# University Corporation for Atmospheric Research

- **Website:** [NSF NCAR](https://ncar.ucar.edu/)

## 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