Dr Tian Li
B. Eng, M.Sc
Expertise
Current positions
Senior Research Associate
School of Geographical Sciences
Contact
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Research interests
My research interests lie in leveraging machine learning and data science methodologies to analyze ice dynamics in polar glaciers and quantify their contributions to global sea-level rise using extensive satellite data archives. Throughout my PhD at the Bristol Glaciology Centre, I developed novel methodologies for mapping the grounding zone of the Antarctic Ice Sheet, utilizing data from the NASA ICESat-2 satellite. This research led to the development of the first ICESat-2-derived Antarctic Ice Sheet grounding zone data product, published in the NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center (NSIDC DAAC). By using this new grounding zone product, I identified substantial retreats in the grounding lines of Moscow University and Totten Glacier ice shelves in East Antarctica over the past two decades. These findings have contributed to our understanding of the instability of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet and its potential impact on future sea-level rise. My involvement in this project also ignited a keen interest in deep learning techniques and their applications in polar glaciology. In 2022, I was awarded a PGR seed-corn research grant from the Jean-Golding Institute for my work on applying deep learning techniques to map the grounding zone using ICESat-2 data. Additionally, I was a visiting Research Fellow at the AI4EO Future Lab of the Technical University of Munich in Germany from February to April 2023, where I collaborated with leading AI scientists. Currently, I am a postdoctoral researcher on the EU Horizon 2020 project Arctic PASSION, aiming to establish a comprehensive and integrated pan-Arctic observing system.
Projects and supervisions
Research projects
An automated deep learning pipeline for mapping Antarctic grounding zone from ICESat-2 laser altimeter
Principal Investigator
Description
Funded by the Jean Golding Institute PGR Seed Corn Funding Scheme 2022, this project aims to apply deep learning to satellite laser altimetry datasets in mapping the Antarctic grounding zone.Managing organisational unit
School of Geographical SciencesDates
01/04/2022 to 30/06/2022
Arctic PASSION
Principal Investigator
Role
Researcher
Managing organisational unit
School of Geographical SciencesDates
01/07/2021 to 30/06/2025
Publications
Selected publications
20/02/2024A high-resolution calving front data product for marine-terminating glaciers in Svalbard
Earth System Science Data
Grounding line retreat and tide-modulated ocean channels at Moscow University and Totten Glacier ice shelves, East Antarctica
Cryosphere
A high-resolution Antarctic grounding zone product from ICESat-2 laser altimetry
Earth System Science Data
Recent publications
20/02/2024A high-resolution calving front data product for marine-terminating glaciers in Svalbard
Earth System Science Data
Widespread and rapid dynamics of subglacial water in the Canadian Arctic
Widespread and rapid dynamics of subglacial water in the Canadian Arctic
Grounding line retreat and tide-modulated ocean channels at Moscow University and Totten Glacier ice shelves, East Antarctica
Cryosphere
icepyx: querying, obtaining, analyzing, and manipulating ICESat-2 datasets
Journal of Open Source Software
Antarctic Grounding Zone Distributions and Migrations from ICESat-2 Laser Altimetry
Thesis
Mapping Antarctic grounding zones from ICESat-2 laser altimetry
Supervisors
Award date
06/12/2022