Dr. Abdalati's research interests are in the use of satellite and airborne remote sensing techniques, integrated with in situ observations and modeling, to understand how and why the Earth's ice cover is changing, and what those changes mean for life on Earth. In particular, his research focuses on the contributions of ice sheets and high-latitude glaciers to sea level rise and their relationship to the changing climate. Toward that end, he has been heavily involved in the development of NASA's Ice Cloud and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) and its successor, ICESat-2, and he has worked on cryospheric applications of various other satellites and aircraft instruments. In a broader sense, Dr. Abdalati led the National Academy of Sciences Study, Earth Science and Applications from Space, to develop priorities for civilian space-based Earth observations for the next decade.
