Practical atmospheric science in the Lake District
Dates: Lunchtime Monday 12th May – Friday 23rd May 2025
Location: Blencathra Field Studies Council Centre, Cumbria
Applications open
The Atmospheric Measurement & Modelling Summer School provides the key skills required for practical fieldwork with guidance from leading researchers. We also help you to appreciate the linkages between modelling and observations in a digital ecosystem.
In the beautiful Lake District, we will provide students with a fast-paced and friendly fieldwork experience. You will work in a team to investigate science questions related to the local geography using a combination of observations and modelling.
You will gain confidence, experience, and in-depth knowledge of how real fieldwork takes place and learn how to use models and observations to test hypotheses that improve our understanding of the world and allow us to make better forecasts.
Take note, the Atmospheric Measurement & Modelling Summer School isn’t just for practical scientists. Anyone who works with observational data will benefit from a better understanding of how data is collected.
We encourage applications from PhD students, early career researchers, and anyone with an interest in measurement-based fieldwork. We aim to provide Summer School places for as many applicants as possible. Should we be oversubscribed we allocate places based on your statement of interest within the application form. On this course you will take part in both outdoor practical measurement activities and computer modelling activities. We are committed to making the course inclusive and accessible to all potential participants and we would encourage anyone with an interest in practical fieldwork and modelling to apply. We aim to provide reasonable adjustments, for example to the physical environment or activity design, to enable full engagement with the planned activities through effective consultation. If you want to request adjustments, or flexibility with the course schedule, have any questions or need support with your application please contact training@ncas.ac.uk
How to apply
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Learning outcomes
By the end of the course students will be able to:
- Design and manage a field experiment to answer scientific questions relevant to the surrounding area by combining measurement and model data;
- Build, calibrate and use atmospheric measurement equipment to acquire measurements;
- Make collected data findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable following FAIR principles;
- Interpret atmospheric prediction model data;
- Define errors in measurement, as well as uncertainty in models based on the acquired data.
Prerequisites
In order for students to get the most out of their time on the Atmospheric Measurement and Modelling Summer School we require some background knowledge. This may be obtained through previous study or experience, attendance on an NCAS training course or some pre-course study via e-learning. Access to the pre-learning materials will be provided via the learning management system once registration on the Atmospheric Measurement and Modelling Summer School has been confirmed.
Pre-study options, via attendance on NCAS courses or provided via the LMS:
- We strongly encourage students to attend the Introduction to Atmospheric Science course for a broad background in atmospheric science, including weather forecasting basics. Where students are unable to attend the course they will be asked to view videos of the relevant sessions;
- Complete the Errors and Uncertainty in observations learning module;
- Complete the DEI elearning module;
- Complete the risk assessment elearning module.
- Attend a small number of introductory sessions on zoom before the course. Dates for these will be announced.
Teaching staff
The Atmospheric Measurement & Modelling Summer School is taught by researchers with experience in field campaigns across the globe, from Borneo to Cape Verde, and using models to forecast the impact of volcanic eruptions.
Course schedule
The course is fully residential at the FSC Blencathra with activities taking place between 9am-5pm each day, but there is scheduled free time so you can unwind and adjust to the fieldwork experience.. There will be at least one full day at leisure during the two weeks. We often start the day with short lectures, but most of the time you’ll be carrying out hands-on measurements and working in outdoor locations around the local area.
You are expected to attend the full course and participate fully in all activities.
There will be a small number of introductory sessions (around 2 hours) which will take place online and are an essential component of the course. Dates for these to be announced.
Costs
There is a charge to attend the Atmospheric Measurement & Modelling Summer School. Once you have been offered a place on this course, you will be asked to pay the course fees via the University of Leeds online store. The course fee includes all tuition, activities and materials, and accommodation in shared rooms at the field centre and all meals.
Full academic rate: £2,503
Educational discount rate: £1,669
The discounted rate may be available to students and post-doctoral researchers who are not eligible for the for the subsidised rate.
NCAS Subsidised rate: £1,117
This is available for UK and EU students attending UK universities or students supervised by National Centre for Atmospheric Science staff members.
Travel and accommodation
Accommodation
Accommodation is provided at the Blencathra Field Studies Council Centre, in shared rooms.
Travel
Attendees are responsible for arranging and paying for their own transport to and from Penrith train station.
All students are expected to attend all aspects of the Atmospheric Field Measurement & Modelling Summer School.
Terms and conditions
Fees
Attendees are required to pay in full by credit/debit card or provide a valid purchase order from their home organisation by the confirmation deadline. All payments and refunds are processed by the University of Leeds.
Cancellations/ refunds
Attendee cancellations are subject to a £50 administration fee, plus any accommodation cancellation costs incurred by us, where the cancellation is made more than six weeks (twelve weeks for the Atmospheric Measurement Summer School) before the date of the training course. The remaining balance of the course fee will be refunded.
No refund is payable for a cancellation made within six weeks (twelve weeks for the Atmospheric Measurement Summer School) immediately prior to the training course – in this event the full course fee will remain payable. In the event that a place can be filled by another student then the full fee (less the £50 administration fee) will be refunded once the replacement student has paid in full.
All cancellations must be sent in writing to training@ncas.ac.uk.
Amendments and cancellations
It may be necessary for us to change the content and timing of a course, the staff, the date or the venue. In the unlikely event of the course being cancelled, we will provide a full refund. For all bookings, the liability of the National Centre for Atmospheric Science/University of Leeds shall be limited to the amount of the fee paid to the National Centre for Atmospheric Science/University of Leeds by the delegate.