August Two research projects awarded Met Éireann funding for climate and flood forecasting

Two University of Galway research projects have received funding from Met Éireann to further develop climate services and new flood forecasting models.

The projects are among six at Irish universities which were awarded a total of €2.8 million in funding from the national meteorological service, with almost €1 million being awarded to University of Galway.

The funding is being awarded to innovative projects aimed at addressing climate change, extreme weather events and environmental sustainability as part of Met Éireann’s Weather and Climate Research Programme, which aims to strengthen national research capacity and scientific expertise in weather and climate, through high-impact projects.

The two funded projects are:

• Dr Paul Nolan leads the research project - T3UD: TRANSLATE-3: Underpinning Data. Dr Nolan is a climate scientist and project lead in the Irish Centre for High-End Computing (ICHEC) at University of Galway - the national centre for high-performance computing.
• Dr Indiana Olbert leads the research project - IMUFF: Integrated Multi-model multi-hazard Flood Forecasting. Dr Olbert is a lecturer in Civil Engineering at the School of Engineering in the College of Science and Engineering at University of Galway.

Dr Paul Nolan’s T3UD project will deliver updated climate projections and related products for Ireland over the next four years, using global data  It will also explore how these projections are used in practice across different sectors, addressing uncertainty and risk management. Ultimately, the work aims to enhance national climate services by producing user-relevant, scientifically grounded projections while communicating the limitations and confidence levels of the data.

Dr Nolan said: “We are delighted that Met Éireann has chosen a team of climate researchers from ICHEC to deliver this project with the mission to deliver updated standardised climate projections for Ireland. The combination of high-resolution local simulations from ICHEC and historical data from Met Éireann means that we can provide the best insights from the worlds of physics and statistics to inform the climate adaptation plans of Irish local authorities, utilities, and other end-users."

Dr Indiana Olbert’s two-year IMUFF project will address the growing threat of compound coastal-fluvial flooding – when rivers and streams burst. It will develop an advanced system for three day flood forecasts using AI-generated time series and water depth maps. More than 300 Irish communities at risk from this type of flooding and the project will aggregate diverse data sources - such as meteorological forecasts, river flows, tidal record and satellite data - directly supporting Met Éireann’s flood forecasting, strengthening community resilience and improving Ireland’s readiness for compound flood events in a changing climate.

            Dr Olbert said: “I am delighted to receive this funding award from Met Éireann. As floods are amongst the most common and deadly weather-related natural disasters, the project aims to develop a state-of-the-art AI-based compound flood forecasting system. The project will support the forecasting work delivered by the Flood Forecasting Centre at Met Éireann, increasing resilience of Irish communities and better preparing for the growing threat of compound coastal-fluvial floods.”

Professor Lokesh Joshi, Interim Vice-President for Research and Innovation, University of Galway, said: “We are delighted that two projects, led by Dr Paul Nolan and Dr Indiana Olbert, have been selected for funding under Met Éireann’s research programme. These awards recognise the strength of University of Galway’s research in vital areas such as delivering advanced climate projections and improving flood forecasting. Together, these projects will help deliver real benefits to communities in Ireland as we face more extreme weather events and a changing climate.”

The Met Éireann Weather and Climate Research Programme was launched in 2018, initially through co-funding partnerships with other research funding organisations. With the Research Call 2024, Met Éireann's Research Call Scheme enters its fourth round, having already directly funded €10.3 million in research across Irish academic institutions. With nearly 80% of applications submitted by researchers new to the Weather and Climate Research Programme in 2024 Met Éireann welcomes the growing reach of the Programme and the increased number of active researchers in weather and climate science in Ireland.

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