We provide the data and insights that organisations need to create a productive, resilient and healthy environment. We recognise that the Earth’s environment is a complex system, with every part affecting every other part, and so we take a whole systems approach to understanding the environment, how it sustains life, and the human impact on it. Underpinning our science and innovation are large research infrastructures, our breadth of expertise, and our core capabilities. 

Our capabilities

Monitoring, measuring and observation

We provide flexible, long-term, large-scale monitoring and surveillance networks essential to quantify past and current environmental status. These networks allow us to identify and measure change, and determine the factors that modulate that change.

Experimental platforms and research facilities

Our facilities enable us to test the role of different drivers of environmental change and the outcomes of novel interventions to manage the environment. We provide and operate experimental platforms and research infrastructures supporting national and international collaborations, from sustainable farming platforms to aquatic mesocosms to climate change experiments.

Data science for analytics, forecasting and projection

UKCEH has developed or co-developed models to forecast and predict aspects of the environment at different spatial and temporal scales. These include models of national and international importance for air quality forecasting; GHG emissions inventories; land cover and crop mapping; the UK's sole Land Surface model; nationwide, real-time flood forecasting; and water resource outlooks.

Sectors