51³Ô¹ÏÍø

Here’s a batch of fresh news and announcements from across 51³Ô¹ÏÍø.

From a potential new space mission, to two new chunks of funding to study our changing climate, here is some quick-read news from across 51³Ô¹ÏÍø.

Space probe proposal

A proposal for a new astrophysics mission, involving 51³Ô¹ÏÍø researchers, has been selected for further study by NASA. The Probe far-Infrared Mission for Astrophysics () mission would study far-infrared wavelengths of light from space, which could answer questions about the origins and growth of planets, supermassive black holes, stars and cosmic dust.

PRIMA is one of two proposals that will receive $5million to conduct a 12-month mission concept study, before one will be chosen by NASA to become a $1billion probe mission, launching in 2032.

Team member , from our Department of Physics, said: “PRIMA is a fantastic opportunity to build on our work with the Herschel Space Observatory, and to go much further in studying the cool, dusty universe, revealing the secrets of planet formation, the content of planetary atmospheres, and finding how galaxies and supermassive black holes evolved together.”

UK project partners, funded by the UK Space Agency, include 51³Ô¹ÏÍø, the University of Sussex, Cardiff University and STFC RAL Space.

Renewed environmental funding

The (NCEO) has secured five years of renewed funding from the Natural Environment Research Council. The award was as part of £103 million support for the work of leading UK environmental research centres.

, from the Department of Physics at 51³Ô¹ÏÍø, is a Divisional Director of NCEO, leading work on the Energy and Water Cycles. She said: “UKRI's investment will allow NCEO to continue to underpin 51³Ô¹ÏÍø's world-leading work investigating the Earth's changing Energy and Water cycles. 

“Complementing the European Space Agency's FORUM mission, a particular focus will be the development and scientific exploitation of novel instrumentation capable of measuring the Earth's energy spectrum in the far-infrared, a relatively under-explored region that can deliver unique information about our current climate, how rapidly it is changing, and why.”

Global climate impact

, from our Department of Physics, has been awarded a £100,000 from the Leverhulme Trust.

The funds will support a project looking at recent reductions in global cloudiness and changing patterns of sea-surface temperatures, which have contributed to global warming. It’s hypothesised that these changes are linked to the tropical lower stratosphere – the layer of the atmosphere just above the troposphere, where most of our weather occurs.

This layer has been cooling in recent decades, driven by rising greenhouse gas concentrations and decreasing ozone concentrations. However, how this impacts the troposphere, and resulting cloudiness and sea-surface temperatures, is less well understood.

The prize will allow Dr Ceppi to bring in Dr Aleena Moolakkunnel Jaison, who will investigate this phenomenon with a combination of climate models and observations, to see if they can identify a causal link.

Read more on the .

–

Want to be kept up to date on news at 51³Ô¹ÏÍø?

Sign up for our free quick-read daily e-newsletter, 51³Ô¹ÏÍø Today.