ARM

Tag: SGP

  • Moving on Up: Merged Sounding Data Now a Value-Added Product

    Examples of relative humidity for SGP, NSA, and TWP-Darwin. The Merged Sounding evaluation product has moved into the ARM Data Archive as a value-added product (VAP). This Merged Sounding VAP, initially designed by Dr. Gerald Mace, was modified by software developer David Troyan under the scientific direction of Michael Jensen to better serve the ARM…

  • New Aerosol Best-Estimate Data Available as Value-Added Product

    Quicklook plots of monthly time series are generated for column AOD, vertical profiles up to 4 km of SSA and g, and for the corresponding RH profile. The optical properties are shown for the nominal green wavelength of 500 nm. The Aerosol Best Estimate (ABE) value-added product (VAP) provides best-estimate time series of total column…

  • Five Years of Radiatively Important Parameters Best Estimate (RIPBE) Data Now Available

    Scientists use detailed state-of-the art radiative transfer models to understand the radiative impact of clouds and aerosols on the Earth’s radiation budget, evaluate remote-sensing retrievals of cloud and aerosol properties, and develop and evaluate simpler radiative transfer models for inclusion in cloud and climate models. The ARM suite of instruments measures all of the radiatively…

  • Aerosol Optical Depth Measurements Available as Value-Added Product

    Cloud-screened AOD at five wavelengths (top) and Angstrom exponent (bottom) over a three-month time period at the Black Forest, Germany deployment. Aerosol optical depth (AOD) measures total aerosol burden in the atmosphere. The spectral dependence of AOD, typically described by the Angstrom exponent, is also an indicator of particle size. Small Angstrom exponent values (near…

  • Raman Lidar Data Product Suite Provides Best-Estimate Data

    Example of plots produced by the Raman lidar best-estimate VAP for April 3, 2011. Panels (a), (b), and (c) show time-height cross-sections of relative humidity, aerosol backscatter coefficient, and aerosol depolarization. A time series of aerosol optical depth is shown in panel (d). Click to view full-size image. Science data products derived from the Raman…

  • ARM Cloud Retrieval Ensemble Data Set Available for Evaluation

    Multiple long-term cloud retrievals are now available for five ARM sites in the ACRED data set. A new ARM evaluation product, the ARM Cloud Retrieval Ensemble Data Set (ACRED), is now available for testing by the science community. ACRED was developed with the motivation to provide a rough estimate of the uncertainties in current retrieved…

  • New Surface Spectral Albedo VAP Provides Surface Type Observations at Southern Great Plains

    Example quicklook from the SURFSPECALB VAP. The plot shows the estimated spectral albedo at SGP for the 10-m and 25-m towers on September 11, 2004. On this day, the surface type for both towers is partial vegetation. The Surface Spectral Albedo (SURFSPECALB) value-added product (VAP) has been released for operational production at the Southern Great…

  • Lidar Value-Added Product Provides Cloud Measurements

    Sample plot generated by MPLCMASK. Click to enlarge. Lidar cloud boundaries are a useful tool for identifying cloud base height and cloud thickness in optically thin clouds. The Micropulse Lidar Cloud Mask (MPLCMASK) value-added product (VAP) provides cloud base height, cloud top height, and backscatter coefficient for non-polarized micropulse lidar measurements. In addition, depolarization ratio…

  • Microwave Radiometer Retrieval Data Available for ARM Sites

    An example plot from the MWRRET VAP for 10/8/1999 at SGP. (top) Brightness temperatures measured by the MWR; orange and blue lines indicate potential measurement spikes due to precipitation, (middle) retrieved precipitable water vapor from the new physical method (blue) and the original statistical method (green), (bottom) retrieved liquid water path from the new physical…

  • Radiatively Important Parameters Best Estimate Data Available for Southern Great Plains

    The upper panel shows the output aerosol extinction field in RIPBE, and the bottom panel shows the quality control (qc) flags on aerosol extinction. Descriptions of the qc flags are given in the netCDF file header. In this case, the gold and pink qc flags on the aerosol extinction indicate periods at the top of…