Register now After registration you will be able to apply for this opportunity online.
This opportunity is not published. No applications will be accepted.
Laboratory experiments of englacial water flow: hydraulics and thermodynamics
R-channels are pipes incised into the glacier ice through which much of the surface melt water flows. This Master project aims at enhancing our current R-channel laboratory experiment with high precision temperature measurements. Work will include both engineering challenges and measurements.
Keywords: Hydraulics, glaciology, subglacial
Glacier melt-water drainage has wide-ranging impacts: from dictating glacier sliding speed to determining the hazard potential of ice-dammed glacier lakes. Research during the last decades produced tremendous advances in our understanding of en- and subglacial drainage, both through theoretical advances and increasingly sophisticated field experiments. However, direct observations of subglacial drainage processes are impossible and will likely remain so for the foreseeable future. We are currently trying to overcome this lack of observations by constructing and using a physical model of englacial drainage. This model has been setup over the last year and has yielded promising measurements of the hydraulic properties of englacial, channelised drainage. However, one of the most important aspects of englacial drainage –the heat transfer between water and ice-- cannot be measured yet with the current setup. This master thesis aims at rectifying this.
Glacier melt-water drainage has wide-ranging impacts: from dictating glacier sliding speed to determining the hazard potential of ice-dammed glacier lakes. Research during the last decades produced tremendous advances in our understanding of en- and subglacial drainage, both through theoretical advances and increasingly sophisticated field experiments. However, direct observations of subglacial drainage processes are impossible and will likely remain so for the foreseeable future. We are currently trying to overcome this lack of observations by constructing and using a physical model of englacial drainage. This model has been setup over the last year and has yielded promising measurements of the hydraulic properties of englacial, channelised drainage. However, one of the most important aspects of englacial drainage –the heat transfer between water and ice-- cannot be measured yet with the current setup. This master thesis aims at rectifying this.
To add high precision (0.01C) temperature measurements into the experimental setup and to produce publication quality measurements thereof to quantify heat transfer between water and ice. Challenges include: to device precise temperature control and measurements without them inferring with the hydraulics, to evaluate the multitude of data collected during the experiment, and to come up with many ingenious solutions to smaller and larger practical problems. This work will be in collaboration with the WSL.
To add high precision (0.01C) temperature measurements into the experimental setup and to produce publication quality measurements thereof to quantify heat transfer between water and ice. Challenges include: to device precise temperature control and measurements without them inferring with the hydraulics, to evaluate the multitude of data collected during the experiment, and to come up with many ingenious solutions to smaller and larger practical problems. This work will be in collaboration with the WSL.
For further information please contact Dr. Mauro Werder (werder@vaw.baug.ethz.ch).
For further information please contact Dr. Mauro Werder (werder@vaw.baug.ethz.ch).