NCAR & UCAR at a Glance: Quick Facts - Quick Numbers
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UCAR |
UCP |
NCAR
Director: Eric Barron
The National
Center for Atmospheric Research conducts collaborative
research in atmospheric and Earth system science and
provides a broad array of tools and technologies to the scientific community,
including:
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UCAR
President: Richard Anthes
The University
Corporation for Atmospheric Research is
a nonprofit consortium of universities that grant
Ph.D.s in fields related to atmospheric science.
UCAR's primary activity is
managing the National Center for Atmospheric Research.
UCAR also provides services
to support, enhance, and extend
the capabilities of the universities through its communty
programs and by advocating for strong federal science
budgets on behalf of the geosciences community.
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UCP
Director: Jack Fellows
UCAR
Community Programs bring geoscience communities
together to address large-scale, integrated research
and education challenges. Activities include:
- offering education and training services to weather
forecasters and academia
- developing and transferring technologies to meet
research, education, and societal needs
- supplying streaming data access, tools, and services
- building and hosting community-initiated and -led
projects
- providing conference, workshop, travel, and program
support
Until May 2009, UCP was known as the UCAR Office of
Programs (UOP) |
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Funding/Sponsors/Affiliations
- NCAR's primary sponsor is the National
Science Foundation.
- NCAR is an NSF Federally
Funded Research and Development Center. However,
NCAR is not a federal agency and its employees
are not part of the federal personnel system. Our activities
complement those of the federal agencies and we work
closely with them
- Approximately 95% of funding comes from the federal government.
There are many atmospheric research organizations in Boulder.
To avoid confusion:
- NCAR is not a part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) or of NOAA’s National Weather
Service or any other federal agency.
- Neither NCAR nor UCAR are part of the University of Colorado.
However, the University of Colorado is one of over
70 member
universities that govern UCAR.
- NCAR does not issue public weather forecasts. Projections
of future weather and climate produced by our computer
models as part of ongoing research may be posted on our
Web site for research and educational purposes.
List of our major sponsors ›
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By the Numbers
Staff as of
January 2009 |
Total
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NCAR |
UCAR
Community Programs |
All Staff
(research, technical,
and support staff) |
~ 1,445
Total
(~ 1,330
in Boulder area, including ~270 in UCAR management, education
and outreach) |
~ 930 |
~ 250 |
| Scientists (Ph.D.s, including tenure-track
and project scientists) |
~250 |
~216 |
~34 |
| Engineers and software engineers |
~212 |
~183 |
~29 |
| Postdoctoral Fellows |
~57 |
~29 |
~28 |
Expenditures |
Total |
NCAR |
UCP |
Fiscal Year 2008
(October 2007–September
2008) |
~ $230 million |
~ $181
million |
~ $49
million |
NCAR's Supercomputers
NCAR is a world leader in supercomputing for the geosciences,
providing services to NCAR researchers, UCAR member
universities in North America, and affiliates worldwide.
High-end
Computing at NCAR
Supercomputer Gallery: Supercomputers at NCAR, past and present
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About Our Members and Affiliates
The UCAR consortium consists of
- 73 UCAR Members, North American universities that grant Ph.D.s
in areas related to atmospheric science
- 21 UCAR Affiliates who offer bachelor’s
and master’s programs in the field, and
- 48 International Affiliates
Lists of members and
affiliates ›
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Our History
UCAR began as a consortium of research institutions
with doctoral programs in the atmospheric and related sciences
that first met in 1959. In 1960, after UCAR had been incorporated
and Walter Orr Roberts selected as its first president, the UCAR
Board of Trustees unanimously approved Boulder as the site for
NCAR and gave Roberts a second title, inaugural director of NCAR.
NCAR's first office opened in Boulder in June 1960.
I.M. Pei was hired as architect and ground was broken on NCAR's
Mesa Laboratory on June 9, 1964. NCAR's primary sponsor, the National
Science Foundation, provided construction funds for the lab,
which was completed in 1966. This Boulder landmark sits atop a
600-foot mesa above the city, against the dramatic Flatirons formation
at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Pei based his
design on
an adaptation of the centuries-old Indian cliff dwellings at Mesa
Verde National Park in southwest Colorado.
The Mesa Lab's Visitor
Center is open to the public daily. To learn more about our
other campuses, see Location, below.
More
history ›
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Honors and Awards
The U.N.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) shared the 2007
Nobel Peace Prize with former Vice President Al Gore.
Sharing the IPCC recognition were scores of NCAR scientists who
have served as authors or reviewers for the four assessment reports
issued by the IPCC since 1990. Several NCAR scientists have
played IPCC leadership roles, and UCAR technical staff have provided
considerable administrative support. Research using the NCAR-based
Community Climate System Model was cited heavily in the IPCC's
2007 report. 2007
Nobel Peace Prize news release >
Numerous awards
to NCAR and UCAR researchers for individual achievement have come
from the National
Academy of Sciences, National
Academy of Engineering, American
Geophysical Union, and the American
Meteorological Society.
In addition, six presidents of the AMS have been drawn from our
staff, over a dozen have been elected fellows of the American
Association for the Advancement of Science, 11 are fellows
of the AGU, and over 50 have been elected fellows of the AMS.
The
Laurels Pages - Honors & Awards ›
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Location
UCAR and NCAR are headquartered in Boulder,
Colorado, with most activity taking place on three campuses
- NCAR Mesa Laboratory and UCAR Fleischmann Building (southwest
Boulder)
- Foothills Laboratory and Center Green Campus (northeast Boulder)
- Research Aviation Facility (Jefferson County Airport, Broomfield,
Colorado)
In addition, NCAR's High Altitude Observatory operates the Mauna
Loa Solar Observatory near Hilo, Hawaii.
Our collaborations connect us to universities, labs, and private
industry across the country and around the world.
Correspondence and deliveries,
maps and directions >
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How to Pronounce NCAR
- NCAR is pronounced "EN-car" and is generally
written without
"the" before the acronym.
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Contacts
Career Opportunities—Human
Resources
Media Relations
How to visit NCAR's Mesa
Lab: Public tours, exhibits, hours
Organizational
structure
Research activities
Tools and facilities for
research and education
Correspondence and deliveries,
maps and directions
Updated:
June 22, 2009
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