Background

The Atmospheric Circulation Reconstructions over the Earth (ACRE) initiative resulted from the activities of Dr Rob Allan (historical global observational data) and Dr Gil Compo (historical global surface-observations-only reanalyses) as part of their role as Co-Conveners of the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) Atmosphere Observation Panel for Climate (AOPC)/Ocean Observation Panel for Climate (OOPC) Working Group on Surface Pressure (WG-SP), and its International Surface Pressure Data Bank (ISPD). These efforts were expanded and linked to users as a result of personal interactions Drs Allan and Compo had with Dr Roger Stone and Dr Beverley Henry, climate applications scientists in Queensland, Australia, and the evolving Queensland Climate Change Centre of Excellence (QCCCE). It was from this background that the international infrastructure to support ACRE and its activities was conceived.

Funding for the ACRE Project Manager's position, which made ACRE possible, came about as the result of a Statement of Intent (SOI) signed in March 2007 between the Met Office Hadley Centre for Climate Change in the UK and the QCCCE in Australia to explore the potential to establish joint research and development projects that would advance scientific knowledge, academic opportunity and technology transfer. Under this SOI, the first project to be established was the ACRE initiative.

ACRE is managed by Rob Allan