St Andrews Review Backs Radar Polarimetry to Sharpen Sea-Level Forecasts Over 10,000 Years
Updated
Updated · University of St Andrews news · May 19
St Andrews Review Backs Radar Polarimetry to Sharpen Sea-Level Forecasts Over 10,000 Years
2 articles · Updated · University of St Andrews news · May 19
A new EOS review led by the University of St Andrews says radar polarimetry can improve sea-level forecasts by revealing how ice sheets flowed over thousands to tens of thousands of years.
The method tracks differences in radar signals to measure ice-crystal orientation, or crystal fabric, which strongly controls how ice moves from land into the ocean.
Researchers say those crystal patterns also preserve a record of past climate shifts, letting scientists reconstruct when major events altered glacier flow and ice-sheet evolution.
Recent tools such as the British Antarctic Survey’s autonomous ApRES system have accelerated the field, and the review calls for a broader research community and wider deployment.
Future airborne and rover-based surveys could map anisotropic ice properties across entire ice sheets, refining sea-level projections and aiding studies of ice on Mars and Europa.
This new radar peers into glaciers and icy moons. What secrets of Earth's past climate are being unlocked?
With the 'doomsday glacier' accelerating faster than predicted, what is the new timeline for its catastrophic collapse?
If most sea-level risk studies are flawed, how many more millions are truly in danger from coastal flooding?
A New Era in Sea-Level Prediction: Radar Polarimetry Maps Ice Sheet Behavior Across Millennia
Overview
In May 2026, University of St Andrews researchers published a landmark review that marks a turning point in climate science. The review highlights how radar polarimetry, by measuring the orientation of ice crystals within glaciers and ice sheets, provides unprecedented insight into their internal structure and historical flow patterns. This deep understanding is crucial for predicting how massive ice bodies have responded to past climate events and for forecasting future ice dynamics and global sea-level rise over thousands of years. The review emphasizes the profound implications for climate science and calls for expanding the scientific community to fully harness this transformative technology.