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Dr. Rachel Louise Tilling

Photo of RACHEL TILLING

Dr. Rachel Louise Tilling

  • Assistant Research Scientist
  • NASA/GSFC
  • Employer: UNIV OF MARYLAND COLLEGE PARK

    • Brief Bio

    Rachel joined the Cryospheric Sciences Laboratory at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in May 2019. Her research focuses on using satellites to monitor changes in the global sea ice cover. Rachel's research has taken her on expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic with the European Space Agency (ESA) and British Antarctic Survey (BAS), where she investigates ground-based radar measurements over sea ice for satellite validation. 

    Research Interests

    Satellite radar and laser altimetry; sea ice; field validation of satellite data

    Positions/Employment

    2019 - Present

    Assistant Research Scientist

    NASA Goddard Space Flight Center/University of Maryland, Greenbelt, MD, USA
    2016 - 2019

    Postdoctoral Research Fellow

    Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK

    Education

    2016        PhD Polar Remote Sensing                                            

                     University College London, London, UK             


    2012        MSc Oceanography                                                   

                    University of Southampton, Southampton, UK                 


    2011          BSc Physics    

                      University of Bristol, Bristol, UK                                   

     

    Awards

    2018                         Committee on Space Research (COSPAR)                                                                                                                                             Outstanding Paper Award for Young Scientists

                                     Women In Aerospace (WIA) Europe
                                     Young Professional Award

    2016                         International Association of Cryospheric Sciences (IACS)                                                                                                                   Early Career Scientist Prize

    Publications

    Refereed

    Zhou, L., J. Stroeve, S. Xu, et al. A. Petty, R. Tilling, M. Winstrup, P. Rostosky, I. R. Lawrence, G. E. Liston, A. Ridout, M. Tsamados, and V. Nandan. 2021. "Inter-comparison of snow depth over sea ice from multiple methods." The Cryosphere, 15: 345–367 [10.5194/tc-2020-65]

    Tilling, R., N. T. Kurtz, M. Bagnardi, A. A. Petty, and R. Kwok. 2020. "Detection of Melt Ponds on Arctic Summer Sea Ice From ICESat‐2." Geophysical Research Letters, 47 (23): [10.1029/2020gl090644]

    Horvat, C., L. A. Roach, R. Tilling, et al. C. M. Bitz, B. Fox-Kemper, C. Guider, K. Hill, A. Ridout, and A. Shepherd. 2019. "Estimating the sea ice floe size distribution using satellite altimetry: theory, climatology, and model comparison." The Cryosphere, 13 (11): 2869-2885 [10.5194/tc-13-2869-2019]

    Tilling, R., A. Ridout, and A. Shepherd. 2019. "Assessing the Impact of Lead and Floe Sampling on Arctic Sea Ice Thickness Estimates from Envisat and CryoSat‐2." Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 124 (11): 7473-7485 [10.1029/2019jc015232]

    Lawrence, I. R., T. W. Armitage, M. C. Tsamados, et al. J. C. Stroeve, S. Dinardo, A. L. Ridout, A. Muir, R. L. Tilling, and A. Shepherd. 2019. "Extending the Arctic sea ice freeboard and sea level record with the Sentinel-3 radar altimeters." Advances in Space Research, (In Press) [10.1016/j.asr.2019.10.011]

    Schröder, D., D. L. Feltham, M. Tsamados, A. Ridout, and R. Tilling. 2019. "New insight from CryoSat-2 sea ice thickness for sea ice modelling." The Cryosphere, 13 (1): 125-139 [10.5194/tc-13-125-2019]

    Allard, R. A., S. L. Farrell, D. A. Hebert, et al. W. F. Johnston, L. Li, N. T. Kurtz, M. W. Phelps, P. G. Posey, R. Tilling, A. Ridout, and A. J. Wallcraft. 2018. "Utilizing CryoSat-2 sea ice thickness to initialize a coupled ice-ocean modeling system." Advances in Space Research, 62 (6): 1265-1280 [10.1016/j.asr.2017.12.030]

    Robson, J., R. T. Sutton, A. Archibald, et al. F. Cooper, M. Christensen, L. J. Gray, N. P. Holliday, C. Macintosh, M. McMillan, B. Moat, M. Russo, R. Tilling, K. Carslaw, D. Desbruyères, O. Embury, D. L. Feltham, D. P. Grosvenor, S. Josey, B. King, A. Lewis, G. D. McCarthy, C. Merchant, A. L. New, C. H. O'Reilly, S. M. Osprey, K. Read, A. Scaife, A. Shepherd, B. Sinha, D. Smeed, D. Smith, A. Ridout, T. Woollings, and M. Yang. 2018. "Recent multivariate changes in the North Atlantic climate system, with a focus on 2005-2016." International Journal of Climatology, 38 (14): 5050-5076 [10.1002/joc.5815]

    Tilling, R. L., A. Ridout, and A. Shepherd. 2018. "Estimating Arctic sea ice thickness and volume using CryoSat-2 radar altimeter data." Advances in Space Research, 62 (6): 1203-1225 [10.1016/j.asr.2017.10.051]

    Tilling, R. 2018. "A Farewell to Ice." Underwater Technology, 35 (1): 31-32 [10.3723/ut.35.031]

    Tilling, R. L., T. J. Young, P. Christoffersen, et al. L. B. Lok, P. V. Brennan, and K. W. Nicholls. 2017. "Radar observations of Arctic ice." Arcticness: Power and Voice from the North, 27--39.

    Tilling, R. L., A. Ridout, and A. Shepherd. 2016. "Near-real-time Arctic sea ice thickness and volume from CryoSat-2." The Cryosphere, 10 (5): 2003-2012 [10.5194/tc-10-2003-2016]

    Tilling, R. L., A. Ridout, A. Shepherd, and D. J. Wingham. 2015. "Increased Arctic sea ice volume after anomalously low melting in 2013." Nature Geoscience, 8 (8): 643-646 [10.1038/ngeo2489]

    Brief Bio

    Rachel joined the Cryospheric Sciences Laboratory at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in May 2019. Her research focuses on using satellites to monitor changes in the global sea ice cover. Rachel's research has taken her on expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic with the European Space Agency (ESA) and British Antarctic Survey (BAS), where she investigates ground-based radar measurements over sea ice for satellite validation. 

    Publications

    Refereed

    Zhou, L., J. Stroeve, S. Xu, et al. A. Petty, R. Tilling, M. Winstrup, P. Rostosky, I. R. Lawrence, G. E. Liston, A. Ridout, M. Tsamados, and V. Nandan. 2021. "Inter-comparison of snow depth over sea ice from multiple methods." The Cryosphere 15 345–367 [10.5194/tc-2020-65]

    Tilling, R., N. T. Kurtz, M. Bagnardi, A. A. Petty, and R. Kwok. 2020. "Detection of Melt Ponds on Arctic Summer Sea Ice From ICESat‐2." Geophysical Research Letters 47 (23): [10.1029/2020gl090644]

    Horvat, C., L. A. Roach, R. Tilling, et al. C. M. Bitz, B. Fox-Kemper, C. Guider, K. Hill, A. Ridout, and A. Shepherd. 2019. "Estimating the sea ice floe size distribution using satellite altimetry: theory, climatology, and model comparison." The Cryosphere 13 (11): 2869-2885 [10.5194/tc-13-2869-2019]

    Tilling, R., A. Ridout, and A. Shepherd. 2019. "Assessing the Impact of Lead and Floe Sampling on Arctic Sea Ice Thickness Estimates from Envisat and CryoSat‐2." Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 124 (11): 7473-7485 [10.1029/2019jc015232]

    Lawrence, I. R., T. W. Armitage, M. C. Tsamados, et al. J. C. Stroeve, S. Dinardo, A. L. Ridout, A. Muir, R. L. Tilling, and A. Shepherd. 2019. "Extending the Arctic sea ice freeboard and sea level record with the Sentinel-3 radar altimeters." Advances in Space Research (In Press) [10.1016/j.asr.2019.10.011]

    Schröder, D., D. L. Feltham, M. Tsamados, A. Ridout, and R. Tilling. 2019. "New insight from CryoSat-2 sea ice thickness for sea ice modelling." The Cryosphere 13 (1): 125-139 [10.5194/tc-13-125-2019]

    Allard, R. A., S. L. Farrell, D. A. Hebert, et al. W. F. Johnston, L. Li, N. T. Kurtz, M. W. Phelps, P. G. Posey, R. Tilling, A. Ridout, and A. J. Wallcraft. 2018. "Utilizing CryoSat-2 sea ice thickness to initialize a coupled ice-ocean modeling system." Advances in Space Research 62 (6): 1265-1280 [10.1016/j.asr.2017.12.030]

    Robson, J., R. T. Sutton, A. Archibald, et al. F. Cooper, M. Christensen, L. J. Gray, N. P. Holliday, C. Macintosh, M. McMillan, B. Moat, M. Russo, R. Tilling, K. Carslaw, D. Desbruyères, O. Embury, D. L. Feltham, D. P. Grosvenor, S. Josey, B. King, A. Lewis, G. D. McCarthy, C. Merchant, A. L. New, C. H. O'Reilly, S. M. Osprey, K. Read, A. Scaife, A. Shepherd, B. Sinha, D. Smeed, D. Smith, A. Ridout, T. Woollings, and M. Yang. 2018. "Recent multivariate changes in the North Atlantic climate system, with a focus on 2005-2016." International Journal of Climatology 38 (14): 5050-5076 [10.1002/joc.5815]

    Tilling, R. L., A. Ridout, and A. Shepherd. 2018. "Estimating Arctic sea ice thickness and volume using CryoSat-2 radar altimeter data." Advances in Space Research 62 (6): 1203-1225 [10.1016/j.asr.2017.10.051]

    Tilling, R. 2018. "A Farewell to Ice." Underwater Technology 35 (1): 31-32 [10.3723/ut.35.031]

    Tilling, R. L., T. J. Young, P. Christoffersen, et al. L. B. Lok, P. V. Brennan, and K. W. Nicholls. 2017. "Radar observations of Arctic ice." Arcticness: Power and Voice from the North 27--39

    Tilling, R. L., A. Ridout, and A. Shepherd. 2016. "Near-real-time Arctic sea ice thickness and volume from CryoSat-2." The Cryosphere 10 (5): 2003-2012 [10.5194/tc-10-2003-2016]

    Tilling, R. L., A. Ridout, A. Shepherd, and D. J. Wingham. 2015. "Increased Arctic sea ice volume after anomalously low melting in 2013." Nature Geoscience 8 (8): 643-646 [10.1038/ngeo2489]

                                                                                                                                                                                            
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    • Last Updated: 03/28/2023