NSF NCAR-Supported Field Projects

Travel the world and explore the science being conducted in the field.

NCAR Explorer Series logo

NSF NCAR’s Earth Observing Laboratory (EOL) supports field projects across the university community to measure, assess, and study Earth system patterns and interactions across continents and oceans. The Explorer Series follows these experts as they measure everything from atmospheric pressure to oceanic chemistry to polar ice cores in search of key data.

Viewers interested in understanding how scientists, engineers, air crew, project leaders, educators, and students operate in unfamiliar locations can get an inside look at the dynamic process of conducting research in the field with the videos below.

EdEC-Supported Field Projects

Browse field project videos to get an inside look at what it's like to be in the field.

A false color image of the corona during a total solar eclipse

CATE 2024

The CATE 2024 mission brought community and professional scientists together in partnership during the 2024 total solar eclipse to gathered data on the corona, our Sun's outermost atmosphere.

The crew of ACES 2024 stand in front of the GV aircraft

ACES 2024

The Airborne Coronal Emission Surveyor (ACES) project studied the Sun's corona during the 2024 total solar eclipse. EdEC assisted with public events, including an open house, classroom visits, and a planetarium lecture.

A C-130 research aircraft sits on a snowy runway, silhouetted by the sun

CAESAR

The Cold-Air Outbreak Experiment in the Sub-Arctic Region (CAESAR) experiment examines clouds that form over Arctic waters during cold-air outbreaks.

The wing of the Gulfstream V research aircraft flying during OTREC

OTREC

OTREC, Organization of Tropical East Pacific Convection, investigates convection in the Eastern Pacific Ocean and southwest Caribbean.

A Doppler on Wheels (DOW) sits in the foreground with an overcast sky in the background

RELÁMPAGO

RELÁMPAGO, Remote Sensing of Electrification, Lightning, and Mesoscale/Microscale Processes with Adaptive Ground Observations, investigates different phases of the life cycle of thunderstorms that occur in Argentina.

View of wildfire smoke taken from the window of NCAR's aircraft.

WE-CAN

WE-CAN, Western Wildfire Experiment for Cloud Chemistry, Aerosol Absorption and Nitrogen, investigates how chemistry in western wildfire smoke affects air quality, nutrient cycles, weather, and climate.