Rodrigo Gomez Fell

PhD. in Antarctic Studies - University of Canterbury

MSc. in Oceanography - Universidade Federal do Rio Grande (FURG)

Industrial Engineer - Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Valparaiso

I am a remote sensing scientist, and primarily use synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and LiDAR to investigate how surface processes contribute to observable change. In particular, I have worked on the interaction between glaciers and oceans in Antarctica, and velocity changes of mountain glaciers. I am currently working with data from airborne LiDAR over New Zealand.

Selected publications:

Gomez-Fell, R., Rack, W., Marsh, O. J., & Purdie, H. (2024). Lateral flexure of Erebus Ice Tongue due to ocean current forcing and fast ice coupling. Journal of Glaciology, 1-13.

Gomez-Fell, R., Marsh, O. J., Rack, W., Wild, C. T., & Purdie, H. (2023). Basal mass balance and prevalence of ice tongues in the Western Ross Sea. Frontiers in Earth Science, 11, 404.

Gomez‐Fell, R., Rack, W., Purdie, H., & Marsh, O. (2022). Parker Ice Tongue Collapse, Antarctica, Triggered by Loss of Stabilizing Land‐Fast Sea Ice. Geophysical Research Letters, 49(1), e2021GL096156.

Salame, C., Gonzalez, I., Gomez-Fell, R., Jaña, R., & Arigony-Neto, J. (2020). First record of the occurrence of sea ice in the Cordillera Darwin fjords (54 S), Chile. Annals of Glaciology, 61(83), 472-482.

Gomez, R., Arigony-Neto, J., De Santis, A., Vijay, S., Jaña, R., & Rivera, A. (2019). Ice dynamics of union glacier from SAR offset tracking. Global and Planetary Change, 174, 1-15.

I am currently using airborne LiDAR data to identify surface processes and change over different environments in New Zealand. I am also using Sentinel-1 synthetic aperture radar speckle tracking to investigate the behaviour of New Zealand glaciers. In addition, my recent research included understanding the dynamics of glacier ice tongues located in the coastal Western Ross Sea, East Antarctica. I utilised synthetic aperture radar interferometry, satellite laser altimetry and satellite imagery in combination with remote sensing tools to identify the key factors that affect ice tongue stability. Prior to this, I conducted research on glaciology and ocean science in the Chilean fjords of Patagonia and worked on a project that combined science and tourism in the Patagonian Fjords.

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I have taught and demonstrate within various courses at the University of Canterbury, including: Remote Sensing for Earth Observation; Snow, Ice and Climate, Antarctica and Global Change. I have given selected lectures on: glacial processes in Antarctica; Antarctic ice shelves; and Polar Remote Sensing.