Jonathan Bamber

Short CV

Jonathan Bamber received his BSc in physics from the University of Bristol in 1983 and a PhD in geophysics/glaciology from the University of Cambridge in 1987. From 87-’96 he worked as a post-doc and then lecturer in the Dept of Space and Climate Physics, University College London. He moved back to the University of Bristol as a senior lecturer in 1996 and was promoted to full professor in 2004. From 2021-2024 he had a joint half-time position at TUM within the AI4EO laboratory lead by his current host, Prof Zhu. From 2016-2020 he was president and president-elect of the European Geosciences Union and holds a number of other advisory roles including the European Space Agency’s Advisory Committee on Earth Observation (ACEO), the European Space Science Committee and most recently as a member of the Science Advisory Board for the EU’s flagship initiative to develop a digital replica of the Earth System: DestinE. He was also a Review Editor for the IPCC AR5 and a contributing author to the AR6.

Selected Awards

• 2024, Satish Dhawan Visiting Chair Professor Indian Inst Science, Bangalore
• 2021, Alan Turing Institute Fellow
• 2019, Elected Fellow of American Geophysical Union
• 2015, Royal Society Wolfson Merit Award
• 2009, CIRES research fellowship, Colorado University, Boulder, USA
• 2007, European Geosciences Union Service award

Research Interests

Earth observation of components of the Earth System with a particular focus on the cryosphere and polar regions, oceans and the hydrological cycle. Our group specializes in the use of satellite geodetic techniques including gravimetry, altimetry (laser and radar) and synthetic aperture radar interferometry (InSAR) to measure changes taking place at and below the Earth’s surface and in combining these observations with both physically based and AI-based models. A focus over the last decade has been on improving our understanding of the sources of sea level rise, globally and regionally and in uncertainty quantification (UQ) of future changes. UQ has been a focus of the group including the development of 4-D Bayesian inference methods for geospatial processes.

Selected Publications

• Xu, Q., Y. Shi, J. L. Bamber, C. Ouyang, and X. X. Zhu (2024), Large-scale flood modeling and forecasting with FloodCast, Water Research, 264, 122162.
• Breyer C, K. D., Abbott BW, Bamber JL, Creutzig F, Gerhards C, et al (2023), Proposing a 1.0°C climate target for a safer future, PLOS Clim, 2(6), e0000234, doi:10.1371/journal.pclm.0000234
• Lehmann, F., B. D. Vishwakarma, and J. Bamber (2022), How well are we able to close the water budget at the global scale?, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 26(1), 35-54, doi:10.5194/hess-26-35-2022
• Hofer, S., A. J. Tedstone, X. Fettweis, and J. L. Bamber (2019), Cloud microphysics and circulation anomalies control differences in future Greenland melt, Nature Climate Change, 9(7), 523-528, doi:10.1038/s41558-019-0507-8
• Bamber, J. L., M. Oppenheimer, R. E. Kopp, W. P. Aspinall, and R. M. Cooke (2019), Ice sheet contributions to future sea-level rise from structured expert judgment, Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., 116(23), 11195-11200, doi:10.1073/pnas.1817205116.
• Bamber, J. L., Westaway, R., Wouters, B., Marzeion, B. (2018). The land ice contribution to sea level rise during the satellite era, Env. Res. Lett. doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aac2f0
• Böning, C. W., Behrens, E., Biastoch, A., Getzlaff, K., and Bamber, J. L. (2016): Emerging impact of Greenland meltwater on deepwater formation in the North Atlantic Ocean, Nature Geoscience, 9, 523-527
• Zammit-Mangion, A., Bamber, J. L.,* Schoen, N. W., and Rougier, J. C., Lindgren, F. (2015) Multivariate spatio-temporal modelling for assessing Antarctica's present-day contribution to sea-level rise, Environmetrics 70(56)
• Depoorter, M. A., *Bamber, J. L., *Griggs, J. A., Lenaerts, J. T. M., Ligtenberg, S. R. M., Van den Broeke, M., and Moholdt, G.: Calving fluxes and melt rates of Antarctic ice shelves, Nature, 10.1038/nature12567
• Bamber, J., M. van den Broeke, J. Ettema, J. Lenaerts, and E. Rignot (2012), Recent large increases in freshwater fluxes from Greenland into the North Atlantic, Geophys. Res. Lett., 39(19), L19501
• Bamber, J.L., R.E.M. Riva, B.L.A. Vermeersen and A.M. LeBrocq 2009. Reassessment of the Potential Sea-Level Rise from a Collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. Science, 324 (5929): 901-903.
• Bamber, J.L., Alley, R.B., Joughin, I., 2007. Rapid response of modern day ice sheets to external forcing Earth Plan Sci Lett. 257, 1-13.
• Singarayer, JS, Bamber, J.L. and Valdes, PJ. 2006. 21st century climate impacts from a declining Arctic sea-ice cover, J. Climate.19 (7), 1109–1125. doi: 10.1175/JCLI3649.1
• Bamber, J.L., Vaughan, D.G., Joughin, I, 2000. Widespread complex flow in the interior of the Antarctic Ice Sheet, Science, 287 (5456), 1248-1250.