NCAR Overview

NSF Review of ACDOctober 24-26, 2001

Tim KilleenNCAR Director

NCAR Overview

Some Metrics

NCAR Strategic Plan

Budgets

ACD within NCAR

Presentation Outline

TrusteesUCAR

NCAR at a Glance

41 years; 850 Staff – 135 Scientists

$128M budget for FY2001

9 divisions and programs

Research tools, facilities, and visitor programs for the NSF and university communities

NCAR Peer-Reviewed Publications

206 182 172 170

145 214 209285

0

100

200

300

400

500

1997 1998 1999 2000

NCAR Authors Joint with outside authors

NCAR Visitors

141

318 310

129

133 169

90

7380

38

17

42

134

45

95

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

1998 1999 2000

180+

91-180

31-90

8-30

1-7 Days

Productivity and Citations

NCAR ranks 3rd (behind NASA and NOAA)in total number of published papers in theGeosciences

NCAR ranks 4th out of 764 institutions in citations per paper in the field of Engineering

NCAR ranks 9th in overall number of average citations per “high impact” geosciences papers (127.4)*

* Figures based on ISI reports

NCAR at the Nexus

AtmosphericandEarth SystemSciences Information

Technologies

Integration of Research and Education

Priorities for the Institution

Developing the human capital

Expanding the intellectual envelope and building new capacities

Expanding partnerships and creating new collaborations

Priority Areas Fundamental ResearchUnderstanding and Predicting the Earth SystemAdvanced Scientific FacilitiesHuman Dimensions and Societal ImpactsEducation and TrainingApplications and Technology Transfer

“NCAR as an Integrator”

The integration of disciplinary knowledge to create interdisciplinary synthesis and develop new knowledge;

The integration of research and education;

The integration of different tools and methods to attack new problems;

The integration of different points of view and personal experiences to create teams.

2001 Strategic Plan

Values and First Principles

Creativity and excellence

Valuing our People

Addressing Societal Needs

Broadening the Intellectual Envelope

Supporting the Community

Contributing to Education

Innovation and Renewal

Strategic Planning

1 year, grass roots process

Bob Harriss Associate Director for Strategic Planning

Scientific staff, management, NSF and UCAR Board of Trustees reviewed

Approved by UCAR Trustees October 8

Web site with draft plan, initiative abstracts and working groups

Strategic Planning Process

UCAR/NCAR

INIT

IAT

IVE

S

INTEGRATIVERESEARCH

CO

NT

EX

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ON

GO

ING

PR

OG

RA

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Models Theory Instruments Computing Diverse Workforce

Mission Vision Values GoalsD

ISC

IPLI

NA

RY

ST

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NG

TH

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Chemistry Climate

Computing

SolarWeather

Society Observations Education

INT

EG

RA

TIN

GA

CT

IVIT

IES

InterdisciplinaryResearch

Integration ofTools and Methods

Integrating Researchand Education

Integrated Researchfor Applications

Focus for Community Research Programs

Synthesis ofIdeas

DISCIPLINARYRESEARCH

New Integrative Initiatives

UN

IVE

RS

ITIE

S, R

ES

EA

RC

H C

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Strategic PlanProjectsThemes 

Integrating Interdisciplinary Scientific Initiatives

 

Integrating Chemistry Climate Connections

 

A Biogeo-sciences Initiative

 Advancing the Science of Weather and Climate Impact Assessment

 Understanding Sun-Earth Connections and Planetary Atmospheres

Water CycleAcrossscales

 Advancing Weather and Climate Research and Prediction

Applying the Benefits of the IT Revolution Across Research and Education

 

A Knowledge Environment for the Geosciences

 Enhanced Capabilities for Data Management and Sharing

 A Common Modeling Infrastructure for Earth System Science

 

A “World-Class Web” Presence

 

Advancing Tools and Methods 

 

Data Assimilation Initiative

 

Remote Sensing Initiative

 

A Geographic Information Systems Initiative

 

Integrating Models 

 A First-Generation Earth System Model

 A Whole-Atmosphere Community Climate Model

 

Proposed New Facilities Initiatives 

Supercomputing for the ESM Era

 AnAtmospheric Observing System

 

Integrating Research and Education

 Please refer to the E&O Strategic Plan for a list of suggested programs and initiatives

 Funda-mental Issues in geo-physical Turbulence

UCAR Education & Outreach Strategic PlanMission Statement: “In partnership with

the university community, UCAR promotes scientific literacy and advances all levels of education and training in subjects related to the Earth’s atmosphere”

Goals• Develop infrastructure to support an

effective coordinated education program

• Support students and professionals: from pre-K through post graduate

• Foster an informed public through science literacy

• Build diversity in the geosciences

Undergraduates at NCAR

In 2001, NCAR hosted a total of 85 undergraduate students

35 Student Assistants

34 Student Visitors

16 SOARS Protégés

High Performance Simulation Plan Themes

1. Provide high performance computational capabilities.

2. Adopt software engineering practices that promote high performance and efficient development of models.

3. Provide data services and tools to manage and condense large data sets.

4. Structure the management of major software development projects to accommodate interdisciplinary team efforts.

5. Augment efforts in computer and computational science and software engineering in an end-to-end simulation environment.

6. Investigate, develop, adapt and implement the infrastructure needed to support and facilitate collaborations across distributed environments.

NCAR Facilities

C130 newly refurbishedHigh altitude jetRadars, lidars, etc.

1 teraflop peak (#20)x2 this fiscal yearx8 over next three yearsTwo-thirds peta byte

Tropospheric carbon monoxideNASA-TERRA-MOPITTUniversity of TorontoAnd NCAR15,000 ftRed: 450 ppbBlue: 50 ppb

The Climate – Chemistry Connection

Earth System Models

CCSM June, 2001 Workshop in Breckenridge:260 participants, 34 universities, 51 institutions

Carbon Assimilation

CO2 CH4

N2O VOCsDust

HeatMoistureMomentum

ClimateTemperature, Precipitation,Radiation, Humidity, Wind

ChemistryCO2, CH4, N2Oozone, aerosols

MicroclimateCanopy Physiology

Species CompositionEcosystem StructureNutrient AvailabilityWater

DisturbanceFiresHurricanesIce StormsWindthrows

EvaporationTranspirationSnow MeltInfiltrationRunoff

Gross Primary ProductionPlant RespirationMicrobial RespirationNutrient Availability

Ecosystems

Species CompositionEcosystem Structure

Watersheds

Surface WaterSubsurface WaterGeomorphology

Biogeophysics

Ene

rgy

Wat

er

Aer

o-dy

nam

ics

Biogeochemistry

MineralizationDecomposition

Hydrology

Soi

l W

ater

Sno

w

Inte

r-ce

pted

Wat

er

Phenology

Bud Break

Leaf Senescence

HydrologicCycle

VegetationDynamics

Min

ute

s-T

o-H

ou

rsD

ays-

To

-Wee

ks

Yea

rs-T

o-C

en

turi

esComponents Of Terrestrial Biogeoscience

Gordon Bonan

National Wildland Fire Research Program

NCAR

LANL LLNL

GoverningBoard

NWCG

Federal EPA NOAA - NWS - NESDIS - OAR OFCM NSF NASA

Land Management Agencies - Fire Labs - GACC’s - NIFC

Industry & Environmental- Nature Conservancy- Paper/wood mfr- Insurance companies

State County Municipal - policy planning - Air quality - Fire mitigation

- Western Governors’ Assoc

International Collaboration- Canada- Australia - France

Provides for a national integrated wildfire R&D program

Builds bridges between operational and research organizations with focus on the National Fire Plan

Combines modeling,observations, theory, and decisionsupport systems

Universities - DRI - U of Mont -U of Arizona - Colorado - SDSM&T - CSU - UCSB

Diurnal Cycle of Precipitation

Snowmelt

Surface Hydrology

To understand how water vapor, precipitation and land surface hydrology

interact across scales to define the hydrological cycle, and to use this

information to improve weather prediction models and

climate models

GOAL

Water Vapor and Convective Initiation

International H2O Project (IHOP)

May – June 2002

Cloud Systems

Water Cycle Across Scales

Environmental and Societal Impacts Group

Weather and Climate Assessment

Regional Climate Modeling Initiative

Water Cycle Initiative

Cities and Air Quality Initiative

SCD Data Initiative

Biogeoscience Initiative

Uncertainty

Climate / Health

Extremes

Demographic Challenges

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

1993 2000 2001

Senior ScientistScientist IIIScientist IIScientist I

0

5

10

15

20

25

1993 1995 1997 1999 2001

Female

Minority

NCAR Scientist I Hires 9 new early career scientist hires through special funding 4 women, 5 men Interdisciplinary Focus of planned research, mapping into NCAR strategic plan: solar magnetism climate assessment, biogeosciences, advanced data assimilation, solar coronal magnetic fields atmospheric observing systems, weather and society, chemistry and climate.

Cumulative Changes in NSF Budget(relative to FY 1993)

100%

110%

120%

130%

140%

150%

160%

170%

Research and Related 117% 123% 124% 131% 137% 152% 159% 169% 168%

GEO Appropriation 106% 110% 110% 117% 120% 126% 128% 138% 137%

NCAR Base 102% 102% 103% 106% 103% 111% 112% 118% 123%

NCAR Target w/ CSL, NSFSpecial

105% 119% 118% 120% 120% 128% 126% 135% 140%

FY 1994

FY 1995

FY 1996

FY 1997

FY 1998

FY 1999

FY 2000

FY 2001

FY 2002

2002 is President's Request forGEO, R&R; prelim target for NCAR

Annual Budget Review

Relates sources and uses of funds to sectional, divisional, center-wide and agency priorities

Program and budget review of each division’s NSF and non-NSF projects.

Is done on an annual basis early in the fiscal year prior to receiving NCAR’s final operating budget from NSF

Determines divisional annual targets

FY 2000 Funding DistributionNCAR FY 2000 Expenditures/Commitments

NSF Regular62%

NSF Special5%

NASA8%

FAA7%

EPA0.4%

Other8%

DOD5%

DOE2%

NOAA3%

Total FY2001 funding: $128M

Future Role of ACD within NCAR

Balanced program covering lower and upper atmosphere chemistry, laboratory kinetics, instrumentation, theory, modeling and field campaigns.

Community modelsPartnership with other NCAR/UCAR divisions and

programsCentral role in NCAR strategic planImportant scientific areas: biogeosciences, water

cycles, urban metabolism, etc.Long heritage of leadership and service