The Department of Meteorology has been awarded the highest possible research rating, and is one of the world's leading centres for research in the atmospheric sciences. The research groups currently operating within the Department include:
Associated staff: Prof. Brian Hoskins, Prof. Alan O'Neill, Dr. Julia Slingo, Dr. Ian James, Dr. Paul Valdes.
The Department is home to the Centre for Global Atmospheric Modelling - director Prof. O'Neill, deputy director Dr. Slingo - which is one of the principal contributors to the UK Universities Global Atmospheric Modelling Project. Smaller research groups are investigating the atmospheres of other planets (Dr. James), the past climate of our own planet (Dr. Valdes) and the behaviour of tropical cyclones and waves (Dr. Thorncroft).
Associated staff: Prof. Alan Thorpe, Prof. Keith Browning, Dr. Mike Pedder, Dr. George Craig.
Synoptic and mesoscale research in the Department includes work on severe local storms and fronts and studies of smaller scale weather systems such as squall lines, polar lows, mountain flows and rainbands. Both theoretical and observational studies have been carried out, some in conjunction with the Meteorological Office Research Flight. Much of the research is carried out by the Joint Centre for Mesoscale Meteorology, a joint venture of the U.K. Meteorological Office and the University of Reading, which is based in the Department.
Associated staff: Dr. Anthony Illingworth
The radar group has access to the largest steerable meteorological radar in the world and its work includes observations of clouds and precipitation using dual-polarisation techniques, and Doppler wind measurements.
Associated staff: Dr. Keith Shine
The group studies the interaction of short-wave solar radiation and thermal infra-red radiation with gases, clouds and aerosols and the effect this could have on our climate. There is also work underway on the modelling of ultra-violet radiation.
Associated staff: Mr. George Dugdale, Dr. David Grimes.
The TAMSAT group - TAMSAT standing for Tropical Applied Meteorology using SATellite - is particularly concerned with the deduction of water budgets over Africa and the practical use of the information. The group operates its own satellite receivers in Reading and in Algeria.
Associated staff: Dr. Giles Harrison, Mr. George Dugdale, Dr. Gerard Batts.
This group is concerned with the measurement and modelling of mass and energy exchanges between the surface and the atmosphere, and in the relationship between weather, climate and crop production. It has participated in recent international micrometeorological experiments and, in collaboration with other departments, has created a unique facility for studying the growth of crops in perturbed temperature and carbon dioxide conditions. This is being used to investigate the impact of climate change.
Associated staff: Dr. Stephen Belcher, Dr. David Marshall
The Oceanography group studies both the large scale ocean circulation through observations and the use of numerical and laboratory models (Dr. Marshall) and the interaction between the ocean and the atmosphere (Dr. Belcher).
Associated staff: Dr. Debbie Fish
This group specialises in the measurement of the chemical composition of the stratosphere and the use of photochemical models to interpret observations.
For more information about teaching and research staff within the Department, see the staff directory.