Providing a seamless supply of climate data from space
UK Space Agency and National Centre for Earth Observation announce climate data project.
Climate data visualisation.
The UK Space Agency and the National Centre for Earth Observation (NCEO) are funding a project that will provide a seamless supply chain of climate data from space, reaching out to new sectors and industries, and stimulating the development of new markets and services.
The UK Climate Data from Space computing zone will boost growth and innovation in the UK’s climate services industries by providing data processing facilities, community tools and software to allow regular production of climate data from currently flying satellite instruments.
The new funding commitment was announced by the UK Space Agency and National Centre for Earth Observation (NCEO) on Monday, 11 April, and has been welcomed by the Climate Data from Space Stakeholder Group (CDSSG).
The CDS-zone will provide dedicated infrastructure and software support to the UK Climate Data from Space community, hosted on JASMIN-CEMS, for an initial period of two years.
Beth Greenaway, Head of Earth Observation at UKSA, said:
This further UK investment in Earth Observation is due to the excellent work of the CDSSG, especially in 2015/16. It has put us in a really great place to make the tangible changes needed to create a seamless supply chain of climate data.
It is anticipated that commercial, societal and scientific benefits to the UK will result from projects hosted.
Professor John Remedios, Director of the NCEO, added:
The UK environmental sciences community have an international reputation for the quality of their climate data sets. Such data sets not only allow us to understand current changes in climate but provide real information on likely impacts. The benefits range from evidence for policy to market information which allows businesses to build environmental considerations into their operations.
The CDSSG was set up in 2014 by the UK Space Agency as a collaborative forum to deliver the Government’s ambitious Innovation and Growth Strategy.
A key target for the CDSSG is to draw together the academic, public sector, civil service and industry elements of the climate data community, and this effective collaboration has been central in demonstrating the UK’s capability in translating world-class science and research expertise into real world applications and services.
Of the seven collaborative projects recently funded by the European Commission’s flagship programme, Copernicus, CDSSG provided support to the five that have UK participation. Four of these are UK-led, with a combined total value of €4.7m.