New Observing Techniques (NOT)
Programme background
Developing techniques and satellite instrumentation for environmental science.
NERC looks to international space agencies, particularly the European Space Agency (ESA) to provide satellites for environmental science. The New Observing Techniques programme aimed to prepare for and influence mission selections by developing techniques and satellite instrumentation for environmental science.
Developing satellite technology is invariably expensive, and securing funds usually takes a long time. So development has traditionally taken much longer than the normal scientific cycle of ideas. To overcome this, NERC worked closely with DTI and the European Space Agency on the New Observing Techniques programme.
The programme ended after NERC committed to funding a new Centre for Earth Observation Instrumentation with a more focussed approach to instrument development.