During the SGP site audit conducted in April 2005, a member of the Continuous Quality Improvement Program team is accompanied by a local jackrabbit at the Ringwood Extended Facility. ARM file photo. The Continuous Quality Improvement Program (CQIP) implemented by the ARM Program in 1998 requires annual audits and inspection visits to each of the…

Extended Facilities at the SGP are spaced far enough apart that they do not have overlapping views overhead. This separation allows the infrared thermometers to obtain specific measurements for individual cloud cases. ARM file image. To help ARM scientists analyze cloud temperatures and infer cloud heights over the ARM Climate Research Facility Southern Great Plains…

The “skydeck” at Barrow shows how the instrument platforms can get very crowded during peak experimental periods. ARM file photo. Two things are critical for conducting scientific research: adequate equipment and power. This is especially true in the Arctic, where average winter temperatures hover around -30 degrees Celsius, and access to additional resources is limited.…

Talk about a change of scenery. Scientists replaced Harley riders as the 15th Annual ARM Science Team Meeting began March 14-18, 2005, in Daytona Beach, Florida, just as thousands of motorcycles involved in Daytona’s 64th Annual “Bike Week” roared out of town. Almost 300 participants from 10 countries came together for this once-a-year opportunity to…

SuomiNet is an international network of global positioning system (GPS) receivers, configured and managed to generate near real-time estimates of precipitable water vapor in the atmosphere, total electron content in the ionosphere, and other meteorological and geodetic information. Last fall, scientific collaborators at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Forecast Systems Laboratory* identified a…

On a given day, the ARM Climate Research Facility Data Management Facility (DMF) handles anywhere from 2.4 to 2.9 gigabytes of raw atmospheric data collected by instruments from sites around the globe. Once at the DMF, the data is processed into meaningful data sets that scientists can use to conduct their research. The DMF will…

Mounted on tripods, numerous interferometer antennas are secured to the roof of the Darwin site observers building, while the computer and electronics are located inside. ARM file photo. While the ARM sites contain extensive instrumentation for measuring the outflow of convective cloud (storm) systems, they include very little capability for characterizing the convection that produces…

About the size of a toaster, the MAX-DOAS instrument system at Atqasuk is well-insulated to protect it from the Arctic cold. As the unit rotates on its side axis, measurements are obtained through the optical inlet. ARM file photo. Springtime in the Arctic produces reactive halogen gases, such as bromine monoxide, that form from evaporating…

Aircraft for the Boundary Layer CO2 Intensive Operational Period will fly over the SGP Central Facility using both spirals and racetrack patterns. Data will be collected under a variety of cloud and meteorological conditions. ARM image file. As the focus of the Boundary Layer Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Intensive Operational Period (IOP) starting in March, science…

Safe and sound at Point Reyes, the ARM Mobile Facility instrumentation is set up on the roof of a shelter until a fence is installed to keep out the curious local cattle. ARM file photo. On February 9, the ARM Mobile Facility (AMF) withstood an accident on the way to its deployment location at Point…