Edinburgh scientists win funding to monitor climate breakdown from space
EDINBURGH University has been awarded £5 million to use cuttingedge satellite technology to help predict the future impact of climate breakdown on the UK.
In conjunction with the University of Leeds, the new virtual satellite data centre will help shape policies on carbon emission reduction and contribute to reaching the UK’S net-zero targets.
The data centre is recruiting 50 PHD researchers to measure rising sea levels, greenhouse gases and forest and glacier reduction to give policy makers and industries better understanding of what action is needed to cope with the climate emergency and make future predictions.
It is thought the collaborative project could lead to the adaptation of preventative measures for vulnerable areas, including installing flood defences to protect coastal areas, identifying towns at risk of flooding and monitoring pollution levels in towns and cities.
Dr Edward Mitchard, centre leader at the University of Edinburgh, said: “We are looking for outstanding candidates from environmental science, maths, physics, engineering and computer science disciplines to undertake a PHD in this exciting and innovative centre.
“The students will belong to a happy, inclusive and stimulating research environment, with supervision from world-leading earth observation scientists.”
UK Government minister for Scotland Douglas Ross said: “Scotland is home to world leading universities with brilliant research facilities. This funding from the UK Government will help the University of Edinburgh with its vital work in predicting the impact of climate change.
“The UK Government is committed to tackling climate change – becoming the first major economy to pass new laws to reduce emissions to net zero by 2050. Next year we will be bringing world leaders together at the COP26 global climate conference in Glasgow to address this vital issue.”
The 50 new PHD researchers will work closely with experts from UK universities at Leeds and Edinburgh as well as leading Earth Observation scientists and industry-leaders.
The Centre for Satellite Data in Environmental Science (Sense), is a virtual academic collaboration and is being established with funding from the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the UK Space Agency (UKSA). It will work with 18 businesses and partners, including
Airbus and Unilever, who will co-fund, co-design and co-supervise 42 of the PHD research projects.
Professor Duncan Wingham, executive chairman of NERC, said:“the researchers will support cutting-edge scientific discovery, new data-based products and new Earth observation technologies that will provide benefits to society.”
Science Minister Chris Skidmore said: “The UK is a world leader in tackling climate change with our clear target to eliminate our country’s contribution by 2050.
“The University of Edinburgh is helping us meet this ambition through its ground-breaking research.”