Hazelrigg is the UK Meteorological Office Climatological Station Number 7236. Every morning at 0900 GMT measurements are made by Lancaster Environment Centre (LEC) staff and student volunteers and the data are passed on to Meteorological Office. Measurements from the automatic weather station are averaged every 10 minutes and can be seen via Hazelrigg Automated Meteorology Measurements.

Data from Hazelrigg can be accessed through the Archived Meteorology Data of daily and automated measurements from the site. These data are used in many undergraduate and postgraduate projects and by LEC researchers and those collaborating with them.

Hazelrigg is 1 km northeast of the University campus and 10 km east of the Irish Sea coast. Its prevailing south-westerly wind makes it good for the study of marine aerosol and trace gases. It is also used as a semi-rural site to monitor trace levels of Persistent Organic Pollutants.

The site also houses other facilities available for use by LEC staff and students and those working with them including:

• a controlled glasshouse facility in four solar domes allowing the study of plant diversity and its effect on global climate change
• A 3 axis fluxgate magnetometer operated by the Space Plasma Environment and Radio Science group from Lancaster University's Physics Department as part of the Sub-Auroral Magnetometer Network (SAMNET). It continuously records natural variations in the Earth's magnetic field caused by the solar wind interacting with Magnetosphere-Ionosphere system. Data from the magnetometer is used for AuroraWatch UK, which alerts subscribers by email or Twitter to times when aurora may be visible from the UK
• Lancaster University's 100 m 2 MW wind turbine which generates up to 17 percent of the University's electricity and is used as a field study site for students.

Location

• National Grid Reference: SD3493 4579
• Postcode: LA2 0PL
• Altitude: 94.1 metres above sea level
• Latitude: 54 degrees 1’ 50” North
• Longitude: 2 degrees 46’ 30” West
• Google Earth location

Contact: Dr James Heath or Dr Brian Davison

The laboratory supports the research of up to seven Professors and Lecturers, approximately 50 research staff and students, as well as undergraduate and master's projects. The group focuses upon plant-soil interactions, soil and ecosystem biogeochemistry, macronutrient cycles and greenhouse gas emissions.

In addition to basic laboratory facilities, equipment and techniques available in the lab include analysis of:

• Carbon, Nitrogen and Phosphate
• phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) and enzyme assays
• raw fibre analysis
• plant and soil respiration
• greenhouse gas analysis
• soil density fractionation

The lab also has a range of field equipment including infra-red gas analysers, soil moisture meters and soil respiration and photosynthesis chambers.

Group Lead: Professor Nick OstleLaboratory Manager: Dr Annette Ryan

Detailed investigation of plants and many other organisms require that experiments are performed in precisely controlled environmental conditions, for example, temperature, day length, light intensity, humidity etc.

This facility supports not only our plant science and ecological research, but are also used extensively for undergraduate and Master's projects, and student practical classes.

Contact: Maureen Harrison

Our goal is to use the capability of the facility to address unique fields of environmental research, fulfilling the cutting edge analytical needs of the university and beyond.

The analytical capabilities of the facility include stable isotope analysis of carbon, nitrogen, sulphur and hydrogen in solid materials by combustion, high-temperature oxygen pyrolysis, and liquid injection by the elemental analyser. Carbonate and dissolved inorganic carbon are analysed by continuous flow, and we host dedicated facilities for compound-specific isotope analysis. The facility also hosts multi-collector capability for analysis of carbon isotopologues.

The analysis is undertaken across a broad spectrum of research projects and funding sources but is also available for use by external academic customers and commercial clients.

Contact: Dr Peter Wynn

The LI-COR is also a portable and very durable piece of equipment, which can be used both within the laboratory and greenhouse environment, but also easily transferable to field sites worldwide.

This equipment is widely used in plant research projects and for teaching, as well as for postgraduate and undergraduate projects.

Our system is a Xtek CT 160Xi scanner, which is capable of up to 5-micron resolution and can image objects (with a lower resolution) up to 75 mm diameter and 150 mm in length.

Our scanner is mainly used for the characterisation of soil and rock samples to help understand the physical structures that control fluid and gas transport processes in these porous media.

As well as being used for Lancaster University research it can be accessed by external researchers and organisations.

Contact: Professor Andrew Binley

Our research has taken place across 1.7 million hectares of land owned by the Jari forestry companies which practice reduced-impact selective logging and manage eucalyptus plantations for cellulose. The region also includes pristine a forest, two rivers and two different forms of the protected area.

The focus of our research at Jari is on biodiversity and on the impacts of humans on tropical forests and includes joint projects with the University of Lavras in Minas Gerais and The Goeldi Museum in Pará.

The centre hosts our undergraduate and master's field trips to the Brazilian Amazon.

Contact: Dr Jos Barlow

Our most extensive and longest-running facility is in the River Eden Valley, to the north of Lancaster, where there is a long history of flood hydrology and more recently agriculture and nutrient research. It is one of the UK government’s three National Demonstration Test Catchments (DTCs) where we work with many partners including the Eden Rivers Trust, the British Geological Survey and the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH) and other universities.

Mobile monitoring equipment takes in situ river quality readings and other measurements. This equipment includes:

Hach Lange nutrient instrumentation measuring total reactive phosphorus (TRP) and total phosphorus (TP). YSI 6600 V2 sondes enabling the simultaneous measurement of conductivity, temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, turbidity and total chlorophyll. ISCO 3700 autosamplers to assess the volume of nutrients flushed off the land into rivers and streams during heavy rainfall.

All monitoring sites are equipped with pressure transducers in stilling wells to provide a continuous record of the water level.

Other catchment sites where we work with the CEH include the Welsh DURESS Catchments and the more local Ribble Wyre Catchment.

We have played a fundamental role in developing the Catchment Change Management Hub a web resource which acts as a repository of knowledge about river catchments and a guide for interested parties.

Contact: Professor Philip Haygarth