• Mission Statement
• The Team
• Travel and Contact Details
• Steering Committee
• FSF News Archive

Mission Statement

The mission of the Field Spectroscopy Facility is to:

1. Support high-quality, peer reviewed NERC science;
2. Maintain a pool of modern, high quality field instruments and an associated optical instrument calibration and characterisation facility. These are to be made available to environmental scientists in support of their research through a FSF SC peer review process. The field equipment includes spectroradiometers, sun photometers and associated equipment to support their field use and the laboratory instrument include calibration sources, full wavelength and monochromatic light sources and directional response instruments;
3. Provide training and user support, and to promote good practice in the application of field spectroscopy;
4. Promote the awareness, application and technology of field spectroscopy and to disseminate to a wider scientific community, thereby contributing to the economic competitiveness of the United Kingdom, the effectiveness of public services and policy and the quality of life;
5. Undertake research into calibration procedures, measurement methodology, data analysis and display appropriate to the FSF mission and to disseminate the results by the most appropriate means.

In order to achieve its objectives the FSF will:

1. Maintain and calibrate the equipment using in-house irradiance, radiance and reflectance calibration standards which are traceable to the UK National Physical Laboratory and appropriate to the task of supporting the Facility;

2. Maintain a core of appropriate documentation and data processing software;
3. Operate procedures to ensure that the best science is supported via peer review of the quality and relevance of applications;
4. Disseminate knowledge and promote public understanding of field spectroscopy by providing training, particularly of post-graduate students, and offering advice to all users, reaching the wider community via workshops and conferences;
5. Maintain an awareness of developments in instrumentation for field spectroscopy and associated fields, and evaluate the requirements of future demand;
6. Carry out development work to modify the available commercial equipment to more closely match user requirements;
7. Pursue collaborative opportunities with industries in development of new applications, instruments and techniques;
8. Establish and maintain international collaborative links with related organisations, facilities and programmes;
9. Maintain close links with the NERC Airborne Remote Sensing Facility to ensure calibration and validation needs are satisfied;

10. Monitor user satisfaction with the service provided and maintain an awareness of users requirements.

User Community:

The Field Spectroscopy Facility exists primarily to provide specialist services to the environmental sciences community. It supports the Councils remit to promote and support high quality research to meet the needs of the User communities identified in the NERC Mission. The Facility is supported by a steering committee (FSFSC) drawn from members of the user community. It peer reviews applications for the loan of equipment and advises on future trends within the sciences supported, the level of service and the equipment required to meet the demands of the user community.

September 2004