CLIMATE AND EARTH
SYSTEM SCIENCES
Photo: UHH/Denstorf
21 January 2022
Photo: private
We are proud to announce the successful MSc thesis presentation of our SICSS member Lena Nicola
Her thesis "How does Antarctic precipitation change with temperature?" was supervised by Prof. Dr. Dirk Notz and Prof. Dr. Ricarda Winkelmann.
Lena investigated the connection of precipitation to temperature on the Antarctic Ice Sheet. Previous studies have proposed that Antarctic snowfall will increase along the Clausius-Clapeyron relationship, describing the saturation water vapour pressure as a function of temperature. In her thesis, she examined previous accounts to temperature sensitivity considering underlying theory, method and use of a scaling factor in ice-sheet models to project precipitation into the future. Making use of state-of-the-art global and regional climate model data, she gives an overview on how Antarctic precipitation changes with temperature in present-day conditions, as well as in the future, considering different climate change scenarios.
Lena was a member of the Institute of Oceanography at Universität Hamburg and Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.
Lena's future plans?
She plans to start a PhD on Antarctic Ice Dynamics at PIK Potsdam in early summer this year.
In spring, she will take part in a glaciology course at the Unversity Centre in Svalbard.