Principal Investigator Brent Minchew
Project Website https://glaciers.mit.edu/research
The Glacier Dynamics and Remote Sensing Group is an interdisciplinary group of geophysicists, glaciologists, mechanicians, and geodesists, led by Brent Minchew, who study the interactions between the climate, the cryosphere, and the solid earth. We use a combination of geodetic observations -- primarily interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) -- and physical models to study dynamical systems and their various responses to environmental forcing. Most of our research focuses on the dynamics of glaciers, with an emphasis on the mechanics of glacier beds, fracture mechanics in glacier ice, ice rheology, and ice-ocean interactions. By modulating ice flow and directly influencing glacier erosion rates, these factors play critical roles in glacier and ice sheet evolution, the dynamic response of glaciers to climate change, and the impact of glaciers on landform evolution and the global carbon cycle over human to geological timescales. We take a natural-laboratory approach to science and prefer to focus on observable short-timescale (hourly to sub-decadal) variations in the dynamics of large-scale systems in response to known forcings. The ultimate goal is to establish clear connections between observations and first principles.
We seek to understand connections between various components of the Earth system, their response to climate change, and human impact on the environment. We emphasize basic, curiosity-driven science and prefer to study physical processes in the natural environment through observations and a hierarchical modeling approach. Research is multi-faceted, lies at the interface of several earth-science disciplines, and often involves kinematic observations and dynamical models.
Most of these efforts are focused on glacier and ice sheet dynamics. This work typically relies on remote-sensing observations of ice velocities and fundamental mechanics. It is organized as three broad, interconnected research topics: 1) the mechanics of deformable glacier beds, 2) the rheology of ice in shear zones, and 3) the mechanics of calving and rifting. Each of these goals serves to improve projections of future sea level rise and to bolster our broader understanding of ice sheet evolution.
Occasionally, we take short breaks from glacier mechanics to develop remote sensing tools and applications that can be used to help mitigate natural and anthropogenic environmental hazards. This diversity in research topics sharpens our remote sensing skills, makes a direct and positive societal contribution, and adds value to scientific instruments. Examples of this work include methods for characterizing marine oil spills and monitoring wildfires.