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
High-performance computing and cyberinfrastructure, including supercomputers
Organization of research—laboratories and programs
NCAR is currently organized into seven laboratories and two programs: Laboratories
Atmospheric Chemistry Observations and Modeling laboratory
Climate and Global Dynamics laboratory
Computational & Information Systems Laboratory —CISL was formerly known as the Scientific Computing Division. CISL manages and operates NCAR's supercomputers, mass storage system, networking, and other computing and cyberinfrastructure services. The Institute for Mathematics Applied to Geosciences is a research division within CISL.
Earth Observing Laboratory —EOL was formerly known as the Atmospheric Technology Division. EOL manages and operates NCAR's lower atmosphere observing systems, including ground-based instrumentation and two research aircraft, on behalf of the NSF.
High Altitude Observatory —The oldest part of NCAR, HAO is NCAR's solar-terrestrial physics laboratory. Research foci are the Sun and the Earth's upper atmosphere. HAO operates the Mauna Loa Solar Observatory.
NCAR's service to the universities and larger geosciences community is reinforced by the offerings of UCAR's community programs.
Funding and management
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. NCAR employs about 761 staff. Its annual expenditures in fiscal year 2015 were $167.8 million.
NCAR Directors
The founding director of NCAR was Walter Orr Roberts. The current director is Everette Joseph.
NCAR Director
Dates in office
Walter Orr Roberts
1960–1968
John W. Firor
1968–1974
Francis P. Bretherton
1974–1980
Wilmot N. Hess
1980–1986
Richard A. Anthes
1986–1988
Robert Serafin
1989–2000
Timothy Killeen
2000–2008
Eric J. Barron
2008–2010
Roger M. Wakimoto
2010–2013
Maura Hagan
2013
James W. Hurrell
2013–2018
Everette Joseph
2019-
Visiting
Scientific visitors
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. Many NCAR staff also visit colleagues at universities and labs and serve as adjunct or visiting faculty.
Public tours
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.
