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The EOL Flight tracking system, designed by EOL utilizing Google and other technologies, allows the user to watch a live track of EOL's aircraft in flight.

A series of ten meteorological instrumentation and measurement training lessons for undergraduate and graduate education was produced by the NCAR Earth Observing Laboratory, Millersville University, and The COMET Program, and is freely available to the community. 

NSF Lower Atmospheric Observing Facilities (LAOF) Guidebooks are available and were updated September 2023.

Radars are critical for understanding the weather; they allow us to “see” inside clouds and help us to observe what is really happening. Learn more about how radars actually work.

A dropsonde is a weather device that is designed to be dropped out of an aircraft at specified altitudes and due to the force of gravity, drop to the Earth. Learn more about these devices.

The air is filled with invisible water vapor, but how much? You may be more familiar with the term "humidity" and this tool will allow you to measure relative humidity to find out just how much invisible water vapor is in the air today.

The number of patents that originate in this laboratory is an obvious indicator of its culture of innovation. One walk by the EOL Director’s Office, where several of the patents are displayed, should indicate that something special happens in EOL.

EOL recently played a vital role in the success of the VERTical Enhanced MiXing (VERTEX) project. 

Since the 1960s, NSF NCAR’s Earth Observing Laboratory (EOL) has successfully managed numerous instrument developments and field projects.

Major advances in radar technology have paved the way for the development of an Airborne Phased Array Radar (APAR) system that can provide unprecedented detailed observations of the dynamics and microphysics of high-impact storms such as hurricanes and mesoscale convective systems. The APAR currently under design by NCAR/EOL consists of four removable C-band Active Electronically Scanned Arrays (AESA) mounted on the top, both sides, and the cargo door of the NSF/NCAR C-130 aircraft.

Scientific programs from all over the world rely on the capabilities of EOL's Design and Fabrication Services to create innovative engineering solutions and highest quality machining and repair services of new and existing highly-specialized instrumentation used on every imaginable platform.

LOTOS is a proposed sensor network to sample the atmospheric boundary layer and land-atmosphere interface, and will be a transportable integrated network of up to five nodes, each consisting of a suite of profiling instruments surrounded by up to fifteen flux measuring towers.

The EOL calibration laboratory is used to evaluate and calibrate in-situ meteorological sensors and instruments. The laboratory has the capability to simulate the full range of environmental conditions (pressure, temperature, humidity, altitude, and wind speed) to which sensors and instruments are typically exposed. Pressure, humidity, and temperature references are traceable to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) primary standards.

EOL's scientists and engineers are widely recognized  for their expertise and impactful contributions to the atmospheric science community.  We are proud to to highlight the work of our staff through their publications, papers, and presentations. 

The Earth Observing Laboratory (EOL) is NSF NCAR’s end-to-end observational enterprise, dedicated to facilitating research of the Earth’s atmosphere. As one of NSF NCAR’s seven laboratories, EOL leverages technology and expertise to provide leadership in observational research, field project support, and data collection.

EOL’s organizational structure consists of a central directorate and four Facilities, collectively managing and maintaining the LAOF to provide support for the wider NCAR community.

EOL has a diverse and active group of scientists and research engineers conducting a wide range of research in atmospheric sciences and technology. 

The High-Performance Instrumented Airborne Platform for Environmental Research (HIAPER) research aircraft is a Gulfstream V (GV) business jet that has been highly modified for research has unique capabilities that set it apart from other research aircraft. It can reach 49,000 feet (15,000 meters), enabling scientists to collect data at the tops of storms and the lower edge of the stratosphere. With a range of about 4,000 nautical miles (7,408 kilometers), it can track atmospheric particles across the oceans or reach the South Pole from bases in South America or New Zealand.

The NSF NCAR C-130 is a versatile and capable research platform that carries a wide variety of scientific payloads. The C-130 has a 10-hour flight endurance, a 2,900 nautical mile range at up to 27,000 feet (8,230 meters) , and a payload capacity of 13,000 lbs. In addition to standard thermodynamic, microphysics and radiation sensors, the C-130 has a roomy fuselage payload area and many versatile inlets and optical ports. The C-130 can carry advanced EOL and community instrumentation.

The University of Wyoming’s Beechcraft King Air 200T (UWKA) is a twin-engine turbo-prop aircraft instrumented to support various research missions, notably in cloud physics and boundary layer processes. In service since 1977, the aircraft is operated by the Donald L. Veal Research Flight Center within the UWyo Department of Atmospheric Science.

The ISS combines surface, sounding, and remote sensing instrumentation to provide a comprehensive description of lower atmospheric thermodynamics and winds.

The ISFS can be deployed as a widely distributed network of surface weather stations measuring the surface energy budget, fluxes, and some soil parameters or in closely spaced arrays to support intensive micrometeorological research at a single site. 

The MPD is a compact, field-deployable, micro-pulse differential absorption lidar that provides continuous monitoring of water vapor in the lower troposphere. 

The S-band Dual Polarization Doppler Radar (S-Pol) is a research-grade, transportable, ground-based, dual-polarized, Doppler weather radar.

The EOL Field Data Archive contains publicly available data from atmospheric research campaigns conducted by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and other agencies since about 1967. Data from research instrumentation operated by NCAR and other organizations and investigators are collected.

EOL offers comprehensive data management, archival, and stewardship services to the observational research community. NSF-funded research teams rely on EOL to facilitate the implementation of tailored and comprehensive data management plans for field campaigns.

Software is the engine that allows users to query, manipulate, process, and plot data. EOL provides open-source community software for many such applications.

The NSF/NCAR HIAPER GV and C-130 airborne platforms are equipped with fuselage apertures of different shapes and sizes to accept optical windows or structural plates that serve as mounting locations for various remote sensing instruments. Large, interchangeable instrumentation pods can carry optical particle probes, active and passive remote sensors, and in-situ sensors. Wingtip pylons can carry canister-mounted sensors. Structures at the fuselage top and bottom provide additional capacity for hemispheric radiometers and other sensors.