: Electromagnetic methods for determining basal roughness from radar scattering (Stanford phase).

Work Package 2: Geostatistical analysis of basal topography (Stanford phase).

Work Package 3: Bed echo characterisation and comparison for different radar systems

(Stanford phase).

Work Package 4: Spatial analysis, mapping, and synthesis with ice sheet models (Bristol

phase).

• Multidisciplinary. Four different sub-fields: (computational electromagnetics, applied statistics, signal processing, glaciology)

Description of work packages

• For each work package I gave: (i) a focused 1 paragraph literature review, (ii) a 1 paragraph summary of the proposed work and research aims.

• Some of the work packages involved references to preliminary work (and accompanying figures)

e.g. Work Package 2: Geostatistical analysis of basal topography (Stanford phase)

• Described methods to extract roughness parameters from subglacial terrain (with overall goal of relating to ice-sheet motion).

• Demonstrated that there would be a knowledge transfer of geostatistical techniques from planetary radar to ice penetrating radar.

• Outlined preliminary work (e.g. evidence that subglacial terrain exhibits fractal-scaling behaviour).

Synergy with existing projects

• ‘The fellowship will form a natural continuation of the RES analysis done by the applicant as part of a NERC (UK) funded project `Basal Properties of Greenland’ (extending the techniques to different radar systems and to Antarctica)’

• ‘The fellowship will thus act to maximise the legacy of the NERC project and make efficient use of the data generated. ‘

• ‘This fellowship will also forge a synthesis with the Stanford NASA research project `Joint Radar and Model Investigations of Greenland Basal Water Conditions’.

1.2 Quality and appropriateness of the training and of the two way

transfer of knowledge between the researcher and the host

• Emphasise how the 2 research groups compliment each other: the group Stanford is an instrument and technique specialist (`bottom-up’) whereas the group at Bristol is more geographically-focused (`top-down).

• Highlight how European supervisor will gain from your new skill set: data combination from different radar systems is essential to the Bristol group’s work in mapping ice-sheet-wide information

• Emphasise how knowledge gained will benefit European science: we made a case that analysis of American radar data by European groups is limited to being `higher up the processing chain’ (and that fellowship enables analysis of raw data)

• Be specific about how you skills will facilitate knowledge transfer: the Stanford group have developed particular EM-theoretic approaches to characterising bed roughness & I have sufficient background in EM scattering theory to learn this.

1.3 Quality of the supervision and of the integration in the team/institution

Qualifications and experience of supervisors: highlight relevant parts to project:

`A distinct emphasis of Dr. Schroeder’s work, directly relevant to this proposal, is the use of quantitative electromagnetic physics based methods and electrical engineering signal processing methods.

`The research group of Prof. Bamber uses remote sensing data to investigate the morphology and dynamics of the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets. Their work involves a broad-scale synthesis of different airborne and satellite methods and data, of which airborne RES analysis is a central component’

Hosting arrangements:

• Describe infrastructure & research

programmes of both departments. We also

described research groups at Stanford with

complementary research interests in radar

remote sensing.

1.4 Capacity of the researcher to reach or re-enforce a position of professional

maturity/independence

• Mention examples where you have followed your own research directions: e.g. during later part of my PhD I branched into an area of physics new to my supervisors (disordered systems).

• Mention examples of collaborations:

(i) optical structures in marine animals (ii) mapping fjord systems in Greenland

• Mention how fellowship will build upon your past research experience: e.g. I made a case that my optics background was transferable to radar.

2. Impact

• State career goal: continue working in radar geophysics &go on to lead research group in academia or industry.

• Research skills: Signal processing (synthetic aperture radar), radar systems, geophysics field work, geo-statistics.

• Teaching skills: A chance to contribute toward UG teaching programme involving electromagnetics.

• Research networks: radar groups from Texas & Kansas. NASA research teams.

2.1 Enhancing career prospects of researcher

2.2. Quality of the proposed measures to exploit and disseminate the action results

2.3. Quality of the proposed measures to communicate the action activities to different target audiences

• Conferences: key audiences and conferences (e.g. American Geophysical Union).

• Public engagement: project website and outreach programmes.

• Publication strategy: target journals & experience publishing in them (host & researcher)

• Intellectual property: Data archiving (e.g. National Snow and Ice Data Center)

3. Implementation

3.1 Coherence and effectiveness of work plan

Project Gantt chart

Example work package task summary

• ~ 2/3 tasks & 1 publication (`milestone’) per work package.

• ~ 1 year per work package.

• 4 work packages

3.2 Allocation of takes and resources:

• Describe strategy behind work plan (division between theoretical/radar systems work at Stanford and applied/geographical work at Bristol)

3.3 Appropriateness of the management structure and procedures, including risk management:

• Bristol provided a section on financial management & their success at managing Horizons projects. In risk management I described data availability.

3.4 Appropriateness of the institutional environment (infrastructure):

• Bristol & Stanford provided information, including: high performance computing facilities, buildings, research metrics, post-doc scholar numbers, etc

4. CV of researcher (second document of ~ 5 pages)

Summary of academic background~ 1 page summary of research skills, interests, projects, outputs and career goals.

Major research accomplishments- I described 3 most significant research papers/discoveries.

(i) Non-polarizing fish reflectors (applied optics)(ii) Polarization-control in disordered optical media (pure physics)(iii) Radar attenuation/temperature of Greenland Ice Sheet (glaciology)

Academic CV- Publications, Presentations, Teaching Experience, Research Skills, Supervision, Outreach,.

Match between profile and project- Past research in electromagnetism and optics can be transferred to radio glaciology- Interdisciplinary skill set and outlook.

Evaluator feedback 1. Excellence

• ‘The research programme is highly innovative in involving electromagnetic scattering properties to estimate metre-scale basal roughness of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets.’

• ‘The state-of-the-art related to the new methods is very clearly explained and provides an excellent background to formulate the research aims and objectives.’

• ‘The training, new knowledge gained and transferable skills are specific.’

• ‘The principal host (Stanford) can gain substantially, not only from the specific technical expertise of the researcher in radar analysis, but also from the researcher's multi-disciplinary background.’

• ‘The proposal clearly documents the high quality of the research groups at both host institutions and their extensive expertise in the domain of the planned research.’

Evaluator feedback (2)

2. Impact

3. Implementation

• Researcher shows clear development path and has identified relative lack of knowledge in radar technology.

• Stated training goals will lead to maximum competitiveness. • Prospect of gaining teaching experience.• Ambitious but realistic publication strategy.• Lack of a detailed plan for outreach.

• Coherent work plan, well focused work packages and milestones, realistic time line for tasks.• Contribution to training by both institutions is well explained.• Organisation, management and infrastructure is clearly described.• Lack of a detailed risk management strategy.

Resources and help available to me

• Support from RED at Bristol (Tom Bowker) - UoB fellowship template.- Proof reading service for proposal draft.

• Examples of past successful grants- (i) UoB example Marie Curie fellowship proposal- (ii) Marie Curie proposal from a past fellow in Bristol Glaciology- (iii) Other successful fellowships involving Radio-Echo Sounding (e.g. my current NERC grant).

• 1 hour workshop at EGU conference (very helpful to understand the exact assessment criteria).

General tips

• Be specific about skills and training development (gaps in your CV can be turned into an advantage) .

• Be clear about how your skills and experience will benefit each research group & enable effective knowledge transfer.

• Emphasise multi- and inter-disciplinary aspects of the project.

• If you can, find a synergy between your project and existing research programmes.

• Mention preliminary work that supports proposal.

• Make sure your proposal is strong in all 3 categories (excellence, impact & implementation).