Philipp S. Arndt

Philipp S. Arndt

he/him

I use satellite remote sensing and geospatial data analysis to produce actionable insights into how our planet is changing.

Publications

You can also find my articles on my Google Scholar profile.

Using High-Resolution Satellite Observations to Better Understand Surface Melt Processes on the Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets

Published in Ph.D. Dissertation, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, 2024

My doctoral dissertation at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego, on automated detection and depth retrieval of supraglacial meltwater lakes on the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets using NASA ICESat-2 laser altimetry and multispectral satellite imagery.

Recommended citation: Arndt, P. S. (2024). Using High-Resolution Satellite Observations to Better Understand Surface Melt Processes on the Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets. Ph.D. dissertation, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7hk6f0dr

A Framework for Automated Supraglacial Lake Detection and Depth Retrieval in ICESat-2 Photon Data Across the Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets

Published in The Cryosphere, 2024

In this paper, we present the Flat Lake and Underlying Ice Detection (FLUID) and Surface Removal and Robust Fit (SuRFF) algorithms which together provide a fully automated and scalable method for lake detection and depth determination from ICESat-2 ATL03 data, and establish a framework for its large-scale implementation using distributed high-throughput computing. We report FLUID/SuRFF algorithm performance over two regions known to have significant surface melt – Central West Greenland and Amery Ice Shelf catchment in East Antarctica – during two melt seasons. FLUID/SuRFF reveals a total of \(1249\) lakes up to \(25 \mathrm{\,m}\) deep, with more water during higher melt years.

Recommended citation: Arndt, P. S. and Fricker, H. A.: A framework for automated supraglacial lake detection and depth retrieval in ICESat-2 photon data across the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, The Cryosphere, 18, 5173–5206, 2024. https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-5173-2024

Rapid Formation of an Ice Doline on Amery Ice Shelf, East Antarctica

Published in Geophysical Research Letters, 2021

Satellite images showed an \(11 \mathrm{\,km}^2\) depression on Amery Ice Shelf as an ice-covered lake drained abruptly in winter 2019 forming an ice doline. ICESat-2 and WorldView data show elevation fell as much as \(80 \mathrm{\,m}\) in the depression, amidst \(60 \mathrm{\,km}^2\) of hydrostatic rebound and uplift over \(36 \mathrm{\,m}\). ICESat-2 photon data profiled a new meltwater channel, incised when a lake formed by the flexural uplift overflowed into the doline in 2020.

Recommended citation: Warner, R. C., Fricker, H. A., Adusumilli, S., Arndt, P., Kingslake, J., & Spergel, J. J. (2021). Rapid formation of an ice doline on Amery Ice Shelf, East Antarctica. Geophysical Research Letters, 48(14), e2020GL091095. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL091095

ICESat-2 Meltwater Depth Estimates: Application to Surface Melt on Amery Ice Shelf, East Antarctica

Published in Geophysical Research Letters, 2021

ICESat-2 photons penetrate surface melt lakes and reflect from both the water surface and the underlying ice, providing depth estimates. We compared depths from eight algorithms (six ICESat-2 and two image-based) for four lakes present on Amery Ice Shelf in January 2019. Depths from ICESat-2 were more accurate than from imagery (30%–70% too low); merging these data will improve estimates ice-sheet wide.

Recommended citation: Fricker, H. A., Arndt, P., Brunt, K. M., Datta, R. T., Fair, Z., Jasinski, M. F., ... & Wouters, B. (2021). ICESat‐2 meltwater depth estimates: application to surface melt on amery ice shelf, East Antarctica. Geophysical Research Letters, 48(8), e2020GL090550. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL090550

Lethargic response to aerosol emissions in current climate models

Published in Geophysical Research Letters, 2018

Trends in downward solar radiation measured at ∼1,400 surface stations are presented for the last half century. Historical aerosol emissions support the idea that these observed radiation trends were mainly due to changes in atmospheric aerosol loading. CMIP5 simulations show negligible solar radiation trends over the same period, raising doubts about their ability to simulate future climate.

Recommended citation: Storelvmo, T., Heede, U. K., Leirvik, T., Phillips, P. C., Arndt, P., & Wild, M. (2018). Lethargic response to aerosol emissions in current climate models. Geophysical Research Letters, 45(18), 9814-9823. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GL078298

Detection of Multi-Level Hierarchies in Multi-View Cancer Networks, with Applications to Glioblastoma Multiforme

Published in Chalmers University of Technology Student Theses, 2018

In this master thesis, I propose a novel method that integrates multi-omics views of similarities between gene-associated sequencing data into a single network via a diffusion process, and detects communities on multiple levels of hierarchy. I apply this method to gene expression, copy number aberration and DNA methylation data from Glioblastoma Multiforme tumor samples to identify groups of genes that are highly co-regulated during disease progression. I verify that the resulting community structure is indeed representative of biological function by identifying various communities in which genes associated to known biological processes are highly overrepresented on statistically significant levels.

Recommended citation: Arndt, P. (2018). Detection of Multi-Level Hierarchies in Multi-View Cancer Networks, with Applications to Glioblastoma Multiforme [Masters Thesis]. https://fliphilipp.github.io/files/MScThesisPhilippArndt.pdf

Open Data Products & Software

Archived with DOIs on Zenodo; further repositories are on my GitHub.