Nina Maaß

Dr. Nina Maaß is a Research Scientist at the University of Hamburg's Institute of Oceanography, affiliated with the Faculty of Mathematics, Informatics and Natural Sciences and the Earth Sciences department specializing in sea ice research. She holds a Doktor rer. nat. from Universität Hamburg and has been a CliSAP Postdoc since 2013, focusing on sea ice remote sensing and satellite data validation. Her research emphasizes quantifying sea ice and snow properties using passive microwave remote sensing techniques, with applications in climate modeling and environmental monitoring.

Key research interests include sea ice thickness, snow depth retrieval, validation of satellite products, and algorithm development for L-band microwave data. She has collaborated internationally, including with the Danish Meteorological Institute and met.no, and contributed to projects like the International Max Planck Research School on Earth System Modelling (IMPRS-ESM).

Her work spans field campaigns in polar regions, model development (e.g., integrating sea ice modules into the SNOWPACK model), and operational validation of satellite-derived sea ice products. She has published extensively on topics such as snow-ice interactions, radiative transfer modeling, and the impact of surface roughness on remote sensing accuracy.

• Education:
  • 2013: Doktor rer. nat., Universität Hamburg
  • 2009: Diploma in Physical Oceanography, Universität Hamburg
• Professional Appointments:
  • 2013–present: CliSAP Postdoc, University of Hamburg
  • 2010: EUMETSAT Guest Scientist at DMI and met.no

Awards and fellowships include a Max-Planck Institute for Meteorology postdoc stipend (2013) and a 4-year IMPRS-ESM fellowship (2009–2013). Her research bridges theoretical modeling with applied remote sensing, contributing critical data for understanding Arctic and Antarctic climate systems.