Professor Wolfgang Rack

Position: Director, Gateway Antarctica, and Professor, School of Earth and Environment, University of Canterbury.
Field: Glaciology and remote sensing

Dr Wolfgang Rack, a senior lecturer and professor at the University of Canterbury School of Earth and Environment, says he has always loved flying and seeing the world from above. He grew up in the Austrian Lake District, an area in the European Alps known for its record snowfalls, and could see the Dachstein Glacier from his house. As a child, he enjoyed skiing and ice-skating. Wolfgang’s youthful love of flying and winter sports has developed into a career that involves satellite remote sensing of snow and ice.

Wolfgang began his scientific career with an MSc in meteorology and a PhD in glaciology at the Institute for Meteorology and Geophysics at the University of Innsbruck in Austria. During his studies, he used satellite and Space Shuttle flyovers to make simple reference measurements – like snow height on glaciers. This was a new and exciting field in the 1990s. As a student, Wolfgang researched glacier shrinkage and growth and climate change. His work took him to the European Alps, Patagonia and Antarctica.

Rights: Dr Wolfgang Rack, University of Canterbury

Dr Wolfgang Rack drills through the ice

Dr Wolfgang Rack uses a drill to measure ice thickness and density in Antarctica.

Wolfgang went on to work at the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in Germany. His research took him to Greenland, Svalbard (the northernmost part of Norway) and Antarctica. During this time, Wolfgang began working with an airborne simulator for the new CryoSat satellite.

Since 2006, Wolfgang has been at the University of Canterbury. His research interests are twofold – satellite and airborne remote sensing of snow and ice and mass balance studies of glaciers and ice sheets. Wolfgang uses satellites to measure the thickness of land and sea ice in Antarctica. He travels down there each year to physically measure the ice to validate the satellite measurements.

Whenever I can, I try combining my interest for satellites with outdoor activity. Skiing in Antarctica is the ‘coolest’ thing one can imagine!

Whenever possible, Wolfgang tries to combine his interests in satellites with outdoor pursuits. If he finds himself with a bit of spare time between ice measurements in Antarctica, Wolfgang puts on his skis and heads outdoors.

This article is based on information current in 2013 and 2025.