Principal Investigator of Planned Research
Research Outline
The global warming signal is becoming more pronounced not only in the mid- and low-latitudes, but also in the Antarctic region. In particular, the accelerated melting and mass loss of the Antarctic ice sheet will have a significant impact on human society through rising sea levels, etc. Therefore, understanding and grasping the actual situation is an extremely important issue from both scientific and social perspectives.
The aim of this project is to elucidate the interaction mechanisms between the ice sheet and the ocean, which play a key role in Antarctic ice sheet fluctuations. First, we will focus on the Totten glacier area in East Antarctica, where instability has been a concern in recent years, and organically combine in-situ and satellite observations with numerical modelling to understand the actual ice shelf melting process by the ocean in the East Antarctic region. Next, in numerical modelling, we will attempt to reproduce the past few futum of ice shelf melting fluctuations and predict the near future a few futum ahead. Through the combined research of observation and numerical modelling, we aim to clarify the actual state of the ocean-sea ice-ice sheet interaction that causes the rapid mass change of the ice sheet in the age of global warming, and to evaluate the impact on large-scale oceanic and climate changes starting from the Antarctic ice sheet and Southern Ocean changes.
Members
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AOKI ShigeruInstitute of Low Temperature Science, Hokkaido University -
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ONO KazuyaInstitute of Low Temperature Science, Hokkaido University