The mission of the Research Aviation Facility (RAF) is to develop and operate instrumented research aircraft for the atmospheric science community at a level of sophistication and operational complexity not generally available elsewhere.
RAF's goals are:
To operate the research aircraft safely and reliably. Safety is the foremost factor guiding RAF in operation of NCAR/NSF aircraft fleet.
To provide research aircraft users with comprehensive support, so that RAF participates as an integral part of the scientific and technical research team. RAF assists in planning and conducting field experiments; provides data processing and quality control; documents instrumentation characteristics and limitations; and, when appropriate, assists during the analysis phase of experiments.
To anticipate the future scientific needs of the atmospheric sciences community and to develop research systems (aircraft, instruments, and data acquisition systems) suited to community needs. RAF's scientific and engineering staff tracks these research needs and applicable technological developments.