NCEO awarded renewed investment for satellite research

The National Centre for Earth Observation (NCEO) have secured five years of investment in its environmental science research capabilities through the Natural Environment Research Council.

The £8.6 million funding award, announced today (Monday, 7 October), will deliver a programme of work translating multiscale Earth Observation data from novel, UK-supported satellites and models into global datasets, scientific knowledge and actionable information that benefits wider science, policy and business communities. 

The University of Reading forms the largest hub of NCEO scientists outside of NCEO’s headquarters in Leicester. Co-located with other scientists from the Department of Meteorology, the National Centre for Atmospheric Science and the Met Office, NCEO scientists at Reading work on many aspects of earth observation, from understanding the characteristics of satellite measurements through to the use of datasets to understand how our climate is changing. 

Professor Amos Lawless, NCEO scientist at the University of Reading, said: “A further five years of funding will enable Reading to continue the long-term science needed to exploit new satellite missions to improve weather forecasts and our understanding of the changing climate.”

Improving weather and climate prediction

The National Centre for Earth Observation is the Natural Environment Research Council’s dedicated centre to the study and exploitation of remotely sensed Earth Observation data, principally from satellites. NCEO researchers work with colleagues across the (inter)national environmental science communities to develop and enhance EO data, translating the raw observations into scientific knowledge and actionable information that benefits wider UK science and policy.

The new funding will enable NCEO scientists to produce more accurate datasets which enable scientists to narrow down the predicted pathways for the next decades of climate change;  to  understand better the energy cycle and its imbalance which reflects climate change; to improve estimates of forest, ocean and atmosphere carbon amounts; study the way in which the atmosphere and its chemistry works on a global scale; improve weather and climate prediction; underpin UK  expertise at the heart of studies of wildfires. 

Professor John Remedios, Executive Director of NCEO, said: “This welcome investment gives a timely boost to the exploitation of new Earth-observing satellites, each of which is designed to meet important science and policy challenges connected to climate change. NCEO’s world-leading teams will work with the UK science and business community to derive unprecedented data with which to understand our planet, deliver on UK aspirations in space and provide value from UK-supported, Earth-focussed space missions.”