Abstract
Remote Sensing of surface melt extent and surface melt magnitude is important in studying ice sheet’s mass balance and climatic changes in polar regions. Passive microwave Special Sensor Microwave/Imager data was used to monitor and study surface melt extent of the Greenland ice sheet. Optical and thermal satellite signatures, calibrated by melt water content derived from a physical snowmelt model was used to study the melt intensity (magnitude) of the Greenland ice sheet. By comparing passive microwave satellite data to optical-thermal satellite data, a comparison can established to determine if there is a correlation between surface melt extent and surface melt intensity (E-melt) across the Greenland ice sheet. Results were evaluated and showed a prominent correlation between surface melt extent and surface melt magnitude.
 

Abstract
Scientists use many different tools to study the ice sheets including radar, seismic sensors, and satellites to collect the data they need.  The Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets (CReSIS) is developing a UAV (unscrewed aerial vehicle) to measure ice sheets using synthetic aperture radar. A single flight from the UAV can generate more than one terabyte of data.  Real-time field processing will allow the field team to adjust location and flight patterns to collect optimum data sets.  The large amounts of data create a significant problem for scientists who wish to process their data while in the field. 

The PolarGrid project is developing a 64-core computer cluster to allow for storing, and processing of the data collected in the field in real-time.  We will be doing research that directly benefits the PolarGrid project.  The topics include the network infrastructure that is used for clusters, file systems to utilize all the nodes of the cluster, the software that is currently in use to help in the development of parallel programs, and Beowulf clusters. 

Abstract
The objective of this project was to adapt the design of a robot that was originally created at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center called the TETwalker, in a computer simulation software program to demonstrate the collection of seismic data of ice sheets in Antarctica and Greenland. We will take their design and adapt it for seismic data collection by placing seismic sensors (geophones) in each ground node of the tetrahedral structure, or in the center node for deployment. Seismic methods are analyzed in order to determine which design could possibly be more efficient and reliable in polar environments in terms of geophone deployment and environmental characteristics.

Abstract
Hypoxia is an environmental condition of low concentrations of dissolved oxygen that is detrimental to marine animals. It is a result of excessive input of fluvial nutrients to the coastal environment that leads to rapid growth of phytoplankton. When phytoplankton die and sink, they consume dissolved oxygen during decomposition. Water column stratification, especially a strong stratification in summer, is essential for the development of hypoxia. Seasonal occurrence of hypoxia has been observed in many coastal waters. The most prominent hypoxia in the United States was observed in the Northern Gulf of Mexico. For more than two decades, scientists have been monitoring the hypoxia in the Northern Gulf of Mexico by conducting annual ~ 2-week-long cruise in summer and developing strategies for reducing the flux of nutrients and the size of hypoxia. There are many shortcomings in the current monitoring method. The major shortcoming is poor temporal and spatial resolutions of these field studies.

We conducted the following research project to overcome some of these shortcomings and to lay a foundation for high resolution monitoring of hypoxia with satellite remote sensing. The project was based on the hypothesis that there is a linear correlation between the concentrations of chlorophyll a in surface waters and dissolved oxygen in bottom waters. To test this hypothesis we : (1)* obtained SeaWiFS data and processed it for sea surface chlorophyll a; (2) obtained dissolved oxygen data from NOAA’s National Coastal Data Development Center (NCDDC); (3) selected chlorophyll a data that coincided with dissolved oxygen data; (4) correlated the concentrations of dissolved oxygen in bottom waters to that of chlorophyll a in surface waters; (5) correlated the water column apparent oxygen utilization (AOU) to concentrations of chlorophyll a in surface waters. If our hypothesis is proven true, the correlations to be derived will enable monitoring of the future evolution of hypoxia in the Northern Gulf of Mexico with satellite remote sensing. This will significantly increase both temporal and spatial resolutions of hypoxia mapping. The correlations could also be used to evaluate the past evolution of the hypoxia in the Northern Gulf of Mexico (i.e. from 1997 when SeaWiFS was launched).

Abstract
Snow cover on sea ice plays an important role in the climate of the polar regions. Snow on the sea icereduces the heat exchange between the ocean and the atmosphere by its high albedo (reflectivity) and low thermal conductivity. The lower the albedo, the less solar energy is reflected back into the atmosphere. This energy is absorbed into the ocean. The warmer water will melt more sea ice, and eventually the warmer atmosphere above the warmer water will melt more of the sea ice in the polar regions. Better data on the extent and thickness of snow cover are therefore needed to understand thecondition and future behavior of sea ice.

Up until recently, the only practical means of observing snow cover over sea ice was by satellite remote sensing. The Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSRE) onboard NASA’s Aqua satellite does precisely this. To validate the measurements made by AMSR-E, the University of Kansas developed an ultra-wideband frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FM-CW) airborne radar to measure snow thickness over sea ice. This system was flown over the Arctic sea ice in March 2006 to measure the snow thickness.