We collaborate with other national meteorological services and international establishments in a range of projects, each with the common objectives of gaining a better understanding of the atmosphere and oceans, and the free exchange of data. On this page you will learn more about some of the projects we are involved in.

In this section you will find information on the radiosonde network operated by participating members of EUMETNET.

AMDARs (Aircraft Meteorological Data Reporting) systems are carried on board aircraft and automatically measure various atmospheric parameters which are sent to data receiving centres and eventually are used in numerical weather prediction models.

Argo will be a global array of 3,000 free-drifting profiling floats to measure the temperature and salinity of the upper 2,000 m of the ocean. Argo data are used in operational ocean models, coupled seasonal forecasting models and will help in detecting climate change in the oceans.

GCOS is intended to be a long-term, user-driven operational system capable of providing the comprehensive observations required for monitoring the climate system, for detecting and attributing climate change, for assessing the impacts of climate variability and change, and for supporting research toward improved understanding, modelling and prediction of the climate system. It addresses the total climate system including physical, chemical and biological properties, and atmospheric, oceanic, hydrologic, cryospheric and terrestrial processes.

The UK Regional Specialized Met Centre (RSMC) is operated from the Met Office headquarters in Exeter. RSMC Exeter and RSMC Toulouse have joint responsibility for Environmental Emergency Response requirements in World Meteorological Organization (WMO) regions VI and I which covers Africa and Europe. RSMCs exist to provide advice in the event of a nuclear accident.

A group of European national meteorological services with the aim of closer collaboration in the development of techniques for short range weather prediction.

An international project using wind profilers across Europe.

EuroSPICE and SOLICE are both projects concerned with how changes in the climate and environment may affect processes in the stratosphere.

The NWP SAF is a EUMETSAT funded project that exists to co-ordinate research and development efforts among the SAF partners to improve the interface between satellite data and NWP for the benefit of EUMETSAT member states.

The Stochastic Precipitation Nowcast Programme (SPNP) was established at the Joint Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Research in July 2001. The primary aim of the Programme is to oversee research and development projects whose purpose is to improve the quality, reliability and timeliness of operational precipitation nowcasts and early warnings of extreme precipitation events.

The MAXWAVE research project is funded by the European Community Fifth Framework Programme contributing to the implementation of Key Action 3: Sustainable Marine Ecosystems within Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development.

ESODAE is a collaboration between a number of European organisations interested in the development of models to analyse and forecast the oceans of the north-west European shelf, with a particular interest in the use of data assimilation techniques.

PRISM is a research project supported by the European Commission under the Fifth Framework Programme. The project goals include the development of a set of portable climate community models and associated diagnostic software under standardised coding conventions.

GEO promotes the development of a comprehensive, co-ordinated, and sustained Earth observation system, among governments and international organisations, to significantly advance our collective ability to understand and address global environmental and economic challenges. Its aim is to develop a framework and implementation plan for building systems. The Met Office is active in several of the groups.

The Met Office participates in several EU Framework Programmes which have led to advances in the science of meteorology, and the development of numerical weather prediction and climate simulation modelling. The Met Office is a partner in 12 successful FP6 projects. Some are research and development projects focusing on improving scientific understanding in climatology, oceanography and aviation safety.