Ward van Pelt
Associate professor

Recent work

We recently generated new glacier thickness and bed maps for Svalbard. See here for more details!

Have a look at our recent study on ice thickness inversion in Scandinavia!

Curriculum Vitae

Personalia
Name: Ward van Pelt
Email: ward.van.pelt [at] geo.uu.se
Affiliations
2021- Associate professor :: Uppsala University, Sweden
2017-2021 Researcher :: Uppsala University, Sweden
2015-2016 Postdoctoral researcher :: Uppsala University, Sweden
2014 Research assistant :: Norwegian Polar Institute, Norway
Education
2009-2014 Ph.D. in Glaciology :: Utrecht University, The Netherlands :: Thesis: "Modelling the dynamics and boundary processes of Svalbard glaciers" Link acrobat logo
2006-2009 M.Sc. (cum laude) in Meteorology, Physical Oceanography and Climate :: Utrecht University, The Netherlands :: Thesis: "Modeling the mass balance of the Morteratsch glacier, Switzerland" Link acrobat logo
2003-2006 B.Sc. in Physics and Astronomy :: Utrecht University, The Netherlands
Appointments
2025- IASC Cryosphere Working Group member
2020- IGS national correspondent for Sweden
2019-2020, 2025- Vice-chair of the IASC Network on Arctic Glaciology
2025- Scientific editor for Polar Research
2020-2025 Chair of the IASC Network on Arctic Glaciology
Grants
2025-2028 Swedish National Space Agency - Research grant :: "Estimating Greenland´s present and future ice thickness using inverse modeling and high-resolution satellite data", main applicant, 5.0 MSEK
2025-2029 EU Horizon Europe (Infrastructure) - Research grant :: "Digital twin of Earth system for cryosphere, land surface and related interactions", co-applicant (PI: J. Kontkanen), €15,000,000 (160 MSEK)
2025-2029 European Space Agency (ESA) - Research grant :: "Svalbard Cryosphere Digital Twin (SvalCryo-DT)", co-applicant (PI: W. Harcourt), €392,000 (4.3 MSEK)
2024-2028 Swedish National Space Agency - Research grant :: "Remote sensing of mining impacts in the Arctic", co-applicant (PI: C. Zdanowicz), 4.1 MSEK
2024-2028 NERC (UK) - Research grant :: "Losing their Cool: are high-elevation heat exchanges warming Himalayan glaciers?", co-applicant (PI: D. Quincey), 11.4 MSEK
2021-2024 Swedish Research Council - Starting grant :: "Global glacier thickness and volume estimation", main applicant, 3.8 MSEK
2019-2023 Swedish National Space Agency - Career position grant :: "Glacier ice thickness estimation using satellite data", main applicant, 3.6 MSEK, link
2018-2022 Swedish National Space Agency - PhD position grant :: "Retrieval of snow properties from SAR"; co-applicant (PI: I. Brown), 3.8 MSEK, link
2017-2021 VINNOVA - Sustainable development grant :: "A snow quality assessment tool based on new techniques and Sámi knowledge (Snow4all)", co-applicant (PI: G. Rosqvist), 2.9 MSEK, link
Teaching
2025- Independent Project in Environmental and Water Engineering (1TV017) :: Uppsala University, co-teacher
2024- Cold Region Hydrology and Environmental Change (1GE072) :: Uppsala University, co-teacher
2022- GIS and Geodesy (1GE301) :: Uppsala University, course responsible
Introduction to Geodetic Measurement Techniques (1GE302) :: Uppsala University, course responsible
2019- Runoff (1TV443) :: Uppsala University, co-teacher
2018- Field Methods in Earth Science (1GE043) :: Uppsala University, co-teacher
2017- Research Trends in Physical Geography and Hydrology (1HY045) :: Uppsala University, co-teacher
Meteorology, Hydrology and Environmental Measurement Techniques (1TV015) :: Uppsala University, co-teacher
Landscape Development (1GE143) :: Uppsala University, co-teacher
2016- Glaciology and Landscape Processes (1GE040) :: Uppsala University, co-teacher
2020 GIS and Remote Sensing (1GE100) :: Uppsala University, co-teacher
2019-2020 Snow and Ice Processes (AGF-212) :: University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS), co-teacher
2019-2024 Geomorphology and Earth Surface Processes (1GE042) :: Uppsala University, co-teacher
2017-2023 Statistics and Data Analysis Methods (1HY013) :: Uppsala University, lab assistant
2017-2024 Snow Physics and Hydrology (1GE056) :: Uppsala University, lab assistant
2017-2019 Remote Sensing with Meteorological Applications (1ME410) :: Uppsala University, co-teacher
2014 Ice and Climate summer school (Karthaus, Italy) :: invited lecturer
2010-2013 Ice & Climate :: Utrecht University, lab assistant
Fieldwork
Since 2024 Reaiddaglaciären, Sweden (~4 days per year). Activities: Mass balance and radar measurements.
2011-2024 Nordenskiöldbreen, Svalbard (~10 days per year). Activities: AWS servicing, installing GPSs, stake measurements, snow profiling and radar measurements.
2014 Kongsfjorden, Svalbard (4 weeks). Field activities: stake measurements, radar measurements and snow profiling.
Conference abstracts (first-author)
2025 IASC NAG meeting - Niseko, Japan
2024 IGS Nordic Branch meeting - Helisandur, Iceland
IASC NAG meeting - Obergurgl, Austria
2023 IASC NAG meeting - Obergurgl, Austria
2022 IGS Nordic Branch meeting - Uppsala, Sweden
2020 IGS Nordic Branch meeting - online
SIOS EO/RS/GI conference - online
IASC NAG meeting - Obergurgl, Austria
2019 Svalbard Science Conference - Oslo, Norway
Svalbard Snow Network workshop - Warszawa, Poland
IASC NAG meeting - Geilo, Norway
2018 IGS Nordic Branch meeting - Rovaniemi, Finland
2017 Svalbard Science Conference - Oslo, Norway
IGS Nordic Branch meeting - Uppsala, Sweden
Melt water retention workshop - Copenhagen, Denmark
2016 NÅGLAMB workshop - Oslo, Norway
IGS Nordic Branch meeting - Tromsø, Norway
Melt water retention workshop - Copenhagen, Denmark
TIGRIF meeting - Tromsø, Norway
IASC NAG meeting - Benasque, Spain
2015 IGS Nordic Branch meeting - Copenhagen, Denmark
2014 Scientific Advisory Board meeting - Oslo, Norway
IGS Nordic Branch meeting - Reykjavik, Iceland
SVALI annual meeting - Reykjavik, Iceland
Calving and Surging workshop - Utrecht, Netherlands
2013 IGS Nordic Branch meeting - Lammi, Finland
2012 BBOS Autumn symposium - Nijmegen, the Netherlands
IGS symposium Alaska - Fairbanks, USA
PISM workshop - Hamburg, Germany
2011 AGU Fall meeting - San Francisco, USA
IGS Nordic Branch meeting - Oslo, Norway
2010 BBOS Autumn symposium - Callantsoog, Netherlands
IASC NAG meeting - Obergurgl, Austria