The Science behind Climate Sentinels
Here at Climate Sentinels, we are committed to investing our expertise in order to further achieve our cause.
The main goals of our project are two investigate the deposition of black carbon on snow, and to help calibrate satellite orbiting the Earth.
BLACK CARBON
A major contributor to climate change and pollution.
WHAT IS BLACK CARBON ?
Black Carbon (BC) is produced by the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels and biomass. Gas and diesel engines, coal powerplants, cook wildfires, etc all release BC. Its dark color make it strongly absorb sunlight.
IMPACTS OF BLACK CARBON DEPOSITION
Because of its dark color, BC can warm the climate. When suspended in the air, it will absorb sunlight and modify regional cloud formation and precipitation patterns.
Once deposited on the ground, especially on surfaces such as snow and ice, the dark particles will once again absorb sunlight, produce heat and enhance melting of these white surfaces.
Recent studies have shown that BC is responsible for 30% of the recent warming in the Arctic. It affects sea ice, glaciers and snow. Our expedition aims to collect snow samples where no samples have been taken before, while avoiding further contamination of the sites.
GROUND-TRUTHING
ICESAT2
The Ice, Cloud, and Land Elevation Satellite-2 will measure the height of a changing Earth, one laser pulse at a time, 10000 pulses per second. The satellite was launched in September 2018 and will bring exciting new data on the elevation of glaciers, sea ice, and ice sheets.
While in the field, we will take measurements of the snow thickness at regular intervals, and mark these points on our GPS'. This will allow the satellite to be calibrated.
Would you like to support our efforts?