The Mission of the Institute is to conduct research in the atmospheric sciences of mutual benefit to NOAA, the University, the State and the Nation. The Institute strives to provide a center for cooperation in specified research program areas by scientists, staff and students, and to enhance the training of atmospheric scientists. Special effort is directed toward the transition of research results into practical applications in the weather and climate areas. In addition, multidisciplinary research programs are emphasized, and all university and NOAA organizational elements are invited to participate in CIRA’s atmospheric research programs.

The Institute’s research is concentrated in several theme areas that include global and regional climate, local and mesoscale weather forecasting and evaluation, applied cloud physics, applications of satellite observations, air quality and visibility, and societal and economic impacts, along with cross-cutting research areas of numerical modeling and education, training and outreach. In addition to CIRA’s relationship with NOAA, the National Park Service also has an ongoing cooperation in air quality and visibility research that involves scientists from numerous disciplines, and the Center for Geosciences/Atmospheric Research based at CIRA is a long-term program sponsored by the Department of Defense.

CIRA’s Vision is to improve interdisciplinary research in the atmospheric sciences by entraining skills beyond the meteorological disciplines, exploiting cutting-edge advances in engineering and computer science, facilitating transitional activity between pure and applied research, and assisting the Nation through the application of our research.