Topic 1c Part 1: The Challenges of Monitoring the Cryosphere & Why We Need Satellites
In this lecture, Professor Andrew Shepherd explains the challenges that scientists face when they try to measure the cryosphere from land.
These challenges include:
- Temperature
- Wind
- Whiteness
- Inhospitable and hazardous conditions
- Darkness
- Remoteness
- Vastness
It is for these reasons that satellites have revolutionised the way we can collect data about the cryosphere. They offer us a unique perspective from space that bypass the challenges that we face on land.
Additionally, Professor David Vaughan expands on the unprecedented perspective satellites provide of the cryosphere. Crucially, satellites allow a unique perspective and insight into the Earth’s climate and ice thickness that would not be possible on land.
Featured Educators:
- Professor Andrew Shepherd
- Professor David Vaughan
(This video was filmed remotely during COVID-19 lockdown conditions)
Course topics
The core videos of this course are labelled as topic videos.
We have also provided a range of optional further reading, links, and additional resources to help consolidate your learning. Here is a summary of what is available:
Topic links and resources
In each topic, once you have watched the video and read the accompanying text, you will find the following information:
- Optional Further Reading: These are external links to further reading.
- Featured Images and Animations: Below the text on each video page, you’ll find the featured images and featured animations.
- Interactives: On the 'Interactives' tab on relevent topic pages, you will find a satellite tracking application showing the current location of the satellites, a data viewer from the ESA WEkEO platform, as well as a data viewer, specially created for this course, allowing you to explore a selection of data relevant to the themes and topics in this course. (Please note that due to maintenance, the data viewer is currently unavailable).
Quizzes and comments
- Quizzes: At the end of each week there will be a quizz consisting of around five questions. These will help you consolidate your understanding of new topics, but are not scored. The feedback given with each answer also will also provide you with important information.
Weekly interactive exercises
At the end of each week, we have included a guided exercise, using interactive apps available on other websites, to help you become more familiar with looking at and working with EO datasets. You will be guided through the process of searching for, comparing and drawing conclusions from data relevant to some of the topics covered in that week.
©
©
©
©
©
A list of the EO satellite missions mentioned throughout the course, with information and links.
