research

We are curious, enthusiastic, determined, scientific, and interested in making a difference through science.

Our research focus is the cryosphere - all things ice - and its interaction with the ocean, climate, and living systems.

We use data from space, the field, and computer simulations to understand ice and climate change - now and in the future.

Research areas:

• Arctic system science (AGU Tutorial Talk)

• Ice sheet - ocean interaction

• Ice loss & freshwater flux

• Ice - ecosystem connections

• Hydrology of glaciers & ice sheets

• Glacier & ice sheet dynamics

Current activities include:

• QGreenland: A Greenland-focused GIS data package

• Navigating the New Arctic Community Office: Providing support and coordination across NSF-funded Arctic projects

• Arctic Report Card: Annually published, peer-reviewed source for clear, reliable and concise Arctic science

• PolarPASS: Innovative curriculum to bring polar places into undergraduate classrooms

• Greenland Ice Sheet Ocean Science (GRISO) Network: Training and collaboration to support Greenland coastal margin science

Conversations outside of the standard #scicomm or journal box:

• Commentary — Looking up: Women in Arctic science

• Letter to the Editor — Polar geoengineering is not the answer

• NextGen voices — Earth Science Research Resolution

Resources we’ve created

• ‘Big Idea’ Poster template - designed for better poster communication across groups

• ‘From the Ice Sheet to Your Doorstep - The Expanding Impacts of Global Loss’ - A public talk on ice loss

Publications

Ran, J., P. Ditmar, M.R. van den Broeke, L. Liu, R. Klees, S.A. Khan, T. Moon, J. Li, M. Bevis, M. Zhong, X. Fettweis, J. Liu, B. Noël, C.K. Shum, J. Chen, L. Jiang, and T. can Dam (2024), Vertical bedrock shifts reveal summer water storage in Greenland ice sheet, Nature, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-08096-3

Moon, T. A., Cohen, B., Black, T. E., Laidre, K. L., Stern, H. L., and Joughin, I. (2024), Characterizing southeast Greenland fjord surface ice and freshwater flux to support biological applications, The Cryosphere, 18, 4845–4872, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-4845-2024. **Publication of this article was funded by the University of Colorado Boulder Libraries Open Access Fund.

Laidre, K. L., M. J. Zahn, M. Simon, M. Ladegaard, K. M. Stafford, E. Phillips, T. Moon, H. L. Stern, B. Cohen (2024). Narwhal (Monodon monoceros) associations with Greenland summer meltwater release. Ecosphere, e70024, https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.70024.

M. L. Druckenmiller, R. L. Thoman, and T. A. Moon, Eds., 2024: The Arctic [in “State of the Climate in 2023“]. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 105 (8), S277–S330, https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-24-0101.1.

Moon, T., C. Porter, K. Mankoff, M. Jones, J. Briner, E. Cassano. (2024). Greenland Natural Science Data Workshop: Boulder, Colorado - October 5 - 6 2022. Arctic Data Center. doi:10.18739/A2C824G6X. [Workshop report & recommendation archive; Greenlandic translation included]

Thoman, R. L., T. A. Moon, and M. L. Druckenmiller, Eds., 2023: Arctic Report Card 2023, https://doi.org/10.25923/5vfa-k694. [Associated article in The Conversation]

Gold A. U. , Geraghty Ward E. M. , Marsh C. L. , Moon T. A. , Schoeneman S. W. , Khan A. L. , et al. (2023) Measuring novice-expert sense of place for a far-away place: Implications for geoscience instruction. PLoS ONE 18(10): e0293003. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0293003.

Moon, T. A., R. Thoman, and M. L. Druckenmiller, Eds., 2023: The Arctic [in “State of the Climate in 2022“]. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 104 (9), S271–S321, https://doi.org/10.1175/10.1175/BAMS-D-23-0079.1.

Poinar, K., K. D. Mankoff, T. A. Moon, B. D. Loomis, X. Fettweis, R. S. Fausto, T. L. Mote, C. D. Jensen, A. Wehrlé, and M. Tedesco, 2023: Greenland Ice Sheet [in “State of the Climate in 2022”]. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 104 (9), S281–S284, https://doi.org/10.1175/10.1175/BAMS-D-23-0079.1.

Druckenmiller, M. L., R. L. Thoman, and T. A. Moon, Eds., 2022: Arctic Report Card 2022, https://doi.org/10.25923/yjx6-r184. [Associated article in The Conversation]

Moon, T. A., K. D. Mankoff, R. S. Fausto, X. Fettweis, B. D. Loomis, T. L. Mote, K. Poinar, M. Tedesco, A. Wehrlé, and C. D. Jensen, 2022: Greenland Ice Sheet. Arctic Report Card 2022, M. L. Druckenmiller, R. L. Thoman, and T. A. Moon, Eds., https://doi.org/10.25923/c430-hb50.

Thoman, R., M. L. Druckenmiller, and T. Moon, Eds., 2022: The Arctic [in “State of the Climate in 2021”]. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 103 (8), S257–S306, https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-22-0082.1.

Goliber, S., Black, T., Catania, G., Lea, J. M., Olsen, H., Cheng, D., Bevan, S., Bjørk, A., Bunce, C., Brough, S., Carr, J. R., Cowton, T., Gardner, A., Fahrner, D., Hill, E., Joughin, I., Korsgaard, N. J., Luckman, A., Moon, T., Murray, T., Sole, A., Wood, M., and Zhang, E. (2022), TermPicks: a century of Greenland glacier terminus data for use in scientific and machine learning applications, Cryosphere, 16, 3215–3233, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-3215-2022.

Laidre, K. L., M. A. Supple, E. W. Born, E. V. Regehr, Ø. Wiig, F. Ugarte, J. Aars, R. Dietz, C. Sonne, P. Hegelund, C. Isaksen, G. B. Akse, B. Cohen, H. L. Stern, T. Moon, C. Vollmers, R. Corbett-Detig, D. Paetkau, B. Shapiro (2022), Glacial ice supports a distinct and undocumented polar bear subpopulation persisting in late 21st-century sea-ice conditions, Science, 376(6599), pp. 1333-1338, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abk2793. (cover article) [Associated Perspective article]

Scambos, T. and Moon, T. (2022), How is land ice changing in the Arctic, and what is the influence on sea level?, Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research, 54, 200–201, https://doi.org/10.1080/15230430.2022.2069204. (policy brief)

Catania, G., T. Moon, and A. Aschwanden (2022), Glacial knowledge gaps impede resilience to sea level rise, Eos, 103, https://doi.org/10.1029/2022EO220238.

Moon, T. A. (2o22), Future ice loss captured by historical snapshots. Nature 601, 325–326, https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-00046-1.

Moon, T. A., M. Tedesco, J. E. Box, J. Cappelen, R. S. Fausto, X. Fettweis, N. Korsgaard, B. D. Loomis, K. D. Mankoff, T. L. Mote, A. Wehrlé, Ø. A. Winton (2021), Greenland Ice Sheet, Arctic Report Card 2021, T. A. Moon, M. L. Druckenmiller, R. L. Thoman, Eds., https://doi.org/10.25923/546g-ms61.

Moon, T. A., M. L. Druckenmiller, and R. L. Thoman, Eds. (2021), Arctic Report Card 2021, https://doi.org/10.25923/5s0f-5163. [Associated article in The Conversation]

Moon, T.A., M. Tedesco, K. D. Mankoff, J. E. Box, J. Cappelen, R.S. Fausto, X. Fettweis, N. Korsgaard, B. Loomis, T. Mote, C. H. Reijmer, C. J. P. P. Smeets, D. van As, R. S. W. van de Wal, and Ø. Winton (2021), Greenland Ice Sheet [in State of the Climate in 2020], Bull Amer Meteor Soc, 102 (8), S283–S286, https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-21-0086.1.

Druckenmiller, M. L., T. Moon, and R. Thoman, Eds., (2021), The Arctic [in “State of the Climate in 2020”]. Bull Amer Meteor Soc, 102 (8), S263–S315, https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-21-0086.1

Moon, T.A., M. Tedesco, J. E. Box, J. Cappelen, R. S. Fausto, X. Fettweis, N. J. Korsgaard, B. Loomis, K. D. Mankoff, T. Mote, C. H. Reijmer, C. J. P. P. Smeets, D. van As, and R. S. W. van de Wal (2020), Greenland Ice Sheet, Arctic Report Card 2020, R. L. Thoman, J. Richter-Menge, M. L. Druckenmiller, Eds., https://doi.org/0.25923/ms78-g612.

Moon, T. A., A. S. Gardner, B. Csatho, I. Parmuzin, and M. A. Fahnestock (2020), Rapid reconfiguration of the Greenland Ice Sheet coastal margin, J Geophys Res-Earth, doi:10.1029/2020JF005585.

Moon, T. A., T. Scambos, W. Abdalati, A. P. Ahlstrøm, R. Bindschadler, J. Gambill, P. Heimbach, R. Hock, K. Langley, I. Miller, and M. Truffer (2020), Ending a sea of confusion: Insights and opportunities in sea-level change communication, Environment: Science and Policy for Sustainable Development, 62(0), 4–15, doi:10.1080/00139157.2020.1791627. (cover article)

Moon, T.A., M. Tedesco, J.K.Andersen, J.E. Box, J. Cappelen, R.S. Fausto, X. Fettweis, B. Loomis, K.D. Mankoff, T. Mote, C. H. Reijmer, C.J.P.P. Smeets, D. van As, R.S.W. van de Wal, and Ø. Winton (2020), Greenland Ice Sheet, in State of the Climate in 2019. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 101 (8), S257–S260, https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-20-0086.1.

Tedesco, M., T. Moon, J. K. Andersen, J. E. Box, J. Cappelen, R. S. Fausto, X. Fettweis, B. Loomis, K. D. Mankoff, T. Mote, C. J. P.P. Smeets, D. van As, and R. S. W. van de Wal (2019), Greenland Ice Sheet, Arctic Report Card 2019, J. Richter-Menge, M. L. Druckenmiller, M. Jeffries, Eds., http://www.arctic.noaa.gov/Report-Card.

Catania, G. A., L. A. Stearns, T. A. Moon, E. M. Enderlin, and R. Jackson (2019), Future evolution of Greenland's marine-terminating outlet glaciers, J Geophys Res-Earth, 2018JF004873–76, doi:10.1029/2018JF004873. [EOS highlight article]

Trevers, M., A. J. Payne, S. L. Cornford, and T. Moon (2019), Buoyant forces promote tidewater glacier iceberg calving through large basal stress concentrations, The Cryosphere, 13(7), 1877–1887, doi:10.5194/tc-13-1877-2019.

Straneo, F., D. A. Sutherland, L. Stearns, G. Catania, P. Heimbach, T. Moon, M. R. Cape, K. L. Laidre, D. Barber, S. Rysgaard, R. Mottram, S. Olsen, M. J. Hopwood, and L. Meire (2019), The Case for a Sustained Greenland Ice Sheet-Ocean Observing System (GrIOOS), Frontiers in Marine Sciences, 1–23, doi:10.3389/fmars.2019.00138.

Moon, T. A., I. Overeem, M. Druckenmiller, M. Holland, H. Huntington, G. Kling, A. L. Lovecraft, G. Miller, T. Scambos, C. Schädel, E. A. G. Schuur, E. Trochim, F. Wiese, D. Williams, and G. Wong (2019), The expanding footprint of rapid Arctic change, Earth's Future, 1–13, doi:10.1029/2018EF001088.

Vijay, S., S. A. Khan, A. Kusk, A. M. Solgaard, T. Moon, and A. A. Bjørk (2019), Resolving seasonal ice velocity of 45 Greenlandic glaciers with very high temporal details, Geophys Res Lett, 9(13903), 1183–11, doi:10.1029/2018GL081503.

Ran, J. M. Vizcaino, P. Ditmar, M. R. van den Broeke, T. Moon, C. R. Steger, E. M. Enderlin, B. Wouters, B. Noël, C. H. Reijmer, R. Klees, M. Zhong, L. Liu, and X. Fettweis. (2018), Seasonal mass variations show timing and magnitude of meltwater storage in the Greenland Ice Sheet, The Cryosphere, 12(9), 2981–2999, doi:10.5194/tc-12-2981-2018.

Moon, T., A. Ahlstrøm, H. Goelzer, W. Lipscomb, and S. Nowicki (2018), Rising oceans guaranteed: Arctic land ice loss and sea level rise, Curr Clim Change Rep, 44(11), 11051–12, doi:10.1007/s40641-018-0107-0.

Enderlin, E. M., C. J. Carrigan, W. H. Kochtitzky, A. Cuadros, T. Moon, and G. S. Hamilton (2018), Greenland iceberg melt variability from high-resolution satellite observations, The Cryosphere, 12(2), 565–575, doi:10.5194/tc-12-565-2018.

Cavanagh, J. P., D. J. Lampkin, and T. Moon (2017), Seasonal variability in regional ice flow due to meltwater injection into the shear margins of Jakobshavn Isbrae, J Geophys Res-Earth, 120(3), 580–18, doi:10.1002/2016JF004187.

Moon, T.A., D.A. Sutherland, D. Carroll, D. Felikson, L. Kehrl, F. Straneo (2017), Subsurface iceberg melt key to Greenland fjord freshwater budget, Nature Geoscience, doi: 10.1038/s41561-017-0018-z. (cover article) [PDF]  [Listen to a webinar about this research.]

Bondzio, J. H., M. Morlighem, H. Seroussi, T. Kleiner, M. Rückamp, J. Mouginot, T. Moon, E. Y. Larour, and A. Humbert (2017), The mechanisms behind Jakobshavn Isbrae's acceleration and mass loss: a 3D thermomechanical model study, Geophys Res Lett, doi:10.1002/2017GL073309.

Moon, T. (2017), Saying goodbye to glaciers, Science, 356(6338), 580–581, doi:10.1126/science.aam9625. [PDF]

Laidre, K.L., T. Moon, D. Hauser, R. McGovern, M.P. Heide-Jorgensen, R. Dietz, B. Hudson (2016), Use of glacial fronts by narwhals (Monodon monoceros) in West Greenland. Biology Letters 12. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2016.0457.

Carroll, D., D. Sutherland, B. Hudson, T. Moon, G. Catania, E. Shroyer, J. Nash, T. Bartholomaus, D. Felikson, L. Stearns, B. Noel, M. van den Broeke (2016), The impact of glacier geometry on meltwater plume structure and submarine melt in Greenland fjords. Geophysical Research Letters 43, 9739–9748 doi: 10.1002/2016GL070170. [PDF]

Joughin, I., B. Smith, I. Howat, H. Fricker, T. Scambos, T. Moon (2016), A SAR record of early 21st century change in Greenland, Journal of Glaciology, vol. 62 (231), doi: 10.1017/jog.2016.10. [PDF]

Fahnestock, M., T. Scambos, T. Moon, A. Gardner, T. Haran, M. Klinger (2015), Rapid large-area mapping of ice flow using Landsat 8, Remote Sensing of Environment, doi: 10.1016/j.rse.2015.11.023. [PDF]

Moon, T., I. Joughin, B. Smith, Seasonal to multi-year variability of glacier surface velocity, terminus position, and sea ice/ice mélange in northwest Greenland (2015), Journal of Geophysical Research-Earth Surface, vol. 120, doi:10.1002/2015JF003494. [PDF]

Moon, T., I. Joughin, B. Smith, M. R. van den Broeke, W. J. van de Berg, B. Noël, M. Usher (2014), Distinct patterns of seasonal Greenland glacier velocity, Geophysical Research Letters, vol. 41 (20), doi:10.1002/2014GL061836. [PDF]

Moon, T., I. Joughin, B. Smith, and I. Howat (2012), 21st century evolution of Greenland outlet glacier velocities, Science, vol. 336 (6081), doi:10.1126/science.1219985. (cover article) [PDF]

Joughin, I., B. Smith, I. Howat, T. Scambos and T. Moon (2010), Greenland flow variability from ice-sheet-wide velocity mapping, Journal of Glaciology, vol. 56 (197), doi:10.3189/002214310792447734. [PDF]

Moon, T. and I. Joughin (2008), Changes in ice front position on Greenland’s outlet glaciers from 1992 to 2007, Journal of Geophysical Research-Earth Surface, vol. 13 (F2), doi: 10.1029/2007JF000927. [PDF]

Joughin, I., S. Das, M. King, B. Smith, I. Howat, T. Moon (2008), Seasonal speedup along the western flank of the Greenland Ice Sheet, Science, vol. 320 (5877), doi: 10.1126/science.1153288. [PDF]

Joughin, I., I. Howat, R. Alley, G. Ekstrom, M. Fahnestock, T. Moon, M. Nettles, M. Truffer, V. Tsai (2008), Ice-front variation and tidewater behavior on Helheim and Kangerdlugssuaq Glaciers, Greenland, Journal of Geophysical Research-Earth Surface, vol. 13 (F1), doi: 10.1029/2007JF000837. [PDF]

Contact

Twila Moon
twila.moon@colorado.edu
406-579-3088