History

The Atmospheric Measurement & Observation Facility (AMOF) is a merger between the Atmospheric Measurement Facility (AMF) and the NERC Facility for Atmospheric Radar Research (NFARR).

NERC has been reviewing its Services and Facilities (S&F) portfolio to meet its Delivery Plan commitment to increase the efficiency of its scientific services and facilities by concentrating them, where appropriate, in regional or national Centres of Excellence.

In 2017 NERC Council agreed to the transformation of the S&F portfolio and asked the NERC Executive to develop a plan for each S&F. This was based on advice from an independent expert group which was set up to assess future requirements for the S&F portfolio, evidence from the 2016 S&F evaluation, and input from a community consultation.

Maintaining the UK’s world-class atmospheric measurement capability remains a high priority for NERC. To retain this world-class National Capability for the UK atmospheric community NERC will commission a single integrated Atmospheric Measurement Facility, to be delivered under the leadership of NCAS.

The existing Atmospheric Measurement Facility (AMF) was commissioned by NERC commencing on 1 April 2018 for two years along with NERC Facility for Atmospheric Radar Research (NFARR): the commissioning of NFARR itself being dependent on the merger of NERC’s Chilbolton Facility for Atmospheric Research (CFARR) and the Mesosphere-Stratosphere-Troposphere Radar Facility (MSTRF).

As part of the build-up from the recommissioning of its services, NERC requested its various communities to put forward statements of need: what services and facilities did the science community want and need? The community got behind AMOF and in December 2023 the facility was recommissioned for 7 years stating in April 2024.