David Rippin
Senior Lecturer in Physical Geography

Profile

Biography

David joined the the Environment Department in October 2010.  Prior to that, he did his first degree at the University of Birmingham (B.Sc. 1st Class Hons.), before gaining a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge.  He then worked as a post-doctoral researcher at the Universities of Bristol and Leeds, before becoming an RC-UK (Research Councils of the United Kingdom) Academic Fellow at the University of Hull, and then moving to York.

David is a glaciologist, and his research interests are focussed on the controls on the dynamics of glaciers and ice-sheets, and the use of ground-based and airborne radio-echo sounding (RES) techniques in exploring englacial and subglacial environments.  He also works on the thermal evolution of small Arctic glaciers, and is increasingly interested in supraglacial environments, and devising approaches for monitoring change in these locations.

David has carried out fieldwork in Antarctica, Svalbard (Norwegian High Arctic), Northern Sweden, Iceland and various alpine locations.  He is has been a Scientific Editor of the Journal of Glaciology since 2009, and has been a member of the NERC Peer Review College since 2010.

Research

Overview

My research is motivated by a desire to improve our understanding of the behaviour of glaciers and ice-sheets in a warming world, with particular focus on ice dynamics and glacier hydrology. I utilise a range of both fieldwork and remote sensing approaches to carry out my work. My current main research interests have two broad areas of focus: (1) The use of modern photogrammetric techniques (e.g. time-lapse imagery, uncrewed aerial vehicles and Structure from Motion) for exploring glacier change. (2) Exploring the interactions between ice bodies and water bodies such as ice-marginal lakes and supraglacial streams. In the past I have also worked extensively on the collection, processing and analysis of airborne and ground-based radio-echo sounding data for exploring englacial and subglacial environments.

Projects

Airborne geophysical investigation targets basal boundary conditions for the Institute and Moller ice streams, West Antarctica

Co-investigator on this NERC Antarctic Funding Initiative (NERC-AFI; ref: NE/G013098/2).  Other investigators include Martin Siegert (Edinburgh; PI), Fausto Ferraccioli (British Antarctic Survey) and Rob Bingham (Aberdeen).

Testing hypotheses on the response of small Arctic Glaciers to climate change

Funded by the International Network for Terrestrial Research and Monitoring in the Arctic (INTERACT); FP7.

Arctic glacier motion from repeated high-resolution stereo photography

Funded by a Royal Society Research Grant (ref: RG100335).

Dynamical responses of small, cold Arctic glaciers to climate change

Funed by The Royal Geographical Society Peter Fleming Award 2010 (ref: FLEM 03.10).

The Geometry and Dynamics of Cold Arctic Glaciers – Kårsaglaciären, Northern Sweden

Funded by the Natural Environment Research Council Airborne Research & Survey Facility (NERC-ARSF) (award no. EU11-01).

Mapping glacier debris cover thickness and extent using aerial photography, LiDAR and spectral emissivity

Funded by the Natural Environment Research Council Airborne Research & Survey Facility (NERC-ARSF) (award no. EU09-02).

Using radio-echo sounding (RES) data to investigate the role of bed roughness in controlling areas of fast flow in Antarctica and Greenland

I am interested in using radio-echo sounding (RES) data to investigate the role of bed roughness in controlling areas of fast flow in Antarctica and Greenland.  Bed roughness is important because the degree of coupling between ice and bed is of fundamental significance in controlling the amount of basal motion taking place.  This coupling is controlled by bed roughness and subglacial water pressure, but bed roughness is often overlooked because of difficulties in measuring this quantity.  Deriving roughness measurements however, can prove to be a useful approach for identifying regions of current and relict fast flow, with implications for ice sheet stability.

The impact of climate change on the thermal regime, dynamics and hydrology of polythermal glaciers, and implications for rates of sediment and fresh-water delivery to Arctic rivers and fjords

External activities

Memberships

Member of the International Glaciological Society.

Member of the American Geophysical Union.

Member of the British Society for Geomorphology.

Editorial duties

Scientific Editor for the Journal of Glaciology since 2009.

NERC Peer Review College member since 2010.