The Natural Environmental Research Council (NERC) has invested £70m (US$88.8m) in a network of seven National Center for Earth Observation (NCEO) environmental analytical facilities and field equipment.
The funding has been awarded from NERC’s National Capability portfolio. It will enable UK researchers to continue to access the UK’s pool of field and analytical environmental scientific equipment. This recommissioning of scientific support and facilities will continue until March 2031.
One of the facilities included in the award is the NCEO-led Field Spectroscopy Facility (FSF) at the University of Edinburgh, which provides spectroscopy measurement instruments to analyze the properties of vegetation, soil, rocks and water bodies.
The NERC Earth Observation Data Analysis and Artificial Intelligence Service (NEODAAS) also received funding. It is based at the Plymouth Marine Laboratory, which provides Earth observation data processing and analysis, advice and training, as well as support for researchers using AI with Earth Observation data. NCEO staff at King’s College London and Leicester support the two operations with scientific advice, coordination and expertise.
Prof. Martin Wooster, director of facilities and instrumentation at NCEO, said, “NERC Services and Facilities provide state-of-the-art scientific capabilities, largely free at the point of use for our environmental science community. I’m really pleased that our two NCEO-coordinated Earth Observation facilitates – NEODAAS and FSF – have been announced by NERC as successfully recommissioned today for the next seven years. This demonstrates both the value and service they have and are providing to their users, and a great degree of confidence in their capabilities and plans going forward.”
Prof. John Remedios, executive director of NCEO, said, “These Earth Observation facilities are a key support to the UK community and their renewal reinforces the portfolio of environmental instrument and data infrastructures with which we underpin UK scientific excellence. These ground-based operations are a vital complement to the high-quality satellite instruments we support in space, providing comprehensive insights into UK and global change. We are very pleased that NERC has recognized and rewarded the scientific excellence of the facilities and their users.”
Prof. Peter Liss, interim executive chair of NERC, said, “NERC is committed to fostering ambitious world-leading research in environmental sciences, including investing in the UK’s national capability in environmental science analytical facilities, plus support and research equipment for fieldwork. This significant investment in NERC’s Scientific Support and Facilities portfolio will ensure that our facilities can continue to provide the expertise and support to continue to meet demand from the environmental science community over the next seven years.”
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