An experimental modeling study by a team of scientists that includes NCAR’s Hanli Liu (High Altitude Observatory) points to the propagation of waves upward from the lower atmosphere as a driver for variability in the ionosphere. The research is an important step toward better understanding space weather.
In a breakthrough that will help scientists unlock mysteries of the Sun and its impacts on Earth, an international team of scientists led by NCAR has created the first-ever comprehensive computer model of sunspots.
Travis Metcalfe, NCAR's High Altitude Observatory • How common are planets like Earth around other stars like the Sun? Are we unique, rare, or typical in that regard? Metcalfe likes asking big questions.
A new technique developed at NCAR will help asteroseismologists learn about stars from their oscillations, or “starquakes.” These variations in the brightness of stars reveal information about their internal structures.
NCAR scientists are working on a bigger, bolder version of WACCM (the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model), called WACCM-eXtension, or WACCM-X for short. The enhanced version extends the model to an altitude of about 310 miles.
Hector Socas-Navarro, NCAR's High Altitude Observatory • When this astrophysicist was 10 years old, he watched Cosmos, Carl Sagan's famous television series about the universe and our place in it. It was then that Socas-Navarro decided to become a scientist.
Maura Hagan, NCAR's Advanced Study Program • Maura studies the physics of Earth's upper atmosphere. In particular, she looks at atmospheric tides and their effects throughout the atmosphere.
Aimee Norton, NCAR's High Altitude Observatory • "Astronomy is a great way to study space without actually going there. It's fun to get new data, analyze graphs, and decipher the secrets of the Sun."
Tim Brown, NCAR's High Altitude Observatory • Brown has been interested in stars ever since he was a child reading about the launch of Sputnik and other satellites in the 1950s. "I can't remember wanting to be anything but an astronomer," he says.
