• Message from the NCAR Director, Dr. Tim Killeen
• Table of Contents
• NCAR Science - Selected Highlights
  1. Strategic Goal 1: Improve Understanding of the Atmosphere, the Earth System, and the Sun
     • Priority 1: Exploring Atmospheric, Earth System, and Solar Processes, Variability and Change
       • Coronal magnetometry:
         the Coronal Multi-channel Polarimeter (CoMP), and the Coronal Solar Magnetism Observatory (COSMO)
       • Predicting disturbances in near-Earth space and the upper atmosphere:
         Space Weather Research
     • Priority 2: Investigating the Interactions of the Atmosphere, the Broader Earth System, and Human Society
       • Formaldehyde and the formation of ozone:
         The Intercontinental Chemical Transport Experiment (INTEX-B)
       • Megacitites and atmospheric composition:
         The MIRAGE / MILAGRO Programs
       • Demonstrating the benefit of high resolution, 2-D water vapor fields derived from refractivity data:
         Improving Short-term Weather Forecasting
       • Improving knowledge about the effects of ocean acidification:
         Impacts of Ocean Acidification on Coral Reefs
     • Priority 3: Improving Prediction of Weather, Climate, and Other Atmospheric Phenomena
       • Keeping pace with the demand for accurate weather information:
         THORPEX Support for Hurricane Genesis Research
       • Developing a next-generation mesoscale forecast model and data assimilation system:
         The Weather Research and Forecasting Model - Advanced Research WRF version (WRF-ARW)
       • Improving national defense by predicting hazardous chemical dispersion:
         The Pentagon Shield Model Development
     • Priority 4: Developing Community Models
       • Using the Community Climate Systems Model (CCSM) in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Effort:The Community Climate Systems Model (CCSM) use in development of the Fourth Assessment Report
       • Contributing Expertise to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Document: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Scientific Contributions
       • Assisting global atmospheric models to capture scale interactions:
         Developing a Nested Regional Climate Model
  2. Strategic Goal 2: Increase Societal Resilience to Weather, Climate, and Other Atmospheric Hazards
     • Priority 1: Investigating Weather and Climate Information Needs and Decision Making
       • Impacts of weather information on society:
         The Societal Impacts Program
       • Climate change and water resources:
         Incorporating Climate change Information in Water Utility Planning
     • Priority 2: Building Capacity for Coping with Weather and Climate Hazards
       • Testing a new observing strategy for tracking atmospheric moisture:
         Refractivity Experiment For H2O Research And Collaborative operational Technology Transfer (REFRACTT)
       • Accelerating the improvement of numerical weather prediction:
         The Developmental Testbed Center
       • Developing early warning systems for severe weather:
         The Climate Change, Seasonality and Environmental Hazards Workshop
     • Priority 3: Establishing New Connections with Researchers from Developing Nations
       • Worldwide advances in observational techniques:
         International Symposium on Tropospheric Profiling (ISTP)
       • Feasibility studies for rainfall enhancement programs:
         Building Capacity in Developing Countries
     • Priority 4: Supporting and Conducting Regional-scale Investigations of Climate and Weather
       • Producing high-resolution climate change scenarios:
         The North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program (NARCCAP)
  3. Strategic Goal 3: Cultivate a Scientifically Literate and Engaged Citizenry and a Diverse and Creative Workforce
     • Priority 1: Engaging a Broader and More Diverse Community
       • Fostering international cooperation between early career scientists at NCAR and Western Hemisphere institutes:
         Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research
     • Priority 2: Enhancing Science Education
       • Earth science students support field projects:
         EOL Graduate and Undergraduate Field Project Support
       • Facilitating collaborative visits between graduate student and NCAR scientists:
         The Graduate Visitor Program
     • Priority 3: Improving Public Awareness and Understanding
       • Providing tools and training for geoscientific data analysis and visualization:
         Vislab Outreach Program
       • Getting climate assessments into the hand of decisionmakers:
         Climate Affairs Program
     • Priority 4: Maintaining an Innovative and Creative Workplace
       • Professional development opportunities for university and industry researchers:
         Science and Engineer Visitor Program
       • Providing world-class laboratory facilities:
         The New, State-of-the-Art Chemistry Building and Mesa Lab Refurbishment
  4. Strategic Goal 4: Provide Robust, Accessible, and Innovative Iinformation Services and Tools
     • Priority 1: Enhancing Capability and Capacity of NCAR Supercomputing
       • Determining cyberinfrastructure requirements for the geosciences:
         Workshop on High Performance Computing
     • Priority 2: Developing and Providing Advanced Services and Tools
       • Providing enhanced services to the Earth-System science community:
         TeraGrid Integration
       • Creating an integrated data environment:
         Field Operations and Data Management (FODM) Integration Project
     • Priority 3: Conducting Research in Computer Science, Applied Mathematics, Statistics, and Numerical Methods
       • Bringing mathematical models and tools to bear on fundamental geoscience problems:
         The Institute for Mathematics Applied to the Geosciences (IMAGe)
       • Improving metrics for verifying forecasts:
         Verification Research
     • Priority 4: Creating an Earth System Knowledge Environment
       • Creating a system for coupling complex model components:
         Earth System Modeling Framework (ESMF)
  5. Strategic Goal 5: Provide World-Class Ground, Airborne, and Space-borne Observational Facilities and Services
     • Priority 1: Enabling Innovative Field Experiments and Measurement Campaigns
       • An internet-based field operations center:
         The Virtual Operations Center
     • Priority 2: Developing New Instrumentation
       • New instrumentation for water cycle research:
         Community Airborne Remote-sensing Interdisciplinary Suite (CAPRIS)
       • Assisting the aviation community in predicting hazards:
         Radar Development and Enhancement
       • Predicting the Sun's impacts on the interplanetary environment:
         Instrument Development at Mauna Loa Solar Observatory
     • Priority 3: Installing Initial Instrument Suite and Beginning Operations of the NSF/NCAR HIAPER Aircraft
       • Real-time access to flight tracks and in situ measurements:
         Progressive Science Missions
• Metrics
  1. Education & Outreach
  2. Awards
  3. Community Service
  4. Publications
  5. People & Organization
• The End, and links to the Laboratory Annual Reports

Other Relevant Links

• 2006 NCAR Strategic Plan (pdf)
• 2005 NCAR Annual Report
• Previous ASRs (Annual Scientific Reports)
• Internal For NSF