A £7.6m investment from the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) spread over the next 7 years will enable the Atmospheric Measurement & Observation Facility (AMOF) to provide improved support for making world-class measurements of the atmosphere.

As part of the National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS), AMOF provides a joined-up service for the UK’s atmospheric science community. AMOF’s experts are on hand to help plan and make world-class measurements with mobile instruments, operate laboratories and observatories, offer data quality checks, and signpost users to open-access data.

First established in April 2020, and drawing on long standing expertise at NCAS and leading research institutions across the UK, AMOF’s capability in atmospheric observations underpins the latest weather, climate and air pollution research, and spans a range of research disciplines, applications and collaborations. 

Offering access to 40 different types of mobile instruments, 4 unique laboratories, 3 specialised observatories, a wealth of archived and live-streamed observation data, and the opportunity to host scientific kit from other organisations – AMOF welcomes applications to use the facility from all parts of the scientific community, including commercial users. 

AMOF’s suite of services are at the forefront of a fast-changing environmental research and technology landscape. The £7.6m boost means AMOF will soon be offering new instrumentation and data products, taking steps to enhance the user journey, and offering training for skills development. 

On NERC’s backing of AMOF’s future, Dr Barbara Brooks, Scientific Services and Facilities Director at NCAS said:

“Over the next 7 years we have a fantastic opportunity to work collaboratively with the science community to achieve bespoke solutions for observing the atmosphere.

“This investment by NERC will enable us to provide continued and improved support for UK scientists. We are here to help the users of AMOF to collect data that will help to address environmental challenges – from forecasting droughts and periods of poor air quality, to modelling robust projections of climate change and measuring vehicle exhaust emissions.

“We are committed to providing support to not only researchers, but industry professionals too, and over the next 7 years we are upping our efforts to enable excellent atmospheric science in the UK and internationally.”

AMOF is maintaining NERC’s world-class atmospheric measurement capability under the leadership of NCAS, and sits alongside three partner facilities: the FAAM Airborne Laboratory, the Centre for Environmental Data Analysis, and the Computational Modelling Service.

The facility is jointly managed by Dr Chris Walden, Dr David Hooper, Dr Grant Forster, and Dr Hugo Ricketts. For further information about AMOF’s bespoke services please contact the management team via amof@ncas.ac.uk and visit amof.ac.uk. 

Follow news and updates on the Atmospheric Measurement & Observation Facility and National Centre for Atmospheric Science by following @AMOF_Science and @AtmosScience on X (Twitter), ncas.uk on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook.

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