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Department of Geography

 

 

Tom Chudley

PhD Candidate (NERC-funded)

Tom's research uses UAV and satellite data to explore interactions between surface melt and subglacial processes on the Greenland Ice Sheet.

Biography

Qualifications

  • 2016 - 2020: PhD in Polar Studies. Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge (Downing College), UK. Funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC).
  • 2015 - 2016: MPhil (Distinction) in Polar Studies. Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge (Downing College), UK. Thesis: Glacier surging in the West Kunlun Shan. Funded by the Newton Trust and Downing College.
  • 2012 - 2015: BA (Hons.) (First Class) in Geography. University of Cambridge (Downing College), UK. Thesis: A multitemporal analysis of glaciers in the Ladakh Range, India.

Selected awards and grants

  • Research Studentship (2020), Cambridge Philosophical Society, £1000.
  • PhD Studentship (2016), Cambridge Earth System Science Doctoral Training Partnership, National Environmental Research Council, ~£86,000.
  • Honorary Vice Chancellor's Award (2016), Cambridge Trust.
  • Newton College Master's Studentship (2015), Cambridge Trust, ~£12,000.
  • John Whitworth Master's Studentship (2015), Downing College, Cambridge, ~£4,000.
  • Foundation Scholar (2015), Downing College, Cambridge.
  • Phillip Lake Award (2015), Department of Geography, University of Cambridge.
  • Andrew Hall Prize (2013), Department of Geography, University of Cambridge.

Research

My current research, funded by a studentship from the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), uses uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) and satellite data to assess the impact of surface meltwater inputs to the bed of the Greenland Ice Sheet on short (daily-weekly) timescales. My field site is Store Glacier, a marine-terminating outlet glacier in Western Greenland, where UAVs - in combination with Structure from Motion (SfM) photogrammetry and supported by satellite observations - allow changes in glacier dynamics to be observed at high spatial and temporal resolutions. This project is part of the larger ERC-funded RESPONDER project.

UAV launching on the Greenland Ice Sheet (photo: Poul Christoffersen)

Publications

Peer-reviewed articles

  • Hubbard, B., Christoffersen, P., Doyle, S. H., Chudley, T. R., Schoonman, C. M., Law, R., Bougamont, M. (2021). Borehole-based characterization of deep crevasses at a Greenlandic outlet glacier. AGU Advances, 2 (2), e2020AV000291. doi:10.1029/2020AV000291.
  • Law, R., Christoffersen, P., Hubbard, B., Doyle, S. H., Chudley, T. R., Schoonman, C. M., Bougamont, M., des Tombe, B., Schilperoort, B., Kechavarzi, C., Booth, A., Young, T. J. (2021). Thermodynamics of a fast-moving Greenlandic outlet glacier revealed by fiber-optic distributed temperature sensing. Science Advances, 7 (20), eabe7136. doi:10.1126/sciadv.abe7136.
  • Cook, S. J., Christoffersen, P., Truffer, M., Chudley, T. R., Abellan, A. (2021). Calving of a large Greenlandic tidewater glacier has complex links to meltwater plumes and mélange. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, e2020JF006051. doi:10.1029/2020JF006051.
  • Prior-Jones, M. Bagshaw, E., Lees, J., Clare, L., Burrow, S., Werder, M. A., Karlsson, N. B., Dahl-Jensen, D., Chudley, T. R., Christoffersen, P., Wadham, J. Doyle, S. H., Hubbard, B. (2021). Cryoegg: development and field trials of a wireless subglacial probe for deep, fast-moving ice. Journal of Glaciology. doi:10.1017/jog.2021.16.
  • Booth, A., Christoffersen, P., Schoonman, C. M., Clarke, A., Hubbard, B., Law, R., Doyle, S. H., Chudley, T. R., Chalari, A. (2020). Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) of Seismic Properties in a Borehole drilled on a Fast-Flowing Greenlandic Outlet Glacier. Geophysical Research Letters, e2020GL088148. doi:10.1029/2020GL088148.
  • Chudley, T.R., Christoffersen, P., Doyle, S. H., Bougamont, M., Schoonman, C. M., Hubbard, B., and James, M. (2019). Supraglacial lake drainage at a fast-flowing Greenlandic outlet glacier. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116 (51) 25468-25477. doi:10.1073/pnas.1913685116.
  • Chudley, T. R., Christoffersen, P., Doyle, S. H., Abellan, A., and Snooke, N. (2019). High-accuracy UAV photogrammetry of ice sheet dynamics with no ground control. The Cryosphere, 13, 955-968. doi:10.5194/tc-13-955-2019.
  • Chudley, T. R., and Willis, I. C. (2019). Glacier surges in the north-west West Kunlun Shan inferred from 1972–2017 Landsat imagery. Journal of Glaciology, 65 (249), 1-12. doi:10.1017/jog.2018.94.
  • Chudley, T. R., Miles, E. S., and Willis, I. C. (2017). Glacier characteristics and retreat between 1991 and 2014 in the Ladakh Range, Jammu and Kashmir. Remote Sensing Letters, 8 (6), 518-527. doi:10.1080/2150704X.2017.1295480.

In review

  • Chudley, T. R., Christoffersen, P., Doyle, S. H., Dowling, T. P. F., Law, R., Schoonman, C., Bougamont, M., and Hubbard, B. (in review). Controls on water storage and drainage in crevasses on the Greenland Ice Sheet. Preprint doi:10.1002/essoar.10502979.2.
  • Dell, R., Banwell, A. F., Willis, I., Arnold, N., Halberstadt, A. R. W., Chudley, T. R., Pritchard, H. (in review). Supervised classification of slush and ponded water on Antarctic ice shelves using Landsat 8 imagery.

Conference contributions

  • Chudley, T. R., Christoffersen, P., Doyle, S. H., Dowling, T. P. F., Law, R., Schoonman, C.,Bougamont, M., and Hubbard, B. (2020). Controls on crevasse water transmission to the bed of an ice sheet from remotely sensed datasets [online presentation]. Geophysical Research Abstracts (European Geosciences Union General Assembly), 22, abstract no. EGU2020-1616.​
  • Chudley, T.R., Christoffersen, P., Doyle, S. H., Bougamont, M., Schoonman, C. M., Hubbard, B., and James, M. (2019) Supraglacial lake drainage at a fast-flowing Greenlandic outlet glacier [oral]. American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, San Francisco, USA.
  • Prior-Jones, M. Lees, J., Burrow, S., Clare, L., Wadham, J., Karlsson, N., Dahl-Jensen, D., Christoffersen, P., Hubbard, B., Doyle, S. H., Chudley, T. R., Law, R., MacKie, E., Dawson, E. and Bagshaw, E. (2019). Cryoegg - field trials of a wireless subglacial sensor platform for deep, fast moving ice [poster]. International Glaciological Society British Branch Meeting, Northumbria University, Newcastle, UK.
  • Hubbard, B., Christoffersen, P., Doyle, S. H., Chudley, T. R., Law, R., Bougamont, M., Schoonman, C. M. (2019). Deep ice-filled crevasses at Store Glacier, Greenland, revealed by borehole optical televiewing [poster]. Geophysical Research Abstracts (European Geosciences Union General Assembly), 21, abstract no. EGU2019-9774.
  • Chudley, T. R., Christoffersen, P., Abellan, A., Doyle, S. H., Snooke, N. (2018). Reducing GCP dependency in UAV Structure from Motion photogrammetry using differential carrier-phase GPS: applications for studying Greenland Ice Sheet dynamics [poster]. Geophysical Research Abstracts (European Geosciences Union General Assembly), 20, abstract no. EGU2018-638.​
  • Abellan, A., Christoffersen, P., Chudley, T. R., Doyle, S. H., Riquelme, A., and Tomas, R. (2018). Investigating glacier dynamics using 3D point clouds [oral]. Geophysical Research Abstracts (European Geosciences Union General Assembly), 20, abstract no. EGU2018-18575-2.​
  • Chudley, T. R., Abellan, A., Doyle, S. H., Snooke, N., Christoffersen, P. (2017). Short-term dynamics of the inland Greenland Ice Sheet assessed using UAV-SfM [poster]. International Glaciological Society British Branch Meeting, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK.
  • Chudley, T. R., and Willis, I. C. (2017). Synchronous glacier surge events observed in the West Kunlun Shan, Xinjiang, China [poster]. Geophysical Research Abstracts (European Geosciences Union General Assembly), 19, abstract no. EGU2017-908.
  • Chudley, T. R., Miles, E. S., and Willis, I. C. (2016). Monsoon-influenced glacier retreat in the Ladakh Range, Jammu and Kashmir [poster]. Geophysical Research Abstracts (European Geosciences Union General Assembly), 18, abstract no. EGU2016-166.

Teaching

  • Supervisor (2018 - Present), Geographical Tripos Part IA Physical Geography: Environmental Change during the Quaternary
  • Supervisor (2017 - Present), Geographical Tripos Part IA Physical Geography: The Cryosphere
  • Supervisor (2017 - Present), Geographical Tripos Part IB Glacial Processes: Surging Glaciers
  • Demonstrator (2017 - Present), Geographical Tripos Part IA Geographical Skills and Methods: Cartography and GIS

External activities

  • Various outreach activities (2015 - Present) - The Polar Museum
  • Co-convenor (2017-2019) - Glaciology and Glacial Geology Research Group, Department of Geography, University of Cambridge
  • Session Leader (2016 - 2019) - Postgraduate Outreach Scheme, Cambridge Admissions Office
  • Vice-President (2016 - 2017) - Downing College MCR Committee