CONCLUSION

This document summarizes the mission, goals, and achievements of NCAR and the multifaceted, productive interactions among UCAR and NCAR, the universities, the National Science Foundation, and related programs in UCAR and other institutions in the United States and around the world.
Impact of the center's overall program on the quality of the nation's atmospheric and related science
NCAR's impacts are summarized in three areas: long-term, sustained scientific programs, facility development and support, and intellectual scientific infrastructure. In the divisional reviews completed in 1996, all of these activities were reviewed positively. The reviewers noted a significant value added by the complementary disciplines resident within NCAR's divisions and programs. Sustained scientific programs of high quality and contributions to facility development and support are responsible for the favorable reviews.

Quality of UCAR/NCAR management and leadership, including past and future priorities for the overall NCAR program
The quality of UCAR and NCAR management and leadership is exemplified, in part, by the excellence of NCAR's programs and the achievements of its staff. Management and leadership philosophy is evident in the way that priorities are established at NCAR through a process based on consensus building internally and with the university community. Management seeks to be progressive and forward looking, in meeting not only the needs of the science but also the needs of NCAR staff, the scientific community, and society.

Service to the community by overall center programs
As a national center, NCAR is a focus for the activities of the atmospheric sciences community generally. Its specific services range from providing data resources, community models, and support to field programs, to opportunities for scientific collaboration and interaction, access to computing and observing facilities, and involvement in educational programs. NCAR's service role is integral to its overall mission.

Scientific and technological cross- divisional interactions and programs
NCAR recognizes the growing interdisciplinary nature of atmospheric research and continues to promote interdisciplinary programs. NCAR provides a setting that links science and technology synergistically to further the science. Linkages with other UCAR programs, university researchers, and diverse federal agencies reflect and support the multidisciplinary approaches required to advance scientific understanding of the earth system.

Balances among the programs within NCAR, including disciplinary and interdisciplinary science, educational programs and application oriented programs
NCAR maintains a balance among a unique array of programs and services. These include theoretical and applied research, instrument and software development, field observations, high- performance computing, societal-impact research, education and community outreach, and technology transfer. Equally important is a strong and effective balance between those activities centered at NCAR and those generated elsewhere in the community, in which NCAR participates.

Role of a national center
We believe that UCAR and NCAR are fulfilling the extraordinary vision of the universities more than 35 years ago, when they called for the creation of a national center, and the vision of the first director of NCAR and president of UCAR, Walter Orr Roberts, whose dream was always to carry out science in the service of society. These visions are being realized by carrying out research of the highest quality on the most important atmospheric science problems, by transferring the results of this research to operational agencies and the private sector, by providing computational and observational facilities to the broad community outside NCAR, and by strengthening the intellectual and technological infrastructure of the nation.