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New centres are launched to monitor and predict climate change

31 March 2003

Two new Centres of Excellence in Earth Observation are announced today by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). £4m over 5 years is being invested by NERC in the two centres.

The Centre of Observation of Air-Sea Interactions & Fluxes (CASIX) will be managed by the Plymouth Marine Laboratory and the Climate & Land Surface Systems Interactions Centre (CLASSIC) will be managed by the University of Wales, Swansea. Although based at these locations, each centre will operate as a consortium involving large numbers of experts from other organisations.

Although investigating different parts of our climate system, the centres have a common aim - to use Earth observation data from satellites and models to more accurately monitor and predict changes. CASIX will focus on improving our understanding of the interaction between the air and the sea. CLASSIC will investigate the interaction between the land and the atmosphere, and the impact of changes at the land surface on climate variability.

The Directors of the two new centres warmly welcomed the announcement.

"Accurate predictions of changing climates are still very difficult to make," says Professor Jim Aiken, Director of CASIX. "We expect that, through CASIX, we shall be able to quantify the ocean fluxes of carbon dioxide exchanged with the atmosphere and thereby constrain both the terrestrial component and the global carbon dioxide budget."

By using data from satellites such as Envisat, which uses instruments to scan the Earth and monitor the health of the planet, CASIX will be able to vastly reduce errors in predicting climate change. The centre will merge the Met Office’s ocean modelling team and other major UK academic research groups. This will accelerate the development of new techniques for forecasting future trends in the relationship between the land, the air and the sea.

Professor Mike Barnsley, Director of CLASSIC, is delighted that some of the uncertainties in assessing the actual and potential effects of climate change are being addressed.

"An improved understanding of the interaction between the land and the atmosphere is essential to the more accurate assessment of climate change. CLASSIC will bring together experts in Earth observation, hydrology and meteorology to work on this important issue," he says.

CLASSIC will provide a programme of fundamental research, using satellite data and developing enhanced climate prediction models. It will act as the focus for collaboration between UK researchers and their counterparts around the world, and will help to train the next generation of researchers needed in this rapidly developing field.

Further information

Prof Jim Aiken
CASIX
Plymouth Marine Laboratory
Tel: 01752 633429

Prof Mike Barnsley
CLASSIC
University of Wales, Swansea
Tel: 01792 295647

NERC Press Office
Natural Environment Research Council
Polaris House, North Star Avenue
Swindon, SN2 1EU
Tel: 01793 411561
Mob: 07917 557215

Notes

1. NERC will invest £2m into each of the new centres. This will provide the core funds on which the centres will build their business. The centres will establish links and compete for funding with both UK and International organisations.

2. The consortium of organisations that make up the two centres are:

  • CASIX - University of East Anglia, University of Edinburgh, University of Leicester, the Met Office, University of Plymouth, Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Proudman Oceanographic laboratory, University of Reading, Southampton Oceanography Centre, and the University of Wales, Bangor.

  • CLASSIC - University of Wales, Swansea, NERC's Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, University of Durham, the Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research and the Environmental Systems Science Centre at Reading.

3. NERC funds and carries out impartial scientific research in the sciences of the environment. NERC trains the next generation of independent environmental scientists.

Press release: 04/03

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