History of ASRC

Maintaining deployed instruments – Researchers and staff on the roof of the ASRC when it was located at 100 Fuller Road! From back to front row (left to right): Robert Seals, Joe Michalsky, Mark Beauharnois, Bill Berkheiser III, James Schlemmer, Qilong Min. Front row kneeling; Jerry Berndt, Richard Perez and Lee Harrison, circa 1993.
Researchers and staff on the roof of the ASRC maintaining deployed instruments when it was located at 100 Fuller Road. From back to front row (left to right): Robert Seals, Joe Michalsky, Mark Beauharnois, Bill Berkheiser III, James Schlemmer, Qilong Min. Front row kneeling; Jerry Berndt, Richard Perez and Lee Harrison, circa 1993.

The Atmospheric Sciences Research Center (ASRC), of the University at Albany, was established on February 16, 1961 by the Board of Trustees of the State University of New York, as a SUNY system-wide resource for developing and administering programs in basic and applied sciences related to the atmospheric environment. Founded by Vincent Schaefer, a General Electric protégée of Nobel Prize winner Irving Langmuir, ASRC has made significant contributions in many areas of atmospheric science, including:

  • Microphysics of Aerosols and Cloud Droplets
  • General aerosol size distribution studies
  • Fog studies
  • Boundary layer meteorology
  • Environmental and Radiative Energy Exchange Processes
  • Surface-Atmosphere Exchange Phenomena
  • Atmospheric Chemistry
  • Instrumentation and analytical methods to measure particulate matter
  • Mesoscale meteorological modeling capabilities
  • Climate System Sciences
  • Solar and wind energy studies

Since late 2021, ASRC has been located in the UAlbany ETEC building along with the Department of Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences, xCITE Lab, the Center of Excellence in Weather & Climate Analytics and the New York State Mesonet. This marks the first time these atmospheric science experts are in the same location, allowing for more cross-disciplinary research opportunities and collaborations.