Innovation

Government

Working with the public sector to fast-track progress

NCEO works with public sector agencies and government to fast-track progress in the use of environmental data alongside Earth Observation satellite technology to assist policymakers. NCEO is working most closely with Defra through support of its EO Centre of Excellence, DECC on climate data for EO, and the UK Space Agency/BIS in respect of the space sector and metrology programmes.

The public sector use of Earth observation data is large and increasing, for a range of environmental services, from weather forecasting to analysis of atmospheric composition to forestry and land use change. NCEO is playing a proactive role assisting policymakers and their agencies in their use of Earth observation for a range of outcomes:

  • Evidence-based policymaking for environmental decision-making;
  • Developing monitoring to evaluate and deliver policy goals;
  • Rapid response to major environmental events

NCEO has supported government in obtaining expert inputs on key sectors such as agriculture, organising workshops on Earth observation applications, and understanding international initiatives to use EO data.

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Earth Observation Science to Understand a Changing Planet
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NCEO scientists contribute to a number of  international fora:

  • Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
  • Group on Earth Observations (GEO)
  • Global Climate Observing System (GCOS)
  • The Group for High Resolution Sea Surface Temperature (GHRSST)
Improving weather and climate forecasts

One of our key partners is the Met Office, a relationship that is facilitated by the NERC-Met Office Joint Weather and Climate Research Programme (JWCRP). We also work with individual Met Office scientists and those from other meteorological agencies in a range of projects that use satellite data to evaluate and improve the models.

UK Joint GEO/CEOS office

NCEO is working on behalf of the UK EO community to interface with the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) and the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS).

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Collaboration with the Met Office on air quality

NCEO scientists, in collaboration with scientists at the UK Met Office, are using measurements of the air pollutant nitrogen dioxide to examine how large-scale weather systems affect air quality. This work has led to improvements in the Met Office model used to forecast daily air quality in the UK.

The image shows mean column nitrogen dioxide concentrations under winter anticyclonic (high pressure) conditions for 2005 to 2011. The urban hotspots of air pollution can be clearly seen. Anticyclonic conditions enhance the accumulation of nitrogen dioxide over emission regions.

Nitrogen dioxide concentrations under winter anticyclonic (high pressure) conditions for 2005 to 2011. Anticyclonic conditions enhance the accumulation of nitrogen dioxide over emission regions. Credit: R. Pope, NCEO-University of Leeds.