Test & measurement
Breaking the ice...
Cardiff University in Wales has developed a new piece of equipment which the team has named Cryoegg. It contains the KELLER PA-20D pressure transmitter, a reliable sensor for measuring water pressure, and initial studies have produced impressive results. Cryoegg is intended to help improve
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research and gain more specific information about the precise course of the flows of liquid water within and beneath glaciers and ice sheets going forward. The results of the research are expected to suggest new ways in which we can protect our glaciers for subsequent generations.
The KELLER PA-20D pressure transmitter 34
ThE cryosphErE And climATE chAnGE The term “cryosphere” is used by scientists and refers to all sources of frozen water on a planet. Here on
n order to more closely understand how climate change will affect both mountain glaciers and polar ice sheets,
Pressure measurement tech in glacier research
Glaciers are the most important freshwater reservoir on Earth – around three-quarters of our freshwater reserves are stored in glacier ice across the planet. At the poles, the large ice sheets covering Antarctica and Greenland contain enough stored water that if they melt, they will significantly raise global sea
levels, causing widespread coastal flooding. With rapid increases in global temperatures as a result of carbon emissions, we are now losing many mountain glaciers altogether, and there is a real risk of losing very significant volumes of ice from the polar regions too.
Earth, the cryosphere also has a very significant influence on the climate system as ice deflects a large amount of sunlight and heat back into space due to its high degree of reflectivity. This effect is referred to as the “albedo effect” and is responsible for indirectly cooling our planet. The persistently cold polar regions also
form part of the global climate system – the flow of heat in the atmosphere and in the oceans helps drive weather and ocean circulation. For example, the waters within the Gulf Stream transport heat energy from the Gulf of Mexico across the Atlantic to Norway, creating a mild climate in Europe. However, greenhouse gas emissions
have risen constantly since the age of industrialisation began, and so, unfortunately, in turn has the base temperature of our planet. This means our glaciers and poles are melting more and more each year, which is already leading to a number of ecological and
September 2021 Instrumentation Monthly
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