NSF NCAR was selected by NASA to construct a breadbox-sized satellite that will give scientists a powerful new tool to observe the Sun’s chromosphere, a poorly understood region of the solar atmosphere where the energy that powers solar storms builds up before being released.

This November through February, a specialized laser instrument that measures atmospheric gases is hitching a ride on regularly scheduled flights to and from McMurdo Station in Antarctica. The instrument will collect information about how much carbon dioxide is going in and out of the Southern Ocean for a project called the Southern Ocean Carbon Gas Observatory (SCARGO).  

The UCAR Board of Trustees has announced the formation of the search committee that will help guide the selection of the next UCAR president.

As Hurricane Melissa approached Jamaica last month, a NOAA Hurricane Hunter airplane dropped a fleet of weather instruments called dropsondes into the depths of the storm. When the National Hurricane Center received the dropsonde data from the plane via satellite and processed the 252 mph reading, they cautiously began referring to the measurement as a potential record. In order to verify the reading, they contacted researchers at the U.S. National Science Foundation National Center for Atmospheric Research (NSF NCAR), where dropsondes were developed, and asked them to verify the data.  

This past summer, if New Yorkers looked up from the hustle and bustle of urban life, they may have spotted a C-130 research aircraft flying above the skyscrapers. The plane was doing research flights over the tri-state area to collect data on urban air quality for a scientific research field campaign called GOTHAAM. No classic villains or superheroes here, just researchers studying the composition of the air in both the light and dark of the New York metro area.