The Reading campus at Shinfield Park serves as the headquarters of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), focusing on advanced meteorological research, operational forecasting, and training in numerical weather prediction and climate science. This site houses state-of-the-art supercomputers, research teams, and facilities dedicated to producing high-quality medium-range forecasts and reanalyses for global use.
- Numerical Weather Prediction: Courses and research on the Integrated Forecasting System (IFS), high-resolution modeling, and ensemble techniques for probabilistic forecasting.
- Data Assimilation: Training in 4D-Var methods, ensemble Kalman filters, and incorporating diverse observations into models.
- Atmospheric Dynamics and Physics: Studies of synoptic-scale weather systems, convection parametrization, dynamics of extratropical cyclones, and tropical meteorology.
- Climate Reanalysis and Monitoring: Development of ERA5 and future reanalyses, climate variability analysis, and seasonal-to-decadal predictions.
- High-Performance Computing: Optimization for exascale computing, machine learning applications in post-processing and nowcasting.
- Earth System Modeling: Coupled atmosphere-ocean-land models for subseasonal and extended-range forecasts.
- Observations and Predictability: Satellite data assimilation, new space-based sensors, and uncertainty quantification.
The campus offers regular training courses, workshops, and seminars, collaborating closely with the University of Reading and the UK Met Office to advance environmental forecasting capabilities.
