National Science Foundation
Space Weather Programs and Facilities

NSF supports basic research in support of the National Space Weather Program (NSWP). In addition, the foundation supports related space physics research programs in Aeronomy, Magnetospheric Physics, and Solar-Terrestrial Physics. Special NSF research programs within these broad space physics programs include: Coupling, Energetics and Dynamics of Atmospheric Regions (CEDAR), Geospace Environment Modeling (GEM), Radiative Inputs of the Sun to Earth (RISE), and Solar and Heliospheric Interplanetary Environment (SHINE).

Presently NSF supports the Center for Integrated Space Weather Modeling (CISM) under the Science and Technology Centers program. There are climate change and variability programs in the Directorate for Geosciences, and other related research programs in astronomy and space physics in the Directorate of Mathematics and Physical Sciences.

In addition to the basic research programs, NSF supports a variety of ground-based observing facilities of relevance to the NSWP. These include the radars supported by the Upper Atmosphere Facilities (UAF) program. The UAF facilities are the chain of incoherent scatter radars
(Jicamarca, Peru; Arecibo, Puerto Rico; Millstone Hill, Massachusetts; Sondre Stromfjord, Greenland) and the Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN). The latest addition to the UAF facilities program, the Advanced Modular Incoherent Scatter Radar (AMISR) is currently under construction. Using state of the art technology, AMISR sets a new world standard in upper atmospheric research facilities, and its unique design features allow the radar to be disassembled and moved as scientific needs dictate. The first of three “faces” of AMISR will be completed and begin preliminary operation in Alaska in 2005.

NSF also supports the National Solar Observatory and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory. In addition, NSF supports the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), including the High Altitude Observatory (HAO).