The British Antarctic Survey (BAS), part of the Natural Environment Research Council, aims to undertake a world-class programme of scientific research, and to sustain for the UK an active and influential regional presence and a leadership role in Antarctic affairs.

NERC is running the Research Experience Placements scheme (REP) for a third year. The NERC scheme will be restrictive in terms of student eligibility as it is aimed to address the shortage of individuals with quantitative skills coming into environmental science. NERC wishes to use this scheme to encourage more of these individuals to consider a career in environmental research.

It is well-known that climate change takes place in the troposphere, with global mean temperatures gradually rising. However, also the upper atmosphere (100-500 km) shows signs of long-term change. While increases in greenhouse gases cause warming in the troposphere, they lead to cooling in the upper atmosphere. This causes contraction and a downward movement of layers in the ionosphere, the charged portion of the upper atmosphere. Also other processes may contribute to long-term upper atmospheric and ionospheric changes, such as changes in the Earth’s main magnetic field, or long-term trends in solar and geomagnetic activity.
To find out to what extent each of these processes is responsible for long-term trends in the upper atmosphere and ionosphere, it is necessary to build up a statistically robust, global picture of these trends, including their dependence on local time and season. The student will contribute to this effort by analyzing long-term ionospheric data sets with existing software in Matlab, which includes advanced trend detection methods and statistical significance testing. Specific tasks include:
- Download relevant data sets from online resources, such as the Space Physics Data Interactive Resource (SPIDR) or the Kyoto World Data Center for Geomagnetism
- Perform basic data processing to generate suitable time series
- Use existing trend analysis software in Matlab; minor modifications to the code may be needed
- Visualize results of the trend analysis; build on existing code to do so as needed
The project is aimed at a university undergraduate, with some practical experience in programming and an interest in the upper atmosphere and ionosphere. In particular, experience with Matlab will be helpful, but experience with any other programming language should also be sufficient to pick up the necessary skills. Any background knowledge of the upper atmosphere and of statistical methods will be helpful as well.
To be eligible the student must:
• Have at least a grade C in Mathematics at A level (or equivalent in Scotland)
• Be studying for a degree in a quantitative discipline (e.g. mathematics, statistics, computing, engineering, physics)
• Be undertaking the placement in a different department to their undergraduate degree
• Be in the middle of their first degree studies (or integrated Masters)
• Be expected to obtain a first or upper second class UK honours degree
• Be eligible for subsequent NERC PhD funding (UK, EU or right to remain in the UK)

Qualifications: At least grade C in Mathematics at A level (or equivalent)
Studying for an undergraduate degree in a quantitative discipline (e.g. physics, mathematics, statistics)

Duration: 8 weeks; July-August 2013

Salary: £250.00 per week

Applications should consist of CV and cover letter. Please ensure you meet all of the required criteria before submitting your application. In addition, we will require an academic reference prior to interview.


Closing date for receipt of application forms: 17th April 2013
Interviews are scheduled to be confirmed.