Jasper Hardesty — Sandia National Laboratories
Mark D. Ivey — Sandia National Laboratories
Daniel A Lucero — Sandia National Laboratories
Fred Helsel — Sandia National Laboratories
Al Bendure — Sandia National Laboratories
Darielle Dexheimer — Sandia National Laboratories
TODD Anthony HOUCHENS — Sandia National Laboratories
Dean J. Archuleta — Sandia National Laboratories
Valerie Sparks — Sandia National Laboratories
Category
ARM infrastructure
Description
ARM North Slope Alaska facility sites and Controlled airspaces
The Atmospheric Radiation Measurement program (ARM) has provided scientific infrastructure and data to the international Arctic research community via its sites on the North Slope of Alaska (NSA) since 1997. These facilities are operated by Sandia National Labs to maintain systems and protect instruments for continuous measurements of clouds, aerosols, precipitation, energy, and typical meteorological variables; as well as coordination and support of research field campaigns. The earliest site began operations at Barrow (1998), followed by a small facility in Atqasuk (1999-2010), with operation of the third ARM Mobile Facility (AMF3) at Oliktok Point begun in October 2013.
Instruments maintained at both Barrow and Oliktok include: scanning precipitation radars, scanning cloud radars, Raman lidars, eddy correlation flux systems, ceilometers, manual balloon sounding systems, atmospheric emitted radiance interferometers (AERI), micro-pulse lidars, millimeter cloud radars and standard meteorological measurement systems. In addition to these instruments, the AMF3 operates a Raman lidar and an upgraded ceilometer; while Barrow additionally operates Doppler lidar, an automatic balloon sounding system, and a high spectral resolution lidar (HSRL).
The infrastructure at Oliktok is designed to be mobile and it may be relocated in the future to support other ARM science missions. Currently, unmanned aerial system (UAS) and tethered balloon system (TBS) operations near Oliktok are enabled by using FAA-designated restricted air space (R2204) and international warning area (W220) activated by Sandia. UAS operations out of Barrow are also possible with FAA approval. The ARM facilities at Barrow have had many improvements over time, to provide valuable datasets that cover nearly 20 years. Data from these ground-based and in-flight instruments is placed in the ARM data archives for use by the international research community.
Located 70 miles south of Barrow, Atqasuk is adjacent to the Meade River. While not currently active, it could be available for researchers to observe an Arctic climate that is much more continental than that of Barrow or Oliktok Point.
This poster will introduce the instruments at the ARM NSA facilities, the challenges of continuously operating these remote High Arctic sites with minimal infrastructure, and future plans to improve or expand operations.
