https://www.markusallgaier.com/news daily 0.75 2022-10-24 https://www.markusallgaier.com/news/wrapping-up-a-field-season-of-snow-reflectometry-and-getting-ready-for-the-next monthly 0.5 2022-10-24 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61afa9222cbb2902f4446831/bfdf2eb4-8c69-457a-88dd-371860aa0a90/Layout_simple.jpg News - Wrapping up a field season of snow reflectometry - and getting ready for the next - Effective particulate concentrations Last winter, I measured snow properties in 24 locations in the Oregon Cascades. Mostly, the snow behaves predictable. Grains are small when the snow falls, and grow larger over the next couple days. The snow is relatively clean when fresh and gets dirtier over time. It is light and fluffy at first and snowly gets denser and stickier. The absorption coefficient then describes how much light the individual grains, which are made up from ice, absorb. Subtract the absorptivity of clean ice, and you get the component that is caused by particulates (“dirt”) in the snow. The map shows this component converted to the concentration of black carbon, i.e., soot. Tat means, if the particulates ere all made up from soot (which they aren’t, but I also don’t have a way of finding out what it is exactly), this would be the concentration in the snow. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61afa9222cbb2902f4446831/3cd1edaf-5395-48cc-a4f2-98a6e563cf17/Feedback.PNG News - Wrapping up a field season of snow reflectometry - and getting ready for the next - Grain size feedback The top plot compares the average ice absorption coefficient in burned and unburned areas. A larger value means that the snow is dirtier. No surprise, the higher values are in the burned areas. The bottom plot, however, shows snow grain size: And again, the higher values are found in burned areas! https://www.markusallgaier.com/news/paper-on-low-cost-laser-reflectometer-for-snow-science-is-out monthly 0.5 2022-10-24 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61afa9222cbb2902f4446831/f2c6e485-cde0-41d3-aab9-88c5415bc741/photo2.JPG News - Paper on low-cost laser reflectometer for snow science is out! The laser reflectometer uses a blue laser and a red laser and measures the “size” of the area from which light is scattered back from the snow. Ice strongly absorbs red light and is almost transparent for blue light, while it scatteres light in the same way for all colors. This way the two measurements give the difference in light absorptions at the two colors - that tells the user how contaminated the snow is. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61afa9222cbb2902f4446831/b8b8b1de-9989-40df-89fc-8a43cdb1c41a/SnowGadget.jpg News - Paper on low-cost laser reflectometer for snow science is out! - Make it stand out An early version of the reflectometer and one of the scattering samples in the lab. In this case, the laser draws power directly from the phone’s USB-C port. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61afa9222cbb2902f4446831/ca724570-049e-4cc3-9f7d-8d5ba40a38d7/_DSC3550_filtered.jpg News - Paper on low-cost laser reflectometer for snow science is out! - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.markusallgaier.com/news/new-paper-out-direct-measurement-of-optical-properties-of-glacier-ice-using-a-photon-counting-diffuse-lidar monthly 0.5 2022-10-24 https://www.markusallgaier.com/news/snow-optics-talk-at-wsc-2022 monthly 0.5 2022-05-04 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61afa9222cbb2902f4446831/5ce70643-6420-495f-b984-4b4624c30c87/Capture.PNG News - Snow Optics Talk at WSC 2022 - Make it stand out I imagined that everyone would have a pretty snow picture as a cover slide, so I tried my best to fit in! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61afa9222cbb2902f4446831/e2618903-fb9e-43b8-bd49-ef1afc2bae2e/Capture2.PNG News - Snow Optics Talk at WSC 2022 - Make it stand out A look at some preliminary data on the increased snow absorption after a wild fire. As an example, the increase in absorption is converted to an “effective” black carbon concentration, which is significantly increased inside the fire perimeter from the 2020 Thielsen Fire. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61afa9222cbb2902f4446831/c61c2ace-50fc-452d-b360-e8eb05bf3bbb/LRM_20220418_142419.jpg News - Snow Optics Talk at WSC 2022 What makes the Western Snow Conference special is the attendance of many practicing hydrologists - forecasters and managers at non-profits and utility providers - as well the researchers that directly work with them to improve forecast methods for runoff from snow melt that feeds North America’s Southwest rivers. As such a meeting, it was particularly valuable to see what models these people employ and how my measurements could possible help them refine their models. https://www.markusallgaier.com/news/article-in-the-yearly-cocc-magazine monthly 0.5 2022-04-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61afa9222cbb2902f4446831/274f2c1c-c7c3-4deb-ba40-d92d8a4b25a2/cocc-magazine-0222-cover-web.jpg News - Article in the yearly COCC magazine On our trip to Collier Glacier last September, Hal Wershow, geology professor at the Central Oregon Community College, tagged along. One of his students came along as well. As it turns out, we’re now hearing some echos as the college featured our work in their yearly magazine. Not only does the magazine contain a fantastic article about our work and the fascinating glacier environment, but it is also featured on the magazine cover in the form of an illustration by Bend-based art professor Venus Nguyen, which perfectly captures the magical atmosphere and light we enjoyed on Collier https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61afa9222cbb2902f4446831/a1a86dbe-4e97-42b1-9b70-878fe54204fc/Capture.JPG News - Article in the yearly COCC magazine Not only is our work featured on the cover, but the article opens with one of the stunning photographs by Eugene photographer Jon Meyers. https://www.markusallgaier.com/news/snow-field-work monthly 0.5 2022-01-25 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61afa9222cbb2902f4446831/0ba5a7e1-edf2-415d-966e-10734be5d430/IMG_20211214_093618664_HDR.jpg News - CASCADES:SNOW field work begins We set out from Dutchman Flat Snopark near Bend, Oregon at cold-o’clock to ski up towards Broken Top, measure reflectance spectra, try the new laser sensing method and get a data set fit for publication. Easy. Except that champagne powder on a blue bird day doesn’t make any of this easy. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61afa9222cbb2902f4446831/09ab9bbe-8ff5-4c57-ae75-4f9600dfcdbd/_DSC3175.JPG News - CASCADES:SNOW field work begins - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61afa9222cbb2902f4446831/bbb9045c-9812-42b2-ab12-a57561a3fb3e/_DSC3153.JPG News - CASCADES:SNOW field work begins What I learned is that the sun is an inconvenient light source, reflectance spectroscopy isn’t as easy as I thought, and light, fresh powder is better for skiing than it is for science. https://www.markusallgaier.com/news/ode-to-a-glacier monthly 0.5 2021-12-16 https://www.markusallgaier.com/news/our-project-at-nwg2021 monthly 0.5 2021-12-08 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61afa9222cbb2902f4446831/f51e49cd-f028-4181-9eb2-e602d1b328c8/cover.JPG News - Our project at NWG2021 - Make it stand out I was excited for this opportunity, even though the meeting was virtual for the second time during the pandemic. The Northwest is home to some of the experts in the optical properties of ice and snow, and the talk was well received. I got to meet many new faces and exchange ideas, hopefully some of them will lead to new collaborations. https://www.markusallgaier.com/news/field-work-on-collier-glacier monthly 0.5 2021-12-08 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61afa9222cbb2902f4446831/d39df88f-7c2a-4e5a-abda-6bd1142d1029/_JCM5787.jpg News - Field work on Collier Glacier Collier Glacier is one of the better understood glaciers in Oregon, along with Eliot on Mount Hood. All that means is that someone has done research here before, but glaciology in the Cascades is far from the continuous monitoring efforts of the alps and parts of Alaska. At least there is good data on the glacier’s albedo - the portion of solar radiation that gets reflected by the ice and snow - and useful information on the reasons behind that, namely how local wind patterns transport dust from North Sister onto parts of the glacier. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61afa9222cbb2902f4446831/470e363a-61e6-4b57-add5-b3213575ccc9/_JCM5813.jpg News - Field work on Collier Glacier We pitched tents in the old glacier forefield. 100 years ago, this place was covered in thick glacier ice, reaching almost to the Pacific Crest Trail. Now it was an hour-long hike to get to ice, which was our daily commute. We hiked up as the sun set, gaining elevation exposed amazing views towards Mount Washington and beyond to the north, and we settled into our first field site on the edge of the glacier terminus. Between a broken cable that I had to fix right there and me confusing my filters, I did get promising data. We stayed on the glacier until after midnight, packed everything up, but left the equipment in the hardcases on the ice to move them further up the next day. By the time we made it back to camp, we were cold, but once in my sleeping bag I couldn’t stop myself and spent another hour looking at the data, which turned out to be spectacularly better than the one we had collected on Crook the week before. But then it is a much nicer and cleaner glacier with less debris. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61afa9222cbb2902f4446831/f2caecc1-6199-46fa-8dcb-27b19971ce6e/LRM_20210925_142553.jpg News - Field work on Collier Glacier In the morning, Matt and Johnny found us at our camp, they hadn’t quite made it the night before. They helped me move my equipment a little bit further up on the glacier into a zone that was supposedly cleaner, according to Keith Mountain’s albedo map. Matt also helped me to measure the density of the ice, information we would need later to estimate the concentration of impurities in the ice that would lead to the observed lowering of the absorption coefficient. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61afa9222cbb2902f4446831/79bf2634-1a1e-4a29-aab2-ec8c9ccf07fa/_JCM5864.jpg News - Field work on Collier Glacier The second night rolled around, this time I knew my setup a little better, had a better plan what to do, and I was able to get my data - a collection of several measurements at different wavelengths, scattered over an area the size of a parking space - by 11pm, making it back with all of the equipment by midnight, for another cold night in the tent. https://www.markusallgaier.com/news/4yws86aueo5n0dw7f0h7xztbrzaps9 monthly 0.5 2021-12-08 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61afa9222cbb2902f4446831/3bbbc4f7-0a82-403f-8ffe-9229535f12e8/_JCM5512.jpg News - First field trip - Make it stand out When I was wrapping up testing and calibrating my new photon-counting LiDAR that I would use to measure the optical properties of glacier ice, one of my mentors at the lab - retired professor Mike Raymer -suggested we should “try it out somewhere” before taking the new instrument up on a glacier. He had a point: I didn’t want to walk up to the glacier, find out something didn’t work, the glacier behaved different or there was a mistake in my theoretical predictions, and come back empty handed. For field work, the pressure was on, it had to work, and the first snow moving in threatened t end the glacier season. But the setup was designed to work specifically with the properties of glacier ice - not snow, or water, or scattering phantoms like the ones used for medical imaging. There was nothing that would work, only glacier ice. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61afa9222cbb2902f4446831/95811d5f-7d7f-4d74-aba1-ecf407b5fba5/DSCF2892.jpg News - First field trip So me and my helpers for the day hiked up, set everything up in a basically random spot (not that we knew what a “good” spot looked like), and shot some lasers. Even before wiring up the detector, we saw the first pleasant confirmation of what I hoped glaciers around here looked like: Bubbles. In the backscattered green light, there were clearly visible bubbles in the ice. So they didn’t exist only in deep ice in the arctic, but close to the surface even on a small glacier in Oregon. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61afa9222cbb2902f4446831/90126cf8-1547-4c88-943c-0fc87c07670b/LRM_20210916_201038.jpg News - First field trip Round, beautiful bubbles! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61afa9222cbb2902f4446831/7195c050-39c0-4720-87ea-90c907dcc649/_JCM5542.jpg News - First field trip - Make it stand out As it got dark, I started the photon counter. First I didn’t see anything at all. The only reference measurements to tell me what I could expect were from Greenland. I’ve never been there, but I assume it doesn’t look anything like Oregon. So I moved the detector closer to the laser, cranked up the power, as one would have to if the ice was a lot bubblier and dirtier than it usually is in Greenland, and there was my signal! At the edge of what my setup was capable of measuring, but it was there. I went through the set of tests I had planned on doing, got some nice data, and called it a night. It wouldn’t be the most spectacular data set or something that anybody would even be interested in, but now I know how to set everything up and how to get data. I call that a success. https://www.markusallgaier.com/home daily 1.0 2025-04-10 https://www.markusallgaier.com/about daily 0.75 2024-01-24 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61afa9222cbb2902f4446831/4ce9bf6c-4e3a-43ec-996f-644d71e59d36/_JCM5604.jpg About I’m an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics & Astrophysics at the University of North Dakota. I’m a quantum optician by training, which means that I’m an expert in engineering light sources, interactions of light with its environment and measurement techniques for small quantities of light in general. During my PhD I learned to develop optical measurement techniques for quantum optics and telecommunication. Since 2019 I shifted my focus further towards optical sensing. I’ve worked on projects related to spectroscopy with quantum light, and lately environmental sensing. Moving my research from the optics lab to questions related to the environment and climate change allowed me to combine my scientific expertise with my passion for the outdoors. I experience through hiking, rock climbing, mountaineering and skiing. Developing optical sensing equipment for environmental science and climate research gives me the opportunity to make connections with researchers outside of physics and to spend more time in the environment I love. I believe that developing easy to use, portable and low cost instrumentation brings more people into the fight against climate change and opens research up to those without six-figure research grants. In the lab, I’m exited to work in interdisciplinary teams and give physics-support to researchers in engineering and earth science. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61afa9222cbb2902f4446831/d857d61c-b628-4a30-b7bb-930d6ffeb42a/i-Zf5MQqb-X4.jpg About - Private Life As an avid long-distance runner, gravel cyclist and skier I like to spend my free time out on the trails. I especially enjoy skate skiing the trails near my home in Grand Forks, North Dakota. The running community has been a home wherever home has been at the time and has connected me with amazing folks around the world. After a long day out, I enjoy home-made Pizza, bad movies and good espresso. https://www.markusallgaier.com/pagecv daily 0.75 2026-02-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61afa9222cbb2902f4446831/17cfe635-c84e-4ca3-85ad-eb446ba7c421/UND_Optics_4260.jpg CV - Markus Allgaier Address: University of North Dakota Department of Physics & Astrophysics Cornell St 101 Grand Forks, ND 58202, USA Email: markus.allgaier@und.edu https://www.markusallgaier.com/projects daily 0.75 2024-01-24 https://www.markusallgaier.com/projects/quantum-networking monthly 0.5 2024-01-24 https://www.markusallgaier.com/projects/diffuseoptical-characterization-of-glacier-ice monthly 0.5 2021-12-08 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61afa9222cbb2902f4446831/30908e56-4951-421e-b5b3-25d9fa15c5b1/_JCM5789.jpg Projects - Diffuse-optical characterization of glacier ice - Field Work September ‘21 Crook Glacier / Broken Top Collier Glacier / North Sister Both glaciers are located in the Three Sisters Wilderness, Oregon and only accessible on foot. Collier Glacier is the only glacier in the area that is well studied. This temperate valley glacier has retreated dramatically in the last 100 years, but still provides excellent and safe conditions for field work. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61afa9222cbb2902f4446831/a8d13bf3-e3e9-47cc-a923-9883801e9030/_JCM5847.jpg Projects - Diffuse-optical characterization of glacier ice - Support Development of the instrument and field work are supported by the University of Oregon through the Renee James Seed Grant Initiative (PIs: Brian J. Smith, Sarah W. Cooley, Johnny C. Ryan, Research Personnel: Markus Allgaier) https://www.markusallgaier.com/projects/cascadessnow monthly 0.5 2021-12-16 https://www.markusallgaier.com/projects/entangled-two-photon-absorption-spectroscopy monthly 0.5 2021-12-08 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61afa9222cbb2902f4446831/a72bdf2f-94ad-4004-9eca-4cf95fdfb08a/DSC_0214.jpg Projects - Entangled two-photon absorption spectroscopy - My role in the project With Tiemo doing most of the heavy lifting in the lab, and Tiemo and Mike Raymer taking care of the theory work, my main role was in the beginning. When we first discovered that eTPA wasn’t as straight-forward and useful as we thought, I designed an experiment that would test the limits and put limits on the enhancement achieved by entangled photon pair. After helping that experiment and publications along, I still assist in designing new experiments and writing papers that hopefully end in a practical application. With my focus on new sensing techniques based on light and quantum optical techniques in particular, this is still one of my favorite projects to ever work on as it relies on all of the quantum optics tools in our arsenal - photon counting, pair sources, nonlinear processes, ultrafast optics.