New Zealand Post Scholarship

Nita Smith
Department of Geography, Univeversity of Canterbury, MSc

The Velocity Field of the Darwin-Hatherton Glacial System

The Darwin-Hatherton glacial system drains the East Antarctic Ice Sheet through the Transantarctic Mountains into the Ross Ice Shelf. This system provides a unique opportunity to study the response of the system to climate change. My project deals with the research question, what are the current dynamics of the Darwin and Hatherton glaciers? I will be combining remote sensing techniques in the form of satellite interferometry with field based, high-resolution GPS velocity measurements to accurately establish the current velocity field of this system.

Publications
Smith, N.D. 2007. An ASTER Digital Elevation Model (DEM) for the Darwin-Hatherton Glacial System, Antarctica.M.Sc. University of Canterbury. pp78.