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TRACK: identifying storms in meteorological data for quantitative analysis

Summary of the impact

Research within the Unit was used to create the "TRACK" storm-tracking and analysis software package, which is used to automatically identify storms from both observed and simulated weather data. The software has been used in academic research to improve understanding of how storms develop and how they may change over time, but TRACK has also found widespread applications outside academia. It has been used to quantify errors in current operational weather forecasts, enabling users to produce more accurate storm forecasts better tailored to their needs. It has been used to develop catalogues of historical storms used in the insurance industry for risk assessment. TRACK has also been used to evaluate the performance of climate models and inform their development and improvement.

Submitting Institution

University of Reading

Unit of Assessment

Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences

Summary Impact Type

Environmental

Research Subject Area(s)

Earth Sciences: Atmospheric Sciences, Oceanography
Engineering: Maritime Engineering

Limiting the disruption to aviation caused by volcanic eruptions using balloon observations and model testing eruptions

Summary of the impact

The 2010 eruption of Eyjafjallajökull volcano, Iceland caused prolonged closure of European airspace, costing the global airline industry an estimated $200 million per day and disrupting 10 million passengers. We have developed and tested models that predict the dispersal of volcanic ash and developed instrumentation to monitor ash clouds during flight bans and used it to test the models. Our research played a key role in establishing the need for a flight ban and in the adoption of a more flexible approach to its staged lifting as the emergency continued. It also led to increased levels of readiness and to new emergency procedures being put in place across Europe which have minimised the economic costs and human inconvenience without an unacceptable rise in the risks to passengers and crew. The new procedures safely eliminated unnecessary disruption to flights in the latter days of the crisis and during the subsequent eruption of another Icelandic volcano, Grímsvötn in 2011.

Submitting Institution

University of Reading

Unit of Assessment

Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Chemical Sciences: Other Chemical Sciences
Earth Sciences: Atmospheric Sciences

Storm prediction improved by sting jet discovery

Summary of the impact

Starting in 2001, researchers from the Unit undertook a retrospective analysis of data from the Great Storm of October 1987 which led to them identifying and understanding a region of extremely strong winds within some storms. They termed these winds a "sting jet". In collaboration with the Met Office, the researchers developed ways to identify sting jets in current and imminent weather and, later, methods to forecast these extremely damaging events up to a several days in advance. These techniques are now used in the UK National Severe Weather Warning Service (NSWWS) and in European storm forecasts. Since the development of this new early warning capability, events have been too few to compile proper statistics; however, there is general agreement amongst the emergency services, local government officials and insurers that the improved warnings of extreme winds have saved lives, minimised disruption and generated considerable cost savings.

Submitting Institution

University of Reading

Unit of Assessment

Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences

Summary Impact Type

Environmental

Research Subject Area(s)

Earth Sciences: Atmospheric Sciences, Oceanography
Medical and Health Sciences: Public Health and Health Services

Robust risk assessments of climate change, flood and drought

Summary of the impact

Research at Newcastle University into stochastic rainfall models and their application has transformed the practice of impact assessment of climate change and risk assessment of environmental hazards across multiple sectors. The Newcastle methods underpin the "Weather Generator", a web-based tool which has been made available since 2009 by DEFRA as part of their official UK Climate Projections (UKCP09). The tool's incorporation into this official data source means that the models generated underpin multi-sectoral risk assessment throughout the UK and subsequently have led to the adoption of stochastic methods in general, particularly in the water and insurance industries to produce more robust risk assessments.

Submitting Institution

Newcastle University

Unit of Assessment

Civil and Construction Engineering

Summary Impact Type

Environmental

Research Subject Area(s)

Mathematical Sciences: Statistics
Earth Sciences: Atmospheric Sciences, Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience

ENV03 - Development of risk assessment methods for the impacts of ground level ozone (O3) on ecosystems to inform European atmospheric emission reduction strategies

Summary of the impact

Research by Lisa Emberson has led to tighter controls on air pollutant precursor emissions of ozone (O3) across Europe benefiting crop and forest productivity, and grassland species composition. Emberson's research led to new risk assessment methods, based on knowledge of atmospheric exchange processes and plant eco-physiology, which assess O3 uptake and related damage using novel flux-based `Critical Levels'. These new methods are being used to optimise emission reduction policy by 26 parties (member states) who have signed and ratified the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Gothenburg Protocol established under the Convention on Long Range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP).

Submitting Institution

University of York

Unit of Assessment

Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences

Summary Impact Type

Environmental

Research Subject Area(s)

Mathematical Sciences: Statistics
Environmental Sciences: Environmental Science and Management
Biological Sciences: Plant Biology

Making sense of complex data through innovations in visualisation

Summary of the impact

New visualisation approaches have been used to turn complex data into actionable knowledge by:

  • The Ministry of Defence to establish analytical possibilities for security critical data analysis
  • Transport for London (TfL) to manage and extend London's successful Cycle Hire Scheme
  • E.ON to interpret data produced through their modelling and in their Smart Home trial, with a view to understanding electricity consumption and reducing production
  • Leicestershire County Council (LCC) to develop an evidence base for a sustainable transport plan; record and analyse the locations of locally valued green spaces; capture local knowledge about flooding events; monitor performance of children's centres; present the results of a survey on service quality and accessibility to citizens; undertake a £100M budget consultation and embed data in decision-making processes to inform policy
  • Willis to understand and assess windstorm risk, communicate the complexity of risk to clients and manage risk across their global offices through a new software system.

These applications of new visualisation methods have had impact on the environment, economy, defence and security, society and public debate. In each case users of our methods report on their positive impact as we help them identify visualisation possibilities, understand their data and use this knowledge to inform their activity. In many cases our work has resulted in important insights, improved exploitation of data and further investment in visualisation with organisational implications in terms of using data for intelligence.

Submitting Institution

City University, London

Unit of Assessment

Computer Science and Informatics

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Information and Computing Sciences: Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing, Computer Software, Information Systems

Image Processing for Fluid Mechanics

Summary of the impact

Mathematically-based image processing techniques developed at the University of Cambridge have helped bring about a revolution in the ability to extract quantitative measurements from laboratory experiments in fluids. Techniques and software tools developed from this research and incorporated into commercial software are now used in engineering, physics and mathematics research laboratories around the world on projects ranging from fundamental research to ones with strong industrial connections.

Submitting Institution

University of Cambridge

Unit of Assessment

Mathematical Sciences

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Physical Sciences: Other Physical Sciences
Information and Computing Sciences: Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing
Engineering: Interdisciplinary Engineering

The development of evidence based biodiversity policy and practice in Northern Ireland

Summary of the impact

Research to quantify the ecological structure and spatial dynamics of terrestrial habitats in Northern Ireland (NI), and to assess the effects of recent land use change, has enabled the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) to develop and implement a science-based strategy for landscape-scale biodiversity management and conservation. It has directly facilitated the integration of NIEA and the Department of Agriculture for NI (DARD) biodiversity management strategies and their monitoring of the implementation of European Community biodiversity legislation (and cross-compliance).

The science information-base and time-series change models developed from the research have allowed NIEA to lead inter-governmental department discussion on biodiversity and land use issues. It has also guided the development of an NI habitat biodiversity management strategy. Specifically, the statistically structured field and analytical methods developed by the research for assessing terrestrial habitats at the regional landscape-scale have been adopted by NIEA as key to reporting on the biodiversity outcomes of implementing the European Community conservation Habitats Directive.

The research has provided a common ecological framework within which NIEA, DARD (including Forest Service) and non-government organisations (Ulster Wildlife Trust and Northern Ireland Environment Link) have been able to discuss and agree on biodiversity and agri-environment management practices in designated statutory conservation sites and the farmed countryside. It has also been key in guiding a NI assessment of the socio-economic value of habitats (ecosystem services).

Submitting Institution

University of Ulster

Unit of Assessment

Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences

Summary Impact Type

Environmental

Research Subject Area(s)

Environmental Sciences: Ecological Applications, Environmental Science and Management
Biological Sciences: Ecology

Synthetic weather sequences informing engineering design and supporting decisions about infrastructure

Summary of the impact

Research conducted in UCL's Department of Statistical Science has led to the development of a state-of-the-art software package for generating synthetic weather sequences, which has been widely adopted, both in the UK and abroad. The synthetic sequences are used by engineers and policymakers when assessing the effectiveness of potential mitigation and management strategies for weather-related hazards such as floods. In the UK, the software package is used for engineering design; for example, to inform the design of flood defences. In Australia it is being used to inform climate change adaptation strategies. Another significant impact is that UCL's analysis of rainfall trends in southwest Western Australia directly supported the decision of the state's Department of Water to approve the expansion of a seawater desalination plant at a cost of around AUS$450 million. The capacity of the plant was doubled to 100 billion litres per year in January 2013 and it now produces nearly one third of Perth's water supply.

Submitting Institution

University College London

Unit of Assessment

Mathematical Sciences

Summary Impact Type

Environmental

Research Subject Area(s)

Mathematical Sciences: Statistics
Earth Sciences: Atmospheric Sciences

Improving Make-To-Order Manufacturing Planning: The Lancaster 'Workload Control' Approach.

Summary of the impact

Over 25 years, research by Hendry and Stevenson has explored the specific challenges faced by Make-to-Order (MTO) manufacturing companies and developed a novel Workload Control (WLC) approach, which has been most notably implemented in PDS Engineering. This led to significant increases in successful bids and reductions in lead times for PDS, with a knock on effect through their supply chain that includes large aerospace companies like Rolls-Royce. Publication of this stream of research led to international collaborations including in the Netherlands and Belgium, where an EU project involving 10 firms and further consultancy work has also led to reductions in lead times, typically of over 50%. The WLC approach is now ready for commercialisation in the UK.

Submitting Institution

Lancaster University

Unit of Assessment

Business and Management Studies

Summary Impact Type

Economic

Research Subject Area(s)

Information and Computing Sciences: Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing, Information Systems
Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services: Business and Management

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