Meet GEMMA – the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Measurement and Modelling Advancement
The consortium responsible for delivering this is made up of the National Physical Laboratory, the Met Office, the National Centre for Earth Observation, the National Centre for Atmospheric Science and the University of Bristol.
The team will work to create an integrated network which can monitor all sources and sinks of greenhouse gases in the UK. At present it is only known sources that are being measure and net emissions are calculated from that. Levels of emissions from different sectors will also be measurable, allowing mitigating measures to be precisely targetted.
Professor Sir Duncan Wingham, Executive Chair, Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) said: ‘By working collectively and leveraging new and existing investment and activity, we are harnessing the full power of the UK’s research and innovation system to tackle large-scale, complex challenges.
‘This investment falls under the umbrella of Building a Green Future, one of five UKRI strategic themes of our five-year strategy Transforming Tomorrow Together, and aims to accelerate the green economy by supporting research and innovation that unlock solutions essential to achieving net zero in the UK by 2050.’
Dr Grant Forster, Lead Scientist at National Centre for Atmospheric Science Weybourne Atmospheric Observatory, and Research Scientist at the University of East Anglia added: ‘The GEMMA programme will enable the National Centre for Atmospheric Science to further develop our world-leading greenhouse gas measurement monitoring network. GEMMA will support upgrades at our Weybourne Atmospheric Observatory – a Global Atmosphere Watch station – and our nationwide air quality sites. Our research team will also explore innovative use of drones, as a way to detect greenhouse gas emissions in different environments around the world.’
