Developing Community Research Tools

Traditionally, NCAR has proceeded along two major paths: global climate and weather. The increasing capacity of computers, combined with the increased demand for more specific and detailed information, brings us to an age where combining weather and climate modeling in a seamless continuum is both desirable and feasible. The regional climate modeling effort takes NCAR along this path. By nesting the WRF weather model within the CAM and CCSM climate models we will substantially improve both the downscaling to regional climate predictions and the upscaling impacts of moist convective organization to larger circulations

Developing a Data Assimilation System

A major effort within ESSL is the exploration of advanced assimilation techniques, including Four-Dimensional Variational (4D-Var) and Ensemble Kalman Filter (EnKF) approaches, aimed at developing a unified data assimilation system and with a particular focus on assimilating remotely sensed radar data at convective/mesoscales. Visit our Data Assimilation Page for more in-depth details about this area of research.

The CCSM2 model was used to run forecasts of changes to sea ice. Simulations show how increasing CO2 levels may affect sea ice thickness at the poles.