Atmospheric Research and Information Centre

THE ATMOSPHERIC RESEARCH and Information Centre (ARIC) is an institution that works to educate citizens of Great Britain about environmental and geographical sciences. Established in 1984, staff at the Centre perform research and provide consulting in the field of atmospheric sciences.

The ARIC also maintained the Atmosphere, Climate & Environment (ACE) Information Programme, to educate people in Great Britain about the environment, specifically addressing pollution and air quality. The purpose of this program was to provide objective information to the public. It was supported financially until 2005 by the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs of the United Kingdom.

The ARIC is based at Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, England. Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) was founded in the first half of the 19th century with the merger of the Manchester Mechanics' Institution (established in 1824) and the Manchester School of Design (established in 1838). Today the institution is spread over seven campuses. Five of these campuses can be found in Manchester, with two satellites in Cheshire, at Alsager and Crewe.

The ARIC is part of MMU s Centre for Air Transport and the Environment (CATE). CATE focuses on [Page 94]the sustainability of aviation and its intricate relationship with environmental maintenance. Researchers at CATE focus on the environmental impact of aviation. As a multi-disciplinary research center, CATE consolidates information from and shares information with all sectors: academia, industry, government, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).

The five major research branches at CATE are Climate Change, Local Air Quality, Noise and Community Impacts, Omega, and Sustainable Development. Climate Change researchers examine the impact of aviation on the global climate. Scientists in the Local Air Quality branch assist local airlines with reaching emissions standards and keeping British airports within national and international criteria. The Noise and Community Impacts team looks at the attitudes of local communities around airports and how these attitudes affect airport growth. Additionally, researchers study the impact of airports and their noise on these communities. In the research branch of Sustainable Development, while at the end of the year 2007 there were no projects underway, several had been completed. These projects examined a range of variables, such as the “Eco-footprinting of airports” and “Sustainability indicators.”