The Langmuir Laboratory for Atmospheric Research is a scientific laboratory studying the cloud processes that produce lightning, hail, and rain, located in the
Magdalena Mountains
The Magdalena Mountains are a regionally high, mountain range in Socorro County, in west-central New Mexico in the southwestern United States. The highest point in the range is South Baldy, at 10,783 ft (3,287 m), which is also the tallest p ...
of central
New Mexico
)
, population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano)
, seat = Santa Fe
, LargestCity = Albuquerque
, LargestMetro = Tiguex
, OfficialLang = None
, Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...
. The lab is operated by the
New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology
The New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (New Mexico Tech and formerly New Mexico School of Mines) is a public university in Socorro, New Mexico. It offers over 30 bachelor of science degrees in technology, the sciences, engineering, man ...
(New Mexico Tech) with funding from the
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National I ...
.
History
The lab was founded in 1963, following pioneering research by
E. J. Workman, the former president of the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (then the New Mexico School of Mines), and others, including
Nobel laureate
The Nobel Prizes ( sv, Nobelpriset, no, Nobelprisen) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make out ...
Irving Langmuir
Irving Langmuir (; January 31, 1881 – August 16, 1957) was an American chemist, physicist, and engineer. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1932 for his work in surface chemistry.
Langmuir's most famous publication is the 1919 art ...
, the namesake of the laboratory. The earlier studies took place on the
Plains of San Agustin and the
San Mateo Mountains.
Location
The laboratory is located just south of
South Baldy, the highest peak of the Magdalena mountains, at the southern end of the main ridge crest of the range, at an elevation of 10,679 ft (3,255 m). The Magdalena Mountains offer favorable conditions for the study of storms because of their frequency during the summer. Local storms are also often isolated, stationary, and relatively small.
The lab occupies the Langmuir Research Site, a congressionally-designated area within the
Cibola National Forest
The Cibola National Forest (pronounced SEE-bo-lah) is a 1,633,783 acre (6,611.7 km2) United States National Forest in New Mexico, USA. The name Cibola is thought to be the original Zuni Indian name for their pueblos or tribal lands. The name was ...
, and operates under a Special Use Permit from the
US Forest Service
The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency inc ...
.
References
Langmuir Lab official siteNew Mexico Tech web site
Laboratories in the United States
1963 establishments in New Mexico
New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology
Buildings and structures in Socorro County, New Mexico
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