The Global Atmospheric Research Program (GARP) was an international scientific and meteorological project that took place between 1968 and 1982 under the aegis of the World Meteorological Organization and the International Geodetic and Geophysical Union.

It's purpose was the study of the physical processes that occur in the troposphere and stratosphere, which is necessary for understanding the unstable atmospheric processes that manifest themselves in large-scale fluctuations and cause changes in the weather. The factors that determine the statistical properties of general atmospheric circulation were also studied. A global observing system and a series of field programs and computer experiments were planned as part of the Program with the goal of extending the range of large-scale weather forecasts beyond the then limit of three to five days.

Scientists from more than 20 nations participated in GARP, including USSR, USA, Great Britain, Japan, and France. Participants provided special ships, satellites, balloons and airplanes for conducting observations.

The major projects developed under this program were the GARP Atlantic Tropical Experiment (GATE, 1974), the First GARP Global Experiment (FGGE, 1979; also called the Global Weather Experiment), the Polar Experiment (POLEX, 1971-79), Complex Atmospheric Energetics Experiment (CAENEX, 1972) and the Monsoon Experiment (MONEX, 1973-79).

On regard balloons, several campaigns like TWERLE and MONEX, were carried out using huge flotillas of superpressure balloons launched from several places in the southern hemisphere to gather in-situ atmospheric data.