A subset of NSF's Lower Atmosphere Observing Facilities are available for educational purposes to college campuses across the continental United States every year. This funded NSF effort was designed to expose bright young college students in science and engineering to observational meteorology, without requiring faculty to design and propose a full-scale scientific field campaign.
The Earth Observing Laboratory (EOL) and the University of Wyoming are in a unique position to provide hands-on training opportunities and exposure to several mobile surface, sounding and remote sensing instruments, at no cost to the educator.
Requesting Facilities for Educational DeploymentsA portion of the NSF Deployment Pool is set aside every year to support short-term deployments of NSF's observing facilities to various colleges across the U.S. Educators wishing to gain access to these observational facilities for classroom instructions and hands-on learning experience are encouraged to submit a short proposal and facility request four to six months before the start of the intended activity. Proposal submission by students will also be accepted but require approval by a faculty advisor.
Learn more about how to submit a proposal requesting the use of an NSF facility for educational purposes.
Requestable Ground-based Remote Sensing Facilities:
Requestable Surface and Sounding Systems:
Requestable Research Aircraft:
NCAR Integrated Surface Flux System (ISFS)
ARTSE: The 21 August 2017 total solar eclipse presented a tremendous and relatively rare opportunity for both hands-on educational activities and atmospheric boundary layer research. To take advantage of this opportunity, the Earth and Space Sciences Department at Columbus State University (CSU), collaborating with the Coca Cola Space Sciences Center (CCSSC), developed project ARTSE: Atmospheric Response to a Total Solar Eclipse. The principal goal of this project was to provide students with hands-on experience in meteorological fieldwork, computer programming, and low-level data analysis all while collecting meaningful data and experiencing a truly incredible event. To achieve these goals, CSU requested two National Center of Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Integrated Surface Flux System (ISFS) stations to be deployed in the path of totality through an NSF-sponsored educational deployment.
» Read more about ARTSE
NCAR Mobile Integrated Sounding System (MISS)
BaSE CaMP II: In the fall of 2012, Saint Cloud State University was visited by a Mobile Integrated Sounding System (MISS) provided by NCAR’s Earth Observing Laboratory. The deployment was termed Boundary Structure Experiments with Central Minnesota Profiling (BaSE CaMP). Within one week, the MISS was deployed to five different locations, was visited by forty-nine students, and collected datasets of features including a cold pool breakup, a subsidence inversion, a cold frontal passage, and a small graupel event. The first of these cases has been a subject of research by the PI and two students which was presented as a poster at the 2014 AMS Mountain Meteorology conference.
» Read more about BaSE CaMP II
University of Wyoming King Air (UWKA) Research Aircraft
SEAR-MAR: Four universities are partnering for a two-week educational deployment of the University of Wyoming King Air aircraft (UWKA) in early November 2017 that will serve as the stimulus for 175 undergraduate and graduate students to be immersed in the study of the atmosphere from an airborne platform. In particular, faculty and students from Millersville University (MU), Pennsylvania State University (PSU), Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (RU), and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) will use this valuable airborne observing system to study synoptic scale cold fronts and other atmospheric phenomena in the mid-Atlantic Appalachian Mountains, Piedmont, and Coastal Plain.
» Read more about SEAR-MAR
CSWR Doppler on Wheels (DOW)
ERAU CBREESE 2.0: Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Convective-Boundary Research Engaging Educational Student Experiences 2.0 (ERAU CBREESE 2.0) was a 15-day Doppler-on-Wheels (DOW) and Mobile Mesonet (MM) educational deployment from the Center for Severe Weather Research (CSWR), funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). ERAU CBREESE 2.0 ran from 28 June–12 July 2018 across Central Florida. The educational deployment was designed to observe and measure sea-breeze processes and convection during the warm season, with a specific focus on Central Florida sub-regions that contain multiple mesoscale breezes and boundary collisions. It was the first LAOF educational deployment to involve both a DOW and MM.
» Read more about ERAU CBREESE 2.0
Educational Resources | Instrumentation and Measurement of Atmospheric Parameters
This course series is currently in development and is part of a collaborative effort by NCAR's Earth Observing Laboratory, Millersville University, and The COMET Program. This series in total will provide approximately 18 hours of atmospheric instrumentation training. The course focuses on the science involved in measuring basic atmospheric parameters. This information can help with successful instrument siting and data collection for various efforts. A free login is required.
» Instrumentation and Measurement of Atmospheric Parameters Training Modules
