Robotics

Melting of tidewater glaciers and ice shelves are closely linked to sea level rise. Direct measurements of submarine melt rates of glacier ice are difficult to make, as the waters in front of the glacier terminus are hazardous, especially in summer when the ice is melting rapidly and subaerial and submarine calving events occur often.

Beneath ice shelves on Earth, processes such as accretion, melt and circulation mediate the interaction between the ocean and the ice. These are an important element of Earth’s climate system, contributing to the evolution of the cryosphere, and in some cases can destabilize ice shelves and ice sheets in our warming climate.