My research is concerned with crosphere processes on the inter-annual, annual to decadal scales. I have been interested in the use of remote sensing to characterizing changes in ice sheet surface processes in Greenland, atmosphere-ice shelf surface energy exchange for Antarctic ice shelf stability. Additionally, I am interested in mid-latitude seasonal alpine snow cover and melt dynamics from regional to basin scales.
Additionally, my research is interested in application of ground-based wireless sensor technology for improved monitoring of alpine snow cover processes.
Contact:
313 Walker Building
University Park PA 16802
Office Phone: 865-2493 E-mail Dr. Lampkin.
Background:
Assistant Professor of Geography
B.S., Geological Sciences, The Ohio State University, June 1995
M.A., Geography, The Ohio State University, June 2000
Ph.D, Philosophy-Geography, Minor: Remote Sensing and Spatial Analysis, University of Arizona5
View Dr. Lampkin's curriculum vitae for a full list of publications, awards, grants, research projects, service work, presentations, field work, and affiliations.
The limits of survival are set by climate, those long drifts of change which a generation may fail to notice. And it is the extremes of climate which set the pattern. Lonely, finite humans may observe climatic provinces, fluctuations of annual weather…But humans are seldom alerted to the shifting average through a great span of years. And it is precisely in this alerting that humans learn how to survive on any planet. They must learn climate.
-Excerpt from Frank Herbert’s Children of Dune
Why Should We Care About Snow and Ice?
Human-influenced emissions of greenhouse gases have the potential to alter the climate system, with possible deleterious or beneficial effects. Within the last decade, the view regarding Earth's climate system response to both natural and human-induced processed has shifted from one characterized as gradual to one with potential for rapid or abrupt change. Historic climate records show that large, wide-spread abrupt climate changes have occurred repeatedly throughout the geologic record. Abrupt in this context refers to a situation where the climate system is forced to cross some threshold, triggering a transition to a new state (possibly between 10-1000 years) at a rate determined by the climate system itself and faster than the cause (Alley et al., 2003). Currently these events, which are marked by an increase in global temperatures associated within an increase in atmospheric CO2, could be likely.
Are Global Temperatures Rising?
Global mean temperatures have risen over the past 100 years by about 0.6°C (slightly more than 1°F) (NRC 2000). Over half of the increase has occurred in the last 25 years. The temperature records have been assembled from thousands of land and ocean observation sites covering a large, representative portion of the Earth's surface and carefully controlled for possible biases arising from station and instrument changes. The range of natural variability in global temperature seems to be about plus or minus 0.2°C, so that it is only after the late 1970s that global mean temperatures emerge from the noise of natural variability (Trenberth 1997).
How Does the Cryosphere Respond in a Changing Climate?
2004 was Earth's fourth warmest year on average since the late 19th century. Average surface temperature anomalies: warmer (yellows and reds), cooler (blues), or the same as the climatological average (white). Adapted from NASA Earth Observatory News.
The cryospheric regions, or regions where water is found in solid form, are among the most sensitive to temperature change. Average temperatures in snow and ice-covered areas typically remain below 0°C much of the year. Unlike other substances found on Earth, ice and snow exist relatively close to their melting point and may frequently change phase from solid to liquid and back again. Consequently, consistent and prolonged warming trends should result in observable changes to Earth's cryosphere. The Cryosphere includes snow cover, glaciers, permafrost, sea ice, ice shelves. Remote sensing, from both aircraft and satellite, allow scientist to assess the cryosphere at varying spatial scales and over time.
Current Research
Robotic Rovers to Monitor Antarctic Ice Shelf Energy Balance:
Support:CO-PI, NASA AIST Grant collaboration with PI Dr. Howard (Georgia Tech.)
Antarctic Ice Shelves play a major role in the stability of the ice sheet. Their potential disintegration would seriously affect the discharge rate of grounded ice from inland regions. Ice shelf instability has been linked to persistent melt and the formation of pond assemblages. The weight of the water column in ponds prevents crevasses from closing up so they can vertically penetrate the ice shelf. Investigating spatio-temporal variations of ice shelf surface energy balance at moderate scales ranging between tens of meters to kilometers would greatly enhance detection and long-term monitoring of the onset, duration, and magnitude of vigorous melt dynamics. Currently, automatic weather station (AWS) units are deployed in remote regions throughout Antarctica. AWS units measure air temperature, wind speed and direction, air pressure, relative humidity. By deploying a distributed network of mobile, wireless sensors instruments as described in this proposal, micrometeorological data could be provided at adaptive moderate spatial scales, as well as augment existing AWS network.
Recent Progress on Robotics Project
Article in October, 2007 issue Geotimes or (pdf): "Polar Robots Do a Cold Job" - Though human scientists will continue to travel to dangerous and cold corners of the planet to perform research, robotic rovers will increasingly do some of the dirty work. New polar robots are doing just that.
Lampkin, D.L. and S. Yool. (2004). Monitoring mountain snow pack evolution using near surface optical and thermal properties. Hydrologic Processes. Vol 18, 3527-3542.
Lampkin, D.L. and S. Yool. (2004) Numerical simulations of MODIS sensitivity potential for assessing near surface mountain snow melt. Geocarto International, Special Centennial Issue, Vol 19., No. 2, pp13-24.
Nagler, P.L., J. Cleverly, E. Glenn, D. Lampkin, A. Huete, Z. Wan. (2004). Predicting riparian evapotranspiration from MODIS vegetation indices and meteorological data, Remote Sensing of Environment (in-Press).
Lampkin, D.L. (2003). An Improved Optical Instrument for the Determination of Snow Accumulation in Alpine Environments, International Journal of Fieldwork Studies, No. 1.
Lampkin, D.L., R.C. Bales, S.R. Fassnacht, R.E. Davis (2001). Comparison of fraction versus binary satellite-derived snow cover maps for the Colorado Basin. American Geophysical Union Proceedings, Fall 2001 Meeting.
Awards:
2003, 2004: NASA Earth System Science Fellowship
2001: American Alpine Club; Project Title: An Improved Optical Instrument for the Determination of Alpine Snow Accumulation
2001: Social and Behavioral Science Research Institute Graduate Student Grant-University of Arizona; Project Title: An Improved Optical Instrument for the Determination of Alpine Snow Accumulation-Power System Development
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