date: Fri Mar 13 16:00:23 2009
from: Keith Briffa <k.briffa@uea.ac.uk>
subject: Re: Away from my desk Re: NERC Consortium Proposal
to: "chris turney" <turneychris@gmail.com>

   Chris have now read and mused on outline - generally ok but a few things to ponder on -
   need to be clear that this sort of work is incremental - i.e. that not every (or any)
   proposed data/model project can really produce "comprehensive" data or answer to question
   of what is effective climate sensitivity  --  but we are at a stage now where we need to
   move beyond the IPCC situation (chapters 6 and 10) to one where we can update critical data
   sets or use recent understanding of their uncertainty to make a significant move forward in
   attempts to constrain likely range of climate futures  . In other words  timeliness and
   group expertise come together now.
   We do not put enough focus on the practical way we have the power to achieve this last
   ideal.
   Saying we will reconstruct circulation (implying surface pressure maps) is too vague and
   ambitious , unless we clarify that this more feasible for extended 19th century
   (instrumental) data base - perhaps , at least for proxies , only attempts to reconstruct
   aspects of circulation may work (trade winds, monsoon variability (ITCZ), Arctic and
   Antarctic Oscillation ). We have no hope of doing anything genuine and useful for Africa.
   May nee to expend some funds on updating series in other ares (as said above) - In Russia ,
   a lot can be done along these lines for little money - and anyway , given the importance of
   high-latitude (especially Arctic) in terms of proxy input to syntheses and in terms of
   model projections (and contribution to overall warming estimates) , I believe we should
   stress the need to work on these ares just as much as the other (southern and
   lower-latitude) areas you single out. In fact the proposal (even for a consortium bid)
   might appear over ambitious / vague with respect to climate variable focus.
   Is there a reason for not including Simon Tett among Edinburgh names - he has expertise in
   running unified  model ?
   Cheers
   Keith
   At 12:32 09/03/2009, you wrote:

     Hi,
     I'm afraid I'm away in Copenhagen for most of this week and will only
     be able to check my email intermittently. I'll be back in on Friday 13
     March and will get to your message then. If you are contacting me
     regarding a media issue, please call the University of Exeter Press
     Office on 01392 262062; they have my contact details and will be able
     to help you reach me. Alternativeley, if it's urgent and you have my
     mobile number, I can be reached by phone or text.
     With best wishes,
     Chris

   --
   Professor Keith Briffa,
   Climatic Research Unit
   University of East Anglia
   Norwich, NR4 7TJ, U.K.

   Phone: +44-1603-593909
   Fax: +44-1603-507784
   [1]http://www.cru.uea.ac.uk/cru/people/briffa/