Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory

The Liverpool laboratory's scientific research focuses on oceanography encompassing global sea-levels and geodesy, numerical modelling of continental shelf seas and coastal sediment processes.

While he is most famous for predicting, and then observing, the transit of Venus in 1639 at Much Hoole near Preston, he also had a great interest in understanding ocean tides, and in particular in verifying that tidal changes were closely related to variations in the Moon's orbit.

[citation needed] To mark Liverpool 2007 and 2008, POL together with colleagues at Brock University, Canada will produce a CD containing copies of all Hutchinson's tidal and meteorological data sets and background information on his life.

They were used to provide the best possible tidal information to what became one of the most important ports in the British Empire, together with data for surveying and coastal engineering.

This combined institute (with a number of name changes and official owners) was to become a world-famous centre for sea level and tidal research with three Fellows of the Royal Society among its Directors: Joseph Proudman, Arthur Doodson and David Cartwright.

Such understanding informs government departments on policies for coastal protection, and contributes to international scientific study groups such as those of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

[citation needed] In 1953, the major flood at Sea Palling and other parts of the north Norfolk Coast resulted from a large storm surge occurring at high tide.

The Institute led the development of computer models to predict UK storm surges several days ahead based on forecast weather information.