NCAR and the Universities

Abstract

The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) has a responsibility for enhancing and assisting the national university-based atmospheric research effort. This responsibility is met partly by programs of research at NCAR that involve cooperation with universities. In these, many visitor and postdoctoral fellows are involved. NCAR also develops and makes available to university scientists special facilities and instrumentation systems that are needed to attack critical problems. These facilities include supercomputers, instrumented aircraft, Doppler radars, and special computer programs such as the NCAR Community Climate Model. This article surveys the broad range of NCAR-university interactions and NCAR services, and addresses the question: Are these programs appropriate and adequate in assisting the universities in their atmospheric research and education efforts?