Another year, another EGU! I am involved in several contributions and sessions, as detailed below: Monday 4 May, 16:15–18:00 (PICO: 16:19–16:21) Title: Monitoring and forecasting the state of Svalbar...

I have been in Svalbard for the last couple of weeks helping a team led by Whyjay Zheng ( install a set of GNSS stations on Ulvebreen in eastern Svalbard. Ulvebreen is a surge-type glacier, currently in its quiescent phase and last surged around 1900 i.e. over 100 years ago (see our recent review paper: & database of surge-type glaciers in Svalbard: …

I am pleased to share our new paper in which we review the current distribution of surging glaciers in Svalbard! Published in Earth Science Reviews, you can find the full paper here: The surging Borebreen in 2024. In this review, we analyse the methods use to detect glacier surges in the past and present using remote sensing techniques, geophysical methods, and palaeo-glaciological analysis such as landforms, historical imagery and archival maps.

So much has been happening that I have not had a chance to keep up with posts on this website! You'll be seeing updates very soon... Let's start with the most recent - this week, SvalbardDT attended the ESA Digital Twin Earth Components: Open Science Meeting 2026' in Frascati, updating on the development of SvalbardDT. Lots of good discussion on the current prototype and ideas for the upcoming phases of the project. More info on that project here: Photo credit: Morag Fotheringham

We have a new paper out! Work with Leigh Stearns, Michael Shahin, and Sid Shankar studying the potential of new ICEYE SAR satellite imagery to study the dynamic behaviour of ice mélange around the margins of the Greenland Ice Sheet. The higher resolution enhances surface texture and improves accuracy of iceberg classification. Through the enhanced image textures, with found distinct 'banding' in the mélange related to changes ice concentration changes and stabilised by large icebergs - this suggests they act as the nucleus of mélange zones and control matrix stability. Read more here:

Many homes in Blatten have been flattened after a large chunk of the Birch glacier fell on to the village.

Next week we will be at EGU in Vienna presenting some of our teams exciting new research! Please come and talk to us: Poster #1 🧊 The distribution of glacier surge behaviour in Svalbard and implications for understanding unstable ice flow📅 Poster | Monday, 28 Apr, 10:45–12:30 (CEST), Hall X5, X5.125📰 Abstract: Authors: William Harcourt, Danni Pearce, Wojciech Gajek, Harold Lovell, Andreas Kääb, Doug Benn, Adrian Luckman, Richard Hann, Jack Kohler, Erik Mannerfelt, Tazio Strozzi, Rebecca McCerery, Bethan Davies…

Utilising seismic station internal GPS for tracking surging glacier sliding velocity - Volume 71

We are pleased to share our new project that officially kicked off in 2025: 'Svalbard Cryosphere Digital Twin (SvalbardDT)'. Website here: The SvalbardDT project will build a Digital Twin Component (DTC) as part of the European Space Agency’s (ESAs) Destination Earth (DestinE) initiative to build a digital twin of the Earth. We will construct a new DTC of the ice and snow of Svalbard’s cryosphere in the 21st Century through an automated data management system to ingest, harmonise, and analyse data products ready for delivery to the Digital Twin Earth Service Platform (DESP).

YouTube video by SAGES

PhD Project - QUARTILES DLA: Assessing the impact of glacier surges on 21st century ice mass loss in Svalbard using satellite remote sensing, climate reanalysis and modelling at University of Aberdeen...