University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) is a nonprofit corporation formed in 1959 by research institutions with doctoral programs in the atmospheric and related sciences. UCAR was formed to enhance the computing and observational capabilities of the universities, and to focus on scientific problems that are beyond the scale of a single university.
UCAR carries out its mission through two organizations: The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and the UCAR Office of Programs (UOP).
The UCAR Office of Programs supplies real-time weather data to colleges and universities for use in the classroom, trains weather forecasters in the latest research results and technologies, and helps organize international experiments in remote areas of the world, among other services.
In FY 2001, UCAR expenditures were $148 million. The principal sponsor is the National Science Foundation (NSF); funds also come from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Department of Defense (DOD), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Department of Energy (DOE), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and other agencies and organizations.
UCAR also operates the multinational GLOBE Program, a hands-on, school-based education and science program that seeks to teach young students using real experiments, equipment and collaboration with students in a global network of scientists and educators.
