The UK’s Atmospheric Measurement and Observation Facility (AMOF) supplies researchers with the instruments and expertise needed to take precise, real-world measurements of the air around us—from greenhouse gases and pollutants to cloud droplets and wind patterns. This matters because the complex processes that govern air quality, weather, and climate are notoriously difficult to capture in computer models. Without hard data from the field, scientists cannot test or improve those models, and policymakers lack the evidence needed to design effective mitigations for problems such as urban air pollution or agricultural emissions. AMOF fills that gap by providing a central pool of state-of-the-art equipment and experienced staff who guide researchers—especially early-career scientists—through every stage of a project, from planning to data analysis. If AMOF succeeds, it will help produce more reliable forecasts of air quality and climate impacts, and support the development of evidence-based regulations and technologies. The facility also aims to minimise its own carbon footprint, setting an example for how large-scale scientific infrastructure can operate sustainably.
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The Atmospheric Measurement and Observation Facility (AMOF) is a world-class, cutting edge and internationally leading facility for atmospheric observation. It enables research across a wide range of areas including, but not limited to, air quality, greenhouse gases, aerosol and cloud microphysics, surface exchange and micrometeorology, dynamics and convection. AMOF will support expert and non-expert researchers to improve the representation of complex atmospheric processes and the development of evidence-based mitigations to complex problems. AMOF capability is not just the instrumentation, it encompasses the product and service delivered and the support provided through the entire project lifecycle. Facility staff are embedded in host institution groups that are research active and are research-active themselves. It is the long-term support through NC funding of staff that enables them to be repositories of skill and experience, factors that are at the core of enhancing the service that can be provided especially to early career researchers (ECRs) and students. The close relationship between staff and the target communities makes the AMOF provision unique ensuring the Facility is delivering what the community want, the way they want it and to the highest of standards. Key strategic goals for AMOF are: to be agile, inclusive and transparent in meeting the changing needs of all users, to facilitate, support and enable the science needs of a wide and diverse user base, to ensure scientific excellence and value for money, to minimise the carbon footprint of both its own activities and the projects it supports, to ensure staff are enabled to develop and innovate and are actively engaged in the running of the facility.
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