Hamish Pritchard

Glacial Processes Satellite

Biography

My focus is on the two great glaciology issues: ice-sheet deglaciation and sea level rise, and the role and future of mountain glaciers as a water resource. My contributions include:

IPCC lead-authorship of the Special Report on Oceans and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate (SROCC);
a new assessment; of the role of Asia’s mountain glaciers in regional hydrology and socio-economics that identifies their importance in protecting societies against acute drought stress;
highly cited studies identifying the extent, mechanism and underlying cause of Greenland and Antarctic ice sheet and tidewater glacier loss through accelerated glacier flow and ocean-driven ice-shelf thinning;
the Bedmap2 (and now Bedmap3) project that I managed and for which I created the core data products of topography and ice thickness that are proving fundamental to much contemporary continental-scale Antarctic Ice Sheet modelling.

My ongoing work involves finding two of the major missing pieces in hydrology’s jigsaw: auditing glacier ice volumes on the river-basin scale using a new airborne radar survey platform that I have developed and have deployed successfully in the Nepal Himalayas; developing a better way to measure mountain snowfall (SWE) over much larger areas than has so far been possible. My technical background is in synthetic aperture radar and laser remote sensing, low-frequency radar field surveys of glaciers and ice sheets, GIS and mountain water resources.

These are tools that I apply in both a polar and alpine context, and the use of Antarctic research techniques and equipment to glaciers in High Mountain Asia fits well with the increasing focus of UK science on overseas development issues.

Research interests

Collaborations

Publications from NERC Open Research Archive

2023

Frémand, Alice C. , Fretwell, Peter , Bodart, Julien A., Pritchard, Hamish D. , Aitken, Alan, Bamber, Jonathan L., Bell, Robin, Bianchi, Cesido, Bingham, Robert G., Blankenship, Donald D., Casassa, Gino, Catania, Ginny, Christianson, Knut, Conway, Howard, Corr, Hugh F.J., Cui, Xiangbin, Damaske, Detlef, Damm, Volkmar, Drews, Reinhard, Eagles, Graeme, Eisen, Olaf, Eisermann, Hannes, Ferraccioli, Fausto , Field, Elena , Forsberg, René, Franke, Steven, Fujita, Shuji, Gim, Yonggyu, Goel, Vikram, Gogineni, Siva Prasad, Greenbaum, Jamin, Hills, Benjamin, Hindmarsh, Richard C.A. , Hoffman, Andrew O., Holmlund, Per, Holschuh, Nicholas, Holt, John W., Horlings, Anneka N., Humbert, Anglika, Jacobel, Robert W., Jansen, Daniela, Jenkins, Adrian, Jokat, Wilfried, Jordan, Tom , King, Edward , Kohler, Jack, Krabill, William, Langley, Kirsty, Lee, Joohan, Leitchenkov, German, Leuschen, Carlton, Luyendyk, Bruce, MacGregor, Joseph, MacKie, Emma, Matsuoka, Kenichi, Morlighem, Mathieu, Mouginot, Jérémie, Nitsche, Frank O., Nogi, Yoshifumi, Nost, Ole A., Paden, John, Pattyn, Frank, Popov, Sergey V., Rignot, Eric, Rippin, David M., Rivera, Andrés, Roberts, Jason, Ross, Neil, Ruppel, Anotonia, Schroeder, Dustin M., Siegert, Martin J., Smith, Andrew M. , Steinhage, Daniel, Studinger, Michael, Sun, Bo, Tabacco, Ignazio, Tinto, Kirsty, Urbini, Stefano, Vaughan, David , Welch, Brian C., Wilson, Douglas S., Young, Duncan A., Zirizzotti, Achille. (2023) Antarctic Bedmap data: Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable (FAIR) sharing of 60 years of ice bed, surface, and thickness data. Earth System Science Data, 15 (). 16 pp. 10.5194/essd-15-2695-2023

Nie, Yong, Deng, Qian, Pritchard, Hamish D. , Carrivick, Jonathan L., Ahmed, Farooq, Huggel, Christian, Liu, Lijun, Wang, Wen, Lesi, Muchu, Wang, Jida, Zhang, Huayu, Zhang, Bo, Lü, Qiyuan, Zhang, Yili. (2023) Glacial lake outburst floods threaten Asia’s infrastructure. Science Bulletin, 68 (). 5 pp. 10.1016/j.scib.2023.05.035

Wang, Shuhong, Liu, Jintao, Pritchard, Hamish D. , Ke, Linghong, Qiao, Xiao, Zhang, Jie, Xiao, Weihua, Zhou, Yuyan. (2023) Characterizing 4 decades of accelerated glacial mass loss in the west Nyainqentanglha Range of the Tibetan Plateau. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 27 (). pp. 10.5194/hess-27-933-2023

2022

Su, Fengge, Pritchard, Hamish D. , Yao, Tandong, Huang, Jingheng, Ou, Tinghai, Meng, Fanchong, Sun, He, Li, Ying, Xu, Baiqing, Zhu, Meilin, Chen, Deliang. (2022) Contrasting fate of western Third Pole’s water resources under 21st century climate change. Earth's Future, 10 (). 19 pp. 10.1029/2022EF002776

Pritchard, Hamish D. . (2022) A new instrumental way to measure accumulating SWE in mountain and polar catchments directly, on the kilometre-scale and in near-real time. In: 88th Western Snow Conference 2021 Bozeman, MT, April 12-15, 2021. Western Snow Conference.

Dorschel, Boris, Hehemann, Laura, Viquerat, Sacha, Warnke, Fynn, Dreutter, Simon, Tenberge, Yvonne Schulze, Accetella, Daniela, An, Lu, Barrios, Felipe, Bazhenova, Evgenia, Black, Jenny, Bohoyo, Fernando, Davey, Craig, De Santis, Laura, Dotti, Carlota Escutia, Fremand, Alice C. , Fretwell, Peter T. , Gales, Jenny A., Gao, Jinyao, Gasperini, Luca, Greenbaum, Jamin S., Henderson Jencks, Jennifer, Hogan, Kelly , Hong, Jong Kuk, Jakobsson, Martin, Jensen, Laura, Kool, Johnathan, Larin, Sergei, Larter, Robert D. , Leitchenkov, German, Loubrieu, Benoît, Mackay, Kevin, Mayer, Larry, Millan, Romain, Morlighem, Mathieu, Navidad, Francisco, Nitsche, Frank O., Nogi, Yoshifumi, Pertuisot, Cécile, Post, Alexandra L., Pritchard, Hamish D. , Purser, Autun, Rebesco, Michele, Rignot, Eric, Roberts, Jason L., Rovere, Marzia, Ryzhov, Ivan, Sauli, Chiara, Schmitt, Thierry, Silvano, Alessandro, Smith, Jodie, Snaith, Helen, Tate, Alex J. , Tinto, Kirsty, Vandenbossche, Philippe, Weatherall, Pauline, Wintersteller, Paul, Yang, Chunguo, Zhang, Tao, Arndt, Jan Erik. (2022) The International Bathymetric Chart of the Southern Ocean Version 2 (IBCSO v2). Scientific Data, 9 (). 13 pp. 10.1038/s41597-022-01366-7

Dell, Rebecca L., Banwell, Alison F., Willis, Ian C., Arnold, Neil S., Halberstadt, Anna Ruth W., Chudley, Thomas R., Pritchard, Hamish D. . (2022) Supervised classification of slush and ponded water on Antarctic ice shelves using Landsat 8 imagery. Journal of Glaciology, 68 (). pp. 10.1017/jog.2021.114

2021

Pritchard, Hamish D. . (2021) Global data gaps in our knowledge of the terrestrial cryosphere. Frontiers in Climate, 3 (). 7 pp. 10.3389/fclim.2021.689823

Individual contributors, including, Pritchard, Hamish D. , Turner, John . (2021) State of the global climate in 2020. , World Meteorological Organization, 56 pp. (WMO-No. 1264.)

Pritchard, Hamish D. , Farinotti, Daniel, Colwell, Steve. (2021) Measuring changes in snowpack SWE continuously on a landscape scale using lake water pressure. Journal of Hydrometeorology, 22 (). 17 pp. 10.1175/JHM-D-20-0206.1

Nie, Yong, Pritchard, Hamish D. , Liu, Qiao, Hennig, Thomas, Wang, Wenling, Wang, Wiaoming, Liu, Shiyin, Nepal, Santosh, Samyn, Denis, Hewitt, Kenneth, Chen, Xiaoqing. (2021) Glacial change and hydrological implications in the Himalaya and Karakoram. Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, 2 (). pp. 10.1038/s43017-020-00124-w

2020

Dell, Rebecca, Arnold, Neil, Willis, Ian, Banwell, Alison, Williamson, Andrew, Pritchard, Hamish , Orr, Andrew . (2020) Lateral meltwater transfer across an Antarctic ice shelf.. The Cryosphere, 14 (). 18 pp. 10.5194/tc-14-2313-2020

Pritchard, H.D. , King, E.C. , Goodger, D.J., McCarthy, M. , Mayer, C., Kayastha, R.. (2020) Towards Bedmap Himalayas: development of an airborne ice-sounding radar for glacier thickness surveys in High-Mountain Asia. Annals of Glaciology, 61 (). 11 pp. 10.1017/aog.2020.29

2019

Pritchard, Hamish . (2019) Asia’s shrinking glaciers protect large populations from drought stress. Nature, 569 (). pp. 10.1038/s41586-019-1240-1

Meredith, Michael , Sommerkorn, M., Cassotta, S., Derksen, C., Ekaykin, A., Hollowed, A., Kofinas, G., Mackintosh, A., Melbourn-Thomas, J., Muelbert, M.M.C., Ottersen, G., Pritchard, Hamish , Schuur, E.A.G.. (2019) Chapter 3: Polar Regions. In: Pörtner, H.-O., Roberts, D.C., Masson-Delmotte, V., Zhai, P., Tignor, M., Poloczanska, E., Mintenbeck, K., Alegría, A., Nicolai, M., Okem, A., Petzold, J., Rama, B., Weyer, N.M. (eds.). IPCC Special Report on the Oceans and Cryosphere in a changing climate, , Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, pp.

2018

Nicholson, Lindsey I., McCarthy, Michael , Pritchard, Hamish D. , Willis, Ian. (2018) Supraglacial debris thickness variability: impact on ablation and relation to terrain properties. The Cryosphere, 12 (). pp. 10.5194/tc-12-3719-2018

Christie, Frazer D.W., Bingham, Robert G., Gourmelen, Noel, Steig, Eric J., Bisset, Rosie R., Pritchard, Hamish D. , Snow, Kate, Tett, Simon F.B.. (2018) Glacier change along West Antarctica’s Marie Byrd Land Sector and links to inter-decadal atmosphere–ocean variability. The Cryosphere, 12 (). pp. 10.5194/tc-12-2461-2018

2017

Felikson, Denis, Urban, Timothy J., Gunter, Brian C., Pie, Nadege, Pritchard, Hamish D. , Harpold, Robert, Schutz, Bob E.. (2017) Comparison of elevation change detection methods from ICESat altimetry over the Greenland Ice Sheet. IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 55 (). pp. 10.1109/TGRS.2017.2709303

Spagnolo, Matteo, Bartholomaus, Timothy C., Clark, Chris D., Stokes, Chris R., Atkinson, Nigel, Dowdeswell, Julian A., Ely, Jeremy C., Graham, Alistair G.C., Hogan, Kelly A. , King, Edward C. , Larter, Robert D. , Livingstone, Stephen J., Pritchard, Hamish D. . (2017) The periodic topography of ice stream beds: insights from the Fourier spectra of mega-scale glacial lineations. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 122 (). pp. 10.1002/2016JF004154

McCarthy, Michael , Pritchard, Hamish , Willis, Ian, King, Edward . (2017) Ground-penetrating radar measurements of debris thickness on Lirung Glacier, Nepal. Journal of Glaciology, 63 (). pp. 10.1017/jog.2017.18

Pritchard, Hamish D. . (2017) Asia’s glaciers are a regionally important buffer against drought [Retracted article]. Nature, 545 (). pp. 10.1038/nature22062

2016

King, Edward C. , Pritchard, Hamish D. , Smith, Andy M. . (2016) Subglacial landforms beneath Rutford Ice Stream, Antarctica: detailed bed topography from ice-penetrating radar. Earth System Science Data, 8 (). pp. 10.5194/essd-8-151-2016

2015

Matsuoka, Kenichi, Hindmarsh, Richard C.A. , Moholdt, Geir, Bentley, Michael J., Pritchard, Hamish D. , Brown, Joel, Conway, Howard, Drews, Reinhard, Durand, Gael, Goldberg, Daniel, Hatterman, Tore, Kingslake, Jonathan, Lenaerts, Jan T.M., Martin, Carlos , Mulvaney, Robert , Nicholls, Keith , Pattyn, Frank, Ross, Neil, Scambos, Ted, Whitehouse, Pippa L.. (2015) Antarctic ice rises and rumples: their properties and significance for ice-sheet dynamics and evolution. Earth Science Reviews, 150 (). pp. 10.1016/j.earscirev.2015.09.004

Smith, E.C., Smith, A.M. , White, R.S., Brisbourne, A.M. , Pritchard, H.D. . (2015) Mapping the ice-bed interface characteristics of Rutford Ice Stream, West Antarctica, using microseismicity. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 120 (). pp. 10.1002/2015JF003587

2014

Pritchard, Hamish . (2014) Bedgap – where next for Antarctic subglacial mapping?. Antarctic Science, 26 (). pp. 10.1017/S095410201400025X

Kingslake, Jonathan, Hindmarsh, Richard C.A. , Aðalgeirsdóttir, Guðfinna, Conway, Howard, Corr, Hugh F.J., Gillet-Chaulet, Fabien, Martin, Carlos , King, Edward C. , Mulvaney, Robert , Pritchard, Hamish D. . (2014) Full-depth englacial vertical ice-sheet velocities measured using phase-sensitive radar. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 119 (). pp. doi:10.1002/2014JF003275

2013

Harland, S.R., Kendall, J.-M., Stuart, G.W., Lloyd, G.E., Baird, A.F., Smith, A.M. , Pritchard, H.D. , Brisbourne, A.M.. (2013) Deformation in Rutford Ice Stream, West Antarctica: measuring shear-wave anisotropy from icequakes. Annals of Glaciology, 54 (). pp. doi:10.3189/2013AoG64A033

Fretwell, P. , Pritchard, H.D. , Vaughan, D.G. , Bamber, J.L., Barrand, N.E., Bell, R., Bianchi, C., Bingham, R. G., Blankenship, D.D., Casassa, G., Catania, G., Callens, D., Conway, H., Cook, A.J., Corr, H.F.J., Damaske, D., Damm, V., Ferraccioli, F. , Forsberg, R., Fujita, S., Gim, Y., Gogineni, P., Griggs, J.A., Hindmarsh, R.C.A. , Holmlund, P., Holt, J.W., Jacobel, R.W., Jenkins, A. , Jokat, W., Jordan, T. , King, E.C. , Kohler, J., Krabill, W., Riger-Kusk, M., Langley, K.A., Leitchenkov, G., Leuschen, C., Luyendyk, B.P., Matsuoka, K., Mouginot, J., Nitsche, F.O., Nogi, Y., Nost, O.A., Popov, S.V., Rignot, E., Rippin, D.M., Rivera, A., Roberts, J., Ross, N., Siegert, M.J., Smith, A.M. , Steinhage, D., Studinger, M., Sun, B., Tinto, B.K., Welch, B.C., Wilson, D., Young, D.A., Xiangbin, C., Zirizzotti, A.. (2013) Bedmap2: improved ice bed, surface and thickness datasets for Antarctica. The Cryosphere, 7 (). pp. doi:10.5194/tc-7-375-2013

2012

Shepherd, Andrew, Ivins, Erik R., A, Geruo, Barletta, Valentina R., Bentley, Mike J., Bettadpur, Srinivas, Briggs, Kate H., Bromwich, David H., Forsberg, René, Galin, Natalia, Horwath, Martin, Jacobs, Stan, Joughin, Ian, King, Matt A., Lenaerts, Jan T.M., Li, Jilu, Ligtenberg, Stefan R.M., Luckman, Adrian, Luthcke, Scott B., McMillan, Malcolm, Meister, Rakia, Milne, Glenn, Mouginot, Jeremie, Muir, Alan, Nicolas, Julien P., Paden, John, Payne, Antony J., Pritchard, Hamish , Rignot, Eric, Rott, Helmut, Sandberg Sørensen, Louise, Scambos, Ted A., Scheuchl, Bernd, Schrama, Ernst J.O., Smith, Ben, Sundal, Aud V., van Angelen, Jan H., van de Berg, Willem J., van den Broeke, Michiel R., Vaughan, David G. , Velicogna, Isabella, Wahr, John, Whitehouse, Pippa, Wingham, Duncan J., Yi, Donghui, Young, Duncan, Zwally, H. Jay. (2012) A reconciled estimate of ice sheet mass balance. Science, 338 (). pp. 10.1126/science.1228102

Bingham, Robert G., Ferraccioli, Fausto , King, Edward C. , Larter, Robert D. , Pritchard, Hamish D. , Smith, Andrew M. , Vaughan, David G. . (2012) Inland thinning of West Antarctic Ice Sheet steered along subglacial rifts. Nature, 487 (). pp. 10.1038/nature11292

Pritchard, H.D. , Ligtenberg, S.R.M., Fricker, H.A., Vaughan, D.G. , van den Broeke, M.R., Padman, L.. (2012) Antarctic ice-sheet loss driven by basal melting of ice shelves. Nature, 484 (). pp. 10.1038/nature10968

2011

Holland, Paul R. , Corr, Hugh F.J., Pritchard, Hamish D. , Vaughan, David G. , Arthern, Robert J. , Jenkins, Adrian , Tedesco, Marco. (2011) The air content of Larsen Ice Shelf. Geophysical Research Letters, 38 (). 6 pp. 10.1029/2011GL047245

Pritchard, Hamish D. , Luthcke, S.B., Fleming, Andrew H. . (2011) Understanding ice-sheet mass balance: progress in satellite altimetry and gravimetry. Journal of Glaciology, 56 (). pp. 10.3189/002214311796406194

2010

Bingham, Robert G., King, Edward C. , Smith, Andrew M. , Pritchard, Hamish D. . (2010) Glacial geomorphology: towards a convergence of glaciology and geomorphology. Progress in Physical Geography, 34 (). pp. 10.1177/0309133309360631

2009

Martin, Carlos , Gudmundsson, G. Hilmar , Pritchard, Hamish D. , Gagliardini, Olivier. (2009) On the effects of anisotropic rheology on ice flow, internal structure, and the age-depth relationship at ice divides. Journal of Geophysical Research, 114 (). 18 pp. 10.1029/2008JF001204

Pritchard, H.D. , Arthern, R.J. , Vaughan, D.G. , Edwards, L.A.. (2009) Extensive dynamic thinning on the margins of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets. Nature, 461 (). pp. 10.1038/nature08471

Scott, Julian, Gudmundsson, Hilmar , Smith, Andrew , Bingham, Robert, Pritchard, Hamish , Vaughan, David . (2009) Increased rate of acceleration on Pine Island Glacier strongly coupled to changes in gravitational driving stress. The Cryosphere, 3 (). pp. doi:10.5194/tc-3-125-2009

2008

Vaughan, David G. , Corr, Hugh F.J., Smith, Andy M. , Pritchard, Hamish D. , Shepherd, Andrew. (2008) Flow-switching and water piracy between Rutford Ice Stream and Carlson Inlet, West Antarctica. Journal of Glaciology, 54 (). pp. 10.3189/002214308784409125

2007

Humbert, A., Pritchard, H.D. . (2007) Numerical simulations of the ice flow dynamics of the Brunt Ice Shelf – Stancomb Wills Ice Tongue System. Forum for Research into Ice Shelf Processes (FRISP). Report, 17 (). pp.

Pritchard, Hamish . (2007) Antarctic Peninsula, glaciology of. In: Riffenburgh, B. (eds.). Encyclopedia of the Antarctic, New York, Routledge, pp.

Pritchard, Hamish D. , Vaughan, David G. . (2007) Widespread acceleration of tidewater glaciers on the Antarctic Peninsula. Journal of Geophysical Research, 112 (). 10 pp. 10.1029/2006JF000597

2006

Pritchard, Hamish . (2006) Review of Polar remote sensing. Vol. II: Ice sheets by R. Massom and D. Lubin. Berlin, Springer; Chichester, Praxis, 2006. Journal of Glaciology, 52 (). pp.

2005

Rignot, E., Casassa, G., Gogineni, S., Kanagaratnam, P., Krabill, W., Pritchard, H. , Rivera, A., Thomas, R., Turner, J. , Vaughan, D. . (2005) Recent ice loss from the Fleming and other glaciers, Wordie Bay, West Antarctic Peninsula. Geophysical Research Letters, 32 (). 4 pp. doi:10.1029/2004GL021947

Pritchard, Hamish , Murray, Tavi, Luckman, Adrian, Strozzi, Tazio, Barr, Stuart. (2005) Glacier surge dynamics of Sortebræ, east Greenland, from synthetic aperture radar feature tracking. Journal of Geophysical Research, 110 (). 13 pp. doi:10.1029/2004JF000233

PRESCIENT
The Big Thaw
Bedmap3
Bedmap
SURFEIT
GRADES-IMAGE
Water Resources of the Upper Indus Basin
National Capability for Global Challenges
Bedmap2
Bedmap Himalayas
Ocean-driven ice-shelf thinning in Antarctica
Glacier surge dynamics of Sortebræ, east Greenland, from synthetic aperture radar feature tracking

Hamish Pritchard

Team

General enquiries

Hamish Pritchard

Biography

Research interests

Collaborations

Publications from NERC Open Research Archive

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2023

2022

2018

2013

2012

2011

2009

2007

Research outputs

Hamish Pritchard

Team

General enquiries

Hamish Pritchard

Biography

Research interests

Collaborations

Publications from NERC Open Research Archive

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2023

2022

2018

2013

2012

2011

2009

2007