Tian Li

Tian Li is a Leverhulme Early Career Research Fellow at the Bristol Glaciology Centre, University of Bristol. As a Senior Research Associate, Li focuses on understanding the profound impacts of climate change on polar glaciers and ice sheets using advanced computational methodologies.

Li completed their PhD at the Bristol Glaciology Centre, where they specialized in the grounding zone dynamics of the Antarctic Ice Sheet using NASA's ICESat-2 satellite laser altimetry data. During their doctoral research, they developed novel methodologies for mapping the Antarctic grounding zone, leading to the creation of the first ICESat-2-derived Antarctic Ice Sheet grounding zone data product, which was published by the NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center. This research revealed significant retreats in the grounding lines of Moscow University and Totten Glacier ice shelves in East Antarctica over the past two decades.

Li's primary research focuses on the calving processes of marine-terminating glaciers in the Arctic, using deep learning and Bayesian statistical models with extensive satellite remote sensing data. Their recent work analyzed millions of satellite images from Svalbard covering the period from 1985 to 2023, examining 149 marine-terminating glaciers at unprecedented scale. This research demonstrated that 91% of these glaciers have been significantly shrinking, with a total loss of more than 800km² of glacier area since 1985. Li's findings established a direct connection between ocean warming and glacier retreat, showing that as ocean temperatures increase in spring, glaciers retreat almost immediately.

• Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship

Li receives funding from the European Commission for their research. Their work on developing AI models to analyze glacier dynamics represents a significant advancement over traditional manual methods, which are labor-intensive and subjective. Li's research contributes to understanding East Antarctic Ice Sheet instability and its potential implications for future sea-level rise, with findings published in Nature Communications.

As part of the Bristol Glaciology Centre, Li collaborates with researchers including Professor Jonathan Bamber (Professor of Glaciology and Earth Observation at the University of Bristol) and Konrad Heidler (Chair of Data Science in Earth Observation at the Technical University of Munich). Their interdisciplinary approach combines glaciology, climate science, and advanced computational techniques to address critical questions about polar ice response to climate change.