Author Archives: Stephen Burt

Improving estimates of soil moisture over Ghana

Posted on 12 March, 2018 by Stephen Burt

By Ewan Pinnington This work aims to improve estimates of soil moisture over Ghana as part of the ERADACS project. In regions where the population relies on subsistence farming it is soil moisture, rather than precipitation per se, that is … Continue reading →

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A simple way to find out where the moisture for regional rainfall comes from

Posted on 5 March, 2018 by Stephen Burt

by Liang Guo Moisture tracing is an interesting scientific topic that has fascinated meteorologists and hydrologists for decades. Methods for tracing moisture are numerous, from observations to numerical modelling, from water isotopes to remote sensing, from online tracking to off-line … Continue reading →

Posted in China, Climate, Climate modelling, Hydrology | Leave a comment

Stronger windstorms and higher wind risk in a warmer climate

Posted on 19 February, 2018 by Stephen Burt

By Oscar Martínez-Alvarado The most devastating type of winter storms to affect north-west Europe are characterised by a descending jet of air, known as a sting jet, that can result in strong, localised surface winds and wind gusts in a region … Continue reading →

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High speed mathematics: reducing the computation time for weather forecasting

Posted on 12 February, 2018 by Stephen Burt

By Sarah Dance Several times a day, around 10 million observations of the atmosphere are processed by operational weather services, in order to produce the next weather forecast. At the University of Reading, we have been using mathematics to understand … Continue reading →

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Thoughts on Standing up for Science workshop in London

Posted on 5 February, 2018 by Stephen Burt

By Amulya Chevuturi On recently attending the “Standing up for Science workshop” in London, organized by “Voice of Young Science” (VoYS), I got a glimpse of the implications of my science beyond my own desk at work. I went to this … Continue reading →

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Stronger turbulence causes a stir

Posted on 29 January, 2018 by Stephen Burt

By Paul Williams and Luke Storer Our new study calculating that climate change will strengthen aviation turbulence has caused a stir on social media. Most of the online comments about the article have been positive – albeit expressing a little anxiety at the … Continue reading →

Posted in aviation, Climate, Climate change, Environmental hazards | Tagged | Leave a comment

Biomass burning in South America: Impacts on the regional climate

Posted on 22 January, 2018 by Stephen Burt

By Gillian Thornhill Deforestation in south America has many environmental impacts, including loss of habitat, soil erosion, changes to the water cycle and the reduced capacity of the CO2 sink the vegetation provides. Where the vegetation is burned, an additional … Continue reading →

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Bali volcanic eruption: Research to help reduce flight disruption caused by ash clouds

Posted on 8 January, 2018 by Stephen Burt

By Helen Dacre and Andrew Prata The volcanic ash clouds released into the atmosphere by Mount Agung in Indonesia late last year brought back memories of the 2010 eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland, which caused chaos for holidaymakers in Europe. … Continue reading →

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Chaotic Convection

Posted on 18 December, 2017 by Stephen Burt

By Todd Jones In the traditional global climate model (GCM) configuration, models simulate atmospheric motions explicitly on spatial grids with spacings on the order of 100 km. Motions on finer scales are not directly simulated. Instead, we use parameterizations, some … Continue reading →

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Impacts of climate variability and change on the energy sector: A case study for winter 2009/10

Posted on 11 December, 2017 by Stephen Burt

By Emma Suckling Secure and reliable energy supplies are an essential part of modern economic life. But the national and global infrastructures that deliver energy are changing rapidly in the face of new and unprecedented challenges, including the need to … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate, Climate change, Climate modelling, Renewable energy, Seasonal forecasting | Leave a comment