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Adrian Luckman

Adrian Luckman

@adrianluckman.bsky.social

250 followers 55 following 20 posts

Polar scientist studying ice dynamics using satellite data. I create and share animations of icy activity from satellite images

Environmental science 40%

Geology 26%

more

Posts Replies Media Videos

Reposted by David N. Thomas, Adrian Luckman

International Glaciological Society @igsoc.bsky.social · 2d

Iceberg A-23A first broke off the Filchner Ice Shelf in 1986. NASA EO recently shared what's left, "waterlogged berg on December 26, 2025, extensive pools of blue meltwater were visible on its surface" and still one of the largest in the ocean. More at science.nasa.gov/earth/earth-...

Reposted by Adrian Luckman

Jérôme OLLIER @jeromeollier.bsky.social · 8d

Sentinel-1's decade of essential data over shifting ice sheets - @esa.int

www.esa.int/Applications...

Sentinel-1's decade of essential data over shifting ice sheets

The extent and speed of ice moving off the ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica into the sea – an important dynamic for climate and sea-rise modelling – has been captured over a 10-year period by sa...

Adrian Luckman @adrianluckman.bsky.social · Dec 2

Hi Callan. Yes, no problem. Search for my address and send me an email. But be patient as I'm going to be away for a week or so.

Adrian Luckman @adrianluckman.bsky.social · Dec 2

Huge fractures opening at the Thwaites Glacier Eastern Ice Shelf grounding line

Reposted by Du Toit, Adrian Luckman

Zack Labe @zacklabe.com · Nov 29

Astonishingly, sea ice still hasn't started to reform over the Barents Sea area yet of the #Arctic. This includes record low conditions around Svalbard as well. It's been a very bad few months across the region.

Check out more graphics here: zacklabe.com/arctic-sea-i...

Line graph time series of 2025's daily Arctic sea ice extent compared to each year from 1979 to 2024 as shown with thin lines in colors from purple to white. There is large daily variability, but a long-term decreasing trend during all months of the year. A seasonal cycle is also visible in this region.

Reposted by Adrian Luckman

Jonathan Amos @jcdamos.bsky.social · Nov 3

Swansea Uni co-author @adrianluckman.bsky.social put this Sentinel-1 movie together. "Although the paleo record indicates some very rapid retreats in the past, the pace of retreat of Hektoria Glacier and its neighbours is unprecedented in the observational record," Adrian says.

Reposted by Adrian Luckman

Nature Geoscience @natgeosci.nature.com · Nov 3

⚒️ Article: Record grounded glacier retreat caused by an ice plain calving process

@adrianluckman.bsky.social @etienneberthier.bsky.social @drnaomio.bsky.social

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Reposted by Adrian Luckman

cira-csu.bsky.social @cira-csu.bsky.social · Sep 16

Iceberg A23a continues to break apart in the southern Atlantic Ocean, near the island of South Georgia.

Reposted by Adrian Luckman

Will Harcourt @willharcourt.bsky.social · Aug 22

We have a new preprint out reviewing the monitoring & detection of Svalbard surging glaciers: eartharxiv.org/repository/v...

We also compiled a new database of Svalbard's surge-type glaciers: zenodo.org/records/1524...

@dannipearce.bsky.social @hazlovell.bsky.social @adrianluckman.bsky.social

Surging glaciers in Svalbard: Observing their distribution, characteristics and evolution

Reposted by Fabrice Ardhuin, Adrian Luckman

Luke Zoet @lzoet.bsky.social · Jul 16

Check out this time-lapse video of waves eroding an ice front from an experiment conducted in our cryogenic wave tank at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The tank is housed in a walk-in freezer, and the waves are precisely controlled. This video captures about an hour of wave erosion.

Reposted by Adrian Luckman

Jonathan Amos @jcdamos.bsky.social · Jul 7

In case you were wondering... Iceberg A23a seen cruising around South Georgia today by Meteosat 12. The old berg still has an area of 2,846 sq km.

Iceberg A23a on 7/7/25 Eumetsat/Meteosat 12

Reposted by Adrian Luckman

Dr. Genevieve Guenther (she/they) @doctorvive.bsky.social · Jun 26

I hope everyone on this website thinks very carefully about this graph and then considers whether or not they need to reorder their priorities at all.

Global average temperature compared
with the middle of the 20th century

+1.0°C 2010 to
present

+0.5°C
1970 to
2010

Cooler than average
-0.5°C
1880 to 1970

• Note: Data available through May 2025. Anomalies
relative to the average temperature between 1951 and 1980. • The New York Times
2020

Adrian Luckman @adrianluckman.bsky.social · Jun 26

Jakobshavn Isbrae (Ilulisat Glacier) produces 10% of Greenland's icebergs (Wikipedia). Ten years of @esa.int Copernicus #Sentinel-1 SAR data shows ice pouring into Baffin Bay. Winter advance and summer retreat of the ice front show how calving is controlled by seasonal freeze-up of fjord ice melange

Reposted by Adrian Luckman

Jonathan Amos @jcdamos.bsky.social · Jun 15

Sentinel-1 has finally got a clear view of iceberg A23a (13/6/25). The berg is much diminished as it skirts around South Georgia. And the US National Ice Center has updated its stats: A23a is now only the world's second biggest berg at 829.79 sqNM, or 2846,11 sqKM.

PolarView 13/5/25

Reposted by Adrian Luckman

Cai Ladd @cailadd.bsky.social · Jun 11

📣 PhD position on #WorldSaltmarshDay! 🌱

👉Develop and deploy open-source sensors to measure #biophysical properties to predict #coastal #wetland #restoration success @ Swansea Uni + 3-month placement with Welsh Gov. Plz share! 🙏

www.swansea.ac.uk/postgraduate...

Biosciences (Restoration Ecology): Fully Funded PhD Studentship in Restoring Intertidal Systems using Electronics (RS851) - Swansea UniversityMenu

We offer a wide range of funded and fully funded research scholarships in all subject areas. Explore your options and apply now.

www.swansea.ac.uk

Adrian Luckman @adrianluckman.bsky.social · Jun 10

Nested glacier surges! This is Liestolbreen in Svalbard, surging into Nathorstbreen (which itself surged from 2008), and then being surged into by Doktorbreen. All brought to you by the magic of Sentinel-1 SAR

Reposted by Adrian Luckman

Jonathan Amos @jcdamos.bsky.social · Jun 4

The movement of iceberg A23a over the past seven days. It's moved about 80km to the southeast of the position where it grounded off the coast of South Georgia in early March. Zoomed in animation from Meteosat-12.

Reposted by Adrian Luckman

Jonathan Amos @jcdamos.bsky.social · May 30

With days shortening at South Georgia (it's about 8 hours from sunrise to sunset), optical satellite coverage in the region is getting more restricted. Not so for Meteosat, which images the Europe/Africa hemisphere regardless of season. Hence we get a few views of iceberg A23a. Still grounded.

Meteosat view of South Georgia and iceberg A23a. 30/5/25

Reposted by Adrian Luckman

Jonathan Amos @jcdamos.bsky.social · May 6

There was a spectacular view of iceberg A23a on 3 May. Clear skies over the berg and South Georgia. By my measurement, A23a is no longer the world's biggest iceberg. At ~2850 sq km, it's now bested by D15a - but only just. The US National Ice Center will be the final judge on the matter.

Iceberg A23a on 3 May. Copernicus / Sentinel-3

Adrian Luckman @adrianluckman.bsky.social · May 2

The journey of Iceberg A23a (largest, oldest, 'living' berg) since the beginning of 2024, as seen by NASA MODIS, including its five-month pirouette on the Taylor Column, short embrace by the pack ice in August, grounding on South Georgia's shelf in April, and baby calf. Watch this space for updates!

Adrian Luckman @adrianluckman.bsky.social · May 1

Large fractures continue to open up at the grounding line of Thwaites Glacier Eastern Ice Shelf. Animation contains @copernicusland.bsky.social #Sentinel-1C data alongside 1A and 1B

Reposted by Adrian Luckman

Jonathan Amos @jcdamos.bsky.social · Apr 22

US National Ice Center formally catalogues A23c, the big off-cut from grounded behemoth A23a. Daughter berg is ~130km² - or 2x Manhattan Island. A23a (~3,100km²) only needs to lose another ~30km² to hand "World's Biggest Iceberg" title to D15a (~3,070km²) in Amery Sea.

A23a and A23c pictured off South Georgia on 22/4/25 Nasa Worldview Modis

Reposted by Adrian Luckman

Jonathan Amos @jcdamos.bsky.social · Apr 16

A big chunk has broken away from iceberg A23a, currently grounded at South Georgia. I calculate ~110 sq km. Looks to have fractured sometime on 11/12 April. It will get a US National Ice Center designation. It should be A23c, unless I'm mistaken.

Sentinel-3 Copernicus Data.

Adrian Luckman @adrianluckman.bsky.social · Apr 7

Kronebreen is one of the fastest flowing glaciers in Svalbard. Ten years of @esa.int #Sentinel-1 data shows us both the annual advance/retreat cycle characteristic of melt-undercut calving in a seasonally warmed fjord, and the long-term retreat caused by climate warming. Email me for hi-res version

Adrian Luckman @adrianluckman.bsky.social · Apr 3

So sorry for the typo Noel Gourmelen!

Adrian Luckman @adrianluckman.bsky.social · Apr 3

Fantastic new animation from ESA featuring CryoSat-2 & Sentinel-1 animations, highlighting our Nature-Comms paper "The influence of subglacial lake discharge on Thwaites Glacier ice-shelf melting and grounding-line retreat" www.nature.com/articles/s41... led by Noel Gourmelan: youtu.be/vRMeiMsQkBE

How subglacial lakes threaten Antarctic Ice Sheet stability

YouTube video by European Space Agency, ESA

Adrian Luckman @adrianluckman.bsky.social · Apr 3

So exciting! Sentinel-1C (launched December) is finally delivering data to users and we can get back to exploring 6-day-repeat interferometry and feature-tracking such as this lovely new velocity map of Helheim Glacier in East Greenland. Nice one Copernicus!

Map depicting Helheim Glacier comprised of grey-scale backscatter image overlain by colours from blue to pink denoting ice surface velocity from 2 to 30 meters per day during the period 25th to 31st March 2025

Reposted by Adrian Luckman

Jonathan Amos @jcdamos.bsky.social · Apr 2

You don't need to be a seismologist to look at this figure and understand the huge forces that ripped through Myanmar on March 28. The M7.7 quake ruptured fully 500km of the Sagaing Fault, moving its western flank north, with >3m of slip at the surface. Data from EU Sentinel satellites.

NASA/JPL/Caltech/ARIA/Copernicus Product. POC: R Zinke/G Bato/C Speed/E Fielding.

Adrian Luckman @adrianluckman.bsky.social · Mar 31

Update on Thwaites Glacier Eastern Ice Shelf from Copernicus Sentinel-1 SAR. Downloadable version here: aluckman4.wixsite.com/ade-s-world-...

Reposted by Adrian Luckman

Jonathan Amos @jcdamos.bsky.social · Mar 24

Iceberg A23a pictured from the ISS. The space station is almost as far south as it can reach here (51.5° S, 49.0° W - altitude of 422km). Picture taken on 14 March, so the berg had been grounded at South Georgia for a fortnight by this time.

NASA/JSC/ISS