NOAA Atmospheric Research

NOAA Research organizations conduct basic and applied research on the upper and lower atmosphere as well as the space environment. Their findings form the basis for NOAAs contributions to major national and international environmental programs and agreements. For instance, the recent National Weather Service modernization is making use of NOAA research as evidenced by improvements in numerical modeling, information received from satellites and Doppler weather radars (NEXRAD) and sophisticated weather warning and display systems, all leading to improved severe weather forecasts and warnings. Other research programs focus on observation and study of the chemical and physical processes of the atmosphere, detecting the effects of pollution on those processes and monitoring and forecasting the phenomena affecting the Sun-Earth environment.