This award is to support a project from a minority undergraduate institution in conjunction with the National Institute for Standards and Technology. The project involves a laboratory study of high resolution spectroscopy of the oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen molecules. These studies should lead to basic quantities of fundamental interest in both atmospheric science and astrophysics. Use will be made of the synchrotron radiation generated with the NIST storage ring and the high resolution spectrometer facility. This is one of the two comparable facilities in the world that has the combination of ultra-high resolution capability and source tunability over the entire vacuum ultraviolet range. Faculty and undergraduate students will be directly involved in the laboratory program at NIST and at their home institution doing data reduction and analysis. The program is planned to include an academic year component as well as an extensive summer activity.
