We are pleased to announce three new collaborations in the area of Earth Observation

3 Jun 2019 - 2 min

The projects are a result of the 2018/2019 GO Call for Proposals (User Support Programme Space Research), published in collaboration with the Netherlands Space Office (NSO) and the Netherlands...

The aim of the GO Call was to support researchers working in the Netherlands in the use of space infrastructure for the purpose of excellent studies in the areas of earth observation and planetary research.

Scheduled to start in 2019 the three awarded projects are collaborations with research teams from Utrecht University and TU Delft:

Eratosthenes – chasing shadows to investigate glacier change worldwide
Prof. dr. Michiel van den Broeke (Utrecht University)

This project will detect shadows casted by mountain tops in satellite imagery of glaciers. Changes in these shadows are used to estimate changes in glacier height. This new, unconventional approach provides unprecedented information about the health of small glaciers, and improves water discharge forecasting, sea level predictions and glacier models.

Remote sensing of damage feedbacks and ice shelf instability in Antarctica
Dr. Stef Lhermitte (TU Delft)

Antarctica is the largest uncertainty in sea level rise projections, with contributions ranging from -7.5 cm to >1 m by 2100. Ice shelf weakening due to damage plays an important role, although its impact is still poorly understood. Therefore, this project will combine remote sensing and big data approaches to assess this impact.

A new perspective on global vegetation water dynamics from radar satellite data
Prof. dr. ir. Susan Steele-Dunne (TU Delft)

The Advanced Scatterometer on the Metop series makes it possible to monitor radar backscatter as a function of incidence angle. For the first time, this information will be used to study global vegetation water dynamics to better understand the role of vegetation in the water, energy and carbon cycles.