Dr. Larysa Istomina

now at Alfred-Wegener-Institute, Bremerhaven

Curriculum Vitae and Research Interests

Larysa Istomina received her Masters Degree in physics and astronomy at the National Karazin University, Kharkiv, Ukraine, in 2006. After 1.5 years as a postgraduate researcher at the Institute of Astronomy, Kharkiv, Ukraine, in September 2007 she started her Ph.D. in physics at the Institute of Environmental Physics, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany. She finished her Ph.D. research dedicated to the remote sensing of atmospheric aerosol in the Arctic in 2011. Thereafter, since August 2011 and until July 2014, she worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Environmental Physics, University of Bremen, within the EU project SIDARUS. Since then and till 2018, Larysa Istomina was employed as a postdoctoral researcher within the EU project SPICES and as a consulting staff at the AC3 Transregio. Then in 2019, after a period of self-employment in scientific programming and report writing, she took up the 3 year and then 1 year postdoctoral positions as a sole PI in her DFG projects within the SPP-1158 at Alfred-Wegener-Institute.

Her main research interests are:

  • Mechanisms responsible for the Arctic and Antarctic radiative budget and climate balance;
  • Climatic feedbacks in the polar regions;
  • Dynamics and status of the Arctic and Antarctic sea ice cover with respect to surface melt and its effect onto the underice ecosystems;
  • Satellite remote sensing of the polar regions, aerosol, cloud and surface retrievals, with the focus on optical and near infrared sensors;
  • Expanding the non-sufficient field measurement network in the polar regions.

Peer-reviewed Publications

  1. Niehaus, H., Istomina, L., Nicolaus, M., Tao, R., Malinka, A., Zege, E., and Spreen, G.: Melt pond fractions on Arctic summer sea ice retrieved from Sentinel-3 satellite data with a constrained physical forward model, EGUsphere [preprint], doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-2194, 2023.
  2. Istomina, L., Niehaus, H., and Spreen, G.: Updated Arctic melt pond fraction dataset and trends 2002–2023 using ENVISAT and Sentinel-3 remote sensing data, The Cryosphere Discuss. [preprint], doi.org/10.5194/tc-2023-142, in review, 2023.
  3. Niehaus, H. Spreen, G., Birnbaum, G., Istomina, L., Jäkel, E., Linhardt, F., Neckel, N., Fuchs, N., Nicolaus, M., Sperzel, T., Tao, R., Webster, M., Wright, N.: Sea Ice Melt Pond Fraction Derived From Sentinel-2 Data: Along the MOSAiC Drift and Arctic-Wide, Geophys. Res. Letters, doi.org/10.1029/2022GL102102, 2023.
  4. Istomina, L., G. Heygster, H. Enomoto, S. Ushio, T. Tamura and C. Haas, Remote Sensing Observations of Melt Ponds on Top of Antarctic SEA ICE Using Sentinel-3 Data, IGARSS 2022 - 2022 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, 2022, pp. 3884-3887, doi: 10.1109/IGARSS46834.2022.9884159, 2022.
  5. Jäkel, E., Carlsen, T., Ehrlich, A., Wendisch, M., Schäfer, M., Rosenburg, S., Nakoudi, K., Zanatte, M., Birnbaum, G., Helm, V., Herber, A., Istomina, L., Mei, L., Rohde, A.: Measurements and Modeling of Optical-Equivalent Snow Grain Sizes under Arctic Low-Sun Conditions. Remote Sens. 13, 4904, https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13234904, 2021.
  6. Istomina, L., Marks, H., Huntemann, M., Heygster, G., and Spreen, G.: Improved cloud detection over sea ice and snow during Arctic summer using MERIS data, Atmos. Meas. Tech.,  13, 6459-6472, doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-6459-2020, 2020.
  7. Mäkynen, M.; Haapala, J.; Aulicino, G.; Balan-Sarojini, B.; Balmaseda, M.; Gegiuc, A.; Girard-Ardhuin, F.; Hendricks, S.; Heygster, G.; Istomina, L.; Kaleschke, L.; Karvonen, J.; Krumpen, T.; Lensu, M.; Mayer, M.; Parmiggiani, F.; Ricker, R.; Rinne, E.; Schmitt, A.; Similä, M.; Tietsche, S.; Tonboe, R.; Wadhams, P.; Winstrup, M.; Zuo, H. Satellite Observations for Detecting and Forecasting Sea-Ice Conditions: A Summary of Advances Made in the SPICES Project by the EU’s Horizon 2020 Programme. Remote Sens. 12, 1214, 2020.
  8. Pohl, C., Istomina, L., Tietsche, S., Jäkel, E., Stapf, J., Spreen, G., and Heygster, G.: Broadband albedo of Arctic sea ice from MERIS optical data, The Cryosphere, 14, 165–182, doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-165-2020, 2020.
  9. Ludwig, V., Spreen, G., Haas, C., Istomina, L., Kauker, F., and Murashkin, D.: The 2018 North Greenland polynya observed by a newly introduced merged optical and passive microwave sea-ice concentration dataset, The Cryosphere, 13, 2051–2073, doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-2051-2019, 2019.
  10. Malinka, A., Zege, E., Istomina, L., Heygster, G., Spreen, G., Perovich, D., and Polashenski, C.: Reflective properties of melt ponds on sea ice, The Cryosphere, 12, 1921-1937, doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-1921-2018, 2018.
  11. Lu, P., Leppäranta, M., Cheng, B., Li, Z., Istomina, L., and Heygster, G.: The color of melt ponds on Arctic sea ice, The Cryosphere, 12, 1331-1345, doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-1331-2018, 2018.
  12. Ehrlich, A., Bierwirth, E., Istomina, L., and Wendisch, M.: Combined retrieval of Arctic liquid water cloud and surface snow properties using airborne spectral solar remote sensing, Atmos. Meas. Tech. Discuss., doi:10.5194/amt-2017-50, in review, 2017.
  13. Carlsen, T., Birnbaum, G., Ehrlich, A., Freitag, J., Heygster, G., Istomina, L., Kipfstuhl, S., Orsi, A., Schäfer, M., and Wendisch, M.: Comparison of different methods to retrieve effective snow grain size in central Antarctica, The Cryosphere Discuss., doi:10.5194/tc-2016-294, 2017.
  14. Istomina, L., C. Melsheimer, M. Huntemann, M. Nicolaus and G. Heygster, "Retrieval of sea ice thickness during melt season from in situ, airborne and satellite imagery," 2016 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS), Beijing, pp. 7678-7681. doi: 10.1109/IGARSS.2016.7731002, 2016.
  15. Malinka, A.V., Zege, E.P., Katsev, I.L., Prikhach, A.S., and Istomina, L.: Accounting for Atmospheric Effects in the Interpretation of Satellite and Ground-Based Optical Measurements, J Appl Spectrosc., 83: 741-749. doi:10.1007/s10812-016-0357-3, 2016.
  16. Gilg, O., Istomina, L., Heygster, L., Strøm, H., Gavrilo, M. V., Mallory, M. L., Gilchrist, G., Aebischer, A., Sabard, B., Huntemann, M., Mosbech, A., Yannic, G.: Living on the edge of a shrinking habitat: the ivory gull, Pagophila eburnea, an endangered sea-ice specialist, Biology Letters, 12 (11), doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2016.0277, 2016.
  17. Malinka, A., Zege, E., Heygster, G., and Istomina, L.: Reflective properties of white and snow-covered sea ice, The Cryosphere 10(6):2541-2557, doi:10.5194/tc-10-2541-2016, 2016.
  18. Istomina, L., Heygster, G., Huntemann, M., Schwarz, P., Birnbaum, G., Scharien, R., Polashenski, C., Perovich, D., Zege, E., Malinka, A., Prikhach, A., and Katsev, I.: Melt pond fraction and spectral sea ice albedo retrieval from MERIS data – Part 1: Validation against in situ, aerial, and ship cruise data, The Cryosphere, 9, 1551-1566, doi:10.5194/tc-9-1551-2015, 2015.
  19. Istomina, L., Heygster, G., Huntemann, M., Marks, H., Melsheimer, C., Zege, E., Malinka, A., Prikhach, A., and Katsev, I.: Melt pond fraction and spectral sea ice albedo retrieval from MERIS data – Part 2: Case studies and trends of sea ice albedo and melt ponds in the Arctic for years 2002–2011, The Cryosphere, 9, 1567-1578, doi:10.5194/tc-9-1567-2015, 2015.
  20. Zege, E. P., Malinka, A. V., Katsev, I. L., Prikhach, A. S., Heygster, G., Istomina, L. G., Birnbaum, G. and Schwarz, P.: Algorithm to retrieve the melt pond fraction and the spectral albedo of Arctic summer ice from satellite data, Remote Sens. Environ., 163, 153-164, doi:10.1016/j.rse.2015.03.012, 2015.
  21. C. Tomasi, A. A. Kokhanovsky, A. Lupi, C. Ritter, A. Smirnov, N. T. O'Neill, R. S. Stone, B. N. Holben, S. Nyeki, C. Wehrli, A. Stohl, M. Mazzola, C. Lanconelli, V. Vitale, K. Stebel, V. Aaltonen, G. de Leeuw, E. Rodriguez, A. B. Herber, V. F. Radionov, T. Zielinski, T. Petelski, S. M. Sakerin, D. M. Kabanov, Y. Xue, L. Mei, L. Istomina, R. Wagener, B. McArthur, P. S. Sobolewski, R. Kivi, Y. Courcoux, P. Larouche, S. Broccardo, S. J. Piketh, Aerosol remote sensing in polar regions, Earth-Science Reviews, Volume 140, January 2015, Pages 108-157, ISSN 0012-8252, dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2014.11.001, 2015.
  22. L. Mei, Y. Xue, A. Kokhanovsky, W. von Hoyningen-Huene, L. Istomina, G. de Leeuw, J. P. Burrows, J. Guang, Y. Jing, Aerosol Optical depth retrieval over snow using AATSR data. International Journal of Remote Sensing, Vol. 34, Iss. 14, 5030–5041, dx.doi.org/10.1080/01431161.2013.786197, 2013.
  23. A. Boetius, S. Albrecht, K. Bakker, C. Bienhold, J. Felden, M. Fernández-Méndez, S. Hendricks, C. Katlein, C. Lalande, T. Krumpen, M. Nicolaus, I. Peeken, B. Rabe, A. Rogacheva, E. Rybakova, R. Somavilla, F. Wenzhöfer, and RV Polarstern ARK27-3-Shipboard Science Party (among them L. Istomina, 56 people in total). Export of Algal Biomass from the Melting Arctic Sea Ice. Science 22 March 2013: 339 (6126), 1430-1432.DOI:10.1126/science.1231346, 2013.
  24. L. Mei, Y. Xue, G. de Leeuw, W. von Hoyningen-Huene, A. A. Kokhanovsky, L. Istomina, J. Guang, J. P. Burrows, Aerosol optical depth retrieval in the Arctic region using MODIS data over snow, Remote Sensing of Environment, Volume 128, 21 January 2013, Pages 234-245, ISSN 0034-4257, 10.1016/j.rse.2012.10.009, 2013.
  25. Krijger, J. M., Tol, P., Istomina, L. G., Schlundt, C., Schrijver, H., and Aben, I.: Improved identification of clouds and ice/snow covered surfaces in SCIAMACHY observations, Atmos. Meas. Tech. Discuss., 4, 1113-1138, 2011.
  26. C. Schlundt, A. A. Kokhanovsky, W. von Hoyningen-Huene, T. Dinter, L. Istomina, and J. P. Burrows. Synergetic cloud fraction determination for SCIAMACHY using MERIS, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 4, 319-337, 2011.
  27. W. von Hoyningen-Huene, J.M. Yoon, M. Vountas, L.G. Istomina, G. Rohen, T. Dinter, A.A. Kokhanovsky, and J.P. Burrows. Retrieval of spectral aerosol optical thickness over land using ocean color sensors MERIS and SeaWiFS , Atmos. Meas. Tech., 4, 151-171, 2011.
  28. Istomina L., von Hoyningen-Huene, W., Kokhanovsky, A. A., Schultz, E., and J. P. Burrows: Remote sensing of aerosols over snow using infrared AATSR observations, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 4, 1133-1145, 2011.
  29. Istomina L., W. von Hoyningen-Huene, A. A. Kokhanovsky, and J. P. Burrows. The detection of cloud free snow covered areas using AATSR measurements, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 3, 1-13, 2010.
  30. Stankevich D., Istomina L., Shkuratov Yu., Videen G. The coherent backscattering effects in a random medium as calculated using a ray tracing technique for large non-transparent spheres, Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer, 106, 1-3, 509-519, 2007.
  31. Stankevich D., Istomina L., Shkuratov Yu., Videen G. Electromagnetic phase differences in the coherent backscattering enhancement mechanism for random media consisting of large non-transparent spheres, Applied Optics, Vol. 46, Issue 9, 1562-1567, 2007.

Field Work

  • 02.08.2012 – 08.10.2012: Aerosol optical depth and spectral albedo measurements of the sea ice and melt ponds during RV Polarstern cruise in the Central Arctic PS 89/3 „IceArc2012“.
  • 17.08.2015 – 15.10.2015: spectral albedo and spectral transmittance measurements of the sea ice and melt ponds, kite imagery and aerosol optical depth measurements during RV Polarstern cruise in the Central Arctic PS94/3 „TransArc2“.

Awards and acquired funds

  • Jerome Namias Grant at AGU Fall Meeting 2009.
  • DFG proposal for 3 year own postdoc position 2019.
  • DFG proposal for 1 year own postdoc position 2022.