Sinéad Farrell is a geophysicist working on remote sensing of sea ice using satellite altimetry. Sinéad recently joined the Cooperative Institute for Climate Studies (CICS) University of Maryland, College Park as a Research Associate, collaborating with the NOAA Laboratory for Satellite Altimetry and the NASA Cryospheric Sciences Branch. She joined NOAA as a National Research Council (NRC) associate in 2007. Sinéad studied at University College London and received an M.Sci. in Earth and Space Science in 2002, and a Ph.D. in 2007, for her thesis on satellite laser altimetry over sea ice.
Research Interests
Sinéad's main interests lie in remote sensing of the Earth's polar regions using satellite and airborne altimetry for marine geophysics and cryospheric investigations. Current research topics include the seasonal and inter-annual variability of Arctic sea ice thickness and volume, the mean dynamic topography and circulation of the Arctic Ocean, and the marine gravity field of the Arctic Ocean. Sinéad regularly works on algorithm development and the combined use of satellite, model, and in situ data to study polar processes. A major component of this research is analysis, and cross-comparison, of altimetry data from current satellite missions including ICESat, Envisat, ERS-2, future missions CryoSat-2 and ICESat-2, and data collected from airborne platforms. Sinéad is a member of the ICESat-2 Science Definition Team, and has been a member of AGU since 2003.
Recent projects
Joint NOAA-NASA Canada Basin Sea Ice Thickness Experiment 2009
ICESat-2 Science Definition Team
NASA Arctic Ice Gap (Operation Ice Bridge) Mission