Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere - CIRA

Colorado State University Fort Collins, Colorado 80523 USA
970-491-8448 Visit Website

CIRA is a Cooperative Institute between NOAA's National Environmental Satellite Data and Information System (NESDIS) as well as its Office of Applied Research (OAR) and Colorado State University. Within the University, CIRA is collocated and draws heavily upon the Dept. of Atmospheric Science but has broad connections within the College of Engineering as well as Agricultural and Natural Sciences. In addition to the staff at its Fort Collins campus, a significant CIRA presence exists at NOAA's Earth System Research Laboratory in Boulder focusing on modeling and data distribution with additional staff at NESDIS' Center for Satellite Applications and Research (STAR) in College Park, Maryland working on satellite algorithm development and at NOAA's Aviation Weather Testbed in Kansas City, MO

Its vision is to conduct interdisciplinary research in the atmospheric sciences by entraining skills beyond the meteorological disciplines, exploiting advances in engineering and computer science, facilitating transitional activity between pure and applied research, leveraging both national and international resources and partnerships, and assisting NOAA, Colorado State University, the State of Colorado, and the Nation through the application of our research to areas of societal benefit.