National Center For Atmospheric Research - Research, Services, and Facilities

Research, Services, and Facilities

NCAR provides a broad array of tools and technologies to the scientific community for studying Earth’s atmosphere, including,

• Specialized instruments to measure atmospheric processes
• Research aircraft
• High-performance computing and cyberinfrastructure, including supercomputers
• Mauna Loa Solar Observatory
• Cooperative field campaigns
• Atmospheric models of weather, chemical, solar, and climate processes, including cooperatively developed models such as:
  • Community Climate System Model (CCSM)
  • Weather Research and Forecasting model (WRF)
  • Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model (WACCM)
• Technology transfer to support societal needs
• Data sets, data services, and other resources

The center is staffed by scientists, engineers, technicians, and support personnel who develop and extend these capabilities. Key research areas include

• Climate (Earth’s past, present, and future climate; the greenhouse effect, global warming, and climate change; El Niño, La Niña, and other large-scale atmospheric patterns; drought, wildfires)

• Meteorology/Weather (short-term forecasts; weather forecasting and predictability; weather's effect on climate; hurricanes, tornadoes, and other severe storms; physical processes)

• Environmental and societal impacts (impacts of climate change on the natural and managed environment; interactions of weather, climate, and society; weather hazard systems for aviation and ground transportation; national security)

• Pollution and air chemistry (air pollution on local, regional, and global scales; air chemistry and climate; chemical evolution and transport in the atmosphere)

• the Sun and space weather (the structure of the Sun, from its interior to sunspots to the solar corona; the solar cycle; the Sun’s effect on Earth’s weather and climate; space weather)

• Other components of the Earth system (the effects on weather and climate of interactions with: the oceans and other components of Earth's water cycle, including sea ice, glaciers, and the rest of the cryosphere; forests, agriculture, urbanization and other types of land use)

NCAR is organized into five laboratories and two programs:

Laboratories

• Computational & Information Systems Laboratory (CISL)
• Earth Observing Laboratory (EOL)
• High Altitude Observatory (HAO)
• NCAR Earth System Laboratory (NESL)
• Research Applications Laboratory (RAL)

Programs

• Advanced Study Program (ASP)
• Integrated Science Program (ISP)

NCAR's service to the universities and larger geosciences community is reinforced by the offerings of UCAR's community programs.