Programs

To understand our interconnected world, we need science that is just as networked and collaborative. INSTAAR programs track ecological data over the long haul; model the movement of water, sediments, and solutes across the landscape; characterize and work out the impacts of environmental change; and help people build capacity to respond to those changes. These national and international collaborations magnify our efforts and frame our work in a larger context.

Delve into the long-term collaborative efforts led by INSTAAR members, including four major national NSF-sponsored programs.

Center for the Geochemical Analysis of the Global Environment (GAGE)

GAGE promotes fundamental research in the development and application of analytical methods that reveal past and present changes in Earth's climate, its land surface, and major biogeochemical cycles. 

CSDMS is a diverse community of more than 1000 experts promoting the modeling of earth surface processes. Together they develop, support, and disseminate integrated software modules that predict the movement of fluids, and the flux of sediment and solutes, in landscapes and their sedimentary basins. CSDMS is supported by NSF.

CCB focuses on enhancing the value and use of climate, water, and weather information, in both developed and developing countries, for the betterment of societies and the well being of individuals.

The Dartmouth Flood Observatory compiles interactive, online maps for surface water and flood events around the globe from remote sensing and GIS data, government sources, news, and other information sources. The maps are used for research, humanitarian, and water management applications.

The Dynamic Water project advances understanding of the interactions among dynamic water storage, critical zone processes, and water provisioning in western U.S. montane ecosystems. The project is one of nine thematic clusters within the NSF-supported Critical Zone Collaborative Network (CZNet).

MCM LTER is an interdisciplinary program that studies the aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems of a cold desert region of Antarctica. It has been a study site within NSF's Long-term Ecological Research (LTER) Program since 1992. Current research is focused on how ecological resistance and resilience modulates the response of communities and ecosystems to amplified connectivity.

MRS is an INSTAAR interdisciplinary research facility devoted to advancement of the study of mountain environmental science. Research at the MRS is performed by investigators from numerous organizations, including the Niwot Ridge LTER, Dynamic Water Cluster, and National Ecological Observatory Network. The MRS is in charge of the Mountain Climate Program, established in 1952 to provide long-term climate data from the Colorado Front Range.

NWT LTER examines interactions between climate and complex alpine ecosystems at a high altitude site in the Colorado Front Range. It has been a study site within NSF's Long-term Ecological Research (LTER) Program since 1980. The NWT LTER mission is to better understand how our complex mountain systems are changing and better predict the future of the many critical services these systems provide to all of us living downhill—in Boulder, in Colorado, and beyond.