University Corporation for Atmospheric Research

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University Corporation for Atmospheric Research#

Overview#

The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), headquartered in Boulder, Colorado, is a U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) facility managed by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR). NCAR is dedicated to advancing Earth system science through research, high-performance computing, and the development of open source software tools that support the global scientific community.​

NCAR’s contributions to open source software are extensive and cater to various aspects of atmospheric and climate research. Notable open source projects developed or maintained by NCAR include:​

  • Community Earth System Model (CESM): A comprehensive climate model that simulates the Earth’s climate system, integrating components like atmosphere, ocean, land, and sea ice.​

  • Weather Research and Forecasting Model (WRF): A widely-used numerical weather prediction system designed for both atmospheric research and operational forecasting.​

  • Model for Prediction Across Scales (MPAS): An Earth system modeling software that integrates atmospheric, oceanographic, and cryospheric modeling across scales from regional to planetary.​

  • Data Assimilation Research Testbed (DART): A community software facility for ensemble data assimilation, supporting various geophysical models and observation types. ​ cisl.ucar.edu

  • NCAR Command Language (NCL): A scripting language designed for the analysis and visualization of climate and weather data. ​ GitHub

  • PyNGL and PyNIO: Python packages developed for scientific visualization and data input/output, providing functionalities similar to NCL within the Python ecosystem. ​

  • VAPOR (Visualization and Analysis Platform for Ocean, Atmosphere, and Solar Researchers): A tool for interactive 3D visualization of large-scale simulation data

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