Research
Meteorology at Reading is world-renowned for its pioneering research on the fundamental dynamics and physics of weather and climate. Our research is tackling some of the most critical environmental issues facing society today, aiming to understand and improve predictions of climate change, hazardous weather and air pollution. In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise, 75% of our research was graded as world leading or internationally excellent, making us the highest-graded UK department focusing on the fundamental science of weather and climate.
We are a thriving community of over 200 research scientists and are highly successful in attracting research funding, our current grants totaling £25M. Many members of the Department also play a leading role in defining national and international research agendas and science policy.
Research Themes
Our research is organized into three overlapping themes, and we host
scientists from a number of research centres. Follow the links below
for details or see a list of
our Faculty
and Senior Research Staff.
Weather Theme
Research areas include mesoscale and dynamical processes, boundary-layer and urban meteorology, radar meteorology, cloud physics and African meteorology.
Climate Theme
Research areas include climate variability and change, radiative transfer, aerosol-climate interactions, oceanography, atmospheric electricity, tropical climate, land-surface processes and stratospheric dynamics.
Earth Observation and Space Theme
Research areas include high-resolution atmospheric data assimilation, data assimilation theory, space weather, land-surface remote sensing, cloud and precipitation remote sensing, and remote sensing and modelling of volcanoes.
Research Centres and Partnerships
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National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS): We host a large number of scientists affiliated to this NERC-funded research centre, including the Directorate and a large fraction of NCAS Climate, a number of NCAS Weather scientists, and the Directorate of NCAS Models and Data. |
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National Centre for Earth Observation (NCEO): We host the Directorate of this NERC-funded research centre, as well as many NCEO scientists working in the use of satellite and ground-based observations to improve the prediction of hazardous weather, climate change, ocean circulation and volcanic eruptions. |
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MetOffice@Reading: We
host
around 25
scientists from the Met Office within the Meteorology building at
Reading, working on advanced nowcasting, convective-scale modelling,
climate change and satellite observations. We are also part of
the Met Office Academic Partnership to advance
the science and skill of weather and climate prediction. |
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Walker Institute for Climate System Research: We are a major part of the Walker Institute, which brings together climate research groups from across the University of Reading to deliver better knowledge and understanding of future climate and its impacts for the benefit of society. |
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International Space Innovation Centre: We are a member of ISIC, a collaborative centre at Harwell between universities and industry to create new space-related technologies and applications. |
We also work closely with the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) located close to the University.
For further information contact the Head of Department for Research Professor Robin Hogan.