Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Applications Policy
AMOF welcomes applications from all parts of the scientific community, including commercial users, but priority will be given to NERC-funded science and applicants eligible for NERC funding. Prospective users are encouraged to contact the Facility Manager or the relevant AMOF instrument scientist prior to making an application, to discuss the project’s requirements.
Accessing Existing Data
Users accessing the facility in this mode will typically do so via the Centre for Environmental Data Analysis (CEDA).
In line with the NERC data policy, there will be no charge at the point of use for the data. However, there may be staff costs involved in helping users interpret the data. Users requiring such help should apply through Direct Access.
Where a project is likely to require more than 40 person-days of Facility staff funding will need to be provided and the application should follow the standard application procedure.
Accessing Mobile Instrumentation
Access to mobile instrumentation must be supported by an application via the online form: the exception to this is if the applicant is from a commercial enterprise and in this case the applicant should contact the facility directly.
Users apply for access to the Facility through one of the access pathways described in the Access Pathways.
As AMOF is a community Facility, instrument deployments shall normally be restricted to 6 months duration on site (this does not include shipping time). Applicants requiring a longer deployment should contact the Facility Manager in the first instance, before applying. Longer deployments require approval by the chair of the AMOFSC (arranged by the Facility Manager) and can only be supported if:
The project is funded through a NERC grant, or
The project is funded through a cross-council UKRI programme involving NERC: e.g. GCRF, Newton Fund, Grand Challenges, or
Deployment beyond 6 months can be supported through a NERC Centre-commissioned science programme (e.g. LTSM).
Extension to an active instrument loan can be supported if:
A further application is received for the instrument three months before the end of the initial 6 months period,
No other requests for the instrument(s) have been made in the meantime.
No more than two extensions (18 months total deployment) may be applied for.
Note the capability to deploy for periods greater than 6 months and to extend a deployment is only available to projects funded through NERC or a cross-council UKRI programme.
Accessing Laboratories and guest instrument access to Observatories
Users apply for access to the Facility through one of the standard Access Pathways.
Prioritisation
When allocating resources the Facility Manager will prioritize as follows:
-
- NERC grant applications
- UKRI cross-council schemes involving NERC
- NERC NC
- Direct Access
- UKRI Non-NERC Research Council grant applications
- EU grants, public not-for-profit organisations and recognised national/international funding bodies
- Commercial organisations
The score obtained by a NERC grant and the score resulting from AMOF peer review (based on the NERC grant scoring scheme) determines prioritisation within a category.
If scheduling clash still occurs then allocation of resources within that category will be on a first-come-first served basis.
Applications from NERC-funded PhD students will be considered as part of Direct Access.
In the event of a scheduling clash that cannot be resolved within these guidelines, the Facility Manager will consult by email with AMOFSC. Disputes will be referred to the Chair of AMOFSC.
Terms & Conditions
By making an application to use the facilities offered by AMOF the user agrees to abide by the following terms and conditions:
To ensure that facilities are returned to the AMOF in good working condition.
The user is liable for full replacement cost where an item is lost, stolen or damaged beyond repair.
Where repair is possible the user is liable for the full cost of repair.
The user is liable for any damage caused by their activity.
The user agrees to return facilities at the time and to the place agreed at the time of application.
The user will not, under any circumstances, make any hardware or software alterations to a facility unless directed specifically to do so by the IS.
The user agrees to abide by the AMOF Data Policy
The user agrees to abide by the risk assessments provided by AMOF
The user agrees to abide by the AMOF system of prioritization.
To keep AMOF informed of scientific presentations and papers resulting from the use of the Facility.
What is the application process?
With the exception of commercial interests, all access to AMOF must come via the online application form: commercial interests should contact the Facility directly.
On receipt of an application, the project will be issued with a tracking number and this should be used when contacting the Facility regarding the project.
Once the technical review and any peer review have been performed the applicant will receive a formal letter detailing the support offered and any costs that may be incurred.
Should the applicant wish to take up the offer all that is needed is for them to let us know and to make the logistical arrangments with the allocated Facility staff member.
How are costs calculated?
NERC grants, including applications to UKRI cross-cutting schemes including NERC
Facility (ready-to-go) Charges: These are recovered by NERC at source. The Facility charge has two components, equipment and staff time.
Equipment:
A daily charge will be applied for each part the facility requested – see Appendix B for details of these charges.
The charge will be applied for the time “science” is occurring
The charge will be applied for a maximum of 14 days of transit.
There is no equipment rental charge when a project deploys instrumentation at an AMOF Observatory.
Staff time:
Staff time is charged at £270 per day
This is the time Facility staff is required to prepare instruments, train users, deploy equipment, monitor during deployment, QC and archive data. The time is determined by the Facility scientist as part of the technical review.
No charges apply if < 3 working days of staff time is required.
A maximum of 40 working days of staff time, charged at the Facility rate, are available per project.
For the NERC Large Grant scheme, this is extended to a maximum of 40 working days per project per participating institution.
Where a proposal requires more than 40 working days of Facility staff time the PI must consult NCAS (via the Facility Manager) and include the extra staff time costs on the JeS form: for example by making the staff member a Co-investigator or named researcher on the grant.
Facility Charge Capping
For NERC large grants the Facility charge is capped at £50k
For all other schemes where the application comes through NERC on JeS form the Facility charge is capped at £30k
User Costs: These are the additional Facility costs required to carry out the project, e.g. consumables, shipping or travel and subsistence and should be included as Directly Incurred costs on the JeS form.
Consumables: The project is liable for any consumables the project will require. An appropriate amount will be arrived at after discussion with the Facility staff involved.
Marginal T&S (travel and subsistence) will be charged and this will be costed as directed by the staff member concerned with host institution guidelines.
Grant schemes from national and international funding agencies, and public sector not-for-profit organisations. This applies to all public not-for-profit organisations that do not directly involve NERC.
Facility (ready-to-go) Charges:
Equipment:
A daily charge will be applied for each part of the facility requested.
The charge will be applied for the time “science” is occurring
The charge will be applied for all the time the instrument is in transit.
There is no equipment rental charge when a project deploys instrumentation at an AMOF Observatory.
Payment to institution(s) employing relevant NCAS staff member(s)
Staff time:
Staff time is charged at £270 per day
All staff time must be met by the grant.
PI must discuss with the Facility Manager how staff costs will be met.
Payment to institution(s) employing relevant NCAS staff member(s)
User Costs: These are the additional Facility costs required to carry out the project, e.g. consumables, shipping or travel and subsistence and should be included as Directly Incurred costs on the JeS form.
Consumables: The project is liable for any consumables the project will require. An appropriate amount will be arrived at after discussion with the Facility staff involved.
Marginal T&S (travel and subsistence) will be charged and this will be costed as directed by the staff member concerned with host institution guidelines.
Payment to institution(s) employing relevant NCAS staff member(s)
Direct Access
Facility (ready-to-go) Charges
Equipment:
Not applicable
if the applicant is a researcher in a UK University or NERC Centre
if the applicant is a NERC PhD student
if the applicant is a researcher in a UK University or NERC Centre supervising a non-NERC PhD student
The not-for-profit organisation is charged at the daily rate in which case payment is to the institution(s) employing relevant NCAS staff member(s)
Staff Time:
No charges apply
if the applicant is a researcher in a UK University or NERC Centre
if the applicant is a NERC PhD student
if the applicant is a researcher in a UK University or NERC Centre supervising a non-NERC PhD student
Maximum of 20 working days of Facility staff support for researchers in UK Universities or NERC Centre
Maximum of 40 working days of Facility staff support for NERC PhD students
Not-for-profit organisations charged at £270 per day
Maximum of 20 working days of Facility staff support time
Payment to institution(s) employing relevant NCAS staff member(s)
User Costs
These are the additional Facility costs required to carry out the project, e.g. consumables, shipping, travel and subsistence.
Consumables: The project is liable for any consumables the project will require. An appropriate amount will be arrived at after discussion with the Facility staff involved.
Marginal T&S (travel and subsistence) will be charged and this will be costed as directed by the staff member concerned with host institution guidelines.
Direct Access to large instruments
This applies to the mobile X-band, Ka-band and Radar Wind Profiler when deployed at its ‘home’ location.
Facility (ready-to-go) Charges
Equipment:
Not applicable
if the applicant is a researcher in a UK University or NERC Centre
if the applicant is a NERC PhD student
if the applicant is a researcher in a UK University or NERC Centre supervising a non-NERC PhD student
The not-for-profit organisation is charged at the daily rate shown in Appendix B; payment to the institution(s) employing relevant NCAS staff member(s)
Staff Time
Maximum of 20 working days of Facility staff support for NERC-eligible researchers in UK Universities or NERC Centre
Maximum of 40 working days of Facility staff support for NERC PhD students
Maximum of 20 working days of Facility staff support time available to none NERC, not-for-profit organisations
None NERC, not-for-profit organisations: Payment to institution(s) employing relevant NCAS staff member(s)
User Costs
These are the additional Facility costs required to carry out the project, e.g. consumables, shipping, travel and subsistence.
Consumables: The project is liable for any consumables the project will require. An appropriate amount will be arrived at after discussion with the Facility staff involved.
Marginal T&S (travel and subsistence) will be charged and this will be costed as directed by the staff member concerned host institution guidelines.
Commercial users.
Costs for commercial users are determined individually by the institutions hosting the NCAS staff member and the equipment concerned. Full economic costs apply. Contractual and invoicing arrangements are between the applicant and the host institution.
Daily Charges.
Mobile Instrument: Facility instruments are placed in bands based on their replacement market value and used to determine the daily equipment rental charge.
|
Replacement cost (£) |
Band | Daily Charge ex VAT (£) |
|
< 10K |
1 |
10.00 |
|
10K – 50K |
2 | 20.00 |
|
50K – 100K |
3 |
30.00 |
|
100K – 150K |
4 |
40.00 |
|
150K – 200K |
5 |
50.00 |
|
200K – 250K |
6 |
60.00 |
| > £250K | 7 |
70.00 |
Cost band for the mobile instruments available through AMOF
| Instrument | Cost Band |
| 2B Technologies Ozone Monitor Single Channel | 1 |
| 2B Technologies Ozone Monitor Dual Channel | 1 |
| 3 GHz Chilbolton Advanced Meteorological Radar (CAMRa) | 7 |
| 94 GHz Galileo Cloud Radar | 5 |
| Aerodynamic Particle Sizer – Unit 1 and 2 | 2 |
| Aerolaser AL5002 CO Monitor | 2 |
| Ametek CO Monitor – Unit 1 and 2 | 2 |
| AQD High Sensitivity NOx | 3 |
| Ceilometer | 2 |
| Chilbolton UV Raman Lidar | 5 |
| Cimel Sun Photometer | 2 |
| Cloud Particle Imager – Unit 1: 3V-CPI (3-View Cloud Particle Imager) | 3 |
| Cloud-Aerosol & Precipitation Spectrometer with Depolarisation | 3 |
| Dewpoint Hygrometer | 2 |
| Doppler Aerosol Lidar – mobile and IAO user configurable | 5 |
| Filtered Radiometer | 1 |
| Flux Tower – Unit 1 and 2 | 1 |
| GC-MS | 3 |
| GRIMM Optical Particle Counter 1.108 | 2 |
| HATPRO Radiometer | 5 |
| High Volume Precipitation Spectrometer | 4 |
| Ka-band Mobile Cloud Radar – operating at CAO | 5 |
| Ka-band Mobile Cloud Radar – operating away from CAO | 7 |
| Licor – Unit 1 and 2 | 2 |
| Lidar Wind Profiler | 5 |
| Los Gatos Research Ultraportable Greenhouse Gas Analyzer | 2 |
| Micro Rain Radar | 2 |
| MST Radar | 7 |
| Radar Wind Profiler – operating at Cardington or CDAO | 5 |
| Radar Wind Profiler – operating away from Cardington or CDAO | 7 |
| Scanning Mobility Particle Sizer – Unit 1 and 2 | 3 |
| Spectral Radiometer – Unit 1 and 2 (aircraft) | 1 |
| Sonic Anemometer – Unit 1 and 2 | 2 |
| Surface Energy Balance Station – Unit 1 and 2 | 1 |
| TECO 42i NOx Analyser – Unit 1 and 2 | 2 |
| TECO 49 Series Ozone Analyser – Unit 1 and 2 | 2 |
| TELEDYNE T200UP NOx Analyser | 2 |
| Ultrafine Condensation Particle Counter 3750 – Unit 1 and 2 | 2 |
| Ultrafine Condensation Particle Counter 3776 – Unit 1 – 4 | 2 |
| Vaisala Radiosonde – Unit 1 and 2 | 3 |
| Whole Air Sampler (WAS) | 3 |
| Windsond Reusable Radiosonde – Unit 1 and 2 | 1 |
| X-band Mobile Weather Radar operating at CAO | 5 |
| X-band Mobile Weather Radar operating away from CAO | 7 |
Observatory Access for guest instruments
There is no daily charge for hosting guest instruments at any of the AMOF Observatory sites. The only costs are the additional User Costs and these cover local staff costs, power and any additional services required.
Laboratory Access
This applies to the EnFLO COZI (CO and ozone calibration) & PTU (Pressure, temperature and humidity calibration) laboratories.
The daily equipment rental for COZI and PTU
|
Facility |
Daily Charge ex VAT (£) |
|
COZI |
£40.00 |
|
PTUCal |
£20.00 |
For EnFlo a daily charge of £70 per day is only applied to the NERC schemes (including applications to UKRI cross-cutting schemes where the application comes through NERC on JeS). For all other funding pathways applications are made directly to the EnFlo Facility and any access costs incurred are discussed with them.
How quickly can you deploy instruments?
We aim to process an application and issue an offer with 7 working days of its receipt.
How quickly the request can then be actioned is dependent totally on the nature of the request. The Faility staff member will work with the applicant to ensure any request is actioned as quickly as possible.
How are applications prioritised?
When allocating resources the Facility Manager will prioritize as follows:
- NERC grant applications
- UKRI cross-council schemes involving NERC
- NERC NC
- Direct Access
- UKRI Non-NERC Research Council grant applications
- EU grants, public not-for-profit organisations and recognised national\international funding bodies
- Commercial organisations
The score obtained by a NERC grant and the score resulting from AMOF peer review (based on the NERC grant scoring scheme) determines prioritisation within a category.
If scheduling clash still occurs then allocation of resources within that category will be on a first-come-first served basis.
Applications from NERC-funded PhD students will be considered as part of Direct Access.
In the event of a scheduling clash that cannot be resolved within these guidelines, the Facility
Manager will consult by email with AMOFSC.
Disputes will be referred to the Chair of AMOFSC.
How are applications reviewed?
All applications are first reviewed by Facility Management in order to allocate them to the most appropriate member of staff.
The appointed staff member performs a technical review which is based on the information provided in the application form and if this is not sufficient they will contact the applicant directly to discuss the needs of the porject.
This technical review allows the Facility to determine what staff time support maybe need, whether what is beign requested is feasible, what consumables the project will be required to supply and also to provide adivise on best deloyment practice if required.
If Peer Review of the a Science Proposal is required this is erformed by independent memberos of the AMOF Sterring Commitee. They use the grading citeria used by NERC and projects receiving a mark of 7 or higher will be provided with Facility support – the overall mark is also used in prioritization.
Is training available?
Training in the operation and best practices is always available and is arranged by direct discussion with the Facility staff member.
Training takes place at a time and a place that is mutually compatible.
There is no additional cost for training.
Instrument Support Levels - What level of support can I expect?
Facility instruments are categorised to provide users with an indication of the minimal level of Facility support required. A user can request any level of support and bespoke training is always available.
Instrument Support Level 1
The instrument can be deployed and operated without Instrument Scientist intervention and no Instrument Scientist time is required to process data. The facility will ensure that the instrument is supplied in full working order and fully calibrated.
Training on how to use the instrument can also be arranged on request.
Instrument Support Level 2
Instrument Scientist input is required for data processing only.
Instrument Support Level 3
Instrument Scientist is required for data processing and instrument deployment.
Instrument Support Level 4
Instrument Scientist is required for data processing, instrument deployment, and operation\monitoring.
Instrument Support Level 5
Instrument Scientist is required for instrument deployment and operation but due to the complexity of the data processing a large amount of Instrument Scientist time is required: greater than the 2-month limit.
No data products are available for instruments in this category.
Value Added Data (VAD) products are offered, contact the associated IS for access details.
Instrument Support Level 6
Instrument under development\testing. No data products are available for instruments in this category.
The Value Added Data (VAD) products offered are developmental and subject to frequent changes as our confidence in the validity of the data produced increases.
Contact the associated Instrument Scientist for access details.
Operational Exceptions
In instances where mobile instrumentation is deployed supporting a project that is coming to an end a Direct Access application requesting a continuation of the deployment can be supported if:
- The applicant is not associated with the original project
- There are no other projects requesting access to the particular facility
- Any costs (other than shipping) associated with operations in the locations are met by the Direct Access project.
- The PI of the original project is amenable to deferring payment for the return shipment until the Direct Access project has finished. The two project PI must come to an agreement independently of AMOF: if this does not occur the Direct Access project will be charged for all costs incurred in returning the instrument to its home base.
Due to the level of support required for operation the following instruments have two modes of operation: 1) operation at host observatory and 2) operation at another site in the UK or abroad. The instruments are:
- Mobile X-band Radar
- Mobile Ka-band Radar
- Boundary Layer Radar Wind Profiler
These instruments are available via grant and Direct Access when operating at their home base.
These instruments are only available for operation away from there home base when accessed through “applying for a NERC grant” path. Operational deployments away from the instruments home base of operations is not available via the Direct Access scheme.
Remember, you can contact us if you have any other questions. We’re always happy to help.