Waleed Abdalati
Ph.D. University of Colorado (Boulder), 1996
Director of ESOC
Associate Professor of Geography
E-mail: waleed.abdalati@colorado.edu
Office: Ekeley W245
Phone: 303-492-5087
Web: Earth Science Observation Center
Research Interests
My research interests are in the use of satellite and airborne remote sensing techniques, integrated with in situ observations and modeling, to understand how and why the Earth's ice cover is changing, and what those changes mean for life on Earth. In particular, my research focuses on the contributions of ice sheets and high-latitude glaciers to sea level rise and their relationship to the changing climate. Toward that end, I have been heavily involved in the development of NASA's Ice Cloud and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) and its successor, ICESat-II, and I have worked on cryospheric applications of various other satellites and aircraft instruments. Most of my research is supported by NASA, where I worked as a scientist for 12 years, before joining CIRES.
Current Research
Application of data from the GRACE mission to understanding changes in glaciers in Alaska, the Canadian Arctic, Greenland, and Patagonia (NASA Cryospheric Sciences Program); Multi-sensor assessment of Greenland ice sheet mass balance (NASA Interdisciplinary Studies Program); Greenland ice sheet seasonal mass loss due to melting (NASA Terrestrial Hydrology Program); Decadal changes in Greenland ice sheet melt and accumulation zones (NASA GSFC); Changes in Greenland ice sheet outlet glacier velocities prior to 1995 (NASA PECASE award); Satellite laser altimetry mission requirements for ICESat-II (NASA ICESat-II Project)
Selected Publications
Luthcke, S.B., H.J. Zwally, W. Abdalati, D.D. Rowlands, R.D. Ray, R.S., Nerem, F.G. Lemoine, J.J. McCarthy and D.S. Chinn, Recent Greenland Ice Mass Loss by Drainage System from Satellite Gravity, Observations, Science, Vol. 314, no. 5803, 1286-1289, 2006.
Abdalati, W. Recent changes in high-latitude glaciers and ice caps, Weather, Vol. 61, No. 4, 95-101, 2006. Joughin, I., W. Abdalati, and M. Fahenstock, Large fluctuations in speed on Greenland’s Jakobshavn Isbrae glacier, Nature, Vol. 432, 608-610, 2004.
Abdalati, W. W.B. Krabill, E.B. Frederick, S. Manizade, C. Martin, J. Sonntag, R. Swift, R.H. Thomas, J. Yungel, and R. Koerner, Elevation changes of ice caps in the Canadian archipelago, Journal of Geophysical Research – Earth Surface, Vol. 109, No. F4, F00407 2004.
Zwally, H.J., W. Abdalati, T. Herring, K. Larson, J. Saba, K. Steffen, Surface melt acceleration of Greenland ice sheet flow, Science, Vol. 297, No. 5579, 218-222, 2002.
Abdalati, W., and K. Steffen, Update on the Greenland ice sheet melt extent, Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres , Vol. 106, No. D24, pp. 33,983-33,988, 2001.
Abdalati, W., W. Krabill, E. Frederick, S. Manizade, C. Martin, J. Sonntag, R. Swift, R. Thomas, W. Wright, J. Yungel, Near-coastal thinning of the Greenland ice sheet, Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres, Vol. 106, No. D24, pp. 33,729-33,742, 2001.
Fahnestock, M., W. Abdalati, I. Joughin, J. Brozena, S. Gogineni, High Geothermal heat flow, basal melt, and the origin of rapid ice flow in central Greenland, Science, Vol. 294, 2338-2342, 2001.
Krabill, W., W. Abdalati, E. Frederick, S. Manizade, C. Martin, J. Sonntag, R. Swift, R. Thomas, W. Wright, J. Yungel, Greenland ice sheet: high-elevation balance and peripheral thinning, Science, 289, 428-429, 2000.
Honors and Awards
- NASA GSFC Center Director’s Team Recognition Award, 2007
- American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronaustics Space Systems Award, 2006
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration Exceptional Service Medal, 2004
- NASA Group Achievement Award, ICESat Science Team, 2004
- NASA Office of Earth Science Award, 2003
- NASA Group Achievement Award, Honor Award Team 2003
- NASA Office of Earth Science Terra Peer Award, 2002
- NASA Office of Earth Science Award, 2002
- NASA Office of Earth Science Award, 2001
- Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, 1999
- Tau Beta Pi National Engineering Honor Society (since 1985)
Professor Abdalati is a CIRES Teaching Faculty.
