About
Professor Adrian Luckman is a member of the Geography Department at Swansea University.
D.Phil., Electronic Engineering, University of York, 1991; BSc. (Hons) Electronic Engineering, University of York, 1987
Professor Adrian Luckman is a member of the Geography Department at Swansea University.
D.Phil., Electronic Engineering, University of York, 1991; BSc. (Hons) Electronic Engineering, University of York, 1987
Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
Earth Observation
Glaciology
The Cryosphere
Ice in nature is beautiful, abundant, intriguing, ever changing, and fragile. It flows, fractures and behaves in a way which reflects both its crystalline structure, and its great volume. I satisfy my fascination for glaciers and ice sheets by monitoring them from space, using satellite imaging systems to study how they behave and how they are responding to climate change.
I specialize in the use of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) which uses microwave energy to acquire images regardless of cloud cover and polar night – a capability that is particularly valuable in the Arctic and Antarctic. My expertise is in using regularly acquired images to derive surface flow rates and dynamic change.
My work has encompassed the Himalayas, Greenland, Svalbard and Antarctica, and I have been lucky enough to do fieldwork in all these regions.
My recent work has concentrated on the stability of ice shelves – the floating extensions of glaciers that fringe most of Antarctica, and iceberg calving – the process by which ice is lost to the ocean. Calving events range from small chunks falling from glaciers to huge episodes, such as the formation in 2017 of Iceberg A-68, one quarter the size of Wales.
For some examples of my work, please see my Wordpress page:
A Geographic Information System (GIS) is a computer-based technology for solving problems of a geographical nature ¿ i.e. involving spatial relationships between people, places and objects. It can be applied to a wide range of disciplines within geography and has developed to provide a means to quickly and professionally produce maps from geospatial data. This module provides a basic grounding in GIS from the nature of spatial information, through the use of GIS in social and physical geography contexts, to the application of computers to solving complex geographical problems. Most importantly, it allows hands-on experience in using Quantum GIS (QGIS), the leading open-source GIS software package, and therefore provides a valuable skill for research and the for workplace.
This module will provide you with the scientific basis to understand the physical behaviour of glacier ice at spatial scales ranging from individual ice crystals to continental-scale glaciation. The module core topics will include glacier mass balance, transformation of snow to ice, glacier hydrology, dynamics, ice crystal structure and deformation, glacier sliding, deformation of glacial sediments, glacier flow instabilities and glacier surging. We will then introduce example topics of current research interest. You will have the opportunity to work in a small group on a guided research project. The module is assessed through an individual paper critique and ¿take-home¿ examination, as well as group presentation of your research project results at a poster-based mini-conference, and as a report. The research project work will normally be assigned a group mark, however, individual student¿s marks may be moderated based on self and peer assessment.
This module will provide students from a range of disciplines including Geography and Bioscience with a comprehensive understanding of Geographic Information Systems, and key practical skills in the market-leading open-source GIS software tool Quantum GIS (QGIS). At the end of the module students will know how and where to acquire geospatial data, how to combine and analyse these data for specific objectives, and how to visualise primary and derived data in the form of maps.
2013 - Present
2007 - 2013
2003 - 2007
1997 - 2003
1992 - 1997
1991 - 1991
1990 - 1991
A research group dedicated to furthering knowledge in the quantification of the past and future contribution from glaciers and ice sheets to sea-level rise; the processes driving the present rapid and dramatic changes observed in glaciers, and the instabilities inherent in glacial systems; and the record of palaeo-ice mass instabilities and the processes that drove these changes.