Professor Nick Mitchell is helping an amateur scientist and cloud-spotter to take his hobby to a new level as part of a feature run by BBC Radio 4’s Material World.
The project is called “So you want to be a scientist?”, and pairs up four would-be scientists with professional scientists to investigate a topic of their choice and learn more about the scientific process.
Nick Mitchell, Head of the Department of Electronic & Electrical Engineering and Director of the University’s Centre for Space, Atmospheric & Oceanic Science will be working with John Rowlands on a mysterious type of cloud seen only in summer and only at night.
Noctilucent clouds are a type of cloud found in the upper atmosphere more than 80 km above the Earth. These heights are so great that the clouds are effectively at the edge of space.
The wispy clouds can only be seen at night when the sun is below the horizon and lights them up in the sky. They are also seasonal, only appearing in the summer between June and August.
The pair will be studying the frequency of occurrence and brightness of the clouds observed above the UK over the summer. They will investigate how this is linked with the giant waves of the upper atmosphere using measurements made by Bath’s world-leading array of atmospheric radars.
They will then use these data to try and predict a few days in advance when the cloud formations will appear.
Nick explained: “Noctilucent clouds have become brighter and more frequent recently since the sun has reached its solar minimum. Some scientists also call them the ‘miner’s canary’ for climate change, although a definitive link is yet to be proven.
“Our research team at the University has equipment in the US and within the Arctic circle, recording the temperature and weather conditions in the upper atmosphere, so we’re going to combine this with the observations of noctilucent clouds from the ground made by amateur enthusiasts from around the world, such as John, and we will see if we can predict when they will occur.”
Material World presenter Quentin Cooper (left) talks to John Rowlands (centre) and Nick Mitchell about the project
John, an aerial photographer from Anglesey in North Wales, said: “I’m really looking forward to working with Nick on this project. I’m a self-confessed cloud anorak and have been observing these fascinating clouds for a while now and so it will be great to use my data for this research project.”
The pair will be talking about their project on Material World on BBC Radio 4 on Thursday 29 April at 4.30pm. If you’ve missed it, you can listen via the BBC’s website.You will also be able to follow the progress of the project on the Radio 4 blog and on John’s Facebook fan site.