Category Archives: Solar radiation

The Sun’s Magnetic Field: From Minutes To Millennia

Posted on 17 January, 2022 by danaallen

By: Mathew Owens The Sun’s magnetic field varies on all observed time scales. Knowing how the solar magnetic field has changed in the past helps us plan for hazardous conditions in the space environment in the future. It is also important … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate, Climate modelling, Solar radiation, Space | Tagged | Leave a comment

Mapping bio-UV products from space

Posted on 6 May, 2019 by danaallen

By: Michael Taylor Solar radiation arriving at the Earth’s surface in the UV part of the spectrum modulates photosynthetically-sensitive life on the land and in the oceans. UV radiation also drives important chemical reaction pathways in the atmosphere that impact … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate, earth observation, Remote sensing, Solar radiation | Leave a comment

Smoke, science, and sharks

Posted on 5 November, 2018 by

By Ross Herbert In the August of 2017 the Cloud-Aerosol-Radiation Interactions and Forcing – Year 2017 (CLARIFY) measurement campaign took place on a tiny island in the middle of the southeast Atlantic Ocean where we were surrounded by whales, sharks, … Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic, Atmospheric chemistry, Atmospheric circulation, Atmospheric optics, Climate, Climate change, Climate modelling, Clouds, Data collection, earth observation, Energy budget, Environmental hazards, Greenhouse gases, Measurements and instrumentation, Microphysics, Numerical modelling, Solar radiation, Weather forecasting, Wind | Tagged | Leave a comment

Determining the Earth’s energy and water cycles

Posted on 26 October, 2018 by

By Christopher Thomas The Earth’s energy and water cycles govern the distribution and movement of energy and water in the atmosphere, oceans and land. Both energy and water are constantly being transported between different regions of the globe, and the … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate, Climate change, Data processing, earth observation, Energy budget, ENSO, Hydrology, Solar radiation, Water cycle | Leave a comment

Clouds, climate and the Roaring 40s

Posted on 17 September, 2018 by

By Richard Allan In our new research we have traced large and long-standing biases in computer simulations of climate, affecting the tempestuous Southern Ocean, to errors in cloud that emerge rapidly within the atmospheric models. Biases evolve over time through … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate, Climate change, Climate modelling, Clouds, earth observation, Energy budget, Numerical modelling, Oceans, Solar radiation | Leave a comment

Characteristics of cumulus population and microphysical properties observed over Southeast Atlantic

Posted on 28 August, 2018 by

By Yann Blanchard Figure 1. Cumulus in the vicinity of Ascension Island, in a 100 x 100km image (which is close to global climate model spatial resolution) from MODIS onboard AQUA (22 July 2016) Shallow cumulus cover large areas in … Continue reading →

Posted in Aerosols, Atlantic, Atmospheric chemistry, Climate modelling, earth observation, Numerical modelling, Oceans, Remote sensing, Solar radiation, University of Reading | Leave a comment

Producing quantitative estimates of radiative forcing

Posted on 17 October, 2016 by Stephen Burt

By Will Davies Last year the Paris climate conference agreed to an action plan to limit global warming to below 2 degC – preferably 1.5 degC. Various initiatives are measuring performance against this target – such as the global warming … Continue reading →

Posted in Atmospheric chemistry, Climate, Climate change, Climate modelling, Numerical modelling, Solar radiation | Tagged | Leave a comment

Helping National Grid manage the sudden growth in solar power

Posted on 3 October, 2016 by Stephen Burt

By Daniel Drew “In Britain it had been a year without summer. Wet spring had merged imperceptibly into bleak autumn. For months the sky had remained a depthless grey. Sometimes it rained, but mostly it was just dull, a land … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate, Renewable energy, Solar radiation | Leave a comment

Summer in the City – Materials, 3D Morphology and Urban Surface Temperatures

Posted on 7 September, 2015 by Stephen Burt

By Simone Kotthaus Who would have guessed that a zebra-crossing could go viral without a band walking across?! But this year it happened to pictures of a road in Delhi, India as the asphalt softened under soaring heat-wave conditions that … Continue reading →

Posted in Boundary layer, Climate, Solar radiation, University of Reading, Urban meteorology | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Clouds, radiation and sun cream

Posted on 24 August, 2015 by Stephen Burt

By Mark Fielding The summer holidays are still with us, and no doubt many of us have spent time lying on a beach, drink in hand, topping up our tans. However, if your skin is as pasty-white as mine, no … Continue reading →

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