We stand ready to brief the country's top policymakers on the state of Earth system science.
UCAR Congressional Briefings draw on expertise from our university consortium and public-private partnerships to provide insights into critical topics in Earth system science, from fundamental research to innovative products and services that strengthen the economy and provide the nation with greater resilience to natural disasters.
Increasingly intense weather and climate hazards are posing growing threats to our national security, requiring a comprehensive strategy to build resilience that's based on the best available science.
New innovations and technology — developed through partnerships among federal agencies, private companies and universities — offer the promise of safer driving in all types of weather.
To save lives, protect trillions of dollars in coastal development, and safeguard our military assets, strategic investments into research and technology are imperative as we seek to improve forecasts for America's densely populated coastlines and low-lying areas.
The clues to long-term weather prediction can be found in the world's oceans. Providing long-term storage for much of the planet's heat, the oceans are a major driver of everyday weather patterns as well as extreme events with damaging impacts.
As weather forecast companies seek to improve their predictive capabilities, they draw on basic research by scientists across the country who are using high-resolution computer models, advanced radar technology, and other cutting-edge tools to better understand the atmosphere.
In an effort to better predict and respond to wildland fires, the UCAR research community works closely with federal and state agencies, emergency managers, and others to enhance understanding of wildfire dynamics.
Water resources are critical to human survival, and water drives many sectors of the U.S. economy. The UCAR research community is working to improve water prediction tools.
As society’s dependence on technology increases, so does its vulnerability to space weather, which can disrupt GPS satellite signals, electrical power grids, airline communications and more. Researchers from the UCAR community are working to better predict solar storms.
Years of effort by researchers at U.S. universities and federally funded laboratories such as the National Center for Atmospheric Research have led to systems in use today that reduce vulnerability to flight hazards such as thunderstorms, turbulence, icing, and wind shear.
Research at U.S. universities and research labs is providing new understanding and forecasting capabilities that will help decision makers prepare for environmental change in the Arctic.
Hurricane prediction forecasts have gotten drastically better over the last decade, but there is still room to improve. Researchers in the UCAR community provide a look at future directions for research, technology, and operations.
The El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) can have a major influence on weather in the United States and around the world. Researchers in the UCAR community outline the state of the science aimed at predicting the onset of ENSO events.