Environmental Monitoring & Modelling

Over the last decade the Environmental Monitoring and Modelling (EMM) Research Group has forged a high-profile, multi-disciplinary approach to geographical science, the intellectual thrust of which links in situ monitoring, remote sensing and simulation modelling to extend our understanding of Earth's hydrological, terrestrial and atmospheric environments and in particular the fluxes of energy, water, carbon, biological and non-biological materials that flow between them.

Research is conducted at multiple spatial scales, from detailed process-based investigations to large-scale regional, continental and even global studies. The group's research is inherently international in scope and impact, and is supported by substantial research funding from a wide range of UK, EU and international sources. The group has two laboratories staffed by dedicated technicians; an Experimental Hydrology and Geomorphology lab primarily used for conducting simulation experiments, and a more analytical laboratory for the characterisation of Earth surface materials and properties. There is also a set of high quality, field-deployable instrumentation such as spectrometers, differential GPS, total stations, weather stations, eddy flux towers, and sensors/data-loggers for examining a wide range of environmental variables and their changes over time and space.

Fieldwork forms an important component of the group's research programme. Recent examples include study of Ecuador's tropical montane rainforests; wildfires and carbon release in Canada; heat emissions from central America's volcanoes; Zambian irrigation schemes; the Tagliamento River in NE Italy, urban climates in Burkina Faso, Poland and North America, and climate and population change in the Sahara.

The group strives to make substantial demonstrable use of their high-impact geographical research in support of decision-making, both in term of assisting policy development and via the provision of 'decision support' tools to those in environmental management. The aim is to strengthen the development and operation of sustainable environmental practices.