2. NERC & Earth Observation  The UK is a founder member of the European Space Agency. Despite ambivalence about some aspects of space policy, the UK has always shown a whole-hearted commitment to Earth Observation (EO).  Since 2003, NERC has had the responsibility and administers the budget for the UK contribution to the ESA EO science programme.  NERC spends around £45m per annum on developing new missions and instruments with the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA. They are responsible for the subscriptions to two ESA EO programmes:  Earth Observation Envelope Programme (EOEP). This is the science and research element of ESA's Living Planet Programme. Includes Earth Explorer missions, e.g GOCE (gravity field and ocean circulation), Cryosat 2 (polar ice), and SWARM (Earth’s magnetic field).  Envisat, the world's largest Earth observation satellite. GOCE ENVISAT

3. NERC Earth Observation Centres  Prior to 2008, there were six centres concerned with  the carbon cycle (CTCD)  ocean-atmosphere (CASIX) and land-atmosphere (CLASSIC) interactions  EO data assimilation (DARC)  polar ice (CPOM)  earthquakes and tectonics (COMET) These centres were chosen through competitive bids, two per round, funding of the first two centres starting in 2001.  Aim of EO Centre programme was to create a critical mass of people, and implement a joined-up approach to exploiting EO data for key areas of NERC science similar to those that existed for atmospheric sciences and weather data.  Well connected to terrestrial observations and to theory.  Active exploitation of new satellite observations.  Development of new satellite missions and/or instruments.  The EO Centres were distributed over a several universities or research institutions, e.g. COMET had 7 investigators in 4 departments at 4 universities: Cambridge, Leeds, University College London, Oxford.

4. Centre for Observation and Modelling of Earthquakes and Tectonics  To bring to bear the full suite of observations – satellite and terrestrial – in conjunction with simple physical models to obtain the complete picture of the earthquake cycle and deformation of the continents. Each separate observation reveals only part of the natural phenomenon.  Satellite observations include: high-resolution imagery and construction of high-resolution DEMs; deformation measurements using InSAR, GPS, matching of optical images. Earth Observation Terrestrial Seismology Modelling

5. The Dynamic Earth and Geohazards Research Group within NCEO  Extend remit to include all aspects of solid earth that lead to geohazards. In particular, volcanology added with tsunami generation and landslides as future objectives.  Three sub-themes initially: (i) Continental deformation and the earthquake cycle. (ii) Volcanic processes. (iii) Advancing the measurements.  Sixteen investigators in 8 departments from 6 universities: Cambridge, Glasgow, Leeds, University College London, Oxford and Reading. Earth Observation Terrestrial Seismology Modelling

6. Hazardous weather, floods and water resources National Centre for Earth Observation Natural Hazards