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Aleah Sommers

Lecturer

Research Scientist

aleah.n.sommers@dartmouth.edu

Ice caves under Helheim Glacier in Greenland, formed by water flow.

Overview

I develop and apply mathematical models to simulate subglacial hydrology and ice dynamics, with application to the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, and glaciers in the Himalaya and Alaska, combined with field measurements and remote sensing techniques.

Research Interests

Subglacial hydrology; glaciers; ice sheets; numerical modeling

Education

BS, Civil Engineering, Rice University 2009
PhD, Civil Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder 2018

Professional Activities

Member, American Geophysical Union
Member, International Glaciological Society
Postdoctoral Research Associate, Dartmouth 2020–2022
Postdoctoral Fellow, National Center for Atmospheric Research 2019–2020

Research Projects

NASA — ICESat-2 Science Team (investigations using ICESat-2)

NASA — ICESat-2 Science Team (investigations using ICESat-2)

Coupled subglacial hydrology and ice dynamics constrained by surface elevation evolution.
NASA — Understanding changes in High Mountain Asia

NASA — Understanding changes in High Mountain Asia

Quantifying the role of subglacial hydrology in glacier surges and outburst floods of High Mountain Asia.
Irving Institute faculty seed grant: machine learning for glacier intelligence

Irving Institute faculty seed grant: machine learning for glacier intelligence

Data-driven tools to predict meltwater dynamics and inform water security under climate change.
Arete glacier initiative

Arete glacier initiative

Leveraging and preserving historical Trapridge Glacier data.

Selected Publications

Meyer, CR, Warburton, KLP, Sommers, AN, and Minchew, BM (2026). A model of water extraction from the subglacial hydrologic system under idealized conditions. The Cryosphere. https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-20-2659-2026
Thota, VK, Vijay, S, Sommers, AN, Banerjee, A, Mey, J and Motagh, M (2026). Seasonal variability in ice velocity driven by subglacial hydrology of Drang Drung Glacier, Western Himalayas. Journal of Glaciology. https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2026.10150
Stubblefield, A, Sommers, A, Meyer, C, and Andrews, L (2026). Estimating effective pressures in active subglacial lakes with ICESat-2 satellite altimetry. Journal of Glaciology. https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2025.10116
Narayanan, NG, Sommers, AN, Chu, W, Steiner, J, Siddique, MA, Meyer, CR, & Minchew, B (2025). Simulating Seasonal Evolution of Subglacial Hydrology at a Surging Glacier in the Karakoram Range. Journal of Glaciology. https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2025.10078
Warburton, KL, Meyer, CR and Sommers, AN (2024). Predicting the onset of subglacial drainage channels. Journal of Geophysical Research–Earth Surface. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024JF007758
Sommers, AN, Meyer, CR, Poinar, K, Mejia, J, Morlighem, M, Rajaram, H, Warburton, K and Chu, W (2024). Velocity of Greenland's Helheim Glacier controlled both by terminus effects and subglacial hydrology with distinct realms of influence. Geophysical Research Letters. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL109168
Sommers, A, Meyer, C, Morlighem, M, Rajaram, H, Poinar, K, Chu, W, Mejia, J (2023). Subglacial hydrology modeling predicts high winter water pressure and spatially variable transmissivity at Helheim Glacier, Greenland. Journal of Glaciology. https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2023.39
Sommers, AN, Otto-Bliesner, BL, Lipscomb, WH, Lofverstrom, M, Shafer, SL, Bartlein, PJ, Brady, EC, Kluzek, E, Leguy, G, Thayer-Calder, K, Tomas, R A (2021). Retreat and regrowth of the Greenland Ice Sheet during the Last Interglacial as simulated by the CESM2-CISM2 coupled climate ice sheet model. Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021PA004272
Sommers, AN, and Rajaram, H (2020). Energy transfer by turbulent dissipation in glacial conduits. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JF005502
Sommers, A, Rajaram, H, and Morlighem, M (2018). SHAKTI: Subglacial Hydrology and Kinetic Transient Interactions v1.0, Geoscientific Model Development. https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-2018-58
Sommers, AN, Rajaram, H, Weber, EP, MacFerrin, MJ, Colgan, W T, and Stevens, CM (2017). Inferring Firn Permeability from Pneumatic Testing: A Case Study on the Greenland Ice Sheet, Frontiers in Earth Science, 5, 20, https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2017.00020
Colgan, W, Sommers, A, Rajaram, H, Abdalati, W and Frahm, J (2015). Considering thermal-viscous collapse of the Greenland ice sheet, Earth's Future, 3: 252–267. https://doi.org/10.1002/2015EF000301

Videos

2nd Leh Indian Glaciology Summer School (LIGSS-2026)

News

Machine Learning Models May Help Predict Glacier Melt and Movement
May 29, 2026

Research Quick Takes

Jul 16, 2026

Glaciological Collaboration

Research Scientist and Lecturer Aleah Sommers and PhD candidate Anna Valentine, along with Derek Pickell and Mathieu Morlighem from the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, traveled to Ladakh, India, to study thickness and dynamics of Himalayan glaciers with researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee. They also participated in the Indian Glaciological Summer School, a two-week intensive course in Leh, Ladakh, with students from all over India. "Building any international collaboration takes time and trust. The friendships, the challenges, and the science that will come out of combining our areas of expertise are remarkably worthwhile," said Sommers.

Scientist Aleah Sommers with students at the Greenland Ice Sheet Ocean (GRISO) Science Summer School.

Jun 18, 2026

Strengthening Science and Connections in Greenland

Research Scientist and Lecturer Aleah Sommers co-organized and taught at the Greenland Ice Sheet Ocean (GRISO) Science Summer School, held in Nuuk, Greenland. The two-week intensive course brought together PhD students and postdocs from around the world to connect with and learn from Greenland-based scientists and local Greenlandic organizations. "After teaching at the GRISO Summer School, I feel inspired about connecting glacier hydrology to the downstream impacts on lakes, fjords, ecology, and communities, and exploring how to connect physical process modeling with community interests and local research priorities," said Sommers.

May 21, 2026

Reducing Glacier Mass Loss

Professor Colin Meyer and Research Scientist Aleah Sommers are co-authors of "A model of water extraction from the subglacial hydrologic system under idealized conditions" published in The Cryosphere. The study investigates how removing water from under the ice can moderately slow glaciers by lowering subglacial water pressure. "Our work improves understanding of glacier dynamics and suggests that studying water removal could enhance knowledge of subglacial systems and potentially slow glacier flow," said Meyer.

Jun 27, 2024

Glacier Surges & Floods

Research Scientist Aleah Sommers (pictured) and Professor Colin Meyer won a two-year ~$180,000 NASA grant to work with international collaborators in Pakistan to study the influence of water flowing at the base of glaciers in High Mountain Asia. "Improved understanding of subglacial drainage has great potential benefit for hazard prediction and water resources, in terms of how they are likely to change with continued warming," says Sommers.

Jun 29, 2023

Subglacial Hydrology & Ice Dynamics

Research Scientist Aleah Sommers and Professor Colin Meyer applied a simpler form of the SHAKTI subglacial hydrology model to the Helmheim Glacier in Greenland to predict high water pressure and other variables in seawater movement under glacial ice. Their model improves upon current models by reducing reliance on unconstrained parameters, which have posed challenges to reproducing results. Their findings were published in the Journal of Glaciology.