Category Archives: University of Reading

30 °C days in Reading

Posted on 8 July, 2019 by danaallen

By: Roger Brugge The temperature in the Reading University Atmospheric Observatory peaked at 32.3°C on Saturday 29 June 2019. Press stories were full of pictures of people sunning themselves across parts of the United Kingdom in glorious sunshine – yet … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate, Climate change, University of Reading | Tagged | Leave a comment

Image conscious atmospheric science

Posted on 1 October, 2018 by

By Giles Harrison A frequently-heard mantra in physics is “Like charges repel and unlike charges attract”. At face value this paraphrase of Coulomb’s Law seems useful for clouds too, as, quite apart from the obvious example of thunderclouds, water drops … Continue reading →

Posted in Clouds, earth observation, Measurements and instrumentation, Microphysics, Numerical modelling, University of Reading | Tagged | Leave a comment

Wind generation in the UK during the summer of 2018

Posted on 24 September, 2018 by

By Daniel Drew The record breaking summer of 2018 has featured in a number of recent blog posts (link1 and link 2), but one area not discussed is the impact of the prevailing hot, sunny and calm conditions on the … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate, Climate change, Historical climatology, Renewable energy, University of Reading | Leave a comment

Why was the sky Orange?

Posted on 10 September, 2018 by

By William Davies I was sitting in my house one morning in October 2017, engrossed in what I was doing. Gradually I noticed that an eerie darkness was smothering the natural light in the room. I stopped and looked outside. … Continue reading →

Posted in Aerosols, Atmospheric chemistry, Atmospheric optics, Climate, Climate modelling, earth observation, Environmental hazards, Numerical modelling, Remote sensing, University of Reading | 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

Sting jets in winter storms : how do the winds get so strong?

Posted on 20 August, 2018 by

By Ambrogio Volonté Figure 1: Windstorm Tini (12 Feb 2014) passes over the British Isles bringing extreme winds. A sting jet has been identified in the storm. Image courtesy of NASA Earth Observatory The arrival of a winter storm battering … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate, Climate change, extratropical cyclones, Monsoons, Numerical modelling, University of Reading, Weather forecasting | Tagged , | Leave a comment

DARE to use datasets of opportunity

Posted on 2 July, 2018 by

By Joanne Waller To accurately forecast the weather, we must first describe what is currently happening in the atmosphere. To determine the current atmospheric state, we could use: Previous forecasts (data from complex computational models of the atmosphere) which provide … Continue reading →

Posted in data assimilation, earth observation, Flooding, University of Reading, Weather forecasting | Tagged | Leave a comment

Tibetan Plateau Vortices

Posted on 25 June, 2018 by

By Julia Curio Tibetan Plateau Vortices (TPVs) are meso-scale cyclones that originate over the Tibetan Plateau and move eastwards steered by the subtropical westerly jet above. These storms can also move off the Tibetan Plateau (TP) and travel as far … Continue reading →

Posted in China, earth observation, extratropical cyclones, Flooding, Monsoons, Numerical modelling, University of Reading, Weather forecasting | Leave a comment

The Undergraduate Research Opportunities Programme (UROP)

Posted on 6 November, 2017 by Stephen Burt

By Charlie Williams The Undergraduate Research Opportunities Programme (UROP) is a scheme run by Careers at the University of Reading, enabling undergraduate students in the middle of their degree to work alongside an academic and gain hands-on research experience. They … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate, Climate change, Climate modelling, Monsoons, University of Reading | Tagged | Leave a comment

Confessions of an Admissions Tutor

Posted on 13 March, 2017 by Stephen Burt

By Hilary Weller I am a postgraduate admissions tutor, so I see a lot of applications for PhD positions and I do a lot of interviewing. I would like to share some tips for applicants for PhD and post-doc positions … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Teaching & Learning, University of Reading | Leave a comment