cc: , date: Mon, 30 Sep 2002 15:24:15 +0100 from: "Rapid Rapid" subject: Research grant proposal - NER/T/S/2002/00440 to: Dear Professor Briffa Please find a further referee review on your research grant proposal. Regards Lauren Rowland REFEREE B: The proposal covers several central aspects of the RAPID programme, namely the construction of well-calibrated and time-resolved paleodata, including their coupling with high standard climate models in order to understand climate change, mainly related to THC. The chosen approach is clearly described and represents state-of-the-art. The investigator, the co-investigators and Dr Osborn are internationally recognised scientists with a very high reputation. Especially their involvement (mostly in form of leaderships) in related CEC programmes and their close collaboration with the best European and USA modelling centres (like Hadley Centre and MPI Hamburg) guarantees for a successful interaction between observationalists/physical climatologists and modellers, what is in fact the most exciting challenge of this programme. It is no secret that the CRU owns one of the best data banks on instrumental surface and proxy data in the World. I am therefore convinced that this proposal offers the chance of an important step forward in the sensitivity analysis of THC and NAO and, therefore, key processes determining Atlantic-European climate. I do not determine any clear weakness in this concise and well written proposal, even the planned work is quite extensive. In my opinion, the envisaged goals can be reached, thanks also to the connection with two already approved CEC programmes (EMULATE, SOAP). I would only like to ask two specific questions: 1. What procedure is planned to provide synthetic proxy data? Do the model centres already have specific modules which will be used to produce such data (eg mechanistic algorithms to estimate tree ring or ice core data)? 2. In case of an involvement of an BE model: What type of model do you plant to use (Crowleys model, other)? Rapid Climate Change Research Grants Team Operations Group Science Programmes Directorate NERC Polaris House Swindon SN2 1EU Tel: 01793 411663 Fax: 01793 411655 http://www.nerc.ac.uk/funding