National Center for Atmospheric Research

The US National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR ˈɛnkɑːr) 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). 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 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, Specialized instruments to measure atmospheric processes Research aircraft yawa 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 Earth System Model (CESM) 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 NCAR Command Language (NCL), a programming language designed for use with climate and model data The center is staffed by scientists, engineers, technicians, and support personnel.