The GlobMODEL team is led by the Data Assimilation Research Centre (DARC) at the University of Reading, UK. Alan O'Neill is the project director and Stefano Migliorini is leading the demonstration activity. DARC is being supported by Assimila Ltd, with Jon Styles undertaking overall project management and Zof Stott managing the study component. ECMWF, KNMI and RIU-KOELN are participating in the demonstration. In addition an expert panel has been assembled to support the team and review the outputs.
The prime contractor for the project with overall technical and managerial responsibility for the work is the Data Assimilation Research Centre at the University of Reading. DARC develops and applies advanced techniques in data assimilation, focusing on research satellite data gathered by UK, European and international research programmes to maximize the scientific and practical returns from these data for Earth System research and environmental forecasting. DARC also provides interdisciplinary training in the use of EO for Earth System science, including a series of prestigious ESA-sponsored Summer Schools focusing on data assimilation. DARC works closely with the operational weather forecasting agencies in the UK and the rest of Europe, and is establishing wider collaborative international research networks.
Assimila is a consultancy company focussing on bringing the benefits of advanced observation and modelling technology to government and commercial clients seeking to monitor, understand, and predict the environment. Through strong links with the research community we help to identify solutions available for our customers and support its implementation through: technical consultancy; project management; strategy & policy development; project and programme design and evaluation; and business case and cost benefit analysis. The company is based on the University of Reading campus.
ECMWF is an international organisation supported by 26 European States. The principal objectives of the Centre are the development of numerical methods for medium-range weather forecasting, the preparation, on a regular basis, of medium-range weather forecasts for distribution to the meteorological services of the Member States, scientific and technical research directed at the improvement of these forecasts, and collection and storage of appropriate meteorological data. Its operational analysis and forecast products are widely recognised as being of the highest quality worldwide.
KNMI is the national institute for weather, climate research and seismology in the Netherlands. In addition to its operational remit, KNMI conducts both strategic and applied research. KNMI is an internationally recognised centre for research, data and information on the global composition of the atmosphere, for example in relation to climate and its anthropogenic component.
RIU's activities focus on atmospheric modelling. A meso-scale chemical transport model system (EURAD) for the troposphere and lower stratosphere has been developed in collaboration with the university and the Research Center Jülich. It has been applied to boundary layer pollution, air traffic emissions and other effects of human activity. New methods for atmospheric chemical data assimilation are being developed and applied and air quality forecasts are available on an operational basis.
Six experts from different applications domains are assisting the study, by providing initial inputs to the consultation and reviewing the outputs. The expert team is made up of: