Climate Research

Updated September 2009

Center for Multiscale Modeling of Atmospheric Science

The Center for Multiscale Modeling of Atmospheric Processes (CMMAP) is a National Science Foundation Science and Technology Center focused on understanding and predicting the role of clouds in the Earth's climate system and improving the representation of cloud processes in climate models.

Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA)

The Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA) conducts research in the atmospheric sciences that is of mutual benefit to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, CSU, the state of Colorado, and the world. CIRA has conducted global and regional climate research since it was first formed in 1980. The institute strives to provide a center for cooperation in specified research program areas among scientists, staff, and students, and to enhance the training of atmospheric scientists. Special effort is directed toward the transition of research results into practical applications in the weather and climate areas. CIRA’s research is concentrated in: global and regional climate, local and mesoscale weather forecasting and evaluation, applied cloud physics, applications of satellite observations, air quality and visibility, and societal and economic impacts. In addition to CIRA’s cooperation with NOAA, it also has a longstanding cooperative arrangement with the National Park Service related to air quality and visibility research. The Department of Defense sponsors the Center for Geosciences/Atmospheric Research based at CIRA. Long-term NOAA- and NASA-sponsored studies of earth radiation budget, clouds, water vapor, and their variability have led to a much better understanding of the interrelationships of these quantities.

CloudSat

CloudSat, a satellite mission conceived by Colorado State University scientist Graeme Stephens, is the world's most sensitive cloud-profiling radar in orbit. Since launching 438 miles above Earth on April 28, 2006, CloudSat has made thousands of orbits around the Earth, snapped hundreds of millions of vertical profiles of clouds and distributed more than 6 terabytes of data to the international science community. This information is critical to monitoring and assessing global warming and global climate change.

Colorado Climate Center

Established by the state in 1974, the Colorado Climate Center assists the state in monitoring climate over time, helping to reduce the state’s vulnerability to climate variability and change.

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