FAAM to measure aerosols from biomass burning around remote Atlantic Island
The Facility for Airborne Atmospheric Measurements (FAAM) team has arrived on Ascension Island ready to start taking measurements of biomass aerosol. The FAAM research aircraft will fly around Ascension Island, a remote island in the Atlantic Ocean that is a hotspot for regional biomass burning aerosols released from the African Continent. The island is around 1000 miles off the coast of Africa in a sub-tropical region where there are also semi-permanent low-level clouds, this makes the area a natural laboratory for studying the range of interactions that take place between aerosols, clouds and radiation.
NCAS to lead global project to improve African weather forecasting
The National Centre for Atmospheric Science will lead a Global Challenges Research Fund RCUK funded project to improve African weather forecasting capabilities, and benefit the livelihoods of African populations. The project is called GCRF African Science for Weather Information and Forecasting Techniques (GCRF African SWIFT).
A cautionary tale of identifying the source of a methane plume over the North Sea
Data collected from the Facility for Airborne Atmospheric Measurements (FAAM) research aircraft has been analysed to try and identify the source of a plume of methane observed over the North Sea. A recently published article explains that initial analysis suggested the methane was being emitted from the gas field area, but important analysis of carbon isotopes in the methane revealed that leaked gas was not the main component of the plume.