Isabella Velicogna

Picture of Isabella Velicogna
Professor, Earth System Science
School of Physical Sciences
Scientist, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Earth Science
Adjunct Professor, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Science (CIRES), University of Colorado
Associate Dean of Graduate Studies, Equity and Inclusion
School of Physical Sciences
Ph.D., University of Trieste, Italy, 1999, Applied Geophysics
B.S., University of Trieste, Italy, 1995, Physics
Phone: (949) 824-5419
Email: isabella@uci.edu
University of California, Irvine
3226 Croul Hall
Mail Code: 3100
Irvine, CA 92697
Research Interests
climate science, glaciology, hydrology, remote sensing
Research Abstract
Employ novel geophysical methods and satellite remote sensing techniques to understand the physical processes governing ice sheet and high mountain glacier mass balance, and the hydrologic cycle of high latitude regions, with an emphasis on time-variable gravity from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) missions and other geophysical data (satellite altimetry, GPS, climate model outputs, in situ observations).

Study the impact of melting ice sheets and glaciers and ice caps on global and regional patterns of sea level rise using geophysical numerical methods.

Study ecosystem response to climate change and variability in terrestrial water storage combining multiple remote sensing techniques and climate model outputs.
Publications
F. R. Reseghetti, J.P. Abraham, M. Baringer, T. Boyer, L. Cheng, J. Church, C. Domingues, J. T. Fasullo, J. Gilson, G. Goni, S. Good, J. M. Gorman, V. Gouretski, S. Kizu, A. MacDonald, W.J. Minkowycz, A. Piola, K.E. Trenberth, I. Velicogna, S. Wijffels, J. Willis, ‘A review of global ocean heat content observations: Implications for climate change’. Accepted Reviews of Geophysics 2013 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/rog.20022/pdf
Ratnam M., P. Kishore, I. Velicogna, 'Global distribution of pauses observed with satellite measurements'. Journal Of Earth System Science, DOI: 10.1007/s12040-013-0278-y.
Madhavi G. N. , P. Kishore, S.V.B. Rao, I Velicogna, V. Sivakumar, 'Climatology and comparison study of stratosphere and lower mesosphere temperatures using satellite and reanalysis data sets'. Int. Journal of Current Research and Review, 5(5): 17-42.
Velicogna I. and J. Wahr, ‘Time-variable gravity observations of ice sheet mass balance: precision and limitations of the GRACE satellite data’. Frontier Article Requested by the Chief Editor Geophys. Res. Lett.. doi:10.1002/grl.50527.
Yang C., Velicogna I., Famiglietti J., Randerson J.,' Satellite observations of terrestrial water storage provide early warning information about drought and fire season severity in the Amazon', J. Geophys. Res., DOI: 10.1002/jgrg.20046.
Andrew Shepherd, Ivins E., Geruo A, Valentina R. Barletta, Mike J. Bentley, Srinivas Bettadpur, Kate H. Briggs, David H. Bromwich, René Forsberg, Natalia Galin, Martin Horwath, Stan Jacobs, Ian Joughin, Matt A. King, Jan T. M. Lenaerts, Jilu Li, Stefan R. M. Ligtenberg, Adrian Luckman, Scott B. Luthcke, Malcolm McMillan, Rakia Meister, Glenn Milne, Jeremie Mouginot, Alan Muir, Julien P. Nicolas, John Paden, Antony J. Payne, Hamish Pritchard, Eric Rignot, Helmut Rott, Louise Sandberg Sørensen, Ted A. Scambos, Bernd Scheuchl, Ernst J. O. Schrama, Ben Smith, Aud V. Sundal, Jan H. van Angelen, Willem J. van de Berg, Michiel R. van den Broeke, David G. Vaughan, Velicogna, I. Wahr J., Pippa L. Whitehouse, Duncan J. Wingham, Donghui Yi, Duncan Young, and H. Jay Zwally. 'A Reconciled Estimate of Ice-Sheet Mass Balance' Science (2012) DOI: 10.1126/ science.1228102.
Kishore P., Velicogna, I., Ratnam MV, Jiang JH, Madhavi GN, 'Planetary waves in the upper stratosphere and lower mesosphere during 2009 Arctic major stratospheric warming'. Annales Geophysicae, DOI: 10.5194/angeo-30-1529-2012.
Velicogna I., Tong J., Zhang T., Kimball J., ’Increasing groundwater storage in discontinuous permafrost areas in the Lena river basin, Eurasia, detected from GRACE’. Geophys. Res. Lett.. doi:10.1029/2012GL051623.
Sasgen I., van den Broeke M., Bamber J., Rignot E., Sandberg Sorensen L., Wouters B., Martinec Z., Velicogna I., Simonse S., ‘Timing and origin of recent regional ice mass loss in Greenland’. Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 333–334, p 293–303.
Church J., White N.J., Konikow L.F., Domingues C.M., Cogley J.G., Rignot E., Gregory J., van den Broeke M., Monaghan A., Velicogna I., ’Revisiting the Earths sea-level and energy budgets from 1961 to 2008’. Geophys. Res. Lett., VOL. 38, L18601, doi:10.1029/2011GL048794.
Rignot E., Velicogna I., van den Broeke, M., Monaghan A., Lenaerts J., ’Acceleration of the contribution of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets to sea level rise’. Geophys. Res. Lett., VOL. 38, L05503, doi:10.1029/2011GL046583.
Kishore P., Ratnam M.V., Namboothiri S.P., Velicogna I., Basha G., Jiang J.H., Igarashi K., Rao S.V.B., Sivakumar V., ’Global distribution of water vapor observed by COSMIC GPS RO: Comparison with GPS radiosonde, NCEP and JRA-25 reanalysis data sets’. J. of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics, VOL. 73, 1849-1060, doi:10.1016/j.jastp.2011.04.017.
Tong J., Velicogna I., ’A Comparison of AMSR-E/Aqua Snow Products with in-situ Observations and MODIS Snow Cover Products in the Mackenzie River Basin, Canada’. Remote Sens., 2(10), 2313-2322, doi:10.3390/rs2102313.
Khan, S. A., Wahr, J., Bevis, M., Velicogna, I., & Kendrick, E. (2010). Spread of ice mass loss into northwest Greenland observed by GRACE and GPS. Geophysical Research Letters, 37, -. doi: Artn L06501 Doi 10.1029/2010gl042460
Rignot, E., Koppes, M., & Velicogna, I. (2010). Rapid submarine melting of the calving faces of West Greenland glaciers. Nature Geoscience, 3(3), 187-191. doi: Doi 10.1038/Ngeo765
Tamisiea, M. E., Hill, E. M., Ponte, R. M., Davis, J. L., Velicogna, I., & Vinogradova, N. T. (2010). Impact of self-attraction and loading on the annual cycle in sea level. Journal of Geophysical Research-Oceans, 115, -. doi: Artn C07004 Doi 10.1029/2009jc005687
Velicogna, I. (2009). Increasing rates of ice mass loss from the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets revealed by GRACE. Geophysical Research Letters, 36, -. doi: Artn L19503 Doi 10.1029/2009gl040222
Velicogna, I. (2009). L19503 - Increasing rates of ice mass loss from the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets revealed by GRACE (DOI 10 1029/2009GL040222). Geophysical Research Letters, 36(19), n.
Velicogna, I., & Rignot, E. (2009). Above-linear increase in Greenland and Antarctica ice mass loss from GRACE and other data. Paper presented at the 2009 Fall Meeting.
Rodell, M., Velicogna, I., & Famiglietti, J. S. (2009). Satellite-based estimates of groundwater depletion in India. Nature, 460(7258), 999-U980. doi: Doi 10.1038/Nature08238
van den Broeke, M., Bamber, J., Ettema, J., Rignot, E., Schrama, E., van de Berg, W. J., Wouters, B. (2009). Partitioning Recent Greenland Mass Loss. Science, 326(5955), 984-986. doi: DOI 10.1126/science.1178176
Velicogna, I., & Rignot, E. (2008, June, 2008). Antarctic mass balance Constraining from GRACE and InSAR. Paper presented at the 5th International Workshop on Antarctic Peninsula Climate Change, Irvine, California, USA.
Velicogna, I., Ivins, E., & Rignot, E. (2008). Constraining accumulation and postglacial rebound combining GRACE and InSAR. Paper presented at the Joint SCAR-IASC Open Science Conference St. Petersburg, Russia.
Bentley, C., Thomas, R., & Velicogna, I. (2007). Ice Sheets Global outlook for ice & snow Nairobi, Kenya: Division of Early Warning and Assessment (DEWA), United Nations Environmental Programme.
Velicogna, I., Wahr, J., & Rignot, E. (2007). Recent results from GRACE in Antarctica and Greenland: comparison with Insar mass balance estimates. Paper presented at the 2007 Fall Meeting.
Velicogna, I., & Wahr, J. (2006). Acceleration of Greenland ice mass loss in spring 2004. Nature, 443(7109), 329-331. doi: Doi 10.1038/Nature05168
Velicogna, I., & Wahr, J. (2006). Measurements of time-variable gravity show mass loss in Antarctica. Science, 311(5768), 1754-1756. doi: DOI 10.1126/science.1123785
Velicogna, I., & Wahr, j. (2006). Time variable gravity from GRACE provides new and independent measurements of long term and seasonal mass variations of the ice sheets. Paper presented at the 2006 Fall Meeting.
Velicogna, I., J. Wahr, Time variable gravity shows a large mass loss in Antarctica, Science 10.1126/science 11237855, 24 Mar 2006.
McKenna, L., Famiglietti, J., Chambers, D., Nerem, S., Velicogna, I., & Frappart, F. (2006). Mass Changes in Earth's Global Water Reservoirs from GRACE. Paper presented at the 2006 Fall Meeting.
Wahr, J., Swenson, S., & Velicogna, I. (2006). Accuracy of GRACE mass estimates. Geophysical Research Letters, 33(6), -. doi: Artn L06401 Doi 10.1029/2005gl025305
Velicogna, I., & wahr, J. (2005). Are the Ice sheets Losing Mass? Paper presented at the Fall Meeting 2005.
Velicogna, I., & Wahr, J. (2005). Greenland mass balance from GRACE. Geophysical Research Letters, 32(18), -. doi: Artn L18505 Doi 10.1029/2005gl023955
Velicogna, I., Wahr, J., Hanna, E., & Huybrechts, P. (2005). Short term mass variability in Greenland, from GRACE. Geophysical Research Letters, 32(5), -. doi: Artn L05501 Doi 10.1029/Gl021948
Perez-Gussinye, M., Lowry, A. R., Watts, A. B., & Velicogna, I. (2004). On the recovery of effective elastic thickness using spectral methods: Examples from synthetic data and from the Fennoscandian Shield (DOI 10 1029/2003JB002788). Journal of geophysical research, 109(10), B10409.
Wahr, J., Swenson, S., Zlotnicki, V., & Velicogna, I. (2004). Time-variable gravity from GRACE: First results. Geophysical Research Letters, 31(11), -. doi: Artn L11501 Doi 10.1029/2004gl019779
Velicogna, I., & Wahr, J. (2003). Postglacial rebound and Earth's viscosity structure from GRACE (DOI 10 1029/2001JB001735). Journal of geophysical research, 107(Part 12 Part 12), ETG 17.
Wahr, J., & Velicogna, I. (2003). What might GRACE contribute to studies of post glacial rebound? Space Science Reviews, 108(1-2), 319-330.
Velicogna, I., & Wahr, J. (2002). A method for separating Antarctic postglacial rebound and ice mass balance using future ICESat Geoscience Laser Altimeter System, Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment, and GPS satellite data. Journal of geophysical research, 107(Part 10 Part 10), ETG 20. Doi 10.1029/2001jb000708
Velicogna, I., & Wahr, J. (2002). Postglacial rebound and Earth's viscosity structure from GRACE. Journal of Geophysical Research-Solid Earth, 107(B12), -. doi: Artn 2376 Doi 10.1029/2001jb001735
Velicogna, I., Wahr, J., & Van den Dool, H. (2001). Can surface pressure be used to remove atmospheric contributions from GRACE data with sufficient accuracy to recover hydrological signals? Journal of Geophysical Research-Solid Earth, 106(B8), 16415-16434.
Velicogna, I., Wahr, J., Bouttier, F., Van den Dool, H., & Anonymous. (2000). Are analyzed pressure fields good enough to remove atmospheric effects from GRACE data? Katlenburg-Lindau: European Geophysical Society.
Coren, F., P. Sterzai, R. Vidmar, and I. Velicogna, Buildings and industrial sites monitoring using SAR interferometry - The TS-SAR project, Proceedings of the IV National Meeting ASITA (Scienti¯c Association for Territorial and Environmental Information), 617-622, 2000.
Swenson, S., Wahr, J. M., Velicogna, I., Milly, P. C. D., & Shmakin, A. B. (2000). Time-variable gravity and hydrology. In M. G. Sideris (Ed.). Munich: International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics International Association for Geodesy.
Wahr, J., Velicogna, I., Swenson, S., Milly, P. C. D., Shmakin, A. B., & Anonymous. (2000). Time-variable gravity and hydrology. Katlenburg-Lindau: European Geophysical Society.
Accaino, F., R. Cazzaro, L. Cernobori, G. Costa, B. Della Vedova, S. Kravania, I. Marson, R. Nicolich, G.F. Panza, P. Suhadolc, A. Sarao', G. Pellis, F. Romanelli, F. Vaccari, and I. Velicogna, Structure and physical properties of the tectosphere in the metastable Europe, Plinius, 1999.
Marson, I., R. Nicolich, L. Cernobori, M. Stoka, D. Liotta, F. Palmieri, and I. Velicogna, CROP-0 profile: a geophysical analysis of data and results, Mem. Soc. Geol. Ital. 52, 123-137, 1998.
Marson, I., Panza, G., Velicogna, I., & Anonymous. (1998). Gravity and geoid data for the validation of a 3-D structural model of European region Annales Geophysicae (1988), vol.16, Suppl. 1 (pp. 236). Kathlenburg-Lindau: European Geophysical Society.
Marson, I., Stoka, M., Velicogna, I., Coren, F., Zanolla, C., Segawa, J., . . . Okubo, S. (1997). Gravity, geoid, isostasy and Moho depth in the Ross Sea, Antarctica International Association of Geodesy Symposia, vol. 117 (pp. 351-359). New York: Springer-Verlag.
Tong J., Velicogna I., ’A Comparison of AMSR-E/Aqua Snow Products with in-situ Observations and MODIS Snow Cover Products in the Mackenzie River Basin, Canada’. Remote Sens., 2(10), 2313-2322, doi:10.3390/rs2102313.
Cerutti, G., P. De Maria, S. Desogus, F. Mazzoleni, I. Marson, and I. Velicogna, Absolute gravimetry in the Central European Initiative: The Italian contribution, Proceedings of EGS Symposium G14, Warsaw University of Technology, No 3 (26), 105-111, 1997.
Marson, I., M. Stoka, I. Velicogna, F. Coren, and C. Zanolla, Trend Analysis in the Ross Sea, Antarctica, Atti del 15th Convegno GNGTS, CNR. Roma, 127-132, 1997.
Foti, A., Pinna E., Velicogna I., Isostatic moho and upper mantle structure in North-Central Italy from gravity analysis, Atti 15th Convegno GNGTS, CNR. Roma, 483-489, 1997.
Velicogna, I., I. Marson, and P. Suhadolc, Moho morphology from gravity, topography and isostasy, Atti del 14th Convegno GNGTS, CNR. Roma, 405-418, 1996. [In Italian]
Velicogna, I., I. Marson, and P. Suhadolc, Moho morphology from gravity, topography and isostasy, Atti del 14th Convegno GNGTS, CNR. Roma, 405-418, 1996. [In Italian]
Professional Societies
American Geophysical Union
European Geosciences Union
International Glaciological Society (IGS)
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Last updated
11/01/2023