MATHEMATICS OF PLANET EARTH CDT/MET OFFICE ONE WEEK SUMMER COURSE
29 June to 3 July 2020

Applications are invited from PhD students to attend a one-week course on “Modern data-based and complex systems approaches to climate dynamics”.

The course, which will be held at the Met Office in Exeter, is being run by the MPE CDT and the Met Office. The course will be attended by the MPE CDT students who are at the end of the third year of their 4-year programme. In addition, we have a number of places available for external students for which we are now seeking applications.

The principal lecturer will be Professor Henk Dijkstra from Utrecht University https://www.staff.science.uu.nl/~dijks101/

Professor Dijkstra will give five lectures incorporating the following topics:

•  Stochastic climate dynamics
• Tipping elements and transition behaviour
• Intrinsic climate variability
• Weather and climate prediction
•  Climate change

There will also be invited lectures by the following eminent speakers:

• Laura Jackson, Met Office (oceanic thermohaline circulation)
• Anna von der Heydt, Utrecht University (palaeoclimate variability)
• Antje Weisheimer, ECMWF and Oxford University (predictability)

In the afternoons, there will be supervised hands-on lab sessions, allowing students to perform numerical exercises to illustrate the material in the lectures.

The number of places available to non MPE CDT students is strictly limited to 10. These will be allocated to eligible students on a first-come, first-served basis.

The closing date for applications is 29 May 2020.

There is no fee to attend but all students will be responsible for funding and booking their own travel and accommodation.

To apply, send an email to Professor Jennifer Scott (jennifer.scott@reading.ac.uk) giving brief details of your PhD topic together with a statement from you and your supervisor explaining how you would benefit from attending this summer course.

Picture: At the conference centre

The IUGG, which celebrates its centenary this year, is an international organisation ‘dedicated to advancing, promoting, and communicating knowledge of the Earth system, its space environment, and the dynamical processes causing change’ (from the Mission Statement on its website).  The IUGG consists of eight constituent associations, among which the International Association of Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences (IAMAS) and the International Association for the Physical Sciences of the Oceans (IAPSO) are of the most relevance to the MPECDT.  Other fields under the IUGG umbrella include hydrology, cryospheric sciences, seismology, volcanology, geodesy and geomagnetism.

In the General Assembly I presented a poster on my own PhD research, revisiting and proposing a new argument for the finite-time barrier of weather predictability.  The poster turned out to be popular, with a good number of scientists visiting and discussing in depth.  It is great to know these people, especially those who work in the relatively small field of predictability.  Earlier that day, Elena gave an interesting talk on studying southern-hemisphere stratosphere-troposphere coupling using casual network.  A member in the audience came to her after the talk for a follow-up chat which lasted for hours!  In addition, our supervisor Ted Shepherd gave a solicited talk advocating his storylines approach to the construction of regional climate-change information.

Picture: Elena Saggioro’s oral presentation

Picture: I with my poster

For the variety of subjects covered, the General Assembly was also an excellent opportunity for us to interact with geoscientists of other fields and to get an idea of their research.  I did this primarily through the poster sessions, as there’s already so much going on in the oral-presentation sessions of the IAMAS symposia (just a matter of fact: the IAMAS, at 21%, was by far the association with the most attendees), and because it’s easier for a beginner to learn through interacting with a poster presenter than listening to short talks that usually presume some background knowledge in the field.  The outcome of visiting posters in such an international conference could be somewhat unexpected.  This time, I gave a little more focus on posters from remote parts of the world and learnt how research is being done in these places.  To give an example, I saw how hydrologists in French Polynesia use analogue techniques to forecast rainfall and flood on the island of Tahiti which has a complex geography of drainage basins (poster by Lydie Sichoix, University of French Polynesia).  This is a very challenging problem, and I think their commitment to protecting the public’s safety during floods is clear, yet there’s only so much they can do as they don’t have the money to buy even a single RADAR instrument for nowcasting.  The situation in underprivileged places like this definitely deserves more attention.

Aside from the scientific programme, Elena and I spent some time as a tourist in Montréal.  We are delighted to learn how committed Montréal is to sustainability and climate-change adaptation.  The Biosphère Museum of the Environment nicely outlines the resilient city’s master plan 50 years ahead: new space reserved for nature in the city centre, green alleyways throughout the city, and harvesting storm and rain water are just a few examples in their long-term plan.

Picture: The Biosphère Museum

Montréal is also rich of history, culture and diversity.  Churches and museums are everywhere.  There were also a multi-cultural festival and a series of fireworks depicting different national themes during our stay, and we went to some of them.  Situated along St Lawrence’s River, the city is also home to a range of water sports, including white-water rafting which was a fun experience.  Before coming home, Elena and I went up to Mount Royal for an exhilarating view of Montréal, a city that we enjoyed much!

Picture: A panoramic view from the Mount Royal Lookout

Reported by Tsz Yan Leung (Adrian)

Applications are invited from PhD students to attend a one-week course on “Multiscale analysis of atmosphere-ocean flows and related numerical issues”. The course, which will be held at the Met Office in Exeter, is being run by the MPE CDT https://mpecdt.org/ and the Met Office https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/. The course will be attended by the MPE CDT students who are at the end of the third year of their 4-year programme. In addition, we have a number of places available for external students for which we are now seeking applications.

The principal lecturer will be Professor Rupert Klein from the Freie Universität Berlin
http://www.mi.fu-berlin.de/en/math/groups/fluid-dyn/members/rupert_klein.html

Professor Klein will give five lectures incorporating the following topics:
– Scales in geophysical flows
– Asymptotic techniques for multiscale problems
– Asymptotic analysis of large-scale near-equatorial flows
– Well-balanced schemes and time integration of multiscale systems
– Rigorous justification of reduced asymptotic models

There will also be invited lectures by the following eminent speakers:

Hilary Weller, University of Reading (numerics for the shallow-water equations)
Nigel Wood, Met Office (modern NWP model development)
Beth Wingate, University of Exeter (nonlinear resonances and mean flows)
Bin Cheng, University of Surrey (analysis of nonlinear dynamics with three time scales)

In the afternoons, there will be supervised hands-on lab sessions, allowing students to perform numerical exercises to illustrate the material in the lectures. Students will need to bring their own laptop with Python 3, numpy and matplotlib pre-installed, and should have experience solving a hyperbolic PDE in one or more dimensions.

The number of places available to non MPE CDT students is strictly limited to 10. These will be allocated to eligible students on a first come, first served basis.
The closing date for applications is 10 June 2019.

There is no fee to attend but all students will be responsible for funding and booking their own travel and accommodation.

To apply, please send an email to Sam Williams (s.r.williams@reading.ac.uk) giving brief details of your PhD topic together with a statement from you and your supervisor explaining your suitability for this summer school and how you would benefit.

Abstract: The volume of catchment discharge that reaches a stream via the overland flow path is critical for water quality prediction, because it is via this pathway that most particulate pollutants are generated and transported to the stream channel, via surface erosion processes. When it rains, spatial variation in the soil infiltration rate leads to the formation and reabsorption of rivulets on the surface, and local topography determines the coalescence of rivulets.

We consider the question of how coalescence facilitates overland flow using a highly abstracted version of the problem, in which the drainage pattern is represented by a Galton-Watson tree. We show that as the rate of rainfall increases there is a distinct phase-change: when there is no stream coalescence the critical point occurs when the rainfall rate equals the infiltration rate, but when we allow coalescence the critical point occurs when the rainfall rate is less than the infiltration rate, and increasing the amount of coalescence increases the total expected runoff.

Prof Jones profile:

I am an applied mathematician with a background in data analytics, optimisation and simulation. Many of my projects involve assembling data from divers sources, using it to build simulation models, then using those models to inform management decisions. Previous collaborators include the Australian Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (planning for the Post Entry Quarantine facility, a national infrastructure project); the Australian Office of Transport Security (improving security procedures in Australian airports); Rate Valuation Services (a financial services company);  McLaran International (the racing team); Merlin Power Systems (a feasibility study for an emergency response scheme for power generators in the UK); and National Air Traffic Systems (responsible for air traffic control in the UK).

My work makes use of a wide range of computational, analytical and mathematical techniques. I have taught graduate courses in machine learning and data mining, and I am the principal author of a best-selling text book on programming and simulation using the language R. Much of my current research concerns complex spatio-temporal environmental data, in particular problems of water runoff in catchment areas.

With large amounts of food and, true to our environmental CDT leanings, recyclable paper plates and cups and reusable containers, the event was a great success and a great opportunity for cross cohort, cross Reading Imperial bonding. We even had a surprise appearance from David Ham’s 9-month old son Patrick, who very much enjoyed the strawberries that we’d brought for the picnic. We hope to make this picnic an annual event, hosting it next year in Reading.

Reported by: Mariana Clare and Jennifer Israelsson

To register, please click the following link:

https://mpecdtsandpit2018.eventbrite.co.uk

The Schrödinger Lecture

The Erwin Schrödinger Lecture is an annual event named after the noted Austrian scientist. Schrödinger was a theoretical physicist and a significant contributor to the wave theory of matter, a form of quantum physics. He mathematically devised an equation of wave mechanics that bears his name. He was a co-recipient of the 1933 Nobel Prize for physics.

Today he is popularly known for the paradox of Schrödinger’s cat.

The 2016 talk was presented by Professor Sir Gordon Conway, entitled: Can we feed the world sustainably? Interact on social media using the hashtag #securefood.

Recent speakers at this lecture have included 2012 Physics Nobel Laureate Professor Serge Haroche, College de France, and Dr Elizabeth Blackburn, who won the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

Other speakers in the 27-year history of the lecture include Professor Sir Paul Nurse, President of the Royal Society and 2001 Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology winner, and Professor  Stephen Hawking, from the University of Cambridge.

Watch previous editions of the Schrödinger Lecture online via Imperial’s YouTube playlist (external link).

Further details can be found here: http://arxiv.org/abs/1606.08069

For further details please visit the following website: https://whyitrainedtoday.co.uk/

Reported by: Zoe Goss and Goodwin Gibbins. 

The event aimed at increasing professional opportunities and access to a large network of industry & affiliate partners therefore it’s programme included sessions with representatives from industry, including Risk Management Solutions and Lake Street Consulting; panel discussions; and a student-led symposium.

Networking and discussion formed a key part of the event, with a drinks receptions taking place in the late afternoons.

The Jamboree 2016 keynote speakers showcased the power and sophistication of basic research across the spectrum of  the mathematical and computational techniques needed to understand, predict and quantify risk and uncertainty for extreme weather and climate change.  The seminar, delivered by Professor Peter Lynch from the University College Dublin highlighted importance of the numerical weather prediction (NWP) in operational weather forecasting.

The MPE CDT students presented truly excellent overviews of their research interests. The MPE CDT offered two prizes to Paulina Rowinska and Zoe Goss  for the best MRes oral presentations.

Poster sessions provided opportunity for participants to present and discuss their work and network with others working on similar projects. The prizes were awarded for the best poster presentations at the event. We were delighted to award the prizes to:

• Jens Bendel for “Two applications of Bayesian statistics in green energy”
• Thomas Leahy for “A statistical analysis of Tropical Cyclone genesis”

The meeting was concluded by the announcement of winners for:

• MPE CDT MRes Project to Tobias Schwedes and Hinesh Chotai
• Outstanding Interdisciplinary Research to Carlo Cafaro
• MPE CDT Teaching Assistant to Joseph McMillan
• MPE CDT Partner Engagement to Hinesh Chotai (for work with Tom Bent (SSE) on Carbon Markets), Francesco Ferrulli (for his work with Dr Ivan Rungger (NPL) on the study of the properties of graphene) and Joshua Prettyman (for his work with Dr Valerie Livina (NPL) on the study of the detection of typing points)
• MPE CDT Ambassador Award to Jens Bendel and James Jackaman
• MPE CDT Outreach Ambassador Award to Thomas Leahy, Francesc Pons Llopis and Francesco Ferrulli
• MPE CDT Leadership to James Jackaman, Jen Bendel, Tasmin Symons,Jemima Tabeart
• MPE CDT MRes Student Award to Tobias Schwedes

A big thank you to our generous sponsors (Springer, Cambridge University Press, IOP, Oxford University Press, World Scientific Publishing) for their amazing support and commitment.

The awards ceremony was preceded by a speech given by Professor Hans Kaper co-director of the Mathematics and Climate Research Network .

It was a real delight for the organising committee to see so many enthusiastic supporters of the MPE CDT. In particular we appreciate the very considerable interests of industry present at this meeting, underlining the importance of a close exchange between scientists and technology providers for our field of research.

Overall it was a great event, judging by the level of ‘buzz’ in the poster area during the breaks, and feedback received from participants and our sponsors.

Finally, the meeting couldn’t have happened without the dedicated teamwork of the organising committee: Dr Tristan Pryer and Jill Hazleton (Centre Manager – Reading).