Frank Pattyn Explained

Frank Pattyn
Birth Date:4 March 1966
Nationality:Belgian
Fields:glaciology ; Ice sheet Modelling ; Model intercomparison ; Antarctica
Workplaces:Université libre de Bruxelles
Alma Mater:Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Website:http://homepages.ulb.ac.be/~fpattyn/

Frank Jean-Marie Léon Pattyn is a Belgian glaciologist and professor at the Université libre de Bruxelles.[1] He is best known for developing ice-sheet models and leading model intercomparisons.[2]

Early life and education

Frank Pattyn was born in Etterbeek on 4 March 1966.[3] He completed his Bachelor and Master degrees in geography at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel in 1986 and 1988, respectively.[4] After a short period of military service in the Belgian Armed Forces, he then obtained his PhD from the same institution in 1998.[5]

Career and impact

After completing his PhD, Pattyn then worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the National Institute of Polar Research, Tokyo, Japan (1999-2000) before coming back to Belgium as a research associate at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel.

In 2000, he started to teach geomorphology and climatology at the Université libre de Bruxelles where he became a professor in 2011. Since 2006, he has also become co-director of the Laboratoire de Glaciologie[6] of the Université libre de Bruxelles.

He is currently Chairman of the Belgian National Committee on Antarctic Research,[7] the Belgian branch of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research and the vice-president of the International Glaciological Society[8] and Associate Chief Editor of Journal of Glaciology.[9]

Pattyn has authored over 70 peer-review papers[10] (including 6 from high-profile journals) covering various aspect of glaciology, which are cited over 1700 times.[10]

His research includes ice-sheet modelling with in situ and remote sensing observations, to evaluate the present-day and future mass changes of the Antarctic ice sheet. He has developed several ice-sheet models, such as a three-dimensional thermomechanical ice-sheet model including higher-order stress gradients (Blatter-Pattyn model),[11] and more recently the fast Elementary Thermomechanical Ice Sheet model .[12] Such models are capable of simulating the behaviour of fast-flowing ice streams and ice flow across subglacial lakes, and over long time scales.

He is also actively involved in a series of Ice-Sheet Model Intercomparison Projects (ISMIP),[13] such as ISMIP-HOM, ISMIP-HEINO, MISMIP, MISMIP3D, and MISMIP+.

He took part in 19 expeditions to Antarctica and Arctic glaciers in order to study the interaction of glaciers and ice sheets with subglacial water and the ocean, using ground-penetrating radar and differential GPS.

Since taking office as a professor, he has also paid attention to the outreach of glaciology. In particular, he developed the Grantism model,[14] which allows to simulate the evolution of the Greenland and the Antarctic according to parameters understandable to all (temperature, sea level). He recently set up the Tweeting ice shelf, a project which consists of two GPS placed on the Roi Baudouin Ice Shelf, East Antarctica that communicate their position and movement via Twitter.[15]

Awards and honours

Pattyn has received the 2018 Louis Agassiz Medal,[16] an award[17] from the European Geosciences Union that recognises his outstanding scientific contribution to the study of the cryosphere.

Selected work

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Laboratoire de Glaciologie - ULB. dev.ulb.ac.be. 2017-03-23.
  2. Web site: The research groups - Research - Belgian Polar Platform - Research and applications - Belgian Science Policy. www.belspo.be. en. 2017-03-23.
  3. Web site: Frank Pattyn. www.academieroyale.be. 2017-03-23.
  4. Web site: Pattyn . Frank . Curriculum Vitae . 30 January 2024.
  5. Pattyn . Frank . 1998 . Ice-sheet dynamics in eastern Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica . Ph.D.. Vrije Universiteit Brussel . 30 January 2024.
  6. Web site: Laboratoire de Glaciologie - ULB. dev.ulb.ac.be. 2017-03-17.
  7. Web site: SCAR-BNCAR – Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research – Belgian National Committee on Antarctic Research. www.bncar.be. en-GB. 2017-03-17.
  8. Web site: Council. International Glaciological Society (IGS). en. 2017-03-17.
  9. Web site: Editorial Board, Journal of Glaciology. International Glaciological Society (IGS). en. 2017-03-17.
  10. Web site: Scopus preview - Scopus - Author details (Pattyn, Frank). www.scopus.com. en-. 2017-03-17.
  11. Pattyn. Frank. 2003-08-01. A new three-dimensional higher-order thermomechanical ice sheet model: Basic sensitivity, ice stream development, and ice flow across subglacial lakes. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth. en. 108. B8. 2382. 10.1029/2002JB002329. 2156-2202. 2003JGRB..108.2382P. free.
  12. Pattyn. F.. 2017-01-30. Sea-level response to melting of Antarctic ice shelves on multi-centennial time scales with the fast Elementary Thermomechanical Ice Sheet model (f.ETISh v1.0). The Cryosphere Discussions. 2017. 1–52. 10.5194/tc-2017-8. 1994-0440. free.
  13. Web site: ISMIP page. homepages.vub.ac.be. 2017-03-17. 2007-02-08. https://web.archive.org/web/20070208062723/http://homepages.vub.ac.be/~phuybrec/ismip.html. dead.
  14. Pattyn. Frank. 2006-04-01. GRANTISM: An Excel model for Greenland and Antarctic ice-sheet response to climate changes. Computers & Geosciences. 32. 3. 316–325. 10.1016/j.cageo.2005.06.020. 2006CG.....32..316P.
  15. Web site: Who is Who?. tweetiniceshelf.blogspot.be. 2017-03-17.
  16. Web site: EGU announces 2018 awards and medals. European Geosciences Union (EGU). en-GB. 2017-10-10.
  17. Web site: EGU. European Geosciences Union (EGU). en-GB. 2017-10-10.

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