Reza Bordbari

Reza Bordbari is a postgraduate researcher on the Satellite Data in Environmental Science Centre for Doctoral Training (SENSE CDT). Based in the Institute of Geophysics and Tectonics (IGT), he is supervised at the University of Leeds by Professor Andy Hooper. 

Reza investigates how the ground beneath the Antarctic ice sheet is responding to the ice mass changes, with the aim of improving estimates of ice loss. He said:

“I decided to continue my studies at the University of Leeds because of the strong scientific reputation of the lead supervisor of the project, the university and research groups and the close collaboration of the scientists with industry.  

“I especially found the research project interesting and quite relevant to my research interests. I also wanted to engage with people from different backgrounds, so multidisciplinary of the Remote Sensing research team is appealing. 

“Moreover, joining the IGT has given me the opportunity to contribute to its focus on environmental monitoring; to continue my research on SAR technology for remote sensing applications, and work towards becoming a world-class scientist.”

I chose... Leeds because of the strong scientific reputation of the lead supervisor... research groups and the close collaboration of the scientists with industry.

Tackling global challenges

Reza’s focuses on how we can use advanced radar remote sensing techniques to better analyse InSAR data for the Antarctic uplift measurement through his research. He explained:

“InSAR is a radar remote sensing technique that has transformed remote sensing from a largely interpretive science to a quantitative tool by providing spatially dense measurements of surface displacement from space.

“Ice loss from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet already accounts for around 10% of present-day global sea-level rise and is accelerating. As the mass of the ice changes, the ground beneath responds to the change in surface loading. In this project, we hope to contribute to better understanding how the ground beneath the Antarctic ice sheet is responding to the ice mass changes. This in turn will improve estimates of ongoing ice loss.”

Ice loss from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet already accounts for around 10% of present-day global sea-level rise and is accelerating... In this project, we hope to... improve estimates of ongoing ice loss.

Industrial experience

Reza’s academic training and two years of experience working as research assistant and consultant engineer prepared and inspired him to pursue his research topic. Reza said:

“During my MSc studies at K. N. Toosi University of Technology, I carried out extensive research on information extraction form Polarimetric SAR (Pol-SAR) data, and become quite familiar with a wide variety of topics such as: concept and physics behind imaging Radar, coherent signal processing, noise statistics and filtering techniques, land surface deformation monitoring using In-SAR data, etc. 

“Moreover, I had the chance to attend some Telecommunication Engineering-oriented courses and workshops, which helped me further deepen my knowledge and expertise in Radar Remote Sensing, so that, I managed to publish two journal and two conference papers related to my master’s thesis.”

He continued: “My Motivation to pursue a PhD comes from my research experience during my Masters studies and the interesting applications of Synthetic Aperture Radar Interferometry (In-SAR) in Geodesy and environmental monitoring. 

“I should say that the Radar Remote Sensing field of research and applications, in particular those related the In-SAR techniques and algorithms, are really interesting for me. In general, as an engineer, my enthusiasm is to connect theoretical ideas to real-world applications and estimate unknown parameters from remote sensor observations.”

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