Ian Willis
Contact
About
Research Area
I am a glaciologist studying the climate, meteorology, mass balance, thermal regime, hydrology and dynamics of the world’s ice masses. My work involves understanding fundamental processes operating on the surface, within and beneath ice masses using field-based geophysical techniques (including weather stations, GPS stations, water monitoring sensors, ground penetrating radar, dye tracing) as well as airborne (photographs, multispectral, lidar) and satellite (optical and SAR) remote sensing methods. I work with modellers to incorporate processes into glacier models, to calculate past changes and predict future trends and patterns.
My work has involved the development of novel algorithms to apply to remotely sensed images to measure processes and monitor their changes through time. It has also involved producing digital elevation models (DEMs) of glacier surfaces as well as working with existing DEMs to detect glacier change.
I have worked extensively on glaciers in the Alps, Himalaya and Svalbard, on ice caps in Iceland, as well as the Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets.
Project Interests
I am interested in developing projects using the wealth of existing climate and ocean reanalysis products, as well as freely available satellite imagery and products derived from them (e.g. surface albedo, glacier velocities) to investigate glacial processes and change in novel ways. I am interested in working in any part of the world, but especially the polar regions, as well as the ‘third pole’ of High Mountain Asia. For 2026, I am particularly interested in developing projects that examine the role of surface lake drainages and water delivery to the base of the Greenland Ice Sheet on ice sheet flow. I am also interested in examining the climate drivers of extreme melt events across Antarctic Ice Shelves (in collaboration with Becky Dell, SPRI, and Andrew Orr, BAS).