Emma Woolliams

Principal scientist

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Emma Woolliams, a principal scientist at the National Physical Laboratory, works in the overlap between metrology and climate-relevant observations. Her personal research considers how to provide metrological traceability and uncertainty assessments of satellite observations and the non-satellite datasets that are used in satellite validation. Such research began with radiometric satellite sensors, a natural progression from her early career at NPL (since 1998) with responsibility for spectral radiance and irradiance scales. Over time, however, she has expanded her work to cover microwave radiometers and radar altimeters, and to consider a broad range of essential climate variables from sea level to sea ice thickness, from sea surface temperature to river elevations. Emma is particularly interested in developing the guidelines and approaches that work across these broad applications and has been involved in initiatives through the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) to establish the Quality Assurance framework for Earth Observation (QA4EO) and the related fiducial reference measurement and similar initiatives. Emma also chairs the European Metrology Network for Climate and Ocean Observation, an initiative of EURAMET that provides the European contribution to a global effort to bring metrology into climate and ocean observations.