Projects
MICROBIAN: Diversity and function of microbials in the Sor Rondane Mountains, East Antarctica Ghent University
The SØr Rondane Mountains (SRM) represent a c. 900 km2 large nunatak, encompassing a large range of terrestrial habitats differing in geology and soil characteristics, exposure time and microclimatic conditions. The objectives of the project are to (i) use a combination of remote sensing and close-range field observation techniques to map physical habitat characteristics and the presence/extent of microbial mat and biological crust ...
How do aerosol-Cloud Interactions influence the surface Mass Balance in East Antarctica - CLIMB Ghent University
The water cycle, cloud microphysics and cloud-aerosol-interactions are recognized as key elements of the Antartic climate system by several international consortia, such as the Joint Programming Initiative Connecting Climate Change Knowledge for Europe (JPI Climate) or the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Clouds and aerosols play a significant role in the radiative energy budget and aerosols impact cloud microphysics because ...
Climate variability and change in Antarctica KU Leuven
I will study the cloud-aerosol effect as well as the variability and predictability in Antarctica, using the regional climate model COSMO-CLM2 and observations taken at the Belgian Antarctic Research Station Princess Elisabeth. The work is part of the CLIMB project, which is aimed at better understanding the effects that cloud-aerosol interactions have on the Surface Mass Balance in East Antarctica; and of the PARAMOUR project, which has the ...
Precipitation and clouds over Antarctica from an observational and modelling perspective KU Leuven
The overall goal is to identify the role of precipitation and clouds in the East Antarctica, where little is known about the interaction between clouds, precipitation and their effect on the surface mass balance. Moreover there is a large uncertainty about relating local surface mass balance measurements to the mass gain or loss of the ice sheet due to the process of snowdrift. This is unfortunate, as the Antarctic ice sheet is expected to ...
Combining geological constraints and modelling to reconstruct the Late Quaternary climate and sea-level history in Dronning Maud Land and Princess Elizabeth Land, East Antarctica Ghent University
The East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS) is probably the largest unknown in identifying regional contributions to the global budget of postglacial sea-level rise Given the huge volume of the EAIS and indications of a more dynamic behaviour than often assumed, this information is crucial for estimating its contribution to future sea-level changes The overall objective is to improve our understanding of the climatic and glacial history of the EAIS ...
Combining geological constraints and modelling to reconstruct the Late Quaternary climate and sea-level history in Dronning Maud Land and Princess Elizabeth Land, East Antarctica Vrije Universiteit Brussel
a more dynamic behaviour than often assumed, this information is crucial for estimating its contribution to future sea-level changes. The overall objective is to improve our understanding of the climatic and glacial history of the ...
Influence of small-scale atmospheric processes on the decadal variability and predictability of the atmosphere-ocean-ice sheet system in the Totten glacier area, Antarctica KU Leuven
The climate of the polar regions has dramatically changed over the last decades. This may have resulted from external forcing (e.g. from greenhouse gas emissions), but also from natural interaction between the components of the climate system (notably the atmosphere, the marine and continental cryosphere, and the ocean). Quantifying the specific contribution of each component is critical to understand decadal variability. Based on the ...
Microbiome diversity and function in the Sør Rondane Mountains, East Antarctica - MICROBIAN Ghent University
The scarce ice-free areas in inland East-Antarctica, such as the Sør Rondane Mountains (SRM), are among the most extreme terrestrial environments on Earth. Here, life is dominated by microbes in strongly truncated foodwebs. Elucidating the factors that shape the biodiversity and the biogeochemical processes of these microbiomes provides the scientific basis for habitat mapping and classification, developing conservation strategies, guiding ...
BELDIVA/BELISA 2e phase: Belgian research of the microbial diversity in the surroundings of the Princess Elisabeth Station, Antarctica Ghent University
BELDIVA aims to (i) study the baseline biodiversity near the Belgian Princess Elisabeth research station in Antarctica (ii) install and monitor Open-Top Chambers that will be used to mimic future climate warming and its effect on the (microbial) communities, (iii) assess the import of alien airborne propagules, and (vi) study adaptations and genes related to stress in this extreme environment.