National Center for Atmospheric Research
The US National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR /ˈɛnkɑːr/)[3] is a US federally funded research and development center (FFRDC) managed by the nonprofit University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) and funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF).[4] NCAR has multiple facilities, including the I. M. Pei-designed Mesa Laboratory headquarters in Boulder, Colorado. Studies include meteorology, climate science, atmospheric chemistry, solar-terrestrial interactions, environmental and societal impacts.
"NCAR" redirects here. Not to be confused with Norwegian Centre Against Racism.Established
1960
Everette Joseph[1]
Nearly 1,400[2]
Boulder, Colorado, United States
39°58′41″N 105°16′30″W / 39.97815°N 105.27492°W
NCAR was instrumental in developing lidar, light radar, now a key archaeological tool, as well as providing a broad array of tools and technologies to the scientific community for studying Earth's atmosphere, including,[5][6]
The center is staffed by scientists, engineers, technicians, and support personnel.[4] Key research areas include:[8]
Notable scientists on the current staff at the center include Tom Wigley, Kevin Trenberth, Clara Deser, and Caspar Ammann,[9] and in past have included Paul Crutzen (Nobel Prize in chemistry, 1995); Paul Julian, who with colleague Roland Madden discovered the Madden–Julian oscillation; Stephen Schneider . Greg Holland initiated the multiscale modeling project "Predicting the Earth System Across Scales".[10]
NCAR is currently organized into seven laboratories and two programs:[11]
Laboratories
Programs
NCAR's service to the universities and larger geosciences community is reinforced by the offerings of UCAR's community programs.[12][13]
Funding and management[edit]
NCAR is managed by the nonprofit UCAR and is one of the NSF's Federally Funded Research and Development Centers, with approximately 95% of its funding coming from the federal government. However, it is not a federal agency and its employees are not part of the federal personnel system.[3] NCAR employs about 761 staff. Its annual expenditures in fiscal year 2015 were $167.8 million.[3][14]
Visiting[edit]
Scientific visitors[edit]
NCAR has many opportunities for scientific visits to the facilities for workshops, colloquia, and collaboration by colleagues in academia, government labs, and the private sector.[17] Many NCAR staff also visit colleagues at universities and labs and serve as adjunct or visiting faculty.[13][17]
Public tours[edit]
The Visitor Center at the Mesa Laboratory is open to the public daily at no charge. Guided tours and self-guided tablet tours include video and audio on one of the first supercomputers built by Seymour Cray as well as NCAR's modern supercomputer fleet, many hands-on educational exhibits demonstrating weather phenomena and the changes in Earth's climate brought on by global warming, and a scenic outdoor weather trail.
