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PAGE21 project was featured in a plenary session "Permafrost in the 21st century" at the 2015 Arctic Circle conference in Reykjavik,...
PAGE21 Researcher Profiles: Elin Högström from Vienna University of Technology
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- Created on Tuesday, 08 January 2013 09:20
We are back from the holiday season and start into 2013 with the introduction of the PAGE21 PhD students and Post Doctorates. The researcher will be presented once per week and give you some personal and professional insights of each young researcher.
We are starting the "researcher profiles" with the PhD student Elin Högström. Elin is involved in the Work package 5 "Remote sensing and multi-scale integration" and was one of the organisators of the PAGE21 Young Researchers Workshop, which took place on 13 - 14 November 2012 in Hamburg. Elin also spent a part of the field season 2012 at the field site Kytalik in Siberia.
Elin Högström, Vienna University of Technology, The Institute of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (I.P.F.) (photo: Dorothee Vallot, Uppsala University)Name:
Elin Högström
Institution:
Vienna University of Technology
Nationality:
Swedish
Research Field:
Remote sensing
How are you affiliated with the PAGE21?
I do remote sensing and multi-scale integration of soil moisture using satellite imagery. Soil moisture is one of the key parameters for understanding permafrost development in a changing climate. My work supports other PAGE21 work packages, dealing with modelling and process studies, via provision of improved land surface information.
What is the current challenge within this topic?
Surface soil moisture can be retrieved from active microwave satellite data, but the approach for application in the Arctic needs improvement. Important challenges are therefore to identify and quantify problems specific for these regions, as well as to develop scaling schemes addressing these issues.
How did it happen that you became a researcher?
I wanted to do something for the environment. With time, it became clear that research within physical geography was a way to go for me.
Why do you like being a researcher?
I like understanding how things work, to solve problems, and to communicate knowledge and new insights to others.
Elin at work. Photo: Mattias Ågren, Stockholm UniversityWhat do you like most in being a researcher?
I like the challenges in learning new things all the time. Also, I enjoy very much the international work environment that our department, as well as PAGE21 as a whole, constitutes.
How a typical working day looks like?
Most of the year, I spend the days in the office, processing and analyzing data or preparing some program to do so. But I also have the privilege to spend a few weeks in field, so far in the Siberian tundra and taiga.
Funniest response ever when you told somebody that you are a "polar researcher"?
I usually am more specific and say "permafrost". Then people will go "How's the permafrost doing in Vienna?" (funny every time, right?)
What are your plans for the upcoming three / five years?:
I will finalize my PhD and continue with a postdoc, preferably keeping the focus on cold regions.
Which expeditions do you participate this year in 2013? What do you usually miss the most when being on the field and what are the most interesting experiences so far on expedition?
I plan to go to Samoylov this summer. In Sibera, I missed being a vegetarian. The nicest part is to work outdoors in nature all day, but the social aspect of field work is also very positive. Mosquitoes are quite unpleasant.
